{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=0E2F0A84-E51C-4F3D-902A-36EC07438BE0", "Thune Denounces Hamas\u2019 Terrorist Attacks on Israel", "2023-10-17", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "Click here to watch the video.\n\nWASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today condemned the senseless attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists. Thune expressed his unwavering support for Israel and the need to hold Iran accountable for its continued support of Hamas and other terror organizations. Thune called on all Americans \u2013 from the halls of Congress to college campuses \u2013 to support Israel\u2019s right to defend itself and its people.\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as prepared for delivery):\n\n\u201cMr. President, there are days and events that are almost unspeakable.\n\n\u201cAnd October 7, 2023, is one of them.\n\n\u201cThe slaughter of hundreds of innocent Israelis \u2013 men, women, and, unthinkably, children \u2013 at the hands of Hamas terrorists was a terrible witness to the evil of which man is capable.\n\n\u201cThe stories and images that have emerged are searing.\n\n\u201cA bloodied infant seat.\n\n\u201cParents tucking their 10-month-old twins into hiding before being murdered by the attackers.\n\n\u201cA mom and dad killed with their three young children.\n\n\u201cAs a father and a grandfather, I cannot imagine the terror those parents must have felt as they realized Hamas gunmen had moved into their villages.\n\n\u201cIt is a terrible fact of war that the innocent are often drawn into the crossfire, but to make war on the innocent \u2013 to target the innocent deliberately \u2013 is perhaps the greatest evil of which man is capable.\n\n\u201cMr. President, it\u2019s nearly unimaginable to think that someone could look at Hamas\u2019 attack and find any cause for joy or celebration.\n\n\u201cAnd yet in the days following the attacks, we have seen far too many people right here at home \u2013 including at our so-called top universities \u2013 attempt to defend or even celebrate the indefensible.\n\n\u201cAnd while the First Amendment protects their right to speak, I hope that we as a society can categorically reject the view that anything can justify or excuse the deliberate murder of babies and children.\n\n\u201cMr. President, Israel is currently working to bring a swift end to Hamas\u2019 reign of terror, and it should have the full support of the United States in this mission.\n\n\u201cThe United States has long provided security assistance to Israel, including an ongoing Memorandum of Understanding that supports foreign military financing and missile defense assistance through fiscal year 2028.\n\n\u201cIn 2021 we passed supplemental funding to restock the Iron Dome system in response to rocket attacks from Hamas, and I anticipate Congress will soon consider a supplemental in response to this attack.\n\n\u201cWe must also use every resource available to prevent escalation and expansion of this war and ensure that Israel does not end up fighting on multiple fronts.\n\n\u201cWe can already see that other hostile actors are angling to enter the fray.\n\n\u201cIran is actively threatening Israel.\n\n\u201cHezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has fired rockets and artillery across Israel\u2019s northern border with Lebanon.\n\n\u201cAnd we need to band together with our allies to make it clear that any attempts to escalate this war would be a grave miscalculation.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s also past time to hold Iran \u2013 a longtime funder of Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations \u2013 to account for its role in fomenting unrest and destabilizing the Middle East.\n\n\u201cI have not been shy about calling out the Biden administration\u2019s poor track record on being tough on Iran, in particular the administration\u2019s misguided goal of re-signing a flawed nuclear deal and attempting to appease the country\u2019s leaders with billions of dollars in sanctions relief.\n\n\u201cJust over a month ago, on September 11 of all days, the administration lifted a freeze on $6 billion in Iranian assets \u2013 which would likely have resulted in the freeing up of additional funds for Iran\u2019s hostile activities.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m glad that the president listened to calls from Senator Blackburn, me, and others to block Iran\u2019s access to these funds.\n\n\u201cAnd I hope that the Senate can soon pass legislation to permanently freeze these assets.\n\n\u201cWe need to make it very clear to Iran \u2013 and to any other country that would seek to imitate the Iranians \u2013 that there will be consequences for aiding and abetting terror.\n\n\u201cMr. President, 30 Americans have now been confirmed to have died in Israel.\n\n\u201cAnd as I speak, we have 13 possible American hostages being held by Hamas.\n\n\u201cWe also have an estimated up to 600 Americans in Gaza in harm\u2019s way, including a family my office is working with.\n\n\u201cWe must get them out.\n\n\u201cMr. President, in the midst of war and Hamas\u2019 brutality, it is important to remember our own sense of humanity and the innocents on both sides.\n\n\u201cHamas\u2019 utter indifference to human life was on full display in its rampage through Israeli villages.\n\n\u201cAnd that indifference extends to the lives of its own people.\n\n\u201cHamas has tangled its terrorist infrastructure throughout \u2013 and under \u2013 an incredibly dense urban population center, ensuring that innocent civilians will always be in harm\u2019s way during attacks on legitimate terrorist targets.\n\n\u201cAnd as Israel prepares to go after targets in Gaza, Hamas is now discouraging \u2013 and, it appears, actively trying to prevent \u2013 civilians from heeding Israel\u2019s calls to evacuate.\n\n\u201cApparently Hamas believes that dead Palestinians will advance its cause and keep the focus on Israel\u2019s response, not the abject brutality Hamas unleashed on October 7.\n\n\u201cAnd we must be resolute in exposing and condemning this callousness.\n\n\u201cWe must also work to ensure that the response of free countries conveys the respect for human life that is so woefully lacking in the terrorists, and that we do everything we can to ensure that innocent civilians on both sides in this conflict are protected as much as possible \u2013 and that humanitarian aid reaches innocent Palestinians and is not intercepted by Hamas terrorists.\n\n\u201cMr. President, the Jewish people have suffered much.\n\n\u201cBut their story, and the story of Israel, is one of resilience.\n\n\u201cAnd the United States stands with Israel at this most challenging time.\n\n\u201cMy prayers this week are with the grieving families in Israel and all the suffering, and for the permanent defeat of Hamas and a just and lasting peace.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I yield the floor.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=0E2F0A84-E51C-4F3D-902A-36EC07438BE0"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7066060788929462, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": 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