Al Green

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise. And still I rise today to address a topic of concern to a good many Americans. In my opinion, it should be of concern to all Americans, and that is the right to peacefully protest, the right to protest. I am a person who has engaged in peaceful protests. I look forward to engaging in peaceful protests in the future, but I would like to just talk about what this really means when we talk about peaceful protests. We have reached a point where it is not enough just to say peaceful protest. You have to add some additional verbiage. Today I will talk about nonviolent, peaceful protests; nonviolent, hate-free, peaceful protests. I would not engage in peaceful protests where hate is a part of the verbiage that is being utilized. I believe in peaceful protests, but I don't believe in bringing hate to the protest movement. I believe in nonviolent, peaceful, hate-free protests. I am going to share one example of protest that I absolutely disagree with because it is not nonviolent, peaceful, hate-free protest. I am amazed at what I saw and what I have read as it relates to this. I first saw it on television, and I was stunned, shocked, thunderstruck. I have since read a news story about it which I shall share excerpts with you that relate to this protest that was taking place. Remember, I am the guy who believes in protests. I have been to jail for protesting, which means I broke the law. When you break the law and you are protesting, you have to be prepared to suffer the consequences. I and John Lewis on multiple occasions protested, and we broke the law. We went to jail, and we suffered the consequences. If you are going to protest, be prepared to suffer the consequences. Be prepared, if you are going to jail, to bail yourself out of jail. Some protest movements have gone too far. I hope that this will help some of us to better understand what peaceful protest is all about. I have an article in my hands. This article is from ABC News dated June 13, 2024. June 13, 2024, recent news. The style of it is: ``Gaza War Protests Denounced by NYC''--that would be New York City--``leaders as `anti-Semitic' after subway car threat chant, vandalism.'' I am not reading it in toto. In part, it reads: ``The New York Police Department said Thursday that they are working to identify the masked leader of a call-and-response chant by protesters on a crowded Manhattan subway car on Monday. The chant asked Zionists to identify themselves. ``Video surfaced Wednesday of the incident on a Brooklyn-bound subway train that was halted with its doors open at the Union Square station in Manhattan. `` `Repeat after me: Raise your hands if you are a Zionist.' '' I would not want someone to say raise your hand if you are an African American, raise your hand if you are a female, raise your hand if you are a part of the LGBTQ+ community, raise your hand if you are a Muslim or if you are an Asian. I would not want a person to say that on a subway car and then continue with what I am about to read. `` `Repeat after me:' '' it says. `` `Raise your hands if you are a Zionist,' the leader, wearing sunglasses and a traditional Palestinian keffiyeh scarf . . . '' I have one of these scarves, by the way. There is nothing wrong with having such a scarf. The leader had this scarf, which has become a symbol of pro-Palestinian resistance. He is heard repeatedly saying in the video, adding: `` `This is your chance to get out.' '' I wouldn't want someone to say, raise your hand if you are an African American, and then go on to say, this is your chance to get out, to get off the car. It goes on to read, and this is a quote: `` `Okay, no Zionists, we are good,' the leader is then heard saying.'' This is anti-Semitic. If he had said raise your hand if you are a Black person, it would be racist. If he had said Raise your hand if you are a Muslim, it would be anti- Islam, which can be said to be Islamophobia. Raise your hand if you are Asian; that is anti-Asian if you go on to say these other things. This is not the kind of nonviolent, peaceful, hate-free protests that I would engage in and that I would ever support. I denounce this. This is hate. We cannot have legitimate, nonviolent protest movements if we inject hate into the movement. We have to do it void of hate and void of violence. I am absolutely opposed to what was done, and I want those persons to know that they are hurting the protest movement by doing what they are doing. You can protest your disdain for what is happening in Palestine without injecting hate into it. You have every right to protest what is happening in Palestine. I have protested what is happening there, but you don't do it with hate, and you don't do it with violence. You do it peacefully. If you decide that you are going to do what John Lewis called ``get in the way,'' you get in the way, but you know that there are consequences if you get in the way, and you are arrested. We got in the way by getting in the street, and we were told that if you don't move, you are going to be arrested. You are impeding traffic. We didn't move. We were arrested. We went to a place of incarceration. We eventually posted our bond. We were released. We paid a fine. I was prepared to suffer the consequences. You cannot engage in violence in a protest movement and expect to receive positive coverage. The coverage is going to be negative if you engage in violence, and the coverage is going to be negative if you engage in hate speech. You are hurting the movement. You are hurting those who are peacefully protesting in a nonviolent fashion without hate speech. Protest if you will, but do it in such a way as not to hurt the protest movement itself, which I support. I support the protest movement. I don't support hate within the movement. I support saying to the world that you don't think what is happening in terms of the killing of the babies in Gaza to be something that is acceptable. Now, that is my language, and there is other language that is acceptable. But you cannot do it, in my opinion, and expect a positive response if you do it with violence or hate speech. We in this country understand that the country was founded, to a certain extent, on protests. The pilgrims were protesting, and they came to this country and brought their movement with them. When the farmers came to Washington, D.C., protesting with their tractors, it was a perfectly legitimate protest--perfectly acceptable. Nonviolent, peaceful, hate-free protest is acceptable. I would ask the news media, all of those various outlets that cover these protests, to cover some of the protests that are positive. Present them. Let the world know that not everybody is engaging in hate speech. Not everybody is anti-Semitic who is protesting. Not everybody is violent who is protesting. Let the world know that there is peaceful, nonviolent, hate-free protest taking place in this country. I am asking you to do this, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX. Cover some of the positive protest movement, positive in the sense that there is no violence and no hate speech. When you don't do that, when you fail to cover those protest movements, in covering the protest movements that are filled with violence and hate speech, you are then showing the world what might appear to be only that type of protest taking place in this country, and that is not the case. There are many protest movements that have taken place that were nonviolent, hate-free protests. We ought not allow ourselves to believe that only hateful protest movements are taking place. There are many protests with one or two people and some outsiders will intrude. They are interlopers. These interlopers intrude, and they then engage in hateful messaging or engage in some sort of violence. That shouldn't taint all the other persons, perhaps the hundreds of persons, who are protesting without violence and hate speech. Cover them fairly. Say that there was a handful or this number, whatever it is, but be fair to the many people who are there and are protesting without hate and without violence. I am asking the news media to please do this. Let other people in the world see that we protest in this country, and we do it without violence and without hate speech. I think that I can give evidence of what I speak. We had in Houston, Texas, an event to have, if you will, a candlelight ceremony to memorialize the lives of persons who lost their lives in Gaza. We had a packed house. We had some debate. There was no hate speech, and there was no violence--and there was no coverage. No coverage. Now, I have seen multiple protests concerning what happened on October 7, and that merits being protested. I support protesting it. What happened was horrific. We ought to protest that. When that is protested, I have seen it covered with positive news coverage. Well, there are two sides to this when you get to the things that have happened since October 7 and all that has happened in Gaza with the destruction of schools, the destruction of hospitals, of roads, of bridges, of homes. With all of this destruction, it is not unreasonable for some people to conclude that this ought to be something worthy of protestation. So, when this occurs and there is no violence, no hate speech, I challenge the news media to cover it, too, just as you cover those who protest what happened on October 7. I am among those who would do so. October 7 was a horrific day in infamy. Let us be fair in the coverage, and let those who are protesting understand that if there is a person among your protest movement who is out of line, who is being hateful, if there is a person who is being violent--in the sixties when we were protesting, we would meet before the protest would start, and we would agree on certain things. One, we wouldn't be violent. If someone should do something to indicate some degree of violence, we would turn to that person and point and say: ``Not with us.'' We would remove that person from the protest, ``Not with us, not with us,'' and let the police take them away, and we continued with our peaceful protest. It is important to have free speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom to protest. That is what this country was founded on, to a great extent, and we want to maintain it. To do it, I think the news media has a role, and that is to present fair coverage of these protest movements. I think that the people who are protesting have a role. Their role is to say to the world that they are there to have a peaceful, nonviolent, hate-free protest. I think you should be able to simply peacefully protest, and it should incorporate these other things, but you can say it all and that those who act in a violent way are not with us. Say it before you start the protest: They are not with us. Anybody who says something that is racist, anti-Semitic, sexist, utilizing Islamophobia, behaving in an Islamophobic way, anti-Islamic, anti-Asian, announce they are not with us. We don't want them to be a part of this. If you have a sign that says it, take your sign someplace else. That is not for this movement. That is your job if you are part of a protest movement and you are a leader. Finally, be prepared. Be prepared to suffer the consequences. Be prepared. We would, if arrested, not resist. That is another charge. If you get arrested, don't resist. Remember this: Those who tolerate hate perpetuate hate. If you are going to tolerate hate, you are going to perpetuate it. The persons who are actually behaving in a hateful fashion are perpetrating it, and if you tolerate it, you are perpetuating it. We cannot tolerate hate. Now, do I expect people to denounce everything hateful that is said? That is impossible to do. There are things that you can select in your own way that you want to denounce, as I am today. Do that. You can be selective. It is impossible to denounce all of the hate in the world. I wish we could except for saying I denounce all hate in the world. I have said that. When you get to the specificity, it is impossible to denounce every specific act of hate. I am denouncing today what happened in New York on that subway when people were singled out. You don't do that, not in this America. You shouldn't. If you do it, then you are going to be labeled as anti- Semitic. There is nothing unfair about that label being placed on you if you behave in the fashion that I articulated earlier. Those who tolerate hate perpetuate hate. Those who tolerate hate perpetuate hate. There were other incidents that occurred, and there are persons from the New York delegation who spoke up and indicated that there was anti- Semitic activity taking place. I am very proud of them. Majority Leader Schumer spoke up on the floor, denouncing the hate. Representative Ocasio-Cortez spoke up, denouncing the hate. Our minority leader here in the House, Hakeem Jeffries, spoke up, denouncing the hate. I don't expect them to speak up every time something happens. I appreciate what they have done this time, but I don't expect them to speak up every time. I do hope that as we move forward, we will not allow one side of the protest movement, which is obviously distasteful, to be continually publicized to the extent that it gives the image to those who don't know better that all the protest movements are about hate and violence because this is not the case. I support peaceful, nonviolent, hate-free protest, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I was unable to attend the vote series today, due to an unexpected absence. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 227, NAY on Roll Call No. 228, NAY on Roll Call No. 229, NAY on Roll Call No. 230, YEA on Roll Call No. 231, and NAY on Roll Call No. 232.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, and still I rise. I am honored to have this preeminent privilege to speak on the floor, if you will, or in the Chamber of the House of Representatives. It is a unique experience to be here. I never take it for granted, and I always appreciate the leadership for affording me the opportunity to speak. I rise today as a person of color, a person who understands the need for Brown v. Board of Education. We needed it then and still need Brown. We needed it when we enshrined it into law in this country, and we still need it today. This is the day that marks the 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, a lawsuit that has impacted the lives of all Americans but has had a greater impact, I believe, on persons of color because it eliminated the notion that we could have separate but equal institutions in the country, especially in the area of education. Yes, we still need Brown v. Board of Education. There is an article in today's USA Today. It is styled ``School segregation is still alive and well.'' ``Seventy years after Brown, funding drives divide.'' Segregation is still alive and well. I would like to explain why we needed Brown before delving a little bit more into this topic of funding. We needed Brown because of 335 years of slavery, convict leasing, and lawful segregation--335 years. It started on August 20, 1619, when the ship White Lion docked at a place called Point Comfort, near what we now call Norfolk, Virginia. When the White Lion docked, it had some 20 persons of African ancestry. These 20 persons were traded to the Colonies, the persons who were here to form the Colonies, if you will. They were traded. They became the first enslaved persons to be introduced into what would become the United States of America. These 20 persons marked the beginning of something that still haunts the United States of America, and that is invidious discrimination, but these 20 persons became a part of millions of persons who would traverse the ocean, who would be treated as cargo, not as passengers; persons who would be raped, robbed, murdered, incarcerated; persons who would be brought to this country because there was a desire to have in this country people who would be subjugated. They would be persons who could be immediately identified because of color. They would be persons who would not be a part of a class because class is a socioeconomic circumstance. They were not a part of a class, Madam Speaker. They were a part of a caste, not a class. A class is socioeconomic. You can move in and out of a class, but a caste is associated with your heredity. If you were born into this caste, you would live in it, you would work in it, and you would die as a part of the caste. America had a caste system. Persons of African ancestry were a part of the caste. They were persons who were immediately identifiable, who were subjugated, and made a part of a caste. This caste system in the United States of America lasted for some 246 years. A good many people assumed that slavery only lasted for 20 or 30 years. No, 246 years. People were born into slavery. Babies were enslaved. People lived their lives enslaved, and they died as slaves. There were 246 years of it. These persons became the economic foundational mothers and fathers of the country. They planted the seeds. They harvested the crops. They fed the Nation. They built the Capitol, this very building that we are in now. Their hands were a part of the construction of this facility. Their hands were a part of the construction of the White House. They built the roads and the bridges. They were the economic foundational mothers and fathers, and every person in the United States of America is standing on their shoulders. Yes, they have not been respected. They have not been respected since they were brought to this country. They have not been respected while they were here in the institution known as slavery. It moved from slavery to an institution called convict leasing. These are persons who were charged with violating what were called Black codes. They were charged with some offense. It could be a minor offense. After having been charged, they would be leased to some plantation. They would work on this plantation just outside of Houston, Texas, a place called Sugar Land, Texas. We have a gravesite with 95 bodies in it. They are called the Sugar Land 95. These were persons, human beings, people who were leased and died as convicts, convicts who were leased. It is a shame that the story of America contains these facts, but it is the truth, and we ought not be ashamed to tell the truth because only by dealing with the truth can we get to a point wherein we are able to communicate fairly and properly with each other and span the chasms that divide us. These convicts, persons who were leased is what I will call them for now, this lasted for 76 years. Madam Speaker, 76 years of convict leasing; 246 years of slavery followed by 76 years of convict leasing. I am making the point for why we needed Brown v. Board of Education, for those who may be tuning in a bit late. We needed Brown v. Board of Education because of the 246 years of slavery and 76 years of convict leasing, but it didn't end there. It did not end with the convict leasing. We suffered nearly 100 years of lawful segregation, lawful segregation wherein persons of color were separated. Persons of color had to go to the back door in this country. In my lifetime, I was relegated to going to the back door. Persons of color had to drink from separate water fountains. In my lifetime, I have been forced to drink from a colored water fountain, and I might add, a filthy water fountain. They were never maintained to the same extent that White water fountains were maintained. Persons of color were required to sit in the back of buses. In my lifetime, I sat in the back of a bus. The laws that were enshrined in the Constitution to protect me and give me equality under the law as explained and extolled in the 14th Amendment, my friends and neighbors took those rights away from me. They denied me those rights. The Constitution said they were there for me, but my friends and neighbors decided they would deny me those rights. I know what segregation is about. I have lived it. Yes, we needed Brown v. Board of Education then, and we still need it now. Segregation for nearly a hundred years, 246 years of slavery, 76 years of convict leasing, and nearly a hundred years of lawful segregation. We needed Brown v. Board of Education. In the process of suffering these some 335 years, we had a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in a case styled Dred Scott where Chief Justice Taney, in his infinite wisdom, indicated that the Negroes or African Americans, as we would call ourselves now, persons of African ancestry, if you will, that they had no rights which a White man was bound to respect and that the Negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit, not for his benefit meaning the benefit of the Negro, but for his benefit meaning the benefit of the White man. That is what the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court said. It might be interesting to note that most scholars conclude that this is one of the worst decisions ever made by the Supreme Court of the United States of America. Yes, we needed Brown v. Board of Education. However, but for some quirks in history, we might not have the same decision that Chief Justice Warren arrived at. We might not have it but for some quirks in history. I want to talk about a couple of these quirks in history. Thurgood Marshall was the lead counsel for the NAACP, an organization that I belong to. I was the president of the Houston branch of the NAACP for nearly a decade. Thurgood Marshall, the lead counsel for the NAACP, when he decided to go to law school, he tried to get into the University of Maryland. He couldn't get in. He then decided to go to Howard University. At Howard University, he had the superlative pleasure of meeting a man who introduced him to a concept, and that concept was use the Constitution to right these wrongs associated with segregation. That is my paraphrasing of it. That concept was something that he would take to the courts. I believe that but for the University of Maryland, Thurgood Marshall may not have developed the philosophy that he did. In a strange sort of way, I have to say thank God for the University of Maryland because had he gone there, he may have developed a different philosophy, and, as such, would not have taken the case to the Supreme Court as he did. Thurgood Marshall won many cases before the Supreme Court, but not one of them surpassed what he did with Brown v. Board of Education. Thurgood Marshall takes the case to the Supreme Court, but when the case gets to the Supreme Court, the Justice who was there at the time was a person that was unable to pull the Court together to get a decision by June of 1953. Because he could not do so, the case was then to be reheard in December of 1953. Between that time, the June date and the December date, the Chief Justice died. Then it became the duty of President Eisenhower to appoint another Chief Justice to the Supreme Court. President Eisenhower looked to California. There in California was a Governor, a Governor who was unique in history for many ways, but this one I find worthy of mentioning. He ran for Governor as a Democrat and as a Republican, imagine trying to do that today, and was elected Governor. He ran on the Democratic ticket and the Republican ticket. Never happen today. We are so divided here that neither party would tolerate it. The divide is so evident. The public wants us to span the chasm. We can't span the chasm because the public is divided. The same people who want Members of Congress to compromise don't want to see compromise on the issues that are important to them. Compromise is about give and take. Compromise is not winner take all, my way or the highway. The public itself has to understand that they are part of the reason there is a divide. Back to the case, Brown v. Board of Education. Chief Justice Warren became the Chief Justice by virtue of President Eisenhower having appointed him as such. President Eisenhower thought he did the country a great service when he appointed him, but he later said it was one of his greatest mistakes. He said he made two mistakes, they were both on the Supreme Court, and one of those was Chief Justice Warren because it was Chief Justice Warren who pulled the Court together. It was Chief Justice Warren who was able to get a unanimous decision in the Brown case. I don't know that anybody else could have done it. He was a unique personality. He understood the politics of the judiciary. He was a Governor. He understood people, what motivated people and moved people, and he pulled together the Court such that there was a unanimous decision. That unanimous decision was not, as one might think, a decision that would be immediately embraced by the country. It was not embraced immediately by the country. There were persons who still wanted separate but equal or separate but unequal because that is what it was. You can call it equal, but when you have inferior schools for people of color, which is what I attended, and then you have superior schools, not in the sense that the minds in the schools are inferior or superior, but in the sense that the facilities, the books that I received were hand-me-down books from another school system. You could see the names of children who had the books before I acquired them. Hand-me-downs. The school systems were segregated in that fashion. This segregation did not end with May 17, 1954, and the Brown decision. In fact, a Nobel Laureate, Milton Friedman, he had a very clever idea. He was of the opinion, Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman, that we ought to just give the public dollars to the parents, and they could have these vouchers, and they could use these vouchers to send their children to private schools, maintain segregation but under a different name. What a world. What a world. Milton Friedman, Nobel Laureate. If you believe that that was the end of vouchers, you are imminently incorrect. The Governor of Texas is still pushing for vouchers, still wants to take public dollars and give them to parents and let them take their children and put their children in private schools. That would have maintained segregation if it had been done, and there is a good likelihood I wouldn't be standing here now. Do not believe that slavery had to end. It ended because of the will of Abraham Lincoln. It didn't have to end. It could have continued. The caste system could have continued. To this day, I could be a part of a caste but for brave people who took a stance and but for the Civil War that was fought--for all the politicians who are listening--because of slavery. We could easily find that the caste system exists today if not for some brave people. So this notion that we integrated, and it was about desegregation, it wasn't about integration. The Brown decision said that there should be desegregation with the term ``all deliberate speed,'' but it didn't happen immediately. Milton Friedman tried his best to thwart it. In fact, in Prince Edward County, Virginia, the White elite of that county defied the Brown decision by closing the entire school system. They closed the school system, and they diverted public education funds into vouchers to be used at segregated private academies that were for Whites only. It would have still been segregation just by another name. So, yes, we needed the Brown decision, but do not be deceived into believing that the decision was immediately implemented. We are still implementing it, by the way. We needed it then. We need Brown now. Brown has made a difference, but Brown hasn't brought us to the promised land. We are not there yet. The Senate of the United States of America disrespects African Americans on a daily basis. Now, some people don't believe I said that, so I probably should say it again: The Senate of the United States of America disrespects African Americans on a daily basis. The Senate of the United States of America is a place of shame. The Richard Russell Office Building is a national disgrace. Richard Russell was a self-proclaimed white supremacist. Richard Russell fought antilynching legislation. Richard Russell fought civil rights legislation. Richard Russell coauthored the Southern Manifesto. His name is on the Senate Russell Office Building. That is the Richard Russell. The Senate will not take Richard Russell's name off the building. You are a place of national shame, Senate. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves, every one of you. Every one of you. What is wrong with you? You know you are disrespecting African Americans, yet you leave the name of Richard Russell on a building being paid for with taxpayer dollars. If that name was associated with the Third Reich, it would come down tonight. We are disrespected, people of color who happen to be of African ancestry. The rationale given for not changing the name is that the Senators can't agree on a new name. Well, I solved that problem. Pardon me for using a personal pronoun. My mother taught me to say ``we'' whenever possible, but in my business, if you don't say ``I,'' other people will. We have solved that problem. Here is the solution: Let the name revert back to the name it had before it became the Russell Senate Office Building. Let it revert back. What was that name, Al Green? It was the Old Senate Office Building. Just take Russell's name off. Let it revert to Old Senate Office Building, and then take as much time as you want, ad infinitum, if you will, and let it become the name of your choice. I have no name. I am not doing this because I want a name. I am doing this and saying this because it is not just the right thing to do; it is the righteous thing to do. His name needs to come off of that building. Brown v. Board of Education didn't bring us to the promised land. We still have problems here in the Congress of the United States of America. This one is so obvious. It is intuitively obvious to the most casual observer. The name ought to come off. I will say to every Senator: You ought to be ashamed. You made the Senate a place of national shame. By the way, the news media ought to be equally ashamed because, in the rotunda where Richard Russell's statue is, you have the news media right there above Richard Russell. He has a rotunda devoted to him. Above him is CNN, MSNBC, FOX. You ought to be ashamed, all of you. You are perpetuating this. It has been perpetrated by the Senate, and you are perpetuating it. Well, Al, you will probably not get back on those stations or networks again. Do you think that matters to me, that someone would keep me off because I speak the truth not only to power but about power? Speaking truth to power is fairly easy. You say power is a problem we need to solve. Speaking truth about power is to say, power, there is a problem, and you are it. You are it, CNN. You are it, FOX, MSNBC. You are it, Senate. You don't have the courage to do the right thing. You ought to be denouncing what the Senate is doing, but you are right there in the building where it is happening. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You are perpetuating this insult to African Americans. So Brown v. Board of Education did a lot, make no mistake about it. It has made a difference in the lives of people of color, especially African Americans. It has made a difference. It has made a difference in job opportunities. It has made a difference in opportunities for education, opportunities to hold public office. It has made a difference, but we are still not there. We aren't because people of color are disproportionately poverty- stricken. People of color are not--let me close with this. I am being told my time is up. This is a to-be-continued.

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, I appreciate you calling it to my attention. We have much work to do.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, during Roll Call Vote No. 211 on H.R. 6571, I mistakenly recorded my vote as NAY when I should have voted YEA.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I was unable to attend the vote series today due to an unexpected absence. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 196 and YEA on Roll Call No. 197. personal explanation

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, Israel suffered a tragic loss on October 7, 2023. The people of Israel are in mourning. The lives of innocent civilian Israeli men, women, and especially children matter. They must be protected. This includes the hostages, all of whom must be immediately returned in tandem with a lasting ceasefire as the genesis of a two-state solution. After the horrific human rights violations committed by Hamas on October 7, 2023, the Netanyahu administration had just cause catalyzing a de jure right to pursue justice as it did by declaring war on Hamas, not hundreds of thousands of innocent civilian Palestinian men, women, and especially children. To the contrary, and shamefully, Prime Minister Netanyahu has engaged in an unjust, revengeful, might-makes-right offense, creating more enemies than have been killed. He has engaged in lethal atrocities wherein the ends of destroying Hamas justifies: Killing thousands of innocent civilian Palestinian children; Collectively harming thousands upon thousands of innocent civilian Palestinian men, women, and especially children; Failing to properly aid hundreds of thousands of food-deprived Palestinians; and Committing domicide by destroying approximately 62 percent of Palestinian homes in Gaza, as well as damaging at least 84 percent of Gaza's health facilities, together with over 275 schools. It has become intuitively and painfully obvious to me that Prime Minister Netanyahu's definition of ``the right to defend'' embraces an invidious ends-justifies-the-means strategy. This imprudent and unjust strategy of domicide, collective harm, and failure to feed the hungry, in tandem with the killing of thousands of innocent Palestinian children, cannot in good conscience receive a blind eye. No one, no political entity, no country can commit such atrocious injustices in the name of justice and expect the blessings of people of good will. Injustice in the name of justice is still an injustice. Israel's de jure right (in the hands of Prime Minister Netanyahu) to defend itself in the name of justice has metamorphosed into unconscionable de facto human rights violations that offend the conscience and grievously tarnishes Israel's global image. In truth, Prime Minister Netanyahu's might-makes-right, by any means necessary-- war--is making Israel an existential threat to Palestinians living in Gaza. I cannot in good conscience oppose the above-cited atrocious transgressions and contemporaneously provide the munitions which can beget more of these God-awful inhumanities. Sadly, but righteously, I cannot vote to send the pending billions of supplemental funds to the opprobrious administration of Prime Minister Netanyahu. To do so would allow those funds, or free up other funds in their treasury, to purchase the lethality to kill more innocent civilian Palestinian men, women, and especially children, which I oppose. Palestinians (like Israelis) are in mourning, and the lives of innocent civilian Palestinian men, women, and especially children matter. They too must be protected. For the reasons enumerated above, I will vote no on The Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, and still I rise, supporting the overall intent of H. Res. 1143, condemning Iran's unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel. However, while supporting much of the intentions of this resolution, I believe that it is imperative to make clear that, as this resolution affirms Israel's right to ``respond to this aggression through military, diplomatic, economic, and other necessary means,'' I do not intend my vote in favor of the resolution to be taken as an endorsement of any military action Prime Minister Netanyahu might take in response. We stand at a dangerous time for the region, and any response to Iran's attack should be measured with the goal of achieving lasting regional peace. In advancing this resolution, let us not forget our steadfast, ironclad dedication to upholding international peace.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise, Mr. Speaker, and still I rise. Today, I would like to do something just a bit different. I have stood here on many occasions and said that I love my country, that I salute the flag. I still love my country and salute the flag, and today what I would like to do is actually salute the flag. I just believe that any time is a good time, especially when you are in this facility, to salute the flag. If you would indulge me, Mr. Speaker, I would like to move to another podium. And still I rise, Mr. Speaker, proud to stand here in the well of the House of Representatives. One can but only imagine the great speeches, the oratory that is imitated from this area. However, today, I want to do something different. I just want to say the Pledge of Allegiance from this very almost sacred place. Those who would like to join me, you but only have to stand and as you would normally salute the flag, you may do so. If you choose not to, you don't have to. The greatness of America will not be measured by whether the Al Greens of the world salute the flag. The greatness of America will be measured by whether the Al Greens of the world would defend those who choose not to salute the flag, who choose not to say the Pledge of Allegiance, who choose not to sing the national anthem, who choose not to stand for the anthem. I, today, will do what I will do, and that is salute the flag. To all of my friends who are here, we are about to say the Pledge of Allegiance, and for those who choose not to, you don't have to, but those who do, would you join me by standing. I place my hand over my heart when I say the Pledge of Allegiance. I shall lead in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate everyone joining me in this Pledge of Allegiance. I wanted to do this because I believe the values that we have in this country we can export to the rest of the world. I believe that the words in the Declaration of Independence, a founding document, these are words that we can export to the rest of the world: All persons created equal, endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These are powerful words. These words are words that we are in this country still trying to make real. It is a great and noble ideal, but we still have not gotten there yet. We are forming still our more perfect Union. I think that as we do it here, I believe that these things can be exported to the rest of the country--the rest of the world, if you will--the notion that all persons are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I want to focus for just a moment on life, this aspect of the Declaration of Independence. I want to focus on lives not just in this country because we do this quite often, so I have said a lot about the deaths that are taking place here, the mass shootings that are taking place here, yes, but I want to export this idea to another place. I want to talk about this noble concept as it relates to Gaza and what is happening to the lives in Gaza. I want to do this because for too long the thousands that have lost their lives have been statisticized. The statisticization of their lives is a disservice to humanity. These innocent people, innocent men, women, and especially children, their lives should not be just simply statisticized. Their lives ought to be humanized. Today, I would like to humanize the lives, and I also have a resolution commemorating innocent civilian lives lost in Gaza, especially children. Let's export the great and noble American ideal in our Declaration of Independence, let's apply it to people on a global basis. Now I shall move back to the podium where I ordinarily make my comments because I have some paraphernalia there that I will be introducing. Mr. Speaker, I move to the next podium. This is a resolution that I am previewing. There may be some tweaking, but I am previewing it, and it will be filed either today or tomorrow. This resolution commemorates innocent civilian lives lost in Gaza, especially children. Whereas, this resolution may be cited as the original resolution commemorating innocent civilian lives lost in Gaza, especially children. Whereas, on October 7, 2023, Hamas conducted a heinous attack on Israel leading to Israel declaring war on Hamas--not Palestine, not Palestinians, but declaring war on Hamas. And I say this because, unfortunately, a good many people--too many, if you will--have concluded that the war is against Palestinians, against Palestine. The war was declared against Hamas, and the Prime Minister of Israel himself has indicated that the war is against Hamas. He has also indicated that the Palestinians are victims, the Palestinians are victims. I concur. The innocent Palestinian men, women, and especially children are victims of this war. They are victims to the extent that they not only suffer from being in a war zone, but they also suffer by being harmed in various and sundry ways--and I will say more about this later--and they are losing their lives. Continuing: Whereas, both Palestinians and Israelis are in mourning. The country of Israel is still in mourning from the October 7 horrendous attack. Gazans, Palestinians, innocent men, women, and children are in mourning because of the thousands, the tens of thousands, who have lost their lives in this war. Whereas, in 2020 the population of Gaza was over 2 million with approximately half being children under the age of 18. Whereas, the pain, suffering, and deaths of innocent Palestinian men, women, and especially children, are too often reduced to statisticization. Whereas, people of good will must do more than statisticize the pain, suffering, and killing of innocent civilian Palestinians. Whereas, people of good will must do more to humanize the pain and suffering of Palestinians in Gaza with explanations of how they lost their arms, legs, eyes, ears, and lives. Let me repeat this because this statisticization is something that is difficult to say but also something that we ought not attribute to persons who have lost their arms, legs, eyes, and hearing, as well as their lives. This is a very sad, sad circumstance to have to negotiate and deal with. Whereas, because of the war, homes, schools, businesses, hospitals and, more importantly, their lives in Gaza have been destroyed. Whereas, because of the war many businesses have been decimated. Whereas, hundreds of thousands of innocent civilian men, women, and especially children, in Gaza have suffered through the loss of mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters while starving and suffering the mental anguish associated with war. Whereas, civilians in Gaza live in constant fear of sudden loss of arms, legs, and life; and Whereas, tens of thousands of innocent civilians, including thousands of children, have been brutally killed in a war beyond their control. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the House of Representatives commemorates the tens of thousands of innocent civilian lives lost in Gaza, especially those of children. The lives lost should be viewed as more than mere statistics, the humanity, the pain, suffering, and deaths of the tens of thousands of men, women, and especially children, must be commemorated and memorialized. The killing of innocent men, women, and especially children, in Palestine must cease immediately with all possible haste. All hostages must be returned immediately--and we are talking about hostages that are Israeli, as well as any that may be Palestinian, but we know that Israeli hostages were taken. And finally, because the United States' largess has contributed to the purchase of munitions used by the Netanyahu administration, the United States must do everything it can to address the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza perpetrated by the destruction of homes, infrastructure, schools, hospitals, and, also, I would add, the loss of human life. Now, I would like to give you some graphic indications of what this is all about. There is an article from The New Yorker that I would like to read, dated March 21, 2020. I will go through it, and then I will show you some pictures of what has happened. But first, let's start with this representation. This is a representation of persons who are in mourning, and they are doing what people do when they are suffering. You can see persons who are screaming and crying out. The language reads: ``Of the thousands of Palestinians killed in Gaza, about 70 percent have been women and children.'' That is quite a large number. About 70 percent have been women and children. This representation is of persons who are making an appeal for food. You can see in their eyes a sadness. You can see, with their hands extended, a plea for food. The language reads: ``The catastrophic levels of hunger and starvation in Gaza are the highest ever recorded on the IPC scale, both in terms of number of people and percentage of the population,'' the highest ever recorded of hunger in Gaza. Now, this picture is a representation that tears at your heart as well but perhaps even in a more profound way because this young lady that you see, this baby, she is without her left leg. She is on a playground, so one would conclude that she is not in Gaza. You would be correct. You would be incorrect if you assume that this injury occurred in some place other than Gaza because that is where it occurred. As I read this article from The New Yorker, which I alluded to earlier, you will get a better comprehension of where she is and what happened to her. Mr. Speaker, it is a very sad story, but we have to humanize these thousands of people. We can't just allow them to just become numbers. If they are just numbers, it is easy to dismiss them as just casualties of war. They are more than numbers. These are human beings who have suffered. These are human beings who have relatives that are suffering. These are human beings whose lives are never going to be the same. There is a good likelihood that they won't have what we have in this country, and that is the medical assistance to help them recover, those who survive, as well as the medical attention for mental illness that they may suffer. Mr. Speaker, these are human beings. Some mother cried because of what happened to this child. Some father is crying because of what has happened to his child in Gaza. We cannot allow them to be dehumanized and reduced to statistics. We have to humanize these persons. Mr. Speaker, I have chosen this baby as the example for us to give some thought to. This article in The New Yorker is styled ``The Children Who Lost Limbs in Gaza.'' The subtitle reads: ``More than a thousand children who were injured in the war are now amputees.'' Mr. Speaker, some things bear repeating; I say this quite regularly. It reads: ``More than a thousand children who were injured in the war are now amputees.'' This baby is more than one in a thousand. What do their futures hold? This article was published on March 21, 2024. It continues. This is the photograph that accompanied this article. The excerpts read: ``Gazal was wounded on November 10, when, as her family fled Gaza City's Al-Shifa hospital, shrapnel pierced her left calf.'' That would be the leg that she lost, and this is what will break your heart: ``To stop the bleeding, a doctor, who had no access to antiseptic or anesthesia, heated the blade of a kitchen knife''--no antiseptic, no anesthesia, heated the blade of a kitchen knife--``and cauterized the wound.'' Now, cauterization means that he took that hot blade without any anesthesia, without antiseptic, and he placed this hot blade on the skin of this baby--a hot blade--to save her life. Can you imagine the screams? Can you imagine the heartache that the parents felt as they saw this happening to their baby? But they knew this was necessary. This is a lifesaving technique, a hot blade-- ``heated the blade of a kitchen knife and cauterized the wound.'' She is more than a statistic. She is a human being, and she deserves to have someone recognize her humanity. ``Within days, the gash ran with pus and began to smell.'' She suffered the hot blade, and now the gash is smelling, running with pus. ``By mid-December, when Gazal's family arrived at Nasser Medical Center,'' which has been rendered dysfunctional now, I believe. If it is not, it has been brought back online, but it was. Gazal's family took her to this medical center. It was, at the time, the largest functioning healthcare facility, but when they got there, gangrene had set in. First, she is wounded. Then, she suffers a hot blade. Now, she has gangrene, necessitating amputation at the hip. Mr. Speaker, we are talking about the baby in this picture. Let's humanize her. ``On December 17, a projectile hit the children's ward of Nasser,'' meaning this hospital. ``Gazal and her mother watched it enter their room.'' Here is the mother with her daughter, having suffered cauterization with the blade of a hot kitchen knife, now in the hospital, and they witness the projectile coming into the ward where the baby is. A projectile hit the ward. ``Gazal and her mother watched it enter their room, decapitating Gazal's 12-year-old roommate and causing the ceiling to collapse.'' This is a baby who has suffered more than any human being should, and now, while in the hospital, a projectile comes into the ward where she is. This projectile decapitates her 12-year-old roommate. We have to humanize, not statisticize. This caused the ceiling to collapse. ``Multiple news reports have described the event as an Israeli attack. The IDF claimed the incident could have been caused by a Hamas mortar or the remnant of an Israeli flare.'' This is what The New Yorker is quoting, someone with the IDF, the Israeli Defense Force. This person is indicating that it could have been a mortar from Hamas, or it could have been the remnant of an Israeli flare. ``Gazal and her mother managed to crawl out of the rubble. The next day, their names were added to the list of evacuees who could cross the border into Egypt and then fly to Qatar for medical treatment.'' This is her now in Qatar. Her mother got her out. ``Gazal's mother was 9 months pregnant.'' The mother, whose daughter has suffered incalculable pain, was 9 months pregnant. She gave birth to a baby girl while awaiting the airlift. All of this time, this mother was pregnant--while having her daughter suffer the blade of a hot knife to save her life and then taking her daughter to a hospital where a projectile enters the room and decapitates another baby--12 years old--in that room. Now, this baby sees all of this. She is a witness to this. Can you imagine what her life will be like, the trauma she will suffer? Mr. Speaker, we have to humanize these lives. This is not just another casualty of war. This is a human being. UNICEF estimates that 1,000 children in Gaza have become amputees. This baby represents one of a thousand--probably more than that now. This baby has to be humanized. This article indicates: ``This is the biggest cohort of pediatric amputees in history.'' This is happening in Gaza, the biggest cohort of pediatric amputees in history. We call these casualties of war. This baby is just another casualty of war--the biggest cohort in history. She is more than a casualty of war. She is a human being. I now move to another story that should be humanized. This one is from CNN, a fairly reputable news source. The style of this article is: ``At least 13 killed, including 7 children, after strike on Gaza's Al- Maghazi refugee camp.'' Mr. Speaker, 13 killed, including 7 children. This didn't happen a month ago. This didn't happen 2 months ago. This happened on April 16. That is in the very recent past. ``At least 13 people, it reads, were killed, including 7 children, and more than 25 injured after a strike targeted Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza on Tuesday, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital officials. ``Graphic video obtained exclusively by CNN from eyewitness Nihad Owdetallah, shows several casualties scattered on the floor, including children, with blood streaming around the area.'' This was Tuesday. This was the Tuesday sometime after what happened in Israel as it relates to Iran. This happens in Gaza as the Netanyahu administration is planning a response to what happened with Iran. How do you think these people feel? What about them? Are we now going to just forget them? We will just go on to the next fight, and these thousands, tens of thousands, over 30,000, just sort of put them in the past? I will not. There has to be some justice for these children. What is happening to them is an injustice. You cannot, in the name of justice, create an injustice and call it justice. An injustice in the name of justice is still an injustice. This is an injustice, and it is continuing after Prime Minister Netanyahu has indicated that he wants justice for what happened to Israel. How can we just let this become a thing of the past? I refuse to allow it to be a thing of the past. The video shows several casualties spread on the floor, including children with blood streaming around the area. ``Dozens of people appear to be running around in panic, screaming and trying to count and carry the dead bodies. A foosball table covered in dust is seen among the dead bodies.'' The witness, who lives in the camp, told CNN he heard an explosion around 3:40 p.m. local time on Tuesday around 30 to 40 meters away from him. This is his quotation: ``I immediately walked to see what happened and found dead bodies thrown on the ground. People screaming, kids screaming. Kids dead on the ground. They were just playing foosball, and they were martyred. ``Footage shot for CNN from inside Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital shows a continuous flow of casualties and injured people being ushered in, as the emergency room is crowded with patients, including several wounded children, crying out on the floor''-- children. Let's go back to the style of this article: ``At least 13 killed, including 7 children, after strike on Gaza's Al-Maghazi refugee camp.'' ``The emergency room is crowded with patients, including several wounded children, crying out on the floor. Family members are seen crowding over their loved one's dead bodies, kissing them, holding onto them and sobbing.'' These are human beings. They do what human beings do when they suffer these kinds of tragedies. ``Video from inside a morgue at the hospital shows families trying to identify their loved ones among the deceased. Fatmeh Issa points to a white body bag with a young boy's bloodied face exposed, telling CNN, `This is my son.''' A young boy's bloodied face exposed in a white body bag, ``This is my son,'' she says. ``Another man cries out, `They have nothing to do with anyone. They are civilians. Have mercy on us.''' These people are pleading, appealing to us. I say ``us,'' because our fingerprints are all over this. The munitions being used are in some part related to the largesse that we send to the Netanyahu administration. That largesse is the link to us, and we have to do something about it. ``Have mercy on us. You are killing children. You are not killing an army or fighters. . . . `' Remember earlier, I said the war was declared on Hamas, not Palestinians, not Palestine? Here is a validation of the thinking of the people in Gaza. These people understand what is going on. ``You are killing children. You are not killing an army or fighters; you are killing children who were peacefully playing in the street.'' They are children playing in the street. One moment they are children running and doing the things that children do, laughing. The next moment, seven are dead. You are killing children who were peacefully playing in the street, not an army, not fighters. ``Video shows him handing a young girl's dead body to another man, both men crying out Quranic verses and sobbing. The man who receives her body is seen placing her on the ground, and covers her body with a jacket, telling CNN she is his daughter.'' Human beings dying and suffering, suffering and then dying and those left behind suffering. This war has to cease. It has got to stop. We ought to be among the first to say it has got to stop. Do you think history is going to be kind to us? Posterity is not going to be kind to the Netanyahu administration. We will be seen as persons who were eyewitnesses by way of television to a great human tragedy and did not do what we could to prevent it. Remember, the war was not declared on children. It wasn't declared on women. It wasn't declared on innocent people. It was declared on Hamas, but we know that more than 30,000 Palestinians have lost their lives, some of them in horrific ways. There seems to be a means by which the mind can process a person dying as a result of an explosion from one of the bombs that we helped pay for. There seems to be a means by which the mind can process that and see that as something that is not as horrific as if you do it in many other ways. It was just a bomb. The person was just a casualty of war, just another number, that is all. We need to move on. My fear is just that, that at some point, Prime Minister Netanyahu will decide enough is enough, and we will then say he has now moved on. Do you think this baby will have moved on? Do you think her parents will have moved on? Do you think the people who are suffering now will have moved on? This is a rest of their lives incident. Incident? What a kind way to say it. This is a rest of their lives tragedy. This is a rest of their lives slaughtering of human beings. Do you think they can just move on? At some point on this infinite continuum that we call time, we are all going to have to account for our time. Somebody is going to have to account for this and the thousands of innocent people who lost their lives. It won't be simply: Well, I just cast a vote. I didn't do it. There is a connection. We have our fingerprints all over this, and we ought to do what we can to prevent it from continuing. The man who has said this is his daughter, he indicates: ``This is my oldest daughter . . . her name is Lujain. She is 9 years old.'' This man has lost his 9-year-old daughter. It goes on to indicate: ``A strike hit them while they were playing out in the street. They are all just children.'' Mr. Speaker, I can't let it go. I am sorry. I can't. I wish I could, but I can't. These are babies. I can't let it go. I refuse to be a participant in this any longer. I have done it too long already. Too many babies have been killed. It has got to stop. Don't expect me to continue to fund this. Say what you want about me, but I am not going to continue to fund this killing of babies and then making them mere numbers. At some point, we have to come to our senses. Don't you see what we are doing to ourselves and our image in the world? Don't you see what Mr. Netanyahu, the Prime Minister, is doing to Israel's image in the world? Israel had the moral high ground. It is losing it. Some would say it has lost it. Nonetheless, we are quick to return it if something happens in Israel. We are quick to return it: You now have it again. I refuse--I refuse--to continue to fund this kind of atrocious behavior. Voltaire was right: Those who can make you believe absurdities-- actually, it was: Those who can cause you to let's just say believe absurdities, there is another way he put it, but those who can cause you to believe absurdities can cause you to commit atrocities. That is not the exact word. We now believe the absurd notion that it is all right to kill innocent men, women, and especially children, if in that process we are trying to get to a dastard who is hiding behind these innocent men, women, and children. I refuse to continue to be part of this unbelievable killing of men, women, and children before our very eyes that we are funding. Now, someone would say: Well, the war in Ukraine, you are funding that. We might remember that Ukraine is defending itself in a war where there has been an invasion. I don't want war anywhere. Ukraine's innocent men, women, and children are being killed as well, but Russia is funding that. Russia has their fingerprints all over that, and I don't approve of what Russia is doing. That is easy for us to say in this country. It is easy for us to condemn Russia for what Russia is doing. We do it without hesitation and without equivocation. We do it with no consternation--just Russia, we can do it. Why? It is because it is easy to look through the window of life at someone else and say: What you are doing is wrong. It is not so easy to look into the mirror of life and see the wrong that you are doing yourself. At some point we have to confess to what we are seeing in the mirror of life. If we don't, then we will still be judged. I assure you, Mr. Speaker, history is not going to be kind to us for what is happening in Gaza. There are going to be people who are going to wonder: What was wrong with them? They saw it. They had evidence of it, and they still forged forward to get it over with. Finish it, they say. Finish it. Finish this? Get this over with? Mr. Speaker, do you think that will be over for her? I refuse to continue to support this. Now, there will be some who say: If you can't do this, then you ought not be there because we expect you to cast the votes to do this. Mr. Speaker, all I can say to that is: My conscience will dictate what I do. I will do what I must and let others do what they may. Do what you will. I have not suggested to one of you that you have to vote a certain way. I am just telling you how I am going to vote. I am telling you, Mr. Speaker, that history is not going to be kind to all of us, and that includes me. I voted for over $50 billion to go to the country of Israel. Not that very long ago we voted more than $3 billion. I have been a supporter. I am still a supporter of the people. I am not a supporter of the Netanyahu administration. I support the people, not that administration, because what they are doing to the people of Gaza is ungodly. It is shameful. It is disgraceful. I will not support that. Let others do what they may. If there are people who believe so strongly about this in the Ninth Congressional District that they want somebody who will tolerate this and go along with this, then send them on up here and take me out because I don't go along with it. I am not going to go along so that I can get along, not when it comes to this. By the way, I am not a saint. I don't claim to be a saint. I just claim to be a person whose conscience dictates that I shall not support this kind of behavior. Mr. Speaker, I will close with this: Notwithstanding all that I have said, I still love my country. I am an American. I believe I am of African ancestry. I have not checked my bloodline to find out, I don't know, but I love this country. It means something to me to say to people that I am an American. I love it more than it has loved me. It segregated me. The rights that the Constitution recognized for me my friends and neighbors in the South took away from me, but I still love my country. How can you love your country when your country has treated you the way it has: the back of the bus, balcony of the movie, step off the sidewalk when people come by, separate line for you at the grocery store, and colored water fountains, how can you love it? It is because I love what it stands for and its noble ideals, the ideals of liberty and justice for all as extolled in the Pledge of Allegiance that we said at the genesis of this message. I love the ideal in the Declaration of Independence that all persons are created equal and endowed by their Creator with these inalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This is why I have said that because I love these ideals, I believe we should export them to other people, but not export them in the sense that we want them to simply obey them and treat other people right, I think that is a good thing to do, but in the sense that we ought to respect her life, her liberty, and her desire to pursue happiness. We ought to respect her life. Export that to people across the globe, especially people who are trapped, trapped in Gaza and who can't get out. They have no place to go and are told to move from one place to another. Let's give them the benefit of these noble words: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I will do so in every way that I can. I believe in this country, and I love it to the extent that I believe we ought to make that noble ideal real for people in this country and without this country, especially the people who are in Gaza. Mr. Speaker, as a proud Member of this Congress and a proud American in the sense that I love my country because of its great ideals, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise. I rise proud to be an American, proud to have the opportunity to stand here in the Congress of the United States of America and address issues of importance to the world. I am proud to say that as an American, I salute the flag. I say the Pledge of Allegiance. I sing the national anthem. I stand for the anthem, but, Mr. Speaker, as I always remind people, as a liberated Democrat, I remind them, the greatness of America will not be measured by whether the Al Green's of the world will stand and salute the flag or will stand and sing the national anthem. The greatness of America will be measured by whether the Al Green's of the world will defend those who choose not to stand, who choose not to sing, who choose not to salute. I will defend their rights as Americans not to participate in many things that I participate in. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to say that when I tell people I love my country, a good many would say to me, why would you love a country that segregated you? Why would you love a country that required you to sit in the back of the bus, the balcony of a movie? Why would you love a country that has treated you so badly and so poorly when you were a child? I was the son of a segregated South. The laws that the Constitution recognized for me, my friends and neighbors denied access to those laws, if you will. But I have found that the best opportunity to make a difference in the world and change these things resides here in the United States of America. I love the country because I love the ideals, the ideals, what it stands for in its Declaration of Independence, what it stands for in its Constitution. I know that the Constitution did not apply equally to all when initially written, but I also know that there have been changes and there is still much change to take place. I love my country, but I still believe that there must be things that we can do and there are things we can do to make the country a better place for all. Therefore, today, I rise, Mr. Speaker, to speak on behalf of the many persons who have lost their lives, who have suffered in Gaza. The United States funds, funds the country that has purchased the weaponry, much of it, that has been used to harm people in Gaza. We have our fingerprints on these weapons. We have our fingerprints on the destruction that is taking place in Gaza. I rise to stand with the innocent Palestinian men, women, and children, especially children, as well as others who were in Gaza who have suffered. I rise, Mr. Speaker, with a resolution that I will be filing, a resolution that will be commemorating the innocent civilian lives lost in Gaza. I plan to read this resolution, but before I read it, I will remind people, those who would think that I only commemorate the lives of Palestinians and those who lost their lives in Gaza who happen to be Palestinian. No. I was right here on the Capitol grounds just outside this building--you walk out, you walk over, you don't really walk down to the place where we stood to present our belief that we should bring back the hostages. I participated in this with the Honorable Frederica Wilson from Florida to bring back the hostages, to say to the world that we support bringing the hostages back. They should never have been taken. You don't take babies as hostages. I stood there, and before that, I was out in front of the Capitol with the Speaker of the House and many Representatives from this House to indicate that a certain number of days had passed and people were still being held hostage. I have spoken on the floor of this House on behalf of Israel. I have voted for more than $50 billion in support to Israel. So don't in any way conclude that I am a person who has not supported Israel and the people of Israel. But today, I have a resolution that deals with the innocent civilian lives lost in Gaza, and that would include, by the way, the seven people who were wounded, who were the World Central Kitchen workers. They were there to bring relief. It is a relief organization, but I say they were great humanitarians who lost their lives, and their lives have to be commemorated as well. Please, hear now the resolution commemorating innocent civilian lives lost in Gaza: ``Whereas, this resolution may be cited as the `Original Resolution Commemorating Innocent Civilian Lives Lost in Gaza.' '' By the way, it hasn't been filed. If someone wants to file a resolution similar to this before I file mine, please do so. I don't file it because I am trying to be first in time. I file it because there is a necessity to talk about the lives that have been lost in Gaza. ``Whereas, this resolution may be cited as the `Original Resolution Commemorating Innocent Civilian Lives Lost in Gaza.' '' By the way, one of the reasons that I filed this resolution, Mr. Speaker, is because I believe we must do more than statisticize these lives that were lost. We must do more to humanize the suffering that is taking place in Gaza. Statisticizing does not give you the essence of the human beings that have lost their lives and been wounded. I will say more about that as we progress. ``Whereas, on October 7, 2023, Hamas conducted a heinous attack on Israel, leading to Israel declaring war on Hamas.'' This is not in the resolution, but you need to hear this: War on Hamas, Mr. Speaker. Not war on Palestinians, war on Hamas. Even the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Netanyahu himself, has said that the Palestinians are victims. War on Hamas declared by Israel, not war on Palestinians. Continuing with the resolution: ``Whereas, in 2020, the population of Gaza was over 2 million, with approximately half being children under the age of 18.'' Half, more than half being children under the age of 18. I repeat a lot of things for emphasis. This is one of those things. ``Whereas, because of the war, homes, schools, businesses, and hospitals within Gaza have been decimated.'' I will say more about that in a moment. ``Whereas, hundreds of thousands of innocent civilian men, women, and especially children in Gaza have suffered through the loss of mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters''--family members, families have lost their lives in Gaza; innocent people, I might add--``while starving and suffering the mental anguish associated with war.'' Can you imagine what it would be like for the persons who survive this war, what their lives will be like? Will there be counseling for them as we provide counseling for ourselves when we have suffered some sort of mental anguish? Or will they just have to suffer for the rest of their lives and never get the proper medical treatment that they richly deserve? ``Whereas, civilians in Gaza live in constant fear of the sudden loss of arms, legs, and life.'' I will say more about this in just a moment. ``Whereas, tens of thousands of innocent civilians, including thousands of children, have been brutally killed in a war beyond their control: Now, therefore, be it resolved that the House of Representatives commemorates the tens of thousands of innocent civilian lives lost in Gaza, too many of whom were children; the lives lost should be viewed as more than statistics''--so far what I have done is give you statistics, for the most part, ``more than mere statistics''-- ``an effort should be made to respect the humanity of the dead; the killing of innocents should be stopped with all possible haste; and the United States should do everything it can to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.'' I thank the President for causing the necessary aid to be brought back into Gaza. I don't know that enough has been brought back to date, but I do know that because of this President, the gates have been opened such that more aid can get into Gaza. I am grateful for that. Now, let's go further into this because we have to humanize some of what I talked about. First, this poster that you see, my staff has written me a note that I have to remove. This poster that you see reads: Gaza's economy would not recover to its GDP levels of 2022 until 2092, seven decades from now--2092--if the economy were to grow at the pace it has in previous years. 2092 before Gaza can recover if its economy grows at the pace that it grew in previous years. According to my staff, in 2022, Gaza's per capita income was $3,572, which is 4 percent of what ours was in the United States. Ours was $76,329. This simply says that to get back to a per capita income that was painful to suffer, it will take seven decades if it grows at the rate that it was growing in 2022. Now, this is a depiction of the destruction. You have seen it on television. I am still dealing with statistics, by the way. I haven't really gotten to the heart of the message. If you can, stay with me. This depicts the suffering visually in terms of property that has been destroyed. It says, ``Israel's destruction.'' I would have this read, ``the Government of Israel.'' The people of Israel I have no quarrel with. I do have a quarrel with the government. I have no quarrel with the people of Israel. I have had differences of opinion with my government and still love the people in the country. You can have people that you have no quarrel with, but you can have a difference with the government. I would say the destruction of homes--and this is by virtue of the government's mandate--has created almost 23 million metric tons of rubble--23 million metric tons. My staff has given me some intelligence on what 23 million metric tons would be the equivalent of for reference. One metric ton is roughly equal to the weight of a small compact car. If we lined up 23 million compact cars end to end, you would be able to circle the globe--this would be the Earth--twice. Now, I know that the fighting is not what it was. I understand that there is what we would call a cessation in fighting to some extent taking place at this time, but there is a possibility that it may return. Even if it never returns, we can't forget that this happened. We can never forget that this took place. Just as I will never forget that slavery took place in this country, I won't ever forget that this took place in Gaza. God gave us memory for a reason. You have a heart to forgive, but you have a head to remember. I won't forget this. If it ends now, I will still remember the suffering and pain and all the atrocities that took place in Gaza. Continuing, this is a representation that starts to get to where I am going. It reads: ``The catastrophic levels of hunger and starvation in Gaza are the highest ever recorded on the IPC scale, both in terms of number of people and percentage of the population.'' This document will tell me what the IPC is, and I shall tell you. It is the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, the highest ever recorded happening in Gaza now. This is not something that happened ages ago. We are getting closer to the essence of my message: Of the thousands of Palestinians killed in Gaza, about 70 percent have been women and children. There are estimates out there of tens of thousands. If you give the estimate that is being quoted, someone will say that is a bad source that you got it from, but nobody disputes the fact that tens of thousands have been killed, tens of thousands. Seventy percent have been women and children in the war to date. I won't forget this. Now, to the heart of my message, this says more than 10 children lose a limb, on average, per day in Gaza. Now, that was a while ago. That was as of January 7, 2024, so it may be a lot different today because of the cessation in hostilities--not the complete stop. They haven't ceased, but there is not as much, not nearly as much, taking place currently. What you see here is a child, this child I shall read about, and this gets to what I was saying about humanizing. We have to humanize not statisticize. This is more than a number. This is an actual child. We must humanize this baby. I will read to you now from The New Yorker. The article is styled: ``The Children Who Lost Limbs in Gaza,'' subtitled, ``More than a thousand children who were injured in the war are now amputees. What do their futures hold?'' This is by Eliza Griswold, March 21, 2024. It reads: ``Gazal''--her name is Gazal, we are not saying Gaza, her name is Gazal, this baby-- ``was wounded on November 10, when, as her family fled Gaza City's Al- Shifa hospital, shrapnel pierced her left calf. To stop the bleeding, a doctor, who had no access to antiseptic or anesthesia, heated the blade of a kitchen knife''--she was bleeding as a result of shrapnel, and the doctor took a kitchen knife and heated the knife, it says here-- ``heated the blade of a kitchen knife and cauterized the wound.'' Now, this baby has to be more than a piece of statistical information. This is a human being suffering, and she had the wound cauterized with a heated kitchen knife. It says: ``Within days, the gash ran with pus and began to smell.'' Now, this is somebody's child. The gash ran with pus and began to smell. Can you imagine what your life would be like if your child had suffered this kind of wound and you had to use a kitchen knife to cauterize, to try to save your baby's life, and then, within days, the gash starts to smell? ``By mid-December, when Gazal's family arrived at Nasser Medical Center, then Gaza's largest functioning healthcare facility''--by the way, it was rendered dysfunctional; if it has been brought back up, it was done so as of late; it was rendered dysfunctional during the war-- ``then Gaza's largest functioning medical facility, gangrene had set in.'' So, we have a baby wounded. Her leg is cauterized, and she is then taken to a hospital because of pus. The cauterized leg is smelling. We have to make sure that you understand that there was an odor that this family detected. It said that gangrene set in, necessitating amputation at the hip. This is a human being. We have got to do more to humanize. We can't say that children are losing their limbs. A baby lost her leg up to her hip. We have got to do more to humanize. This baby had purpose. She had a life. Now, someone will say, well, this is not Gaza. It doesn't look like Gaza. If the baby was wounded in Gaza, why is she in this environment? I will get to that. I will get to that. ``On December 17 a projectile''--now remember, she is at this medical center. ``On December 17, a projectile hit the children's ward of Nasser.'' That is the hospital. ``Gazal and her mother watched it enter their room . . . `' They are in the hospital now to receive attention to the wound that this baby suffered earlier, and they watched--this is amazing to me--watched it enter the room. They are saying the projectile came into the room, and they saw it as it was coming in. Can you imagine the fear? Can you imagine the kind of counseling and psychiatric help you need when you see this? So this projectile comes into the room, and here is what follows: `` . . . decapitating Gazal's 12-year-old roommate and causing the ceiling to collapse.'' Gazal had a roommate in that facility. This person, 12 years of age, is decapitated. By the way, Israelis were decapitated, too. I denounced it. I denounced it. I don't believe you can condemn the killing of Israeli babies and then condone the killing of Palestinian babies. I can't do that. The God that I worship doesn't let me do that. This projectile decapitated Gazal's 12-year-old roommate and caused the ceiling to collapse. ``Multiple news reports have described the event as an Israeli attack. The IDF claimed the incident could have been caused by a Hamas mortar or the remnant of an Israeli flare.'' Now, IDF says it could have been caused by Hamas or Israel. ``Gazal and her mother managed to crawl out of the rubble.'' Here is a baby with one leg amputated up to the hip in a facility to get help, and she has to crawl out. ``Gazal's mother was 9 months pregnant; she gave birth to a baby girl while awaiting the airlift to Doha. ``UNICEF estimates that a thousand children in Gaza have become amputees since the conflict began in October. `This is the biggest cohort of pediatric amputees in history,''' it says, and it is taking place in Gaza. My time is nearly up, so I have to rush to my close, and I am going to do so, Mr. Speaker, so I beg you would bear with me. This closing has to be heard. Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have remaining.

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, we have statisticized, I have tried to humanize, and forgive me for not enunciating some of these words, the verbiage, properly, but my heart was speaking today so my head sometimes gets distorted. We have humanized this baby. We have talked about what is happening and what has happened. Now I want to talk to you about something that will give us hope. This is from the speech of the Prime Minister of Japan. He spoke where the Speaker is standing right now. Why would I go to the speech of the Prime Minister from Japan? Well, here is why. Listen to his words. He says--and this is his conclusion--``Let me close with this final thought. I want you to know how seriously Japan takes its role as the United States' closest ally.'' Somebody remembers that the United States was the first country in the world to use nuclear power against a perceived enemy. An enemy, if you will--some would say perceived, I am going to say an enemy at the time. We dropped two atomic bombs, Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and you have got the Prime Minister of Japan standing where the Speaker is now saying that we are their closest ally, they are our closest ally. He goes on to say: ``Together we carry a large responsibility. I believe that we are essential to peace, vital to freedom, and fundamental to prosperity.'' This is the Prime Minister of Japan. Notwithstanding all that has happened, notwithstanding what we did in dropping atomic bombs on Japan, the Prime Minister proclaims that we are friends. He goes on to say: ``Bonded by our beliefs, I pledge to you Japan's firm alliance and enduring friendship.'' Why did I bring this up? I brought this up because those who say that we cannot have a two-state solution, I say to you remember that Japan is the country that we dropped atomic bombs on, and we now have a friendship with Japan. We have the Prime Minister coming here and speaking to a joint session of Congress. Don't tell me we can't have a two-state solution. I know that Mr. Netanyahu's behavior is not that of a person who seeks a two-state solution because if it were, you wouldn't decimate Gaza, you wouldn't kill tens of thousands of people, many of them babies. I understand that he doesn't want a two-state solution. I understand that Hamas doesn't want a two-state solution. But we cannot be guided by what Hamas and Mr. Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, what they want. We should be guided by our conscience and do the right thing, and a two-state solution is the right solution. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise, a proud, liberated Democrat, unbought, unbossed, and unafraid. In the spirit of Shirley Chisholm, I rise, a great and noble American. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on another mission of mercy. I rise today because this morning, at approximately 4:30 a.m., I was reviewing a news story. In this news story, there was an indication that there was death in Haiti. I had an opportunity to see on the screen of my television the horrors that were emanating from the story. Mr. Speaker, I saw a person lying in the street who was apparently without life. It is not a pleasant thing to see someone without life, but to see a person lying in the street without life, with only a portion of the body discernible, was quite an experience. As I saw this person lying in the street, Mr. Speaker, I also saw persons passing by. Most of them were on vehicles of the two-wheel variety. As they passed by, some of them looked but others barely glanced. Among those passing by were young and old, but also there was a person who was with law enforcement who passed by a body lying in the street. Someone was interviewed, and it was explained by the person interviewed that this person had been attacked, had been attacked by people who were of the opinion that they were defending themselves. They attacked this person with machetes and severed limbs from the body. At least that is the way it appeared to me as I viewed this on my TV screen. It was quite shocking and appalling to see this body lying in the street with people just simply passing by. Haiti is a country in turmoil. If you believe that injustice anywhere, as Dr. King put it, is a threat to justice everywhere, you have to be concerned about what is happening in Haiti. You have to be concerned. The statistical information related to the atrocities that are occurring can stir the soul, can literally cause persons to come to tears, if you truly care about people. I would like to share some of the information. Hopefully, those who believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere will have some concern about the injustice that is taking place in Haiti. According to the U.N. Special Representative for Haiti, more than 8,400 people were victims of gang violence in Haiti in the last year. The last year alone, more than 8,400 people have been victims of gang violence. Now, Haiti is a country with a population of a little more than 11 million, perhaps about 11,500,000. Haiti is a country that is closer to the United States than Houston, Texas, is to El Paso, Texas. Haiti is just off of our shores. We ought to be concerned. Haiti, last year, including killings, injuries, and kidnappings, had about a 122 percent increase over 2022. The U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, warned that across Haiti, last year, at least 3,600 people had been killed, 1,432 injured, and 2,951 kidnapped in gang-related violence, and this was as of November. The number of injuries in Haiti, according to United Nations quarterly report on human rights, situated in Haiti, lynchings-- lynchings are something that causes me a good deal of concern with my history. My history is one that has suffered great lynchings--lynchings have left at least 76 people dead across the country. At least 1,634 people were killed or injured as a result of violence by criminal groups. Gangs of people killed 1,634 people. At least 693 people were kidnapped in the last quarter of 2023, an increase of 18 percent over the previous quarter. At least 53 children, some as young as 6 months old, were kidnapped, killed, or injured during the last quarter of 2023. This ought to cause people who believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere to have some concern. Almost 500 children had no time to escape from a school they were trapped in and had to remain in that school for some 2 days. The healthcare situation in Haiti has greatly deteriorated. According to the Guardian, Haiti's healthcare system has all but collapsed amid the ferocious gang insurrection that is taking place. Hospitals have been set ablaze. Doctors have been murdered. Even basic medical supplies have dried up. Currently, only one public hospital in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, remains operational, but it is expected to shut its doors. Mr. Speaker, a summary of the food situation can bring one to ask how we could allow such circumstances to exist. According to NPR, since the COVID virus took its toll, at least 4 million people in Haiti have been acutely food insecure. Now, out of those 4 million, 1 million are one step away from famine. According to the Washington Post, there were disturbances in January, and food prices jumped 25 percent in the south where roadblocks came up and trucks weren't able to get to Port-au-Prince with basic necessities. Mr. Speaker, the World Food Programme survey found that as prices go up, household incomes are going down, because people can't go to work and are sheltering in place and aren't going to earn money. If we truly believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, we have to be concerned about the persons in Haiti because many of them will want to leave and seek safety elsewhere. Some of them will make an attempt to come to this country. Unfortunately, our country has a history of turning Haitians away. It wasn't that long ago that as the persons from Cuba were escaping Cuba and coming to this country, we had a policy that was styled as, known as, called, if you will, wet-foot/dry-foot. This policy of wet-foot/dry-foot would allow a Cuban to get one foot on dry land in the United States of America and then move forward into the country, move forward on a pathway that would lead to jobs, that would lead to a better life, and possibly lead to citizenship in the country. Wet-foot/dry-foot was the name of the policy. It applied to Cubans. At the same time Cubans were arriving in this country from Castro's Cuba, as we have called it, Haitians were arriving. Haitians were fleeing poverty, despair, hunger, and death. At the same time Cubans were arriving, the Haitians could get both feet on dry land, could acquire a job, but if they were discovered, they were sent back to Haiti. There was one policy for persons coming from Cuba, known as wet-foot/ dry-foot. That is the way the policy was styled. There was another policy for persons coming from Haiti that would cause them to be returned to Haiti, back to despair, back to poverty, and some of them back to lives that are unthinkable as we envision life for human beings. We have not treated Haiti fairly when compared to how we treated others within this hemisphere, a country that is closer to the United States than Houston, Texas, is to El Paso, Texas. Mr. Speaker, if we truly believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, we ought to release the $40 million that are available to help Haiti. We have $40 million available that we could release if we only agree to let the money that has already been appropriated go to Haiti. We have $40 million available. It is not enough, but more than they would have, and it would be of help to some. Two people out of 435, plus 100 in the Senate, are holding up this money that could go to Haiti and help the Haitian people. If you truly believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, release the $40 million, release the money to Haiti. There could be any number of reasons why you would hold the money, but in my opinion, what is happening in Haiti, as I have explained it, would justify releasing the money. Release the money so that Haiti can get some of the help that it needs. Voltaire reminded us that those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. It is an absurdity to believe that holding onto this $40 million is somehow going to benefit us and the people in Haiti. That $40 million ought to be released. It is an absurdity to think that holding onto this $40 million is somehow going to improve conditions in Haiti. I don't believe anyone believes that. Nonetheless, I also would hope that no one believes that holding onto the $40 million is more important than helping those persons who are suffering in Haiti. We ought to release this $40 million. It is an absurdity to hold onto this money, and, Mr. Speaker, those who can cause you to believe absurdities can cause you to commit atrocities. In truth, our fingerprints now are on some of what is happening in Haiti because we could prevent some of what is happening in Haiti with the funds that have already been allocated, but because we refuse to send the $40 million, people are going to suffer. Not enough money is the $40 million, but it is more than they have, and it can alleviate some of the suffering that is taking place. I rise on this mission of mercy with an appeal to the two people who but with their signatures could release $40 million to suffering people. Use that pen to make a difference. Take your hand, Mr. Speaker, grab that pen, and release that $40 million to the Haitians who can benefit from it. Mr. Speaker, I believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, and we have a threat that is imminent and can, unfortunately, take its place across the gulf and find its home here in this country. Injustice does not stay within the confines of any one border if it persists long enough. It is time for us to help the people in Haiti and release the $40 million. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 96.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise. I rise to honor the memory of a noble public servant Harris County Justice of the Peace Judge Armando V. Rodriguez. Elected to Harris County's Precinct 6, Place 2 in 1973, Judge Armando V. Rodriguez became the first Hispanic to hold the title of Harris County Justice of the Peace. He served our county admirably for more than four decades and was known as the longest-tenured judge in Harris County. The Honorable Judge V. Rodriguez was not just a holder of public trust but a justice seeker, community leader, and coalition builder. Judge Rodriguez exercised compassion and experience to boldly advocate for and protect his community. Judge Rodriguez went above and beyond the call of duty when he founded Fiestas Patrias, an organization that celebrates the diversity and cultures of Latin America and culminated into an annual parade that is still being held today. Judge Rodriguez's efforts also included the creation of the Black and Brown Coalition, which we co-founded together. Mr. Speaker, I am fortunate enough to say that I knew and worked alongside The Honorable Judge Armando V. Rodriguez for many years. I believe that when history records the legacy of Judge Rodriguez, he will be forever remembered for his caring and candid demeanor as he worked to serve local communities, his county, as well as his country.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise. And still I rise. I rise as a very proud unbought, unbossed, and unafraid liberated Democrat. In the spirit of Shirley Chisholm, she was, as she proclaimed, unbought and unbossed. I rise also as the scion of the enslaved Africans whose lives were sacrificed to make America great. I rise as the progenitor of Slavery Remembrance Day, August 20, Slavery Remembrance Day. All of these things are important to me because all of these things are associated with my history. So I rise today in the spirit of Shirley Chisholm. I rise to speak and address an issue that is little known to most persons. The issue has to do with domicide. Domicide. I will repeat this again in just a moment, but I think it will serve us well to articulate it at this moment. Domicide is the widespread or systematic destruction of homes, often during conflict. I will be saying more about it in just a moment. This is to whet your appetite, if you will, Mr. Speaker, to get you in the frame of mind such that you will start to give some thought to this word ``domicide,'' which more than likely you have not seen prior to today. Domicide is something that is new to most of us. In addressing this issue of domicide, I would like to read from an article published by NPR styled: ``What is `domicide,' and why has war in Gaza brought new attention to the term?'' It is an article that was written by Becky Sullivan on February 9, 2024, in NPR. These are the words of NPR: ``One of the most staggering statistics to emerge from the war between Israel and the militant group Hamas is this: More than 650,000 residents of Gaza will have no home to return to once Israel completes its military campaign, the United Nations estimates.'' Once Israel completes its military campaign, there will be no home to return to. According to NPR: That total amounts to nearly 30 percent of the territory's population. And `many more' will be unable to return home immediately due to damage to infrastructure and the danger of unexploded ordnance, the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, says.'' It is disturbing to note that some 650,000 residents in an area that has approximately 2 million persons, a little more than 2 million, will have no home to return to, and it is indicated that this will be the case once Israel completes its military campaign. Let me step aside from the article for just a moment and say this: What Hamas did on October 7 was unthinkable. It was a dastardly deed. It will live in the annals of history with those other dastardly deeds that we all regret having to recall to our minds. It was horrible, it was unthinkable, and it is horrific. This is what Hamas did, and Israel declared war on Hamas. Israel has a right to demand justice and to receive justice for the dastardly deeds perpetuated. Babies were killed, men and women were killed, and persons were decapitated. Israel has a right to seek justice. Israel declared war on Hamas. Israel did not declare war on Palestinians or Palestine. Israel did not declare war on the people of Palestine. In fact, Mr. Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, had indicated himself that the Palestinians are victims. The Palestinians are victims. Israel did not declare war on the Palestinians, but rather on Hamas. I say this repeatedly with the emphasis that I have attributed to these commentaries because there are many people who have confused Hamas with Palestine and Palestinians. Many people assume that because of what Hamas did, Palestinians can suffer and it is okay; many people have concluded. It is wrong to kill Israeli babies. It is wrong to kill innocent people in Israel. Be that as it may, many people have concluded that it is okay to kill Palestinian babies and innocent Palestinians. I am not one of them. I do not believe that in the name of justice you can commit an injustice and that injustice will be a justice. An injustice committed in the name of justice is still an injustice. What has happened to thousands of Palestinian babies in the course of this war on Hamas is an injustice. Let me continue. I have indicated that some 650,000 residents of Gaza will have no home to return to once Israel completes its military campaign. This is according to the United Nations. It also estimates: ``That total amounts to nearly 30 percent of the territory's population. And `many more' will be unable to return home immediately due to damage to infrastructure.'' Now, this is in addition to the 650,000. In addition to the 650,000, many more won't be able to return home due to damage to infrastructure and the danger of unexploded ordnance, the United Nation's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA--I don't know how to pronounce it--OCHA says. ``As of early February, more than 70,000 housing units in Gaza have been destroyed and nearly 300,000 have been damaged. . . . `' This is according to the organization, OCHA, the one that coordinates the humanitarian affairs. It goes on to say here in the article: ``Taken together, it represents 60 percent of all housing units in the Gaza strip.'' That is 60 percent of all housing units. ``Some researchers and human rights advocates say the destruction amounts to `domicide,'''--which I have called to your attention, domicide--``or the widespread or systematic destruction of homes, often during conflict.'' To a reader in a faraway place--this would apply to a lot of us. ``To a reader in a faraway place with no connection to a conflict, the numbers may feel abstract. But behind each of those numbers are families now experiencing the loss of their homes, said Ammar Azzouz, a research fellow at the University of Oxford and author of the book `Domicide: Architecture, War, and the Destruction of Home in Syria'.'' ``This is the house of a family,'' he goes on to say, ``of the saving, the livelihood, the dreams, and the future of the people.'' This is what Azzouz said. Let me just elaborate for just a moment. This is the house of a family. Can you imagine your home being destroyed? You have done nothing wrong and your home is destroyed. He indicates that savings will be destroyed. Most people don't buy homes with cash; they have to save. In this country, they have a mortgage for some long period of time, perhaps 30 years, even more if you have to refinance for some reason. But this is your home and you invested your life savings to a certain extent in this home, so your savings are lost if your home is destroyed. The livelihood, this is a means by which people can make a living. Some people literally have home offices for various businesses that they are engaged in. Your home is a place that allows you to dream of better things, of better places, of better times; dreams about things that have happened to you and things that you plan to do. Your home provides you the opportunity to think big, dream big, and believe that there is a better opportunity in the future, but it is lost once your home is destroyed. It is the future of people. Homes have been the means by which people have been able to finance a child's education. Homes have been the means by which persons can start a small business with the equity that they have in the home. Homes have provided people with a future. He goes on to say, ``And when the world's gaze''--when the world's attention, if you will, when the world is no longer looking at Gaza and the Palestinians, he goes on to say, ``When the world's gaze moves on and forgets about what happened, this pain and suffering and rupture remains with the people for decades. . . . `' You don't lose your home, have your home blown away, bombed, destroyed, and just forget about it. It becomes a nightmare. Your dream becomes a nightmare. You will for years, decades, perhaps the rest of your life, remember that you lost your home and then you have to start all over again. If you are young, starting all over may be something that you can accomplish with a degree of ease, but many of these persons who are losing their homes in Gaza are not young. They are not starting all over as youngsters who have years ahead of them. Many of them are seeking a place to call home, shelter, if you will, in places that have been destroyed. Maybe there is a corner that they can move into and perhaps they can pull some cover over themselves at night. They bring their babies with them, their children with them as they move into these places to try to find shelter. Let's take a look at one possibility. This is a depiction of destruction in Gaza. You have two adults with children out front. I don't know that this is their home, if they were ever living in any of these areas that are represented in the picture, but this is a place where someone dwelled and, as you can see, it has been destroyed. This has to be painful when you realize that years of savings, years of building, and repairing all gone up with one bomb that has our fingerprints on it, by the way, because we have provided largesse to Israel. Some might say, well, maybe the money didn't go directly toward that bomb. Perhaps not. Perhaps not, but as my colleagues from across the aisle like to remind me, there is something called ``fungibility,'' meaning that moneys that are set aside for one thing, once you acquire some additional dollars, you can use that money for other things. We have our fingerprints on this destruction, and we ought to be concerned about the harm that it is going to cause not just in the near future but in the distant future, immediate harm, as well as long-term harm. I continue now with the NPR article. For fear that some may have missed the last paragraph, I will read it again. ``This is the house of a family, of the saving, the livelihood, the dreams and the future of people.'' This is what Azzouz said, ``And when the world's gaze moves on,'' when the world is no longer paying attention, if you will, ``moves on and forgets about what's happened, this pain''--these are the persons who will experience the pain to a certain extent--``and suffering and rupture remains with people for decades, because this was their lost life, their lost time, and they grieve for it.'' Your life is in your home. Your time is in your home. We have to start to think about what is happening to people now as a result of our largesse. Our largesse is permitting this kind of thing to happen to people that war has not been declared against. Remember, the war was declared against Hamas, not the Palestinians. Continuing with the NPR article. ``Domicide has come to be a feature of conflict in the Middle East''--this is what he said--``from Mosul in Iraq to Aleppo and Homs in his native Syria. Azzouz and others argue that this kind of destruction wreaks deep psychological damage on people.'' Can you imagine how hurt you would be mentally if you have your home destroyed and you have done nothing wrong and you are innocent? Can you imagine how this pain lingers within your mind? He says it is ``deep psychological damage on people, for whom the loss of their home means a deeply felt loss of security.'' No home. You have lost your security. The home is a place where you feel secure. You lock your doors. You are there with your family. Everybody is in and you feel safe and secure. It remains a place of loss of security, of comfort, and memories. The memories of the children growing up and the many little things that happen in the home. The baby taking his first step in the room where, in some cases, the baby was born, unfortunately. Now, the article in NPR moves on to what the numbers show in Gaza. ``More than half of all buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed as of February 2, according to analysis of satellite imagery by a team of researchers at Oregon State University.'' This is NPR now quoting Oregon State University researchers as well as it says here, `` . . . the City University of New York. In northern Gaza, the most populous area of the territory before the war, as much as 82.9 percent of all buildings were damaged or destroyed.'' This is in northern Gaza where people were told you have to move because the military is coming and you will be safe if you move to another area, which we have found not to be the case, by the way. Let's take a look at another picture. This is a representation. This is Gaza. I am not sure that it is northern Gaza, but if you look at the destruction here, you can see the lost dreams, the hopes, the security. The destruction is almost unimaginable. It is unimaginable in the sense that this is being perpetrated on innocent people. Here is an example of an innocent person, a young Palestinian child. Obviously, we should be concerned first about this child. The home and other tangible things are important, but first about this child. This child may have no home to return to. Notice I said may. I don't know this child's personal history, but may have no home to return to. This child is injured, suffering, may have no home to return to. If not this child, some child who has been injured will have no home to return to. And when you see this child, as I have begged in the past and I appeal to you now, don't just see a Palestinian child, see a human being, a human being that is suffering. See an Israeli child. See your own child, care, and have a heart. Understand that injustice in the name of justice is still injustice. This is an injustice. Many of the persons who had to leave their homes did not leave in the mode of transportation that would be familiar to us. Here is a family. They are having to vacate, and in so doing, they find themselves with what appears to be as much as they can carry on a cart that is being drawn with a donkey. They are already poor, already in poverty by standards that we recognize. They lost their home or are leaving their home. I don't know their personal history, so I can't say that these persons lost their home in the bombing, but I can tell you that somebody similar to these persons, if not these persons did, when the numbers that I called to your attention are as large as they are. So it may not be these persons, but it has been some people that have had to evacuate, had to vacate and move on because the bombs were coming, and they came. Here is another picture of a child suffering. We can conclude that the child is suffering because the head is bandaged, and there is some sort of tube that has been inserted in the child's mouth. Suffering, I keep bringing this to your attention because we cannot allow the Palestinians to become just casualties of war. That is all-- just casualties of war. I refuse to allow Israelis to be casualties of war, innocent people, and I am going to stand for the Palestinians in the same vein as I stand for the Israelis. They are not just casualties of war. These are human beings. If this child survives, 10, 15, 20 years from now, what will the psychological impact of this be on that child? Some 20 years from now, how will this impact this child's behavior? Does anybody really care, or do we just want to bomb what we see as Gaza and Hamas into oblivion? Do we just want to bomb them into oblivion and, in the process, kill innocent babies? Nobody could claim that this baby was a part of Hamas. This baby looks to be not older than 3 or 4 years of age at most, probably. I am being generous in saying 3 or 4. This is a baby. We are the United States of America. We care about people. We are the country with the Statue of Liberty. We are the country with the words: All persons are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We are the country that pledges allegiance to a flag, and we announce as we do so that there should be liberty and justice for all. We are the United States of America. We cannot condone this. We cannot condone it. We cannot, in one breath, condemn the killing of innocent Israelis, innocent babies in Israel, and then condone this, find some way in our minds to justify that it is okay for this to occur. If you hurt an Israeli baby, you have done something dastardly. Well, this is a baby, too. For those who believe in the right to life, does this child have a right to life? I say yes. Continuing, an NPR article, not Al Green. This is from NPR, published on February 9, 2024, written by Becky Sullivan. This is NPR: ``More than half of all buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed as of February 2, according to analysis of satellite imagery by a team of researchers at Oregon State University and the City University of New York. In northern Gaza, the most populous area of the territory before the war, as much as 82.9 percent of all buildings were damaged or destroyed. ``Israel's military says its strikes in response to October 7, when Hamas militants attacked Israel and killed 1,200 people. . . . `' Let me just stop. I am going to finish the sentence, but I have to say this. ``Killed'' is too polite a word for what Hamas did. It really is. When you decapitate people, ``killed'' is not the word that we can use, and ``decapitation'' is too polite. These are words for polite society. What they did was something that human beings ought not have to witness. Let me conclude with this. Friends, we have to care because we have our fingerprints on these issues, and I only pray and hope that we will do something to help the people of Palestine. Humanitarian aid is absolutely necessary, and I pray that the country that provided the largesse that made much of this possible will be the same country to provide the humanitarian aid to help the people of Palestine who are suffering immeasurable harm. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Chair, had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on rollcall No. 73.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise; and I rise as a liberated Democrat, unbought, unbossed, and unafraid. I rise in the spirit of Shirley Chisholm, who coined the notion of being unbought, unbossed, and unafraid. I rise as a proud scion of the enslaved Africans whose lives were sacrificed for more than 240 years to make America great. Their lives were sacrificed because America at that time desired to have a caste system, a system wherein persons were born into this caste, would live, die, and be buried as a part of the caste. Not a class. Caste is hereditary. A class is a socioeconomic circumstance. There was this desire to have persons be a part of the caste, and persons of African ancestry were selected because they were identifiable, and they wanted an identifiable caste. They wanted this caste to be subservient, immediately agreeing to whatever the master said, and they wanted them to be powerless. They were exactly that: A powerless, subservient, identifiable caste for more than 240 years. Mr. Speaker, I still love my country, notwithstanding its history. I love it because I believe in the ideals that have been expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Pledge of Allegiance. Those ideals give me hope. I believe that America still has much to achieve, but I believe that America can still dream big and accomplish great things. It is my hope that we will at some point achieve the ideals extolled in the Pledge of Allegiance--liberty and justice for all; the ideal of government by the people for the people; the notion that we can have a country wherein all persons are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. These are the things that I believe we can achieve. I believe that we ought to honor the persons who were enslaved. I honor victims of great, horrific tragedies. I honor the victims of the Holocaust. There is nothing to be compared to the Holocaust. There is nothing to be compared to the enslavement of millions of people for 240 years. These are two horrific incidents in history, two circumstances. I believe that we ought to respect and acknowledge that the Holocaust occurred and that it has had an impact not only on the people of that time but on the people of this time. I also believe we ought to acknowledge that enslavement occurred. There are people who don't want to acknowledge slavery in this country. They want to say that it was involuntary relocation. This is a fact. Well, it wasn't. It was murder. It was rape. It was robbery. It was kidnapping. It was all of these horrific things, including lynching. It was an horrific, horrible circumstance that was imposed upon people. I think we should honor both the Holocaust and what we call slavery, the enslavement of persons of African ancestry, because these persons of African ancestry built the Capitol. We know of the great things that they did: built the roads, the bridges, planted the crops, harvested the crops, fed the Nation. They were the economic foundational mothers and fathers of the country. Why wouldn't we honor them, given the role that they played in making America great? For some reason, we can't find it in our hearts, it seems, to honor them; but we can find it within our hearts, as I have found it within my heart, to honor the victims of the Holocaust. Some people would ask why. Here is the reason why. I am glad you asked. It is easy to look through the window of life into someone else's horrific circumstances and condemn what happened. However, it is very difficult to look into the mirror of life, into our own circumstances, and acknowledge what happened. It is difficult for people who have suffered to do it. You would think that people who have suffered would be among the first to say we need to have a Slavery Remembrance Day, ought to be among the first to say, well, to give a Congressional Gold Medal to the enslaved persons, just as we have given a Congressional Gold Medal to the enslavers. In 1956, this Congress of the United States of America that accorded a Congressional Gold Medal to Confederate soldiers won't do such a thing. This Congress will not honor the victims of slavery the same as we have honored Confederate soldiers who were the enslavers. Mr. Speaker, it is difficult to look into the mirror of life, but that is why I am here. I am here to help you see what you choose not to see and to do what you choose not to do. You may not do it today, but it will happen. It is just a matter of time. There will be more like me to require you to see what you choose not to see. It is just a matter of time. So, I am a proud scion. That means that I am a descendant of these people who had the injustice of enslavement perpetrated upon them and perpetuated for some 240 years. I am a descendant, but I like saying that I am a scion because it has more of a regal connotation. It says you are proud to be associated with your ancestors. It says you recognize what your ancestors have accomplished. It recognizes the greatness of your ancestors. Yes, I am a scion, but I am also the progenitor of August 20 as Slavery Remembrance Day. August 20 is the date that the White Lion docked at a place that we now call Norfolk, Virginia, near there, in Point Comfort. It had 20 persons of African ancestry on board, who were traded to the Colonies. This was the genesis of slavery in the Colonies. There had been slavery before that, but this was the genesis of slavery in the Colonies, which became a part of America. So, I am the progenitor of making Slavery Remembrance Day a day that is commemorated to the same extent that we commemorate the Holocaust-- two separate incidents, two separate circumstances, and two separate horrific occurrences in history. One we commemorate, and I do so proudly. The other, we would like to forget. We would like to just set it aside and not give those enslaved persons the just treatment that we would accord others. I want to see Slavery Remembrance Day commemorated across the length and breadth of this country, a day set aside to commemorate the more than 10 million lives that were forced into slavery, had it perpetrated upon them and perpetuated for some 240-plus years. We ought to commemorate their lives; therefore, I contend, we have and must have Slavery Remembrance Day. Now, President Biden has agreed with me and Senator Elizabeth Warren. The two of us have been working together. We had Slavery Remembrance Day pass in the House of Representatives. It hasn't passed in the Senate, but it passed in the House of Representatives. I will always say thanks to Mr. Steny Hoyer, who was at that time in a position to make a difference, and he did. Many people are in a position to make a difference, and they don't. Mr. Hoyer made a difference. I imagine he has been criticized for it. Mr. Hoyer, wherever you are, I assure you that posterity will see the kindness and the understanding that had to envelop you for you to do this, and I commend you for what you did. I know that history is going to be kind to you. The President acknowledged Slavery Remembrance Day with a communique, a press statement, if you will, and I am proud to know that he would do so. This President is a President whom I have great respect for, and I commend him for many things that he has done. Today, I want to commend him for his comments about the Palestinians and the suffering--the suffering--that is taking place in Palestine-- Gaza, if you will--but in Palestine to this very second as I am speaking now. I commend the President for having the courage. It takes courage to do what he did. It takes courage in an environment where Palestinians are not appreciated, not celebrated. In this House, we have passed resolutions, several of them, that have done things that I think should have been done related to what happened on October 7, what happened to persons who were living in Israel. I commend and appreciate the passage of those resolutions. I voted for resolutions to deal with the circumstances that occurred on October 7 when the dastardly deeds were perpetrated by Hamas. Hamas is a terrorist organization. Hamas did things that we really don't care to talk about or discuss, but we have to acknowledge that there was murder, that there was rape, and that there were decapitations that took place. We have to acknowledge the truth. It happened by Hamas, so I have no kind things to say about Hamas. I have things to say about Israel, the Palestinians, and the President. Mr. President, I thank you for what you said. You said you wanted to help with the humanitarian crisis. You said that there would be a pier constructed such that food could be brought in to the Palestinians. I commend you for this, Mr. President. I think we should do this. Mr. President and Mr. Speaker, I have introduced a resolution affirming the state of Palestine's right to exist. I filed this resolution because a resolution was filed, H. Res. 888, reaffirming the State of Israel's right to exist. Israel has a right to exist. This is where I stand. I also stand on the solid, firm conviction that the state of Palestine has a right to exist. Yes, I said ``state.'' I know it is not a state currently by our traditional definition, but I believe that it has a right to exist as a state, and I have introduced a resolution affirming the state of Palestine's right to exist. I did it because I believe there ought to be some balance in the House of Representatives. I believe that there ought to be some people with the courage to say, ``I support the Palestinians,'' with the courage to say, ``Killing babies, knowingly killing babies, knowingly killing hundreds and thousands of babies, is an injustice.'' You have to have the courage to say committing an injustice in the name of justice is still an injustice. Sometimes, you have to stand alone, but I have been taught and believe that, on some questions, it is better to stand alone than not stand at all. Hence, we have H. Res. 902, affirming the state of Palestine's right to exist. Mr. President, I believe a picture is worth a thousand words, and I want people to just see what we have as evidence of the suffering that is taking place in Palestine. This is a picture, an actual representation, of people in Palestine. You have two adults and two children. You see the babies. If you only see Palestinian babies, I would beg that you would open your eyes a little wider, clear your vision, and assume that these babies are babies from your hometown. Assume that these babies are babies from your neighborhood. Assume that these are Israelis. How would you feel if you saw this circumstance existing for Israelis? These circumstances are circumstances that are horrific. Babies and innocent people ought not be killed in the numbers that are being killed. It is an injustice. You cannot, in the name of justice, create an injustice. It still becomes and is an injustice. Here is another example of the horrific circumstances of devastation and destruction that exist. I just don't know that you can see enough of it to completely comprehend what has been destroyed. There are many estimates as to how much of Gaza has been destroyed. The pictures speak louder than the numbers. I called the numbers to our attention before. Here is a baby. This baby is a victim of the war in Gaza. This baby cannot be blamed for anything that Hamas has done. You can't allege that this baby is somehow associated with Hamas. Killing innocent babies is unacceptable. I refuse to allow people to convince me that you can kill babies and somehow conclude that it is okay because the babies were in the way. I refuse to accept it. Those who do, I would hope that you would understand that there are some of us who can't. Another picture is a depiction of Palestinians having to move out of harm's way and having to do so with what appears to be their belongings. There are children and a donkey-drawn, if you will, cart of some sort. There is no car, and they have to move from one end to another. Those living conditions are horrible. We have to do something about it, and I will tell you why in just a moment. Another picture, the final picture, is of a baby, another child. This child, hopefully, will grow up and, hopefully, will get the necessary help in terms of physical aid as well as mental aid. This child is going to need help, and I would hope that this child will get help. I would hope that this child doesn't become the next generation of persons who will find themselves at odds with the State of Israel. My hope is that there can be peace and two countries living together. That is my hope, and that is my prayer. To this end, I have written a letter to the President. It is a letter that I will share with you now that I sent to the President some time ago, on February 29. This is a letter to the President of the United States. The reference in the letter is: ``Justice and Mercy for Palestinians.'' This letter is a letter that I put my thoughts into. I say this because I write my speeches. I write my letters of this magnitude. I don't want people blaming my staff for the things that I do. My staff are great people, and they assist, but these are my ideas and my thoughts. This is the letter: ``Justice and Mercy for Palestinians.'' ``Dear President Biden, I pen this communique driven by the dictates of conscience and with a heavy heart--saddened by the deaths in Palestine and Israel, compounded by Prime Minister Netanyahu's recent indications that Israel will continue to oppose the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state and continue maintaining control over stateless Palestinians in lands intended for a Palestinian state. He further indicated that the recognition of a Palestinian state will be reached only through direct negotiations between the parties.'' Mr. Netanyahu, Prime Minister--I rarely say Netanyahu--I respect the position that he holds. He is a Prime Minister, a person with great authority, and his position seems to be that there has to be a negotiated recognition of a Palestinian state, that Israel and the Palestinians will have to negotiate and, once they come to a conclusion that there should be a Palestinian state, then we can recognize it. Then he goes on to say that the parties have to negotiate this, and it cannot be done unilaterally. Well, here is what I say to the President: ``Mr. President, on May 14, 1948, President Harry Truman became the first world leader to recognize Israel as a state within Palestine. . . . `' Some things bear repeating, phraseology that I use quite regularly because many things bear repeating: ``Mr. President, on May 14, 1948, President Harry Truman became the first world leader to recognize Israel as a state within Palestine, effectuating an imbalance of political influence for Israel.'' Again, some things bear repeating: `` . . . effectuating an imbalance of political influence for Israel. This was done unilaterally. . . . `' That is what is in my letter. ``This was done unilaterally without the consent of defiantly disapproving Palestinians. . . . `' The Palestinians did not approve of Israel becoming a state. It was done over their disapproval, many of whom were forcefully relocated. I go on to say: ``Mr. President, just as the Palestinians of 1948 were not allowed to thwart Israeli statehood, in the name of justice we should not allow Israel to thwart Palestinian statehood.'' Sometimes silence can help us to collect our thoughts. Just as Palestinians of 1948 were not allowed to thwart Israeli statehood, in the name of justice, Mr. President, we should not allow Israel to thwart Palestinian statehood. Now we get to some very substantive commentary: This is particularly salient given that Prime Minister Netanyahu obliquely opposed a two-state solution long before October 7, 2023, long before the killing of innocent Israeli men, women, and especially children. It is not in the letter, but as an aside, which was a horrific event, a day that will live in infamy along with other days that live in infamy. I go on to say: ``For years, Prime Minister Netanyahu has condoned Hamas' control of Gaza to maintain a foil for a lack of a negotiating partner. . . . `' By the way, this is no--this is not news. It has been reported on major networks that this occurred. ``For years, Prime Minister Netanyahu has condoned Hamas' control of Gaza to maintain a foil for a lack of a negotiating partner who recognized Israel's right to exist.'' Mr. Netanyahu, Prime Minister Netanyahu, is a person that I respect in the sense that he is the leader of a nation. Prime Minister Netanyahu benefited from having Hamas in control of Gaza because he didn't have to negotiate a two-state solution. It was a means by which he could say the words two-state solution, but he didn't mean it. He didn't. The evidence is there for those who would see. However, there is a notion that there are some who are so blind, not because they cannot see, but because they choose not to see. Therefore, if you choose not to see, no one can make you see. You can remain in your state of darkness, but this is the truth. It has been widely reported. ``With Hamas,'' I go on to say, ``as a foil, Prime Minister Netanyahu feigned support for a two-state solution while enabling Israeli settlers to lay claim to land intended for a Palestinian state.'' My God. Feigning, pretending to want to support a two-state solution while all along the way allowing, enabling settlers to lay claim to land intended for a Palestinian state. ``Mr. President, what President Truman did for Israel unilaterally in 1948--'' I emphasize unilaterally because, remember, President Netanyahu says it can't be unilateral. Israel has to agree for the Palestinians to have a state. Israel has a state and has had a state since 1948. Palestinians are stateless. ``Mr. President, what President Truman--'' that first Mr. President is President Biden, if I may just substitute. President Biden, what President Truman did for Israel unilaterally in 1948, we can do unilaterally for Palestinians. Now, I am an avant-garde personality. I am usually out ahead of the rest of the pack. This is going to come to fruition. It is just a matter of time. When it does, the memory of this message will be clouded because there will be people chosen to bring the message when it is thought to be safe to bring the message. They will wait to see how safe it is for us to say these words and to come forth publicly and proclaim that there can be unilateral recognition. They have to wait, so I am the canary in the coal mine, and they will be waiting to see how I am reacted to, and that is being kind. I continue by saying: ``We should not allow a party feigning,'' pretending--that is parenthetically said. ``We should not allow a party feigning to negotiate in good faith to prevent our good faith, unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.'' If we are acting in good faith, if we know that the Palestinians deserve a state, yes, there will be an interregnum. While we are in that interregnum, there ought to be negotiations between people of good will who believe that there ought to be a Palestinian state, that the genesis of it is, to a certain extent, now, but that, when the full- blown interregnum occurs, then we ought to make sure that we are on the right side, not just of history. It is a wonderful thing to be on the right side of history, but it is a better thing to be on the right side of righteousness, on the right side of saying: You don't kill babies in the tens of thousands and think you are doing the right thing. The right side of righteousness, you don't just decimate the homes and schools and churches, synagogues, and/or properties of people, mosques, if you will. You don't just decimate those things and say: We did it because it was a just thing to do. An injustice in the name of justice is still an injustice, so be on the right side of righteousness. Act in good faith, and let's develop a Palestinian state. Additionally, we don't have to do it with the consent of Prime Minister Netanyahu. We don't have to do it with his consent. President Truman didn't have anybody's consent. He was the President of the United States of America. Mr. President, I don't have to remind you who you are. You know. However, as the President of the United States of America, you don't need anybody's permission to recognize a Palestinian state, and you sure should not rely on the permission of Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has been feigning, pretending to want a two-state solution while enabling Hamas. There is a lot more to be said about that, and I will get to that in another message. I indicate in my letter to the President, lastly, in the name of mercy--mercy--I believe we must send tens of billions, not millions, of dollars in humanitarian aid to Palestine, to Gaza, to the West Bank. I believe we ought to send tens of billions, and I believe we have to be proud to say we are sending the money in humanitarian aid to people who need tens of billions in humanitarian aid. Now, pay particular attention to the words I am about to say--to people who need tens of billions of dollars in humanitarian aid because our fingerprints are all over what you have seen in these pictures. Our fingerprints are all over this. Our money has made this possible. We have a debt to righteousness. We ought to pay our debt to righteousness. Send tens of billions and be proud. It doesn't have to be hidden in some bill. You don't have to announce: Well, we are going to send money to Ukraine, which I supported; we are going to send money to Taiwan and the people in that area, Pacific Islanders, which I supported, but never say: We are going to send money to the Palestinians. We are going to send money to Israel, which I have supported. As a matter of fact, the number exceeds $50 billion that I have supported to Israel. Therefore, if we are going to say: We are going to send money to Ukraine and to Taiwan and to Israel, why can't we say: We want to send money to the people who are suffering this injustice, perpetrated by the Prime Minister of Israel, with dollars, tax dollars--tax dollars from American citizens and other persons in this country who pay taxes--sales taxes, gasoline taxes. These tax dollars--these tax dollars--I know it makes you uncomfortable, and you ought to be uncomfortable. These tax dollars have created this circumstance. Someone will say: Well, no, those tax dollars weren't used for that. They were used for other purposes. However, as my colleagues across the aisle like to remind me, there is something called fungibility. These dollars are fungible. They make it possible if you have these dollars for one thing, then you can use your own dollars for other things. Hamas was wrong. They shouldn't have done what they did. They ought to be punished for what they did. They are being punished for what they did, but it is wrong for Mr. Netanyahu to kill tens of thousands-- babies, innocent men, women, and children, an injustice of horrific proportions. Some would say: Well, why wouldn't you expect Israel to do what it is doing? After all, Hamas did a dastardly thing. Well, I am one of those people who believes that Israel is special. I don't expect people who have suffered the Holocaust to impose this. I don't expect it. I expect them to understand that you don't do this. That is my expectation. I believe that we have a duty to ourselves to speak truth not only to power but about power. It is easy to speak truth to power. You say: Power, there is a problem. We need to solve it. It is difficult to say to power when you are speaking truth about it: Power, there is a problem, and you are it. Mr. Netanyahu, Prime Minister, there is a problem, and you are it. You have got to stop killing these babies. Silence can help you collect your thoughts. Stop it. Now. Lastly, I say in the name of mercy, I believe we must send tens of billions--not millions--of dollars in humanitarian aid to Palestine as our largesse to Israel has enabled the decimation of Gaza, as well as the estimated deaths of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian men, women, and especially children. Now, if you can live with yourself and the knowledge that tens of thousands of innocent people are being killed, allow me to live with myself believing that it is an injustice. It is an injustice to do what is being done in the name of justice. I go on to close by saying in closing, I respectfully and kindly make this appeal in the name of justice and mercy for the thousands of innocent Palestinian men, women, and especially children who have been injured, killed, or had their homes destroyed with munitions bearing our fingerprints. This is my letter that I have sent to the President of the United States. I signed it as a Member of Congress, as the progenitor of August 20 as Slavery Remembrance Day, as a scion of the enslaved Africans sacrificed to make America great. I believe that the greatness of America will not be measured by the number of battleships that we have, the number of bombers, high-flying stealth technology. It won't be measured by the number of billionaires we produce. The greatness of America won't be measured by how we treat people who live in the suites of life and places where all is well. Dr. King mentioned to us--and I am paraphrasing--the truest measure of a person, and I would now add truest measure of a country, Dr. King, but he said: The truest measure of a person is not where you stand in times of comfort and convenience. He didn't say what I am about to say now. When all is well with you, when you are the leading country in the world, when you have billionaires and persons of great opulence doing well, it won't be measured by where you stand in times of comfort. The question that Dr. King mentions in his statement is: Where do you stand in times of challenge and controversy? His statement was: The truest measure of a person is not where do you stand in times of comfort and convenience, but where do you stand in times of challenge and controversy? In these times of challenge and controversy, the United States of America ought to stand for justice for all. That would include this baby. The United States of America ought to stand for liberty for all-- liberty and justice for all. That would include the Palestinian people. The truest measure of a Nation is not about the height of our buildings, not about the billionaires, but about where we stand when we have the opportunity to stand for righteousness--not just justice by righteousness. Here is our righteous call to the United States of America. This is it. Do not, do not, do not allow yourselves to succumb to the notion that the killing of these babies is a form of justice. It was my honor to be present last night when the President delivered his State of the Union Address. He said many things, but I have spoken to you about the thing that was important today. It doesn't mean that all of the other things that he said were not important. It does mean that I singled out something to talk about today, and I thank the President for what he said and for his belief that a two-state solution is the means by which we can achieve the ultimate peace that we seek in the area that we call Palestine wherein Israel now exists. By the way, I have said Israel has the right to exist. Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the time. I want to do what I customarily do when finish this, for those who are new to hearing Al Green speak and noticing. I always go over and shake the Speaker's hand. There is something to be said when you express your appreciation. I shall do so. I thank all of you for allowing me to share my thoughts with you. An injustice in the name of justice is still an injustice. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to remove the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Manning) as a cosponsor of H. Res. 902.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise. I am grateful to my colleague for yielding the floor, but I am very grateful for the opportunity to stand here in the Congress of the United States of America. It means something to me every time I have this opportunity to speak. I love my country. I love what it stands for. Yes, it is not perfect. Yes, my ancestors were treated in a horrific way, but still we have some ideals that can help us to make a difference. I believe in liberty and justice for all. I believe in the words of the Declaration of Independence: All persons created equal, endowed by the creator with certain inalienable Rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I believe that notwithstanding our imperfections, we still have an opportunity to have that more perfect union. I rise today, Mr. Speaker. I rise today in the name of mercy. Justice, yes. Always justice, but also mercy because justice has to do with the law and fairness, but mercy has to do with compassion and grace. And still I rise. And still I rise, a proud son of the segregated South. I know what it is like to be discriminated against. I know what it is like to drink from colored water fountains. I know what it is like to sit in the back of the bus because you are required to. I know what it is like to sit in the balcony of the movie theater because you are required to. I know what segregation is all about, and I know what apartheid is all about. For those of us who lived segregation, the difference between apartheid and segregation is just the spelling of the words. I understand it. A lot of what I say here on the floor has much to do with the history that I have lived. I care about those who are downtrodden, perhaps because I have walked in their shoes. I care about those who are being denied their human rights--their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. For many years, I lived in the segregated South where those rights were not afforded me. The rights that the Constitution of the United States of America codified for me, my friends, and neighbors--took them away. Mr. Speaker, I want you to know a little bit more about me because today I rise with an appeal for innocent victims. Just before coming to the floor, I saw a preview, if you will, a showing of what happened in Israel on October 7. Mr. Speaker, there is no way to justify that level of inhumanity to human beings. It cannot be justified. We can never tolerate that level of inhumanity. We have to speak up. We have to say something and we have to do something. I understand. For those who didn't see what I saw, let me share just a few aspects of what I saw with you. I saw people who would shoot human beings and then decide to decapitate them. I saw an actual decapitation take place. I saw persons being pulled along and brutalized. I would not have you see it, but I would have you know that it happened as I saw it. This is human beings demonstrating an inhumanity to other humans. I just left this showing. I am here today to appeal to this Congress, and all who can view what I am saying, for mercy and prayers, if you will, and aid to the Israelis. I am also here to ask for mercy and aid for the Palestinians. Our signature has been placed on, by virtue of our largesse to Israel, our signature was on those bombs. I believe that we have a duty, a responsibility, and an obligation to do something about the conditions that were created when those bombs were dropped in Gaza. According to the statistical information that has been afforded me by my capable, competent, and qualified staff, the death toll has risen to more than 27,000 in Gaza. Here is a statistic that ought to touch your heart. I don't care where you are from, it ought to touch your heart to hear this statistic: 10,000 of them were children. You can blame adults, but you can't blame those children. There were 10,000 babies. Those babies are innocent victims. Those persons in Israel on October 7 were innocent victims. There are innocent victims in Gaza who are women and men. We ought to care about innocent victims, regardless as to where they are from. Mr. Speaker, 10,000 children lost their lives. Reports show that more than 67,000 individuals have been injured. More than 67,000. Those 67,000 people are going to hopefully have a life. I don't want them to have a life wherein their future, as they see it, has vengeance and revenge. The parents of those 10,000 children, I don't want them to see only vengeance and revenge in their future. Vengeance and revenge doesn't end in one cycle. It is a continuous cycle that you are into. At some point we have to get out of the killing. I am asking for mercy. I understand justice, but I know this: An injustice in the name of justice is still an injustice. We cannot, as the United States of America, the country that believes in liberty and justice for all, we cannot sit and watch what is happening in Gaza and not have some sense of a desire to help them. According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, over 300,000 people are at risk of famine. There are 300,000 people that are hungry. There are 300,000 people cramped into a very small space. I have been to Gaza, it is the most densely populated area in the world, and that was when all of Gaza was available to the Palestinians who live there. Now that you have them confined in a much smaller area, imagine what it is like for 300,000 people to be at risk of famine. A quarter of Gaza's population--and that is around a half million people--are believed to be at phase five, the catastrophic level. That is the level where you have a risk for mass starvation and death. I don't wish this kind of thing to happen to anyone. We are a country known for our mercy in war. In this country, if we are at war with you, engaged in mortal combat, if we should injure you in mortal combat, we give you aid and comfort. In this country, we understand that there is a difference between war and a person who is wounded. Yes, you can be at war, but the wounded ought to be treated. By the way, those persons on October 7 who took the lives of those innocent persons in Israel, they were not giving aid and comfort. We have an opportunity to do something about this. We cannot allow Gaza to go on suffering with famine in this catastrophic way. We are the United States of America. When we show up, we bring liberty and justice with us. We bring mercy with us. We are not like the other guys. We are different. It is time for us to show up. It is time for us to make it clear that we plan to be of assistance to the Palestinians. We have already made it clear that we are going to be of assistance to Israel. Now we have to make it clear that we are going to be of assistance to the Palestinians--the innocent victims. Mr. Netanyahu himself has said that the Palestinians are victims. It is Hamas that has created the catastrophe. We must show up. We have a duty because our fingerprints are on those bombs, those munitions. We are the United States of America and we have to act like it. As of the end of November, more than 1,000 children have undergone one or double-leg amputations. This is according to UNICEF. We don't want those 1,000 children to grow up with revenge as the hallmark of their history. We are the United States of America and when we show up things change. An analysis of satellite photos suggest that between 50 to 61 percent of all structures in Gaza--this is the Gaza Strip--have been damaged as of January 29. Mr. Speaker, 50 to 61 percent includes, but is not limited to schools, homes, hospitals, and the things that make life livable. In rebuilding Gaza, it is estimated--and estimates vary--but it is estimated that the economic cost to rebuild it after this war, depending on who is making the estimate and when the estimate was released--according to estimates, one in a January Reuters article, a Palestinian official has indicated that it could be $15 billion that is needed to rebuild Gaza housing units. We can't talk about sending millions to Gaza when we are sending scores of millions to other places. Our fingerprints were on those bombs. We are going to have to do more than send a few hundred million dollars. I know that I will have people who will say, well, we can't afford it. We can't afford not to do it because there is a future that we all have to encounter. That future ought not have in it another cycle of revenge. Our fingerprints were on those bombs that fell in Gaza. The official estimate is that 350,000 housing units have been damaged and 150,000 of them would need to be rebuilt at a cost of about $100,000 per unit. These people are without homes. Many of them were living in circumstances less than desirable before this war, and they are even less desirable now. According to a December analysis by DW News, a German-based state- owned news station, rebuilding Gaza after the war would cost up to $50 billion. I am not suggesting that we send $50 billion, but I am suggesting this: any bill that we pass have money in it for Gaza. I would hope that we would have the courage to have a line item for Gaza, just as we would have a line item for Ukraine, a line item for Israel, a line item for Taiwan and the Pacific Rim. We ought to have a line item for Gaza. Our prints are on the bombs that fell on Gaza. I have said I am interested in justice always, but today the appeal is for mercy. As I indicated, justice has to do with the law and fairness, but today I am asking for mercy for these babies in Gaza that are now fatherless and motherless, and for these parents in Gaza who have lost their children. I want to show just a few pictures to help better understand what we are dealing with. This first picture that I will show is just to give an indication or some depiction of what you have already seen if you have been attune to the news. This is much of what these statistical pieces of information reveal. We can see the destruction. This is not habitable. It is uninhabitable. Our fingerprints are on this. Those bombs had our fingerprints. We have to do something about this. Here is a picture of two adults and two children. I don't know whether that is their home in the background, but I know that those conditions are not suitable for human habitation. Look at these beautiful babies. Babies are innocent victims of this war. We have to do something about this. Our fingerprints are on the bombs. Here is a depiction of a child, a young person. By the way, I did not bring some of the photos that would give a more horrific representation. As you look at this, I want you to see the Israeli children in this child. There were some Israeli children who were harmed to a greater extent than you see here, and there were some children in Gaza who were harmed to a greater extent than you see here. As we look at the child, don't look for someone that looks like you. Look at a human being. Our fingerprints were on the bombs that created these conditions. The people in Gaza have been forced to relocate and relocate. Can you imagine what it would be like to be told that you have to move out of your home, told to do it on short notice? You don't have a vehicle, all the luxuries that we enjoy, so you take your cart and your donkey and load up. You and your family are off to look for a safe place to live, not necessarily a comfortable place. This has happened to the Palestinians in Gaza. We have to do something about this. Finally, my appeal to you: Don't see a Palestinian, please. See a human being. Think of the Israelis that were harmed. Realize that there are children in Gaza who have been harmed. ``Harmed'' is a very kind, polite word for all of these innocent victims. It is a very polite way to say that children have lost their lives. It is a very polite way to speak of the inhumanity that the Israelis suffered. It is a polite way to talk about decapitations. We are the United States of America. We hold within our hands the power to show the world that these kinds of circumstances can be addressed and that we plan to be a party to the effort to make right these injustices. Yes, injustices--injustice in Israel, injustice in Gaza. Now, when it comes time for us to do what we can monetarily, there has to be aid for Gaza and aid for Palestinians. We cannot decide that our aid can only benefit some when we know that we have a duty to benefit others. This is our duty and our responsibility. We must do what we can to ensure that the persons in Gaza receive aid and comfort. They are innocent victims, and all innocent victims have to be accorded the opportunity to have a brighter future. I am always fond of quoting Dr. King. The quote that everybody knows is most applicable here: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. It may not happen today, but if we leave these injustices unchecked, if we don't do what we can to provide aid and comfort to Palestinians, the injustice that we see in these distant places can haunt us because our fingerprints are on the bombs that created these circumstances. I will go back to my district. On Saturday, I will continue this. I will continue this process on Saturday because I have scheduled a meeting with constituents at The Fountain of Praise. Those from Houston and my district know the location I speak of. It will be at 10 a.m. This is an indication of what I will talk about, but it is not a complete story of what I will reveal. I ask persons who come to bring their video equipment. We will do it live, and they can video it so that the world may see there is nothing to hide. Mr. Speaker, I believe that we can make the difference necessary to end the cycle of vengeance. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to make clear why I voted in opposition to H.R. 3202--The Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act of 2023. By way of background, I have in my district the family of journalist Austin Tice, a former Marine Corps Captain who was captured in Syria in 2012. Since that time this family has been working with me, other members of Congress, multiple presidential administrations, and the Assad regime to secure the release of their son from captivity. Mr. Tice was abducted in Syria by an unknown group while reporting on the conflict as a freelance journalist. While the Assad regime has not claimed responsibility, the State Department has indicated that they believe Tice is being held by the regime or its allies. My opposition to this legislation stems from the appeal of Austin's family. It is their understanding that saving the life of their son requires engagement with the Assad regime, exactly the kind of engagement that this legislation would prohibit. Let me be absolutely clear, Bashar al-Assad is an illegitimate war criminal who has brutalized the citizens of Syria and caused immeasurable harm. I believe our Nation should take all reasonable steps to stymie the goals of this regime, saving steps that will harm captives like Marine Corps Captain Austin Tice and other U.S. nationals held in Syria.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I was unable to attend the first portion of the vote series on Tuesday, February 6, 2024, and the vote series on Wednesday, February 7, 2024, due to an unexpected medical emergency and corresponding recovery time in the hospital. Had I been present, I would have voted: YEA on Roll Call No. 36, YEA on Roll Call No. 39. and NAY on Roll Call No. 40.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I was unable to attend the vote series on Monday, February 5, 2024, and the first vote series on Tuesday, February 6, 2024, due to an unexpected medical emergency and corresponding recovery time in the hospital. Had I been present, I would have voted: YEA on Roll Call No. 32; YEA on Roll Call No. 33; NAY on Roll Call No. 34; and NAY on Roll Call No. 35.

Mr. GREEN of Texas

Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, and still I rise. Let me be absolutely clear, I vehemently oppose the ideology and actions of Hamas as demonstrated by my vote in favor of H. Res. 793, which, among other things, condemned Hamas for attacking Israel, taking hostages, and for threatening hostages. Moreover, I have voted in favor of over $50 billion in funding for Israel. The Israeli people have suffered a grave injustice. However, committing an injustice in the name of justice is still an injustice. We must take care not to fall into the belief that any action taken in war is justified, especially the mass killing of innocent Palestinian babies when war has been declared on Hamas. Today, I am compelled to vote against the Israel Supplemental Legislation that Speaker Johnson brought to the floor. I take this stance because of the humanitarian disaster that now exists in Gaza. This bill's narrow focus on only providing military aid to Israel, with no accompanying humanitarian aid for the innocent civilians of Gaza, is unconscionable. I cannot ignore the men, women, and especially children in Gaza who are suffering through catastrophic conditions resulting from Israel's war on Hamas. Babies have lost their parents and parents have lost their children to artillery and bombs that were paid for in whole or in part because of U.S. funds provided to Israel. I will not be complicit in the slaughter of innocent babies. Furthermore, the mass destruction in Gaza has resulted in the decimation of homes and infrastructure and has made Gaza unlivable. The lack of meaningful humanitarian aid from this legislation at a time when Gazan civilians are at risk of starvation, disease, and death is unconscionable. For these and other reasons, I oppose this legislation.