National Security Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, the Senate will soon vote on a $95 billion supplemental spending package, and $95 billion--that is a lot of money, especially at a time when many Americans are unable to afford their rent or pay their mortgages, pay their bills, afford healthcare, struggling with student debt, and many other needs. Mr. President, $95 billion is a lot of money.

All told, this package includes tens of billions of dollars in additional military spending and major policy changes, many of which are controversial, many of which are disagreed with by the American people. Yet, unlike the House of Representatives, the Senate will not have the opportunity to hold separate votes on the various components of this bill.

I have heard from many of my Democratic colleagues--and I agree--who talk about the dysfunctionality taking place in the House of Representatives. In fact, I don't know if we are quite sure who the Speaker of the House will be in a couple of weeks or whether the extreme-right wing is going to get rid of Mr. Johnson. But what we can say about the House is that they at least gave their Members the opportunity to vote yes or no on funding for Ukraine, yes or no on aid to Israel, yes or no on TikTok, and yes or no on aid to Asian countries. That is more than can be said for the U.S. Senate right now.

I remind my colleagues that this is supposedly the greatest deliberative body in the world--except we don't have very many deliberations around here. You have one bill, up or down.

We need to have a serious debate on these issues. I think the American people want us to have a serious debate on these issues, and that is why I am trying my best to secure amendment votes, which, in my view, will significantly improve this bill.

As it happens, I strongly support the humanitarian aid included in this bill, which will save many thousands of lives in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, and many other places. Strongly support it. I strongly support getting Ukraine the military aid it needs to defend itself against Putin's Imperialist war. I support the Iron Dome to protect Israeli civilians from missile and drone attacks.

But let me be very clear: I strongly support ending the provision which will give $8.9 billion in unfettered offensive military aid to the extremist Israeli government, a government led by Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is continuing his unprecedented assault against the Palestinian people.

I also strongly oppose language in this legislation that would prohibit funding for UNRWA, the U.N. organization that is the backbone of the humanitarian relief operation in Gaza and the only organization that experts say has the capability to provide the humanitarian aid that is desperately needed there.

And I have filed two amendments to address these issues. These amendments would not touch funding for the Iron Dome and other purely defensive systems to protect Israel against incoming missiles.

As we all know, Hamas, a terrorist organization, began this war with a horrific attack on Israel that killed 1,200 innocent men, women, and children and took more than 230 captives, some of whom remain today in captivity.

As I have said many times, Israel has and had the absolute right to defend itself against this terrorist attack, but Israel did not and does not have the right to go to war against the entire Palestinian people, which is exactly what it is doing.

Regarding offensive military aid to Israel, what we will be voting on is pretty simple: First, has Netanyahu and his government violated U.S. and international law in Gaza? Which, if he has, should automatically result in the cessation of all U.S. military aid to Israel. That is a pretty simple question.

Second--maybe even more importantly--as U.S. taxpayers, do we want to be complicit in Netanyahu's unprecedented and savage military campaign against the Palestinian people? Do we want to continue providing the weapons and the military aid that is causing this massive destruction? Do we want that war in Gaza to be not only Israel's war, but America's war?

On the first question, the legal issue, the answer is very clear. Netanyahu and his extremist government are clearly in violation of U.S. and international law and, because of that, should no longer receive U.S. military aid.

International law requires that warring parties facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need. That is international law. Israel has clearly not done that. Only in the last several weeks, after pressure from President Biden, has aid access begun to improve somewhat; though, it is still grossly insufficient given the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe.

Maybe more importantly is that U.S. law on this subject is extremely clear. There is no ambiguity. The foreign assistance act says that no U.S. security assistance may be provided to any country that ``prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.'' That is the law. Israel is clearly in violation of this law. For 6 months, it has severely limited the amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza. The result has been a catastrophic humanitarian disaster with hundreds of thousands of children facing malnutrition and starvation. Israel's violation of this law is not in debate. It is a reality repeatedly confirmed every day by numerous humanitarian organizations. Israeli leaders themselves admit it.

At the start of this war, the Israeli Defense Minister declared a total siege on Gaza, saying--this is the Israeli defense minister:

We are fighting human animals and we [are acting] accordingly.

There will be no electricity, no food . . . no fuel . . . Everything [is] closed.

And they kept their word on that. In January, Netanyahu himself said that Israel is only allowing in the absolute minimum amount of aid. For months, thousands of trucks carrying lifesaving supplies have sat just miles away from starving children--trucks with food miles away from children who are starving. And Israel has kept these trucks from reaching people in desperate need.

Israel's blockade pushed the United States--this is rather incredible--to extreme measures, including airdropping supplies and the construction of an emergency pier in order to get food to starving people. In other words, the President and the United States did the right thing. Children are starving. We are trying to do airdrops, build a pier. In other words, we are now in the absurd situation where Israel is using U.S. military assistance to block the delivery of U.S. humanitarian aid to Palestinians. If that is not crazy, I don't know what is; but it is also a clear violation of U.S. law.

Given that reality, we should not today even be having this debate. It is illegal to continue current military aid to Israel, let alone send another $9 billion with no strings attached.

Let me take a moment to describe what is happening in Gaza right now to further explain why these amendments are absolutely necessary and why we must end U.S. complicity in Netanyahu's war in Gaza.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed and 77,000 wounded since this war began; 70 percent of whom are women and children--70 percent of whom are women and children. That means some 5 percent of the 2.2 million residents of Gaza have been killed or wounded in 6\1/2\ months--5 percent of the entire population in 6\1/2\ months have been killed or wounded. That is a staggering, rather unbelievable number.

Mr. President, 19,000 children in Gaza are now orphans--19,000 children are orphans--having lost their parents in this war. And I might add, for the children of Gaza, the psychic damage that has been done to them will never cease in their lives. They have witnessed-- little kids; Gaza is a young community, a lot of children--they have witnessed unbelievable carnage, destruction of houses. They have experienced hunger, thirst. They have been thrown out of their homes. What is being done to these many hundreds of thousands of children is unforgiveable.

And the killing has not stopped. Over the weekend, 139 Palestinians were killed and 251 were injured. Of these, 29 were killed in and around Rafah, including 20 children and 6 women, 1 of whom was pregnant.

Roughly 1.7 million people, over 75 percent of the population, have been driven from their homes in Gaza. Satellite data shows that 62 percent of homes in Gaza have been either damaged or destroyed, including 221,000 housing units that have been completely destroyed-- 221,000 housing units completely destroyed. That is more than 1 million people made homeless by Israeli bombing.

Not only housing, it is Gaza's entire civilian infrastructure that has been devastated. In Gaza today, there is no electricity, apart from generators or solar power, and most roads are badly damaged. More than half of the water and sanitation systems are out of commission. Clean drinking water is severely limited, and sewage is running through the streets spreading disease.

Israel has not only destroyed the housing stock in Gaza, not only destroyed the infrastructure, they have systemically destroyed the healthcare system in Gaza. Mr. President, 26 out of 37 hospitals are completely out of service in a country which now has tens and tens of thousands of people who are sick and wounded. Only 11 hospitals are partially functioning, but they are overwhelmed by the many, many people who are sick and injured, and they are all short of medical supplies. Doctors have had to perform countless surgeries without anesthesia or antibiotics, only three hospitals are now providing maternal care in Gaza, where 180 women are giving birth every day. Overall, 84 percent of health facilities have been damaged or destroyed in Gaza, and more than 400 healthcare workers have been killed.

But it is not only the housing that has been destroyed, not only the infrastructure, not only the healthcare system, the education system in Gaza has collapsed, with 56 schools destroyed and 219 damaged. The last of Gaza's universities was demolished in January. Some 625,000 students now have no access to education. I really do not understand what the military utility of destroying a university is. Mr. President, above and beyond the destruction of homes, the destruction of the infrastructure, the destruction of the healthcare system, the destruction of schools, universities, and the educational system, unbelievably, there is something even worse now taking place in Gaza, and that is that more than 1 million Palestinians, including hundreds of thousands of children, face starvation.

People in Gaza are foraging for leaves. They are eating animal feed or surviving off the occasional aid package. At least 28 children have already died of malnutrition and dehydration. The real number is likely much, much higher. But without sustained humanitarian access throughout Gaza, it is impossible to know. Recently, USAID Administrator Samantha Power said that famine was already present in northern Gaza.

Without food, clean water, sanitation or sufficient healthcare, hundreds of thousands of people are at severe risk from dehydration, infection, and easily preventable diseases.

I keep hearing discussion from the pundits and the experts about the ``day after in Gaza,'' when the war is over. But what kind of ``day after'' can there be amidst this incredible destruction? Gaza today can barely sustain human life.

Hamas started this war. That is true. But this war stopped being about defending Israel a long time ago. What is going on now is the destruction of the very fabric of Palestinian life. It is impossible to look at these facts and not conclude that the Israeli Government's policy has been quite deliberately to make Gaza uninhabitable for Palestinians. And, clearly, there are powerful voices in Israel's extreme-rightwing government who have been quite open about their desire to drive the Palestinian people out of both Gaza and the West Bank.

This is not the Israel of Golda Meir. Netanyahu's government is beholden to outright racists and religious fanatics who believe that they have exclusive right to dominate the land.

That is why we must end our complicity in this terrible war. That is why we should support the amendment I am offering to end unfettered military aid to Netanyahu's war machine.

Let's be clear: Cutting military aid to Netanyahu's government is not just my view. It is what the American people believe and are demanding. The American people, in fact, are fed up with Netanyahu and his war. They do not want to see their taxpayer dollars support the slaughter of innocent civilians and the starvation of children.

A recent Gallup poll showed that just 36 percent of Americans approve of Israel's military action, with 55 percent disapproving. A Quinnipiac poll showed that U.S. voters oppose sending more military aid to Israel by 52 percent to 39 percent. An earlier YouGov poll also showed that 52 percent of Americans said the United States should stop sending weapons to Israel until it stops attacks in Gaza.

Maybe--and here is a very radical idea--maybe it is time for Congress to listen to the American people. I would urge strong support for my amendment.

Mr. President, my second amendment would remove the ban on funding for UNRWA, a U.N. organization with 30,000 employees that is delivering essential humanitarian aid in Gaza and supporting basic services in other neighboring countries, including Jordan. Millions of people rely on those services.

Israel has said that 12 UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7 terrorist attack. These are serious charges and, obviously, any involvement with Hamas by UNRWA employees is unacceptable. That is why every year UNRWA provides Israel with a list of its staff and goes to great lengths to cooperate with Israeli authorities. UNRWA learned about Israel's accusations from the media, and immediately fired the accused employees while the U.N. launched an investigation.

Thus far, Israel has refused to cooperate with the U.N. investigation. I should add, importantly, that most major donors have now restored funding to UNRWA and are satisfied by the agency's protocols to ensure independence from Hamas.

The U.S. National Intelligence Council, meanwhile, said that Israel's claims were plausible but could not be confirmed, and noted that Israel has tried to undermine UNRWA for years. In the last 6 months, Israel has harassed UNRWA employees, blocked shipments of supplies including medicines, frozen its bank accounts, and killed 181 U.N. staff.

UNRWA plays a critical role both in Gaza and across the region. Whatever the investigation shows in the end, it is my view that you do not deny humanitarian aid to millions of people because of the alleged actions of 12 UNRWA employees out of a workforce of 30,000.

And, by the way, when we talk about investigations, maybe--just maybe--we should not just be talking about investigating UNRWA. Maybe we should also investigate what is going on in the West Bank. Last weekend, after an Israeli teenager was killed, large groups of armed Israeli settlers--vigilantes--rampaged through 17 villages, shooting dozens of people and burning homes. Israeli soldiers watched the attacks unfold, doing nothing to stop them. No arrests have been announced. Maybe we need an investigation there as well.

This past weekend, the Israeli military killed 14 more Palestinians in the West Bank. An ambulance driver was shot and killed as he tried to recover people wounded in another violent attack by Israeli settlers.

Since October 7, Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed more than 470 Palestinians in the West Bank, including more than 100 children. But for some reason, I don't know why, I just don't hear any of my colleagues calling for an investigation of that.

We are in a critical moment, not just in terms of what is happening in Gaza but, in many ways, what is happening right here in America and what is happening here in the U.S. Senate. Given the fact that a majority of the American people now want to stop funding for Netanyahu's war machine, I find it incomprehensible that we are not going to be able to vote on that issue.

I find it outrageous that, at a time when Netanyahu's government has clearly broken the law, Members of this Congress, Members of the Senate, are not going to be able to vote as to whether or not they want to continue providing billions more of unfettered military aid to Netanyahu's war machine.

So I would hope that we will have the decency to allow a little bit of democracy here in the U.S. Senate. I would hope that we will allow the Members to vote on some of these very, very important issues, and I certainly hope that we will pass these amendments.

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Mr. SANDERS. I rise finding myself in the unusual position of supporting Senator Lee's effort of opening this bill up to amendment votes. I don't often agree with Senator Lee. I know that it is a radical idea. But, maybe, in the greatest deliberative body in the world, we might, on rare occasion, actually have debate and votes on major issues.

To that end, I plan on offering two very important amendments to this legislation. Members can agree with me on these issues or disagree, but they should be voted upon.

My first amendment would ensure that we are not providing any more offensive military aid to Netanyahu's war machine while he continues to violate U.S. and international law.

This amendment would not touch funding for the Iron Dome or other purely defensive systems, but it would end aid to a war machine which has already killed 34,000 Palestinians and wounded 77,000, 70 percent of whom are women and children. And, right now, as we speak, hundreds of thousands of children face starvation as a result of that war machine.

Poll after poll shows that the American people are sick and tired of seeing their taxpayer dollars support the slaughter of innocent civilians and the starvation of children.

And while there is strong Republican support for ending aid to Netanyahu's war machine, the support, I should tell my Democratic colleagues, is overwhelming.

The second amendment that I am offering would remove the prohibition on funding for UNRWA, the backbone of the humanitarian relief operation in Gaza and the only organization that experts say has the capability to provide the humanitarian aid that is desperately needed.

Israel has alleged that 12 UNRWA employees out of 30,000 were involved in the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7. That is being investigated.

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Mr. SANDERS. That is being investigated, and it should be. But you don't allow thousands of children to starve because of the alleged violations and actions of 12 people.

The bottom line: We are debating one of the most serious issues we have faced in a long time. The American people want us to vote and debate these issues, and we should be able to do so.
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Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, here is the good news: A few weeks ago, the approval rating for Congress was 10 percent. It has gone up to 14 percent. According to a recent YouGov poll, 14 percent approve of what Congress is doing and 68 percent oppose.

And I would tell my friends on both sides that it is about equal. In terms of whom people want to elect, it is about half Democrats, half Republicans. Why is that? Why do we have a 14-percent approval rating? Well, it might have something to do with things like we are witnessing today and the degree to which the Congress is completely out of touch with where the American people are.

So let me read some other polls, not on favorability but on people's feelings toward the role the United States is now playing in the war in Gaza. April 10, Economist YouGov poll, 37 percent support decreasing military aid to Israel; 18 percent support an increase.

And to my Democratic colleagues, I would say 48 percent of Democrats support decreasing aid; 10 percent support increasing aid.

Then there is a March 29 poll from Axios-Ipsos-Telemundo poll of Latinos--Latino people: 16 percent of Latinos said the United States should continue to support Israel with arms and funds; 39 percent said the U.S. should not be involved in the conflict.

March 27 Gallup poll: 36 percent of Americans approve of Israel's military action; 55 percent disapprove. Among Democrats, 18 percent approve; 75 percent disapprove.

March 27 Quinnippiac poll: Overall, voters oppose sending more military aid to Israel by 52 percent to 39 percent--52 percent oppose more aid; 39 percent support more aid--Democrats, 63 percent oppose sending more military aid; 25 percent support it.

March 11, YouGov: 52 percent of Americans said the United States should hold weapons shipments to Israel until it stops attacks in Gaza.

So you got a whole bunch of polls. They differ a little bit, but they say, pretty overwhelmingly, that the American people do not want to give more military aid to the Netanyahu war machine to continue its horrendous destructive policies in Gaza. That is what the American people are saying.

Earlier today, I tried to bring up two amendments dealing with the crisis in Gaza. One of them basically said that the United States should not support--should not supply any more offensive--offensive-- military aid to the Netanyahu government. I support defensive measures--the Iron Dome. The Israeli people have a right not to be attacked with missiles and drones. That amendment not only--that amendment could not even get a vote. That is the U.S. Senate today. People overwhelmingly are in opposition to more U.S. aid. We can't even discuss this issue and have a vote.

Why are the American people as opposed as they are to more aid for the military in Israel? Well, among other things, it may have something to do with what some of the Israeli leaders are saying and, in fact, who they are. And I think the American people are catching on that what we have today in Israel is not the Israel of Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin. It is a government now significantly controlled not only by rightwing extremists but by religious zealots.

Today, what we are seeing is a situation where Netanyahu himself has never favored a two-state solution, and he has made that very clear and has worked to systematically undermine the prospects for a deal. And I might mention that a two-state solution is the policy of the U.S. Government. His party's--Netanyahu's party's--founding charter reinforced in the current coalition agreement says ``between the Sea and the Jordan [River] there will only be Israeli sovereignty.'' For many years before October 7, Netanyahu told his allies, in private, that it was important to bolster Hamas to ensure that the Palestinians could never unify and form their own government.

In January, in terms of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Netanyahu said:

We provide minimal humanitarian aid. If we want to achieve our war goals, we give the minimal aid.

The rest of the government or many others in that government is similarly extreme. At the start of the war, the Israeli Defense Minister declared a total siege, saying:

We are fighting human animals, and we are acting accordingly.

There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel. Everything is closed.

Another minister, at the start of the war, posted a picture of a devastated area in Gaza, saying it was ``more beautiful than ever, bombing and flattening everything.''

Another Israeli lawmaker said:

[T]he Gaza Strip should be flattened, and there should be one sentence for everybody there--death. We have to wipe the Gaza Strip off the map. There are no innocents there.

Several officials have openly talked about reestablishing Israeli settlements in Gaza. The current Intelligence Minister, among others, openly talks of permanently displacing Palestinians from Gaza.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the police, has long advocated for the forceful expulsion of Palestinians from the region. This is the current Israeli National Security Minister.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, responsible for much of the occupied West Bank has, likewise, long expressed the extreme racist views and has called for the expulsion of Palestinians from their lands. He has called for segregated hospital wards for Jews and Arabs because ``Arabs are my enemies.'' As a younger man, he was arrested by the Israeli authorities on suspicion of anti-Palestinian terrorism.

That is the man who is the current Israeli Finance Minister.

This is a significant part of Netanyahu's government. Those are some of the people whose war we are subsidizing.

We can pretend to ignore all of this. We can pretend that today's Israel is the Israel of 20 or 30 years ago, but that is just not the case. And the reason I raise these issues and talk about some of the people in the Israeli Government is to understand that what is happening today in Gaza is not an accident. It is a bringing forth the doing of what many of these people have wanted to do for a long time.

It should come as no surprise that this extreme government in Israel, right now, is not simply waging a war against Hamas--and Israel has the right to defend itself from the terrorist organization of Hamas--but it is at war with the entire Palestinian people and fighting that war in a deeply reckless and immoral way. And that is why the Netanyahu government has consistently ignored President Biden's request that they do more to minimize civilian casualties, that they be more targeted in their approach, and that they let more humanitarian aid in.

And so given the attitude and the beliefs--the racist beliefs of a number of people in the Netanyahu government, let us take a look and see what is happening today in Gaza.

We all know that Hamas, a terrorist organization, began this war with a horrific attack on Israel that killed 1,200 men, women, and children and took more than 230 captives, some of whom are still in captivity today. And as I have said many times and repeated a moment ago, Israel has the right to defend itself; but it does not have the right to go to war against the entire Palestinian people, including women and children.

Let's take a deep breath and listen to some of these facts--and no one disputes these facts. The war is about 6\1/2\ months old. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, and 77,000 have been wounded--70 percent of whom are women and children. That is 70 percent of whom are women and children. That means that 5 percent, 5 percent of the 2.2 million people in Gaza have been killed or wounded in a 6\1/2\-month period. That is an astronomical figure--astronomical. The number of people getting wounded--70 percent are women and children--is almost beyond comprehension.

Mr. President, 19,000 children are now orphans in Gaza--19,000-- having lost their parents in this war. And when you think about the children in Gaza, literally, it is hard to imagine.

Imagine a 7-year-old in an area where the whole community has been flattened, where there is massive death, where there is no food, there is no water, no schools. Your parents may or may not be alive. Your relatives are dead. That is what the children in Gaza are going through right now, and I doubt that any of them will ever fully recover from the psychic trauma--the terrible, unbelievable trauma that they are experiencing at this moment.

And the killing has not stopped. Over the weekend, 139 Palestinians were killed and 251 were injured. Of these, 29 were killed in and around Rafah, including 20 children and 6 women, one of whom was pregnant.

Just today, more news emerged about mass graves found by Palestinian health authorities and U.N. observers at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. So far, more than 300 bodies have been found. The U.N. Human Rights Office reports that the dead include elderly people, women, and wounded people, and that some had been bound and stripped of their clothes. Some of these bodies apparently had their hands tied, the U.N. said.

What can we say about this horror? Roughly 1.7 million people--and it is, again, hard to understand. Maybe think--Members of Congress, think about your own State and what this would mean and look like in your own States. We are dealing with a population of 2.2 million people which is about 3\1/2\ times the size of the State of Vermont.

Roughly 1.7 million people--over 75 percent of the population--have been driven from their homes. It is not a community which has been forced to evacuate in order for a military action to take place. This is three-quarters of the population driven from their homes.

Satellite data shows that 62 percent of the homes in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, including 221,000 housing units that have been completely destroyed.

A number of months ago in Vermont, we had a terrible flood, and dozens of houses were destroyed. And I saw the impact of what the destruction of dozens of houses in my small State meant. We are talking about 221,000 housing units that have been completely destroyed.

But it is not just housing. Gaza's civilian infrastructure has been devastated. There is little or no electricity apart from generators or solar power. Most of the roads are badly damaged. More than half of the water and sanitation systems are out of commission. Clean water is severely limited, and sewage--raw sewage--is running through the streets, creating disease. But it is not just housing and civilian infrastructure.

And this is quite unbelievable, but there is a reason, I think, for all of this. None of this is happening by accident. Israel has systematically destroyed the healthcare system in Gaza. We are not talking about an occasional accidental bomb that destroys a medical unit or a hospital. Those things happen. What we are talking about is the reality that 26 out of 37 hospitals are completely out of service. They have been bombed and attacked in all kinds of ways. The 11 hospitals that are remaining are partially functioning, but they are being overwhelmed by tens of thousands of trauma patients, and they are short on medical supplies.

So you got 77,000 people who have been wounded, and you got almost all of the hospitals out of commission.

I met recently with a group of American and British doctors who recently returned from Gaza where they had gone, bravely risking their own lives, to try to help alleviate the terrible suffering taking place there. And it is difficult to relate the unspeakable things they witnessed. They saw thousands of patients, many young children, killed or maimed in Israeli bombings. They operated on little children, already orphaned, on dirty hospital floors. On many days, they had no morphine; on other days, no water or clean gloves. They knew that many victims, even if they survived the week, would die of infection without access to sanitary environments or antibiotics.

They reported that the Israelis would not allow them to bring in wheelchairs or syringes, claiming they might have some military use. They witnessed Israeli forces systematically cutting off electricity, food, and water to hospitals and abducting medical workers with no affiliation to Hamas. They reported that Israeli soldiers destroyed medical equipment, like MRIs, oxygen tanks, and CT scanners, for no apparent reason. These are American doctors who witnessed these things.

Overall, 84 percent of health facilities have been damaged or destroyed, and more than 400 healthcare workers have been killed--an extraordinary number.

But we are not just talking about housing being decimated. We are not just talking about physical infrastructure being decimated. We are not just talking about a healthcare system being decimated. Gaza is a young community. A lot of children live there, and their educational system has been destroyed. Fifty-six schools have been bombed and completely destroyed, and 219 have been damaged--schools. The last of Gaza's universities--I think they had 12 universities in Gaza, and the last one was demolished in January. Now, I am not quite sure how fighting Hamas has anything to do with destroying universities, but it does lead to the fact that some 625,000 students in Gaza have, today, no access to education.

Just today, David Satterfield, the U.S. Special Envoy for the Gaza humanitarian crisis, said that the risk of famine throughout war- devastated Gaza, especially in the north, is ``very high'' and that more aid must reach those areas.

He said:

We have always stressed that we were in a man-made situation, and it can only be addressed by political will and decisions.

So, on top of the destruction of housing, infrastructure, healthcare, and education, we are now looking at mass starvation and malnutrition. The United Nations estimates that more than 1 million Palestinians, including hundreds of thousands of children, face starvation. Desperate Gazans have been scraping by for months, foraging for leaves or eating animal feed. At least 28 children have died of malnutrition and dehydration. That is a number that came out several weeks ago, and there is no reason to believe the real number is not much, much higher. USAID Administrator Samantha Power said that famine was already present in northern Gaza.

Without food, clean water, sanitation, or sufficient healthcare, hundreds of thousands of people are at a severe risk of dehydration, infection, and easily preventable diseases. Yet, for months, thousands of trucks carrying lifesaving food, medicine, and other supplies have sat just miles away from starving children. Got that? I hope we all try to put that image in our minds: starving children over here and trucks loaded with food on the other side of the border that are unable to get through and kept from entering Gaza by Israeli restrictions in a brutal war fought with little regard for civilians.

But let us be clear, and I think this is the main point I want to make this evening. This war stopped being about defending Israel and going to war against Hamas a long time ago. This is not any longer a war against the terrorist organization called Hamas. This is now a war that has everything to do with the destruction of the very fabric of Palestinian life. That is the goal of this war.

It is impossible to look at these facts and not conclude that the Israeli Government's policy has been to make Gaza uninhabitable. That is what some of their government leaders have wanted, and that is, in fact, what is happening. These are not accidents of war--mistakes. This is calculated policy. Indeed, this is what has been going on systematically over the last 6 months. These cruel actions are entirely consistent with the public statements of numerous Israeli senior officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu himself.

That brings us to the role of the United States in this horrific war. Put simply, we are deeply complicit in what is happening. This is not an Israeli war; this is an Israeli-American war. Most of the bombs and most of the military equipment the Israeli Government is using in Gaza is provided by the United States and subsidized by American taxpayers. The U.S. military is not dropping 2,000-pound bombs on civilian apartment buildings. The U.S. military is not doing that, but we are supplying those bombs. The United States of America is not blocking the borders and preventing food, water, and medical supplies from getting to desperate people. We are not doing that, but we have supplied billions of dollars to the Netanyahu government, which is doing just that.

So this is not just an Israeli war; this is an American war as well. Yet, despite the massive financial and military support the United States has provided to Israel for many years, Netanyahu's extremist government has ignored urgent calls from the President and others to alter their military approach and to end this humanitarian disaster.

In my view, the U.S. unconditional financial and military support for Israel must end. That is why I offered an amendment to this bill--to do, in fact, what a majority of the American people wants us to do, and that is to no longer provide military aid to the destructive Netanyahu government.

I would have welcomed the chance to vote for the humanitarian aid provision in this bill. It is terribly important that we start feeding people not only in Gaza but in Sudan and all over the world. It is an important provision, and I support it. I believe very strongly we should support Ukraine and help them end--defeat--the imperialist ventures of Putin and the Russian army. But I am not going to be able to do that because I am going to stand with the American people today who oppose more money for Netanyahu.

Let me conclude by simply saying this: What we are doing today is very bad policy. We are aiding and abetting the destruction of the Palestinian people. What we are doing today is not what the American people want, and I say to my Democratic friends, it is absolutely not. A lot of Republicans don't want us to continue that as well, but a strong majority of Democrats is saying: Enough with Netanyahu's war. You just can't give him another $10 billion for unfettered military aid.

But I suppose, in a little while, as things happen here in Congress, we will ignore the needs of the American people; we will not pay attention to what they want. Then we are shocked--just shocked--that we have a 14-percent approval rating.

With that,

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, as our Nation and our allies face a host of challenges across the globe, it is critical that we deploy the necessary resources to protect freedom, support democracy, and address humanitarian crises abroad. For Ukraine, especially, this assistance could not come at a more crucial time. While Putin continues to wage his war of aggression against the Ukrainian people and on democracy itself, Ukraine is running dangerously low on artillery and air defense munitions, as well as other vital supplies. This aid is critical not only to support the Ukrainian people in their fight against Putin, but also to defend freedom and democracy worldwide. Our allies and adversaries alike are watching closely to see if the United States and our partners will keep our promises to the people of Ukraine in their hour of need or whether we will retreat.

In particular, we know that President Xi has one eye on the war in Ukraine and the other eye on Taiwan. As Taiwan prepares to inaugurate its newly elected President next month, the PRC has ratcheted up diplomatic and military pressure against Taipei. We have also recently seen increasingly provocative maneuvers by China's coast guard against the Philippines' vessels in the South China Sea. These actions underscore the need for increased security cooperation between the U.S. and our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific. That is why I am glad this bill provides additional funding for security assistance to our partners there.

This bill also includes important provisions to protect our security here at home by investing more in the Nonprofit Security Grant Program--NSGP--which helps protect various community institutions that are at risk of hate crimes, including synagogues, mosques, and certain other houses of worship. The alarming rise of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab incidents since the October 7 attacks underscores the vital need for more resources to help protect our communities from bigotry and hate. As we confront these challenges across the country, I believe it is critical that all Americans feel safe in their houses of worship. This legislation makes that possible with investments to install essential security measures. Additionally, it boosts screenings and inspections at border points of entry to better protect American families from the threat posed by the deadly flow of fentanyl into our Nation, a drug that has caused pain and loss for far too many.

In addition to these provisions, this legislation includes over $9 billion in humanitarian aid that will reach people in desperate need around the world, from Gaza to Sudan and elsewhere. Last week, we marked the solemn anniversary of the start of the civil war in Sudan, where more than 25 million people currently need humanitarian assistance. This aid will also support innocent civilians in Gaza, where four out of five of the hungriest people anywhere in the world currently reside. I am glad to support this funding that will provide necessities like food, water, shelter, and medical care to the world's most vulnerable people. That being said, I am deeply disappointed that this bill prohibits any of the available funds from going to UNRWA, which provides vital services to Palestinian refugees in many countries and is the main humanitarian aid distribution entity in Gaza. According to USAID Administrator Samantha Power, famine is already occurring in Gaza. Amid such a crisis, it is unconscionable to cut off funding, without a mechanism to reinstate it, for the primary distributor of urgently needed aid to starving people. To rectify this, I put forward an amendment to provide a process to restore that funding following the ongoing investigation and appropriate remedial actions. While we did not have an opportunity to vote on that amendment, I will continue to seek to reverse the current ban--which Republicans demanded be included in the recent government funding bill--on U.S. funding for UNRWA through March 2025. I will also press the Biden administration to encourage other countries to continue to support UNRWA and use our support for international organizations in a way that advances that goal. The underlying bill does include substantial assistance that is desperately needed at this time in Gaza and around the world and is better than our alternative at this point--which is to provide nothing.

Within this legislation, I also support the funding for defensive weapons systems, like the Iron Dome, to protect Israel from Hamas, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hezbollah, and other threats in the region. The October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel was horrific; we must prevent any such future horrors and secure the release of all remaining hostages. I fully support Israel's right--indeed, its duty--to defend itself. But while this war is just, it must be fought justly. I do not support a blank check for offensive weapons for the Netanyahu government's current campaign in Gaza. I will continue to press for a cease-fire and the return of all the hostages but, in the meantime, we cannot turn a blind eye to what President Biden has described as ``indiscriminate'' bombing or to the failure of the Netanyahu government to meet its obligations to facilitate, and not arbitrarily restrict, the delivery of assistance to address the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Given these concerns, had this been an up or down vote strictly on military assistance for Israel, I would have insisted on amendments to ensure that no funds for offensive weapons would flow to the Netanyahu government until it cooperates fully in the delivery of humanitarian assistance to starving people in Gaza; agrees not to launch an invasion into Rafah, where over 1.3 million Palestinians were told to seek safety; and allows an independent investigation into the deaths of all humanitarian aid workers killed in Gaza. For now, I will continue to press the administration to pause any further transfers of offensive military aid until the Netanyahu government meets President Biden's demands and will use the congressional review process to reinforce that position. A partnership should not be a one-way street.

I appreciate that President Biden issued National Security Memorandum 20, based on the amendment that I, together with 18 of my colleagues, proposed when the supplemental was first considered in the Senate months ago. That amendment, and the ensuing NSM-20, are designed to better ensure that American taxpayer dollars are used in a manner consistent with our values and our interests. Specifically, NSM-20 requires recipients of U.S. security assistance to use our support in accordance with international law and to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance in conflict areas where they are using U.S.- supplied weapons. It also requires the Biden administration to submit to Congress by May 8 a written report on whether recipients of U.S. security assistance have been complying with those obligations. The administration's report will be a test of whether they are willing to apply those standards to allies as well as adversaries and take any actions necessary to ensure accountability.

This sweeping national security bill has many provisions that raise concerns, but on balance, it provides the resources that are vital to support the people of Ukraine and advance important American priorities around the world. That is why, despite certain reservations, I support this legislation.

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