Duckworth Pleads for Sustained Humanitarian Aid for Innocents in Gaza: “No Child Deserves to Be Terrorized, Whether Their Home Is on A Kibbutz, in Plainfield, Illinois, or Behind A Blockade in Gaza”
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Today, U.S. Senator and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), made an impassioned plea on the floor of the United States Senate for the global community to act with urgency to secure the sustained flow of humanitarian aid for the innocent civilians suffering in Gaza after Hamas’ terrorist attacks in Israel last weekend. Duckworth, a longtime and steadfast supporter of Israel’s right to defend itself and its people, specifically called for restoration of essential services like water as well as the safe, swift return of the hostages currently being held by Hamas. Video of the Senator’s remarks can be found at this link.
“We must work as hard as we can to bring about a tomorrow for both Israelis and Palestinians alike where their skies won’t be marred with missiles and their streets won’t be scarred with blood,” said Duckworth. “So that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’m going to roll out of this chamber, head back to my office and keep fighting to get our hostages home. To get our ally Israel the aid and support they need. To get basic humanitarian aid into Gaza. Then, tonight, when I go home, I’m going to hold my daughters in my arms until they wriggle free. And every moment that that hug lasts, I’m going to be more aware than ever how lucky I am to still be able to squeeze them tight.”
Other key quotes:
- “If I were an Israeli Soldier, I, too, would be desperate to defend my nation and my neighbors. I, too, would want to make sure that those who turned my children’s playgrounds into battlefields—who turned the grass under my daughters’ swing-set from a rich green to blood-red—are never able to inflict such horrors ever again… I am also clear-eyed about the fact that there is a humanitarian crisis unfolding just miles away in Gaza, and I recognize the urgent need to help the innocent Palestinians who are also suffering as a result of Hamas’s brutal attacks.”
- “Every time I’ve gotten home from work since the attacks, I’ve held my little girls as tightly as I could. I’ve given them one more squeeze than usual, held onto them for a couple more seconds than normal. My daughters are just eight and five. They don’t understand why I’m so upset. So I just tell them that that mommy’s heart is hurting. That she’s really sad right now. And that all she wants in that moment is to hold them a little closer, for a little longer.”
- “We cannot let Hamas succeed. We cannot let the blasts of missiles drown out the voices of our better angels. Because our hearts are big enough and our perspectives wide enough to know that Hamas’s reign terrorizes the little girls and boys of not just Israel, but Gaza, too… [and] we must work as hard as we can to bring about a tomorrow for both Israelis and Palestinians alike where their skies won’t be marred with missiles and their streets won’t be scarred with blood.”
Duckworth’s full remarks as prepared below:
On September 11th, 2001, even while smoke was still billowing from the wreckage of the Twin Towers, I knew deep within me that that attack on American soil would change not just my nation’s future, but my own.
It did.
I rushed to the assault helicopter company I commanded, ready to seek out the terrorists who attacked my nation and slaughtered civilians.
I did it willingly… without hesitation… because every fiber in my being felt the need to defend my country when she was threatened.
So today, let me be very clear:
As a Soldier, and as someone who has always supported Israel, I strongly believe in Israel’s right to defend itself and its people—especially when under attack from a terrorist organization like Hamas: a group that redefines the word “cruelty…” that seems to take pleasure in bloodshed… that refuses adhere to the rule of law or international norms.
If I were an Israeli Soldier… if I woke up two Saturdays ago to the sights and sounds of massacre, like they did … I, too, would be desperate to defend my nation and neighbors.
I, too, would want to make sure that those who turned my children’s playgrounds into battlefields… who turned the grass under my daughters’ swing-set from a rich green to blood-red… were never able to inflict such horrors again.
I grieve for every Israeli life that was upended—or in too many cases ended—in such horrific fashion.
There is never an excuse or justification for terrorism.
None.
And I will stay on this floor for as long as it takes… vote as many times as I have to… to ensure our Israeli allies have the resources and support they need in their time of war.
I am also clear-eyed about the fact that there is a humanitarian crisis unfolding just miles away in Gaza, and I recognize the urgent need to help the innocent Palestinians who are also suffering as a result of Hamas’s brutal attacks.
It’s this simple: We should all be able to agree that no child deserves to starve to death.
We should all be able to agree that no child deserves to be brutalized or burned alive, whether they live in Gaza or in Tel Aviv.
We should all be able to agree that no child deserves to be terrorized, whether their home is on a kibbutz, in Plainfield, Illinois, or behind a blockade.
Every time I’ve gotten home from work since that awful Saturday morning, I’ve held my little girls as tightly as I could.
I’ve given them one more squeeze than usual… held onto them for a couple more seconds than normal.
My daughters are just eight and five. They don’t understand why I’m so upset.
So I just tell them that that mommy’s heart is hurting. That she’s really sad right now. And that all she wants in that moment is to hold them a little closer, for a little longer.
I am haunted by the faces of the Israeli children who Hamas terrorists abducted, just as I am by the conversations I’ve had with parents desperate to get their children home from the captivity of a terrorist organization.
I’m haunted by the stories of the Palestinian children who have been buried in rubble, just as I am by the images of six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume, who was brutally murdered by his landlord over the weekend in Illinois, because he just happened to be Muslim. A six-year old who loved playing with his Legos. A six-year-old who could’ve been any one of ours.
I know many others in this chamber, across the country and around the world are haunted, too.
So we must—must—act with urgency to secure the sustained flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
We must—must—restore essential services like water as quickly as we can.
And we must—must—ensure hostages being held in Gaza receive urgent medical treatment and are safely brought home as soon as humanly possible.
Innocent life needs to be protected consistent with laws of armed conflict.
These actions mark both moral imperatives—helping innocent civilians—and steps toward ensuring Israel’s security.
I am grateful that the Administration has been working around the clock on these priorities, and I will continue to do everything in my power to support them.
Because during a crisis that is almost always defined by lose-lose outcomes, this could be the rare step that would actually benefit all innocent parties.
It would get help to those trapped innocent Palestinian families, who are mourning their own lost loved ones and who have been living with no access to basic necessities.
It would get assistance to the hostages—from Israel, the U.S. and other nations—who we are all praying for so desperately.
It would send the message that the global community is unified in ending the suffering of innocent human souls.
As someone who was shot down by an insurgent in the Middle East, I know all too well that these are the kinds of moments when the next generation of insurgents gets radicalized, as groups like Hamas thrive when people are suffering the most.
They take advantage of the despair and hopelessness that they themselves manufacture… then they manipulate it to recruit more to their cause.
We cannot let Hamas succeed. We cannot let the blasts of missiles drown out the voices of our better angels.
Because our hearts are big enough and our perspectives wide enough to know that Hamas’s reign terrorizes the little girls and boys of not just Israel, but Gaza, too, as they use them as human shields.
In this moment, it’s hard not to feel the darkness weighing down upon us.
But for all those in harm’s way, we must channel our devastation into motivation.
We must use our voices to lift up the humanity of innocent civilians—not to dehumanize those who may look or pray differently than us.
We must work as hard as we can to bring about a tomorrow for both Israelis and Palestinians alike where their skies won’t be marred with missiles and their streets won’t be scarred with blood.
So that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
I’m going to roll out of this chamber, head back to my office and keep fighting to get our hostages home. To get our ally Israel the aid and support they need. To get basic humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Then, tonight, when I go home, I’m going to hold my daughters in my arms until they wriggle free.
And every moment that that hug lasts, I’m going to be more aware than ever how lucky I am to still be able to squeeze them tight.
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