October 13, 2023

Standing with Israel

Unfathomable, unadulterated evil.

Those words don’t even begin to describe the horrors that occurred and are occurring in Israel. Thousands of innocent people dead at the hands of ruthless, barbaric terrorists—Hamas—as they raided and murdered civilians, 27 of the victims from our own soil.

My heart breaks. It breaks for those who lost a parent, a child, a friend. It breaks for the hundreds that are still held hostage, including Americans.

News coverage this week has been almost unbearable to watch, but it’s important for us all to pay attention and understand the atrocities occurring to our friend and ally in Israel. This sort of evil can impact us all.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will swiftly respond with vengeance, as they have every right to do. They have urged civilians in Gaza to evacuate immediately as they move into the region. Hamas have urged Gazans to remain. We must also keep an eye on Hezbollah, another radical group, who may further engage and partner with Hamas.

It is America’s moral and strategic duty to stand in strong support of our allies. Our defense mechanisms are in place, but now is the time for the US to rapidly flow support to Israel. We can’t afford to wait until their stocks are low. They need to be as strong as possible to deter further aggression—and there should be no question which side American is on.

This crisis is just another reason we must urgently elect a Speaker of the House. We need a Speaker to get our government functioning again to pass legislation to aid our allies. We don’t have any more time to waste.

Our adversaries are watching this chaos unfold in the House of Representatives as we mark the 10^th day without a Speaker. Iran is watching. China is watching. Russia is watching.

We must get back to the work of the country and the world.

Although we can’t advance anything on the floor yet, we have sent letters and drafted bills to support our friends in Israel.

My response

We must do whatever it takes to make sure Israel has a clear path to effectively defend their nation and innocent civilians. 

Here are the steps I took this week to do just that:

• I cosponsored a bipartisan resolution that condemns the unprovoked atrocities of Hamas and affirm our unrelenting support for Israel.
• I sent a letter to President Biden and cosponsored legislation that both demand the President to stop financing terror from Iran. If you remember, on September 11^th of this year, the Biden Administration allowed $6 billion to flow right into the regime’s coffers. This set a concerning precent that only emboldened Iran and in turn, hurt Instead of negotiating deals with the devil, our government should be taking every step forward in deterring this dangerous regime—which we did through both of these avenues this week. There’s no question Iran was involved in the ruthless attack on Israel.

The ripple effects of this unrest are being felt far outside the Middle East. This week we’ve seen antisemitism fester throughout our very nation as some organizations held pro-Palestine rallies on school campuses and cities across America. People carried signs with terrorists parachuting, just as Hamas did on their deadly attack last Saturday. They chanted “Free Palestine” and discounted the overwhelming evidence of mass destruction and thousands of Jewish lives lost in Israel—the most that have died since the Holocaust. This sort of rhetoric is disgraceful and dangerous and has no place in this nation.

I sent a letter to the Biden Administration along with 43 of my colleagues urging prompt action to ensure the safety of Jewish students across the nation as these hurtful demonstrations take place. These legislative efforts are a step in the right direction.

We lift our thoughts and prayers to our friends in Israel. This is a very difficult time for our ally in the Middle East.

Our top priorities are to provide comfort and assistance who grieve those killed and do everything in our power to release those held hostage. We must support Israel in completely irradicating Hamas. That sort of evil should not touch this earth.

A Paralyzed House

The world is on fire and Congress is stuck in neutral.

Today is the 10^th day we’ve been without a leader in the US House of Representatives. Each day that goes by without a Speaker is a day we can’t govern. A day we can’t get assistance to Israel. A day we can’t advance conservative priorities. A day closer to the government running out of money on November 17.

This is unmitigated chaos. Listen to this week’s edition of the Comment from the Capitol to get a firsthand rundown of what happened here.

Looking ahead

The plan now is to regroup and come back Monday to hopefully, finally, come to a consensus and elect a Speaker. With the only candidate from the Republican side still lacking a hefty number of votes from our own party, the future is incredibly unknown, including who the future leader of the US House of Representatives will actually be.

Keeping AR-3 Updated

Without anything to vote on this week, I spent my free time catching up with some of you! Hearing what’s on the hearts and minds of the folks in AR-3 makes me better serve you in Washington. Whether we agree or not, I always appreciate the candid conversations.

From the front...

Congressman Steve Womack
Arkansas Third District