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Floor Speech

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Mr. BUDD. Madam President, on October 7, Hamas terrorists launched an unprovoked and barbaric series of terrorist attacks inside Israel. Over 1,400 children, women, and men were brutally murdered. Thirty-one Americans were killed, and dozens remain missing or held hostage.

In the wake of such a despicable series of attacks, we must ensure that our taxpayer dollars are not being sent to aid these terrorist killers.

Two years ago, one of our own State Department officials in the Biden administration acknowledged the possibility that aid to the Palestinians could find its way into Hamas's hands. That is unacceptable.

That is why Senator Rick Scott's Stop Taxpayer Funding of Hamas Act is so critical right now. It simply states that no U.S. taxpayer dollars would be authorized to Gaza until the President certifies to us, to Congress, that there are measures in place to prevent any taxpayer dollars from benefiting terrorist organizations.

At the end of the day, we should be standing shoulder to shoulder with the State of Israel to give them everything that they need to destroy Hamas.

I urge the Senate to pass this without delay.

I thank my colleague from Florida for his leadership on this issue, and I yield to him.

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