Recognizing Amiram Cooper

Floor Speech

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Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to share the story of Amiram Cooper.

Amiram is 85, a husband, a father, a grandfather of nine, a composer, and a poet. His love for the arts and writing inspires everyone around him.

On October 7, he was 1 of more than 240 men, women, children, and elderly who were kidnapped by Hamas.

Amiram was one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the sites of this horrible attack. This tight-knit community was left devastated by the brutality of that day.

Amiram and 135 others are still held captive in Gaza today. Their families continue to live a nightmare--devastated, not knowing what conditions their loved ones are in. It has been 123 days.

We must demand that medical and aid organizations be able to treat the hostages and negotiate on their behalf.

We must continue to do everything in our power to keep these hostages and their families in our hearts and to keep telling their stories.

We must bring every single hostage home and end this violence.

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