Today, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) spoke on the House floor in support of H. Res. 1143, condemning Iran’s unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel. Leader Scalise emphasized the need to stand with our ally as Israel defends itself against the largest state sponsor of terrorism. Leader Scalise also called for the Biden Administration to place sanctions on Iran to hamper their ability to fund terrorism around the globe.
    

Leader Scalise’s remarks:

“I want to thank my friend from New Jersey for leading this effort and for making sure all of our colleagues have the opportunity to stand with our friend Israel while they're at war. And we all know starting October 7th, Israel was attacked barbarically by one of Iran's proxies, Hamas, a terrorist organization. They went into Israel, murdered barbarically Israelis, took hostages – still to this day have about 130 hostages, including some American citizens. 

“And while this war to eviscerate the terrorist organization known as Hamas is going on, Israel, then, over the weekend, faced an unprecedented attack directly from Iran. So no longer is it the proxies, whether it's Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, all who are supported by Iran. Now, Iran directly attacked with 300 plus drones, missiles to try to kill more Israelis. And so, fortunately, a coalition, of course, Israel, but the United States and other allies joined together to shoot down those missiles and drones. But at the same time, Iran made it clear they wanted to attack Israel directly, which means Israel now is looking at how they properly respond. And during this time, again, a war that started this idea of a ceasefire; the ceasefire ended when Hamas decided that they were going to go murder Israelis. Israel has a right to self-defense. 

“We have always stood, this Congress, by our friend, Israel. Our greatest ally in the Middle East; a democracy in the Middle East. But they are always under attack. They've been under attack since their existence. And they know how to defend themselves. But when they respond, whatever choice the people of Israel make through their elected leaders, we need to express our support for that defense. That's Israel's right. If America is attacked – we saw September 11th, there have been other attacks on our homeland, of course, Pearl Harbor – America responds. And we don't have our allies calling us saying don't respond. This is a time when the allies of Israel, including the United States, need to support Israel in their right to respond. Call out Iran, as this resolution does, and [Rep.] Kean has been really good about laying out the case for why we need to condemn Iran and their actions. But we also need to support Israel as they consider their options and how to properly respond to deter this from happening again. It was unwarranted; it shouldn't have happened. We shouldn't just look and say, well, all the missiles and drones were shot down, so, you know, everybody should just look the other way. They will keep trying until they kill innocent civilians. Iran has always sponsored terrorism, and they've gotten away with it.

“We need to put sanctions back on Iran; they shouldn't be able to sell their oil on world markets, for example. Iran has made up about $60 billion in the last three years selling their oil on world markets. They shouldn't have that access. They use that money to sponsor terrorism. And now they're using that money directly to attack our friend and our ally, Israel. And while Israel is under attack now more than ever, we need to be unequivocal in our support for our friend Israel and the right to self-defense. So God bless the people of Israel. We stand with them. This resolution makes it very clear. And I think, again, my friend from New Jersey for bringing this important piece of legislation and urge its adoption.”