gentleman is recognized. mr. kean: madam speaker, over the weekend the world watched in horror as iran launched over 350 drones and missiles at our ally and friend, israel. this attack confirmed our worst fierce -- fears. the likely attack was openly discussed in the media days before it occurred. for years iran had been threatening israel and amassing a terrifying arsenal of missiles and drones. no one should have had any doubt that one day iran would fulfill its longstanding threat of death

to israel. however, the fact that this unprecedented attack was long expected did not make it any less terrifying. were it not for close coordination between israel, the united states and other partners to successfully intercept these weapons, israel and other countries in the region could have faced significant casualties and major damage. over the last seven months, we've seen iran's poisonous influence rip apart the middle east. iran-backed hamas launched the massive unprovoked october 7 attack on israel that killed over 1,200 people. hezbollah has fired thousands of rockets, mortars and missiles into israel. iran-backed militias have launched over 170 attacks on american troops in the middle east and the iran-backed houthis have launched over 100 missile and drone attacks on global shipping. this is not just a threat to

israel. this is a threat to the united states and to all of our partners in the middle east. and that is why this moment is such -- has such tremendous strategic importance. iran and its proxies are testing the resolve of israel, the united states and the international community. we absolutely must restore deterrence against iran. to protect our vital national security interests in the middle east. and that means standing shoulder to shoulder with our friend and ally, israel. we are stronger together. together this coalition literally shot missiles and drones out of the sky, protecting cities and citizens alike. some of my colleagues over the easter recess, my wife ronda and i traveled to israel, and we were able to see firsthand the impacts of the conflict on the people there. the resolve of the israeli people is stronger than ever. h.res. 1143 makes a simple, clear statement that we stand with israel and we support israel's right to defend itself

and to restore deterrence. including by responding to this attack as is appropriate. it also makes clear that our longstanding commitment to israel's security, including through the arm sales and security assistance, is ironclad. finally, it urges full enforcement of all of our sanctions against iran and its proxies. madam speaker, we must not forget what israel experienced over the weekend is unfortunately a reality of everyday life in ukraine. our adversaries are working closer together than ever before, undermining the american-led international order that's kept peace in the world since the second world war. before the united states ultimately joined the war, winston churchill showed the world the fortitude it took to face -- to look into the face of authoritarianism. he declared the democracies of the world stand up for their beliefs and they would endure. we must project that same

message today and in the future. our allies and our partners are watching what actions this body takes. we must project that confidence. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. meeks: thank you, madam chair. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. meeks: i rise in support of the gentleman from new jersey's resolution, 1143, condemning iran's unprecedented drone and missile attack on israel. like every member of this body, i'm horrified by iran's direct attack on israel. in retaliation for israel's targeted strike against two iranian military generals on april 1, iran launched more than 300 drones and powerful missiles

at israel's population. jews, muslims and christians alike. the great success of israel's missile shield co-developed by the united states of america and the combined forces of the u.s. military, france, the u.k. and jordan, prevented significant death and destruction. and our thoughts and hearts are with the young israeli girl who is recovering today from injuries she suffered during and due to the iranian projectile. and i stand strongly with the people of israel and their defense against both direct and proxy iranian attacks and support this resolution being offered by representative kean.

israel, of course, has the right to defend itself, like any other country. but as a true friend of israel, i do encourage the israeli government to be smart and strategic as it considers its response. and i urge this body not to beat the drums of war. as secretary blinken recently said, an escalation of the conflict is not in the united states' or israel's interests. and i understand, believe me, i really understand the rage felt by israel towards the government of iran. a government hell-bent on wiping israel off the map. the two generals whom israel eliminated work day and night to provide iranian proxies the lethal materials and strategy

necessary to significantly harm the state of israel. and i also understand the need for israel to maintain strategic deterrence. iran needs to know there will be serious consequences if it attempts to harm israel. deterrence serves to prevent expansion of conflict. but i also understand the massive consequences of israel and iran descending into a broader war and what that would mean for the united states and the rest of the entire world. an expanded israel-iran war would distract from the ongoing conflict in gaza, a conflict that must end, while assuring the elimination of hamas' military capabilities. we still have the challenges that we must get and must free the hostages remaining in gaza

and achieve a humanitarian ceasefire. famine and the current humanitarian catastrophe must be reversed at all costs. and there must be a realistic plan for the future governance and reconstruction of gaza. one that results in palestinian control of the strip. an expanded israel-iran war could also serve to drag the united states of america deeper into the conflict. as the ongoing debate on the supplemental should make clear, the united states already has a lot on its plate. my colleagues, please remember that russia's war of aggression in ukraine remains unfinished business and that ukraine is losing ground to russian forces due to donald trump's interference in our emergency supplemental process. the future of europe is

urgently, urgently at stake. already there are dangerous conflicts simmering throughout the middle east region, including continued attacks by the houthis in yemen against international shipping and u.s. military forces. china still has its sights set on taiwan as it strengthens its relationship with both iran and russia. and an expanded war in the middle east would put american soldiers deployed to the region in greater danger. it would harm the american middle class and global economy still clawing back from pandemic-spurred inflation, just as our economy is beginning to rebound. and there are those amongst us, there are, i'm asking those amongst us who think it is wise to open a broader war in the

middle east this week, do we want to further encourage iran to rush and build and test a nuclear weapon? do we want to give vladimir putin and xi jinping the satisfaction of the united states being bogged down in war? china and russia would love to see the united states embroiled and distracted by the -- in the middle east. as they continue their nefarious destabilizing objectives in europe and the indo-pacific. we should not let that happen. i will conclude my remarks where i started. we stand strongly with the state of israel. and its right to defend its people. israel, without question, has the right to defend itself.

and i hope that strategy and tthoughtfulness rule the day. not rage, not revenge. there's too much at stake. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. kean: i yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from california, mr. kiley. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. kiley: thank you. i stand there strong support of this resolution condemning iran's unprecedented missile and drone attack on israel. however, it is important to note that for the people of israel, attacks and threats from iran are far from unprecedented. every single day the people of israel face attacks from iran's terrorist proxies that literally surround the state of israel. hezbollah, the houthis, and of course hamas.

and we saw the consequences of iran's massive support for these terrorist proxies play out in such horrifying fashion on october 7. now, with this latest unprecedented attack directly from iran, we saw almost all of the missiles and drones intercepted. and this is a testament to the strength and the importance of the u.s.-israel relationship. ... both in terms of the partnership that has allowed israel to develop such impressive capacity to defend itself, and in terms of the collaboration that was on display. and i am glad that we will soon have an opportunity to provide long overdue support for israel in this time of such great importance for the region. something else, though, is equally important to note about what happened last weekend.

and that is that you had regional allies, other countries in the region, also rally to israel's defense. this is something the likes of which we have not seen before. and it speaks to the extraordinary success of the abraham accords. to usher in a new era of peace in the region. this, of course, is exactly what iran does not want. this is the reason for their desperation. they cannot -- they understand what is unfolding. if they do not respond, if they do not somehow stand in the way of it. so this is a time not only for the united states to stand with our ally, israel, but for every nation around the world that values peace, freedom, and democracy to do so as well. i strongly support this resolution. i would hope it passes this

house with strong unanimous bipartisan support. and i yield the remainder of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized mr. meeks: continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. kean: thank you. as people are here witnessing and speaking about this -- the attacks are all interconnected. iran, russia, and china all are seeking to do harm to this ---o our nation and the western rules-based order. it's extraordinarily important during these times we show strength and unity of purpose. i am thankful that the gentleman from new york, the ranking member of the foreign affairs committee, mr. meeks, supported this measure both in the rules

committee as well as on the floor here tonight. because it shows a very strong importance of this resolution. and our unparalleled support for the state of israel anti-right to defend itself. we -- and the right to defend itself. we as the house of representatives have the responsibility, and i expect later this week we'll pass a strong foreign aid package. that would support iran -- excuse me, support our opposition to iran, support our opposition to russia, support our opposition to china and make sure we support the people who are in fighting for the freedom in israel, in ukraine, and in israel to make sure that we have the strong support of the american people. that is why it's important on a bipartisan basis that we work together to support this

measure. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from new york. mr. meeks: i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman. mr. kean: in closing, madam speaker, i urge my colleagues to join me in standing -- sending a strong bipartisan and overwhelming show of support for the state of israel and the passage of this resolution. our allies and partners are closely watching this body's actions. we must send a clear message that we stand by our allies and partners and our resolve against the adversaries and those who wish us all harm. i urge the adoption of this resolution and i continue to reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from new york. mr. meeks: madam chair, i yield the balance of my time to

representative madeleine dean and ask unanimous consent that she may control that time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from pennsylvania will control the time. the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. dean: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. kean: yes. madam speaker, again i urge my colleagues to join me in sending a strong bipartisan measure in overwhelming show of support for the state of israel and the passage of this resolution. our allies and our partners are closely watching this body's actions. we must send a clear message that we stand by our allies and our partners in a resolve against our adversaries and those who wish to do all of us harm. i urge the adoption of this

resolution. i yield one minute to the the gentleman from louisiana, the majority leader, mr. scalise. he's a strong supporter of the state of israel. he has led this floor time and again, one of our strongest allies in the world, and i yield mr. scalise one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized. mr. scalise: thank you, madam speaker. 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 are at war. we all know starting october 7 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. 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. 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. 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 cease-fire. the cease-fire ended when hamas decided 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 the -- they are always under attack. they have 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's attacked, we saw september 11, there have been other attacks on our homeland, of course pearl harbor. america responds. 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. mr. kean's been really good about laying out the case for why we need to condemn iran and their actions. 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 all the missiles and drones were shot down so everybody should just look the other way. they will keep trying million they kill innocent civilians. iran has always sponsored terrorism. and they have 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 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 they -- now they are using that money directly to attack our friend and alley, israel. while israel is under attack, now more than ever we need to be unequivocal in our support for our friend, israel anti-right to self-defense. so god bless the people of -- and the right to self-defense. so god bless the people of israel. i thank my friend from new jersey for bringing this important piece of legislation and urge its adoption. madam chair -- madam speaker, i yield back. mr. kean: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentlelady from pennsylvania is recognized. ms. dean: i'm prepared to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. kean: i am ready to close. and yield back my time.

ms. dean: thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the lady from pennsylvania is recognized. ms. dean: thank you, madam speaker. i stand by israel and its right to defend itself. and condemn in the strongest of terms iran's direct attack on our ally. it is my hope that israel listen to what many of its allies are saying and not take steps that lead us into a greater regional war. as president biden has said, our defense against iranian threats to israel is ironclad. we have israel's back and we will not yield to iranian's the threats. i support this resolution and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized mr. kean: i urge the adoption of ties

and their efforts to combat

te