McConnell Remarks On Support For Israel, Justice For Terrorists

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding national security priorities:

"The attacks of October 7th brought the world face-to-face with the savage terrorists who have tried to destroy the Jewish state for decades.

"They forced us all to take a sober look at what our ally, Israel, has to defend against every single day.

"In the months since, I've insisted repeatedly that America should provide Israel the time, space, and support it needs to defeat Iran-backed terrorists and restore its security.

"And I've made it clear that the consensus of Israel's national unity war cabinet - that lasting security can only come after Hamas is defeated - ought to be our position here in America as well.

"Early on, there was reason to believe that President Biden shared this view.

"I was encouraged by his initial willingness to move quickly to transfer needed munitions to Israel, by his request for an emergency national security supplemental including urgent security assistance to Israel, and by what he called his Administration's 'ironclad' commitment to Israel's security.

"Unfortunately, we've seen then that iron bend under the heat of domestic political pressure from his party's anti-Israel base and the campus communists who decided to wrap themselves in the flags of Hamas and Hizballah.

"We've seen his Administration cave to growing demands to condition and limit assistance to our democratic ally.

"We've seen public attempts to micromanage Israel's self-defense. To constrain Israel's freedom of action.

"And a few days ago, we saw reports that the President was delaying weapons shipments to Israel, creating daylight between America and a close ally.

"As it turns out, these reports were true. And the decision to pause these shipments was withheld from Congress - we still don't know key facts.

"I speak with some experience in the difficulties of standing up to extreme elements of one's own political party.

"But the President's apparent inability to keep the most radical voices on his left flank out of the Situation Room isn't just a shameful abdication of leadership - it's dangerous.

"Failing to pass the emergency national security supplemental would have been devastating to Ukraine's defense and America's credibility. For the Administration to withhold assistance from Israel is devastating in its own right.

"At home, it will only whet the appetite of the anti-Israel Left. And abroad, it will embolden Iran and its terrorist proxies.

"There is no secret shortcut to restoring peace and security. A return to the status quo ante doesn't solve the challenge at hand.

"The status quo before October 7th was what allowed Iran the latitude to export terror across the Middle East and allowed Hamas to exploit a cease-fire to launch the attacks.

"For those who care about the humanitarian situation in Gaza - and I would count myself among those who do - the most enduring way to help the Palestinian people is to help Israel defeat Hamas.

"A return to the status quo ante will only perpetuate the conditions that have long plagued the people of Gaza, and threatened the people of Israel. In the last week, their terrorist oppressors have struck the main humanitarian entrance to Gaza twice with mortars.

"It's time for the President to stop letting domestic political demands of the far left determine his foreign policy.

"And it's time to stop doubting the will of Israel's unity government and the overwhelming view of the Israeli people.

"A future of peace for Israelis and Palestinians is one in which Iran-backed terrorists play no part.

"Now, on a related matter…

***

"Israel knows it cannot blink in the face of savages who seek to destroy it. The same cannot be said of the Biden Administration.

"The disastrous retreat from Afghanistan… The delusion that 'over-the-horizon' counterterrorism could fill in for on-the-ground operations… And of course, an abiding fixation on releasing hardened killers from the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay so they can symbolically end the war on terror.

"Negotiations between federal prosecutors and representatives of the masterminds of the September 11th massacre have been ongoing for years. The terrorists' defense has tried every trick in the book to dodge justice, from bids for transfer to U.S. soil for medical treatment to plea deals that would take a capital sentence off the table.

"Many of our colleagues have followed these proceedings with great interest. Many of us feel strongly that a terrorist mass murderer ought to get his just desserts.

"And the way this story is sometimes covered in the press, you might think there's something wrong about a U.S. senator insisting on it. So let's be clear on a couple of things:

"First, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed deserves nothing less than the death penalty. And the fact he hasn't yet received it is a disgrace.

"Second, on President Biden's watch, the terrorist threat has grown significantly while our ability to combat it has actually shrunk. Law enforcement and intelligence officials confirm the urgency of the threat to the homeland.

"We've been kicked out of the Sahel. And we are blind in Afghanistan. The President's precipitous withdrawal from Bagram Air Base led to the emptying of the terrorist detention facility there and fueled ISIS-K terrorist plots against America.

"Finally, if the President and his Attorney General let the perpetrators of the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil plead out, or cut a secret deal for better healthcare and living conditions, the Biden Administration will pay a steep political price."

###

Permalink: https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2024/5/mcconnell-remarks-on-support-for-israel-justice-for-terrorists