January 18, 2024
For Immediate Release
Contact: Taylor Haulsee
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Yesterday, Wednesday, January 17, Speaker Johnson hosted a bipartisan candlelight vigil with family members of those held hostage by Hamas. Speaker Johnson was joined by Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, Rep. David Kustoff, Rep. Kathy Manning and Rep. Max Miller.
Speaker Johnson’s remarks, as delivered:
A little more than 70 days ago, this group gathered to remember the October 7th attacks on the Jewish people.
And here we are again, because there are still Jewish sons and daughters being held captive by Hamas. Kfir Bibas is one of those being held captive. He just turned 1-year-old. Hamas took him hostage four months ago, and his parents are now remembering his birthday hoping he’ll be back in their arms soon.
We’re here again because there are still Americans and Israelis who have not spoken to their families for 103 days. Some of those families are here with us today.
We’re here because Hamas is still terrorizing the Jewish people and threatening the state of Israel.
It was a bipartisan group who stood here 70 days ago, and it’s still a bipartisan group because Congress is united in its opposition to Jewish hatred and in support for our friend and ally, Israel.
Since becoming Speaker, I’ve been able to work with many of my Democrat colleagues to advocate for the safety and security of Israel.
Sadly, there are some who continue to sympathize with Hamas. Their actions and their rhetoric – which are shocking – remind us exactly why we need a vigil like this.
As we continue our work to counter antisemitism, at home and abroad, we must continue to speak the truth about what Hamas did on October 7th.
In the aftermath of the attacks, we’ve heard shocking details about the widespread, unspeakable violence Hamas terrorists committed against innocent civilians.
The details of this, are difficult to repeat, but they must be faced:
We learned that women had their pelvic bones broken by terrorists who raped them. These animals beheaded babies. Hamas forced children to watch their parents get tortured and murdered, and they made parents watch the murder of their children. And they savagely aimed their weapons at Jewish women’s genitals, and fired mercilessly.
This attack, the first of its kind since the Holocaust, came because of anti-Jewish hatred.
It’s our duty to call out this evil. If we don’t condemn it, if we don’t understand what brought it about, if we don’t look at it and call it what it is, then antisemitic forces will continue their global rampage, unabated.
We must listen to the stories of Israelis who witnessed this mass murder. We have to testify with the women who’ve been beaten, tortured and kept in cages as hostages in Gaza. We must hear the cries of the young Jewish boys whose legs were branded on the exhaust pipes of motorcycles, so Hamas captors can track them and prevent their escape. We must remember. We must testify to these evils, and we must defeat those who seek to perpetrate them.
We testify today, remembering also, that next Saturday is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. As we remember the deaths of six million Jews, we acknowledge that the existence of the Jewish people is once again threatened.
Hamas and Hezbollah, with the support of Iran, are leading a global effort to erase Israel and the Jewish people. Simultaneously, global institutions, like the United Nations and International Criminal Court, are platforming antisemites who want to blame Israel for what happened on October 7th and who make no effort to hold Hamas accountable for its atrocities. Congress will not be quiet. We will not tolerate it.
We must stand together, in solidarity with the Jewish people, and we will.
From the synagogues in Brooklyn to the country churches of my hometown in northwest Louisiana, from the Senate to the House, we support Israel, believing that we can overcome the darkness with light.
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