Frederica Freyberg:

Next, we turn to second congressional district U.S. Representative Mark Pocan, who has called for a ceasefire of hostilities against civilians in the war between Israel and Hamas to pave the way for robust aid in an unfolding humanitarian crisis. He joins us now. Thanks very much for being here.

Mark Pocan:

Yeah. Thank you, Frederica.

Frederica Freyberg:

First, in the face of war and humanitarian crisis, the House of Representatives Republican majority is in chaos. How does their struggle to elect a speaker affect the U.S. response in Israel?

Mark Pocan:

Well, it affects anything that we can do in Congress. We can’t pass any legislation on the floor until we have a speaker, by our rules, and because of that, until we have a speaker, we’re a bit paralyzed. Now, action happens often at the administration level so the president is acting and doing what we need to in the immediate situation, some world events, but we do need Congress to pass funding and other issues that are going to have to happen and you can only do that when the Republican caucus becomes less chaotic and can select a speaker.

Frederica Freyberg:

Did President Biden address last night what you think is needed in terms of supplemental military and humanitarian aid funding?

Mark Pocan:

Well, what we need absolutely is funding for humanitarian needs in particular. I think that figure is going to have to be much more substantial than we’ve seen in the past given world events, and I think that’s really important, because that is an important part of how the U.S. is positioned in the world, is that kind of — showing that compassionate values of our country. And then there will also be additional military assistance for Ukraine, they’re proposing for Israel and some border funding and other things. There’s also going to be another domestic supplemental that will have money for things like childcare and other issues. So those are two things that Congress does have to act on which is, again, all the more reason why we need to have a speaker, so that we can do that. Short of that, some of those funds cannot be expended.

Frederica Freyberg:

You’ve called for cessation of hostilities towards civilians in the region. What are your urgent concerns about what’s happening right now?

Mark Pocan:

There’s no question. This was a horrific attack by a terrorist organization, Hamas, and the price has to be paid. I don’t blame Israel in going after Hamas. The problem is what we’re seeing is not going after strategically Hamas. We’re seeing a collective punishment, it appears to be, of all Palestinians in Gaza. There are 2.2 million people. Clearly, they are not all Hamas. Half of them are children. And we’ve seen thousands plus now of people dead, including children, and the amount of bombing, the type of places that are being bombed, the very broad attack is not a targeted attack going after Hamas, and that’s why we want to stop the cessation of this — in regards to civilians in particular, and the only way that you can ensure that people aren’t being just punished is to do that.

Frederica Freyberg:

Just speaking with Republican Glenn Grothman, he and others call to close our borders to Palestinian refugees of what’s your response to that?

Mark Pocan:

It’s credible xenophobic. I mean, obviously, not all Palestinians are members of Hamas, by an unbelievable amount, and Hamas doesn’t necessarily represent the Palestinian people. In fact, they’ve had people in Gaza under quite tough conditions with their governing in that area, combined by the inability for people to come and go because of Israel and Egypt on the borders has really made this, in many ways, an open-air prison for 2.2 million people. For a long time, I’ve talked about Gaza for years. I’ve twice been denied when I’ve been there to get in. I just recently gotten permission from Israel to go. I would be the first member in 10 years to be able to go and then this happened. It’s been an issue that’s been brewing for a long time but clearly a horrific attack like occurred is wrong at any level. There’s no justification whatsoever. But having the overresponse that’s happening, including people saying no Palestinians should be able to come, that’s a ridiculous statement and it really shows I think an unawareness of what’s actually happening on the ground.

Frederica Freyberg:

Representative Mark Pocan, thanks very much for joining us.

Mark Pocan:

Sure. Thank you.