“Maryland’s Jewish Community and All Marylanders Deserve a Pro-Israel Champion in the United States Senate”
Governor Hogan today delivered remarks at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) in Washington, emphasizing the urgent need for strong American leadership ahead of the global stage.
Speaking ahead of the one-year anniversary of the October 7th attacks, Governor Hogan highlighted the continued threat posed by Iran and its proxies, reaffirming his unwavering support for Israel. He also called on Congress to end its recess and swiftly pass additional security assistance for Israel.
“Our prayers are with the people of Israel and those prayers must be matched with a clear and unshakable commitment to Israel’s security,” Governor Hogan said. “We must firmly stand with our closest ally. I commend the Biden administration for helping to intercept Iran’s missiles, and I call on Congress to end its recess and act swiftly to provide Israel with security assistance.”
Remarks as Prepared:
Thank you to JINSA for all that you do to strengthen our national security and for the opportunity to speak to you. It’s an honor to be here among so many who have sacrificed for our nation and so many distinguished leaders.
I came here today to speak about America’s role in the world as we approach the solemn one-year anniversary of the horrific October 7th attacks. In the last 24 hours, the Iranian attack on the people of Israel has reminded us that Iran and its proxies would commit October 7ths every single day if given the chance. The only thing that stands in the way is the resolve and strength of the people of Israel and the support of the United States.
Our prayers are with the people of Israel and those prayers must be matched with a clear and unshakable commitment to Israel’s security. We must firmly stand with our closest ally. I commend the Biden administration for helping to intercept Iran’s missiles, and I call on Congress to end its recess and act swiftly to provide Israel with security assistance.
This is a dangerous time for the United States and our allies. More than at any point in my lifetime we desperately need leaders who are willing to stand up and defend American leadership in the world because the best way to secure peace is through a strong America that supports its allies.
As a governor and as chairman of the National Governors Association, I had the opportunity to travel across the globe to interact with world leaders and deepen Maryland’s partnerships with our allies. Everywhere I went I heard a common concern—our allies still believe in America but they worry that America is too divided to believe in itself.
It is not an accident that our enemies are working every single day to fuel our divisions. The chaos, divisiveness, and dysfunction in Washington and in America creates chaos, divisiveness, and dysfunction around the world.
I reluctantly decided to enter this race for the United States Senate back in February. I didn’t need another title. I wasn’t looking for a job and frankly I didn’t yearn to be a part of the divisiveness and dysfunction. But when I saw a bipartisan package to secure our southern border and to support Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, and other key American allies fail because people were told to vote against a critical bill that they claimed to be for, it made me frustrated enough that I knew I had to step up and try to do something about the mess in Washington.
America led the 20th century and prevailed through the cold war because leaders on both sides of the aisle worked together for a common goal. They knew that politics had to stop at the water’s edge. Today the world is growing more and more dangerous as America faces threats all across the globe. But too often, the politicians in Washington seem to care more about defeating each other than defeating America’s enemies. I think it’s time we said, “Enough is enough”.
America must stand up for our allies and stand up to our enemies. After the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, we seem to be flailing from crisis to crisis showing weakness to the world. Our allies question whether they should still trust us and our enemies question whether they should still fear us. China is closely watching our resolve – and whether we will stand with Ukraine while considering a possible invasion of Taiwan.
The failure to stand by our allies appears to be one of the few things in Washington that actually it’s bipartisan. In the last debate, President Trump refused to answer whether he wanted Ukraine to win this war. He has repeatedly threatened to abandon our NATO allies and our allies in Asia. This lack of moral clarity is dangerous and invites more aggression from our enemies. In the Senate, I will work every day to strengthen the United States, NATO, and our allies because that is the only way to secure a peaceful and prosperous future.
Let me be clear where I stand—Ukraine must win this war against Russia, and in the Senate I will lead the fight to give them the support they need not just to hold off Russia, but to prevail. In the Senate, I will never hesitate to stand up to the isolationists in both parties and I’ll work every single day to make our alliances stronger regardless of the political consequences. Most of all, we must stand strongly with our greatest ally Israel at this dangerous moment in the Middle East.
Next week, we will pause to mark the one-year anniversary of the horrific attacks on October 7th. We will pray for those who were lost and for those still being held hostage, and we must reaffirm our support of Israel’s fight for its own self-defense.
For eight years as governor, I worked tirelessly to strengthen our already strong relationship with Israel. One of my first trade missions as governor was to Israel. I will never forget the incredibly moving experience as I was brought to tears laying the wreath at Yad Vashem in remembrance of the six million Jewish victims of unspeakable acts of evil. We deepened our economic partnerships with Israeli businesses and universities, especially in the fields of cybersecurity, biotechnology, the life sciences, and defense including recruiting the Israeli company, Elta—which produced technology for the Iron Dome—to locate its North American headquarters in Maryland. We established a Sister State relationship between Maryland and the Negev region. We made it strongly and repeatedly clear that Maryland would stand steadfast in solidarity with Israel against the BDS movement. I was the first governor in America to sign an executive order prohibiting all executive state agencies and departments from entering into any contracts with any business unless that business certified that they would not engage in BDS.
But the challenges we confront today are far greater than anything we have faced over the past decade. I believe that the days and months following the horrific attacks of October 7th were one of those critical moments that represent a time for choosing.
Last October, I was looking forward to doing two fellowships at Harvard University—one in the School of Public Health on our nation-leading COVID response and another at the Kennedy School of Government to talk about how to fix the broken, toxic politics in America. As a guy who struggled to work his way through Florida State University, I was honored to be offered these Harvard fellowships. But when I saw the university refusing to condemn the protests which were attempting to justify and celebrate Hamas atrocities, I stood up and immediately resigned from both of those fellowships. Just after the greatest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust, we saw demonstrations essentially blaming the innocent victims of the horrific attack who were murdered, kidnapped, and raped and attacking the legitimacy of the world’s only Jewish state and its right to exist and to defend itself.
Jews have been harassed and made to feel unsafe in their schools, synagogues, and everywhere they go. These were not isolated incidents. Anti-semitic incidents in the United States have risen by nearly 400%. We saw college presidents at some of our most prestigious universities refuse to answer to Congress whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated their campus policies.
The lessons of history are crystal clear. We must all take a stand in the face of genocidal acts. There is no “both sides” when it comes to the murder, rape, and kidnapping of innocent women and children. There is no room for justification or equivocation for calls to, kill all the Jews, and chants of “death to Israel” and “death to America”
My opponent in this race has repeatedly demanded that Israel enact an immediate and unilateral ceasefire, and she has even called for cutting off critical military aid to Israel. Iran has now twice fired hundreds of missiles directly at Israeli civilians. They are on the brink of a nuclear weapon and are using the $100 billion of assets that were unfrozen by the Biden administration to finance terror across the region. From Hezbollah to Hamas to the Houthis, Iran’s proxies continue to attack not just Israelis but Americans. Hamas murders Americans and holds them hostage. Hezbollah has the blood of thousands of Americans on their hands and the Houthis openly fire on our troops without fear of accountability or consequences.
Fortunately, from Ismail Haniyeh to Hassan Nasrallah, Israel is bringing our enemies to justice and finally ending their reign of terror. For my opponent to think that cutting off aid to Israel is the way to solve this problem is not just wrong—it is disqualifying. Of course none of us want to see needless death and suffering, we all want to see the violence come to an end. The way to solve this humanitarian crisis and to achieve a ceasefire is for Iran and their proxies to stop firing on Israel. Hamas needs to release every single one of the hostages, the Israelis and the Americans and then Hamas leaders should surrender and be held accountable for their horrific crimes of October 7th.
I recognize that there are politicians on both sides of the aisle who will say and do anything to appease the loudest and angriest voices in their party but I think you know that I am not one of them.
Too many politicians are more interested in campaign slogans than real solutions. Too many lack the courage to stand up and do what is right. At this critical moment, Maryland’s Jewish community and all Marylanders deserve a pro-Israel champion in the United States Senate who will stand up and fight for our closest and most important ally, and America needs leaders who will stand up and defend our leadership role in the world working with willing partners in both parties to be a bulwark against extremism.
I think you know that I’m willing to stand up to the former president, to the current president, and to the next president in order to keep America safe and strong. Ladies and gentlemen this is not just about the differences between the right and the left.
It’s about the difference between right and wrong. This isn’t just the typical fight between Democrats and Republicans. It’s more important than that. This is a fight for Maryland and America’s future and that is a fight worth fighting.
Thank you and may God bless the United States of America.
