Speaker Mike Johson on Tuesday marked the one-month anniversary of the Hamas terror attack on Israel by bringing families of some of the Jewish hostages to the Capitol and upping the pressure on the Democrat-run Senate to pass the GOP’s war aid bill.

Mr. Johnson said Congress can not waste any more time in supporting Israel with the House-passed $14.3 billion aid package.

“We are requesting, encouraging the White House and the Senate Democrats … to complete that package to get it over the line so that we can get Israel the support and assistance it needs,” Mr. Johnson said at a press conference.

Last week, the House passed the aid package focused on military support, but President Biden and the Senate rejected the measure because it is paid for by clawing back a huge funding increase to the IRS.

To hammer his point home, Mr. Johnson stood with the families of hostages taken by Hamas terrorists in the Oct. 7 raid in which 1,400 people were brutally killed and more than 200 hostages were taken.

The families of Alon Shamriz, Guy Illuz and brothers Gali and Ziv Berman pleaded for help to vanquish Hamas and to return their loved ones.

Mr. Illuz was shot in the arm at the Nova Music festival, where Hamas terrorists killed at least 260 people on Oct. 7. His mother, Dorris Liber, said the last time she spoke to her son was when he had called from the festival grounds preparing to say his last words. She could hear gunfire in the background and got off the line to call for help.

She has not heard from him since. 

“I’m here because it’s been 30 days. Every day is like eternity to me and I can’t wait any longer because I know that he was shot,” Ms. Liber said. “We don’t have a list of the hostages. We don’t know their condition. I don’t have anything. So I need your help.”

Yonatan Lulu-Shamriz, flanked by his brother Ido Lulu-Shamriz, recalled that their brother Alon was taken hostage by Hamas from his safe room in the Kibbutz Kfar Afa apartments. He said that Israel needed help now. 

“This is a call for action. And this is a wake-up call. Not only for Israel or only for the Jewish community. This is a wake-up call for all, all of you here, all of America, all of Europe. You are next, you are next and we should do everything that we can to stop these atrocities,” Mr. Lulu-Shamriz said.

Gali Berman and Ziv Berman were abducted by Hamas from the same Kibbutz Kfar Afa apartments, and like the others, their brother Liran Berman has had no idea what happened to them over the last month. 

“We only know that they are in Gaza,” Mr. Berman said. “We don’t know if they are injured.”

The House’s aid package for Israel is starkly different in scope from the $106 billion emergency request by President Biden, which included money for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and funding to process illegal immigrants crossing the U.S. border. 

Senate Democrats and the White House have accused the House Republicans of playing partisan politics with the aid and vowed to torpedo the bill. 

Mr. Johnson pushed back on criticism by canceling extra money for the IRS that was provided by the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act. 

“Some of our Senate colleagues took issue with the pay-for that we put in there, but I made the point that we can take care of our allies and obligations and get our own fiscal house in order,” Mr. Johnson said.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the IRS cuts would add nearly $30 billion to the U.S. budget deficit. However, Republicans argue that the money in Americans’ pockets doesn’t belong to the government and shouldn’t be counted as lost revenue.

Meanwhile, fighting continues to rage between Israel and Hamas with little signs of slowing down. The White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out a complete ceasefire. 

Mr. Biden recently suggested a short pause in fighting to allow Palestinian civilians to leave Gaza, and Mr. Netanyahu told ABC News that he would be open to “little tactical pauses [for] an hour here, an hour there” to allow humanitarian aid to reach the Gaza Strip. 
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Louisiana Republican, balked at the idea of pausing the war. 

“This is not a time to be talking about ceasefires, pauses,” Mr. Scalise said. “Hamas gave that up on [Oct. 7] when they went into villages and slaughtered people, when they attacked music festivals, peaceful music festivals, mowing down people, taking more hostages, including American citizens.” 

• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.