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Congressman LaHood says killing of Hamas leader in Iran is justified

U.S. Representative Darin LaHood talks with a Unit 5 School District official.
Charlie Schlenker
/
WGLT file
U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, left, talks last year with Unit 5 School District official Curt Richardson at the opening of LaHood's district office in Uptown Normal.

A Central Illinois congressman says the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the political head of the Hamas movement during a visit to Iran was justified, even though it complicates efforts to secure a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in the war in Gaza.

“Haniyeh has blood on his hands. He's been involved with almost every terrorist attack on Israel and many involving the United States over the last 20 plus years," said U.S. Rep. Darin Lahood, who sits on the House Foreign Relations Committee.

"And so he is a terrorist. He needed to be taken out. The timing on these types of things is never good. But he is somebody that unfortunately deserved this type of action.”

Speaking on WGLT's Sound Ideas, the Peoria Republican said the top U.S. goal should still be getting all the Israeli hostages back from Hamas and achieving a cease fire. He commended countries like Egypt and Qatar for helping in the search for a resolution.

“But in many ways, Hamas could have ended this a long time ago by releasing the hostages and agreeing to the terms to do that through a ceasefire. It's more complicated than folks think,” said LaHood, adding he does not always agree with everything Israel does, but it remains the number one ally of the U.S. in the region.

Similar killings to the Haniyeh bombing of his house in Tehran have happened over the last 10 months. So far, the region has avoided escalating to a multi-front conflict. LaHood did not directly answer a reporter’s question about what he thinks about avoiding broader open hostilities.

“I look at Iran as really being involved with a lot of malign activities throughout the Middle East. If you look at their support for the Houthis in Yemen, their direct support of Hamas in Gaza, their support of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and, of course, the Shia proxies in Iraq,” said LaHood.

He said Iran’s religious leadership wants to "wipe the U.S. and Israel off the face of the earth."

“We do not want an all-out war in the Middle East, and we should do everything to avoid that. However, when you're facing an existential threat like that and an adversary like that, who continues to engage in terrorist activity throughout the Middle East against US interests, you have to fight fire with fire,” said LaHood.

Crowdstrike

LaHood said the recent worldwide computer disruption caused by a software update glitch at security firm Crowdstrike is serious enough it could merit increased regulation. That's an unusual statement from the Peoria area Republican who often prefers free market solutions to problems. He said the nation is still trying to figure out the appropriate balance between safety and redundancy — and self-regulation.

"But if that's not being done appropriately and there is collateral damage that's being done to our society and to citizens, then I think you have to look at all options," said LaHood.

LaHood prefers industry self-regulation, but said if there are protocols in place and the private sector doesn't abide by them, there must be consequences such as fines or punitive measures. He said the amount of money lost to consumers, disruption to the transportation system, and threats to national security created by the Crowdstrike outage should be a wakeup call for the nation.

Foster care funding reauthorization

LaHood said he's pleased with a bipartisan piece of legislation covering the foster care system. LaHood and Democratic Rep. Danny Davis of Chicago crafted the Strengthening Families Act after a year of research, hearings, and input from states and experts. LaHood said among the changes is helping grandparents and other relatives take over as foster parents.

"What we found is, and the studies show, if you keep children with somebody that is kin to them, a family member, a relative in some respect, that helps that child for long term success," said LaHood.

He said funding mechanisms also are changing. Instead of block grants to states that come with restrictions on how the money can be spent, federal funding to the states will now favor the adoption of model programs that certain states piloted.

“Ohio has been very proactive in terms of success models that they've put in place," said LaHood. "We've looked at those as ones that we think can work. We've put those out as kind of models, and also incentivized other states to follow what has worked in different states to do that in, and we think that is one way to move different states in a positive direction.”

LaHood said the re-authorization of Title IV-B has passed out of committee and he expects it to go to the House floor in the fall.

Community project funding

LaHood also is receiving praise from local leaders for his help in advancing a couple key projects. Through community project funding, LaHood secured approval for $1 million to help replace the Fox Creek Road Bridge in Bloomington.

“It's very important…this is a vital transportation artery for both residents and businesses in the area. It’s a priority. We were proud to submit it,” said LaHood.

The current condition of the road presents safety hazards due to congestion, inadequate lane configurations, and outdated infrastructure, said LaHood and city staff. Part of the replacement includes widening the existing road and replacing the bridge with a structure that conforms to modern safety standards. The federal grant is half of the $2 million cost of the replacement.

The Central Illinois Regional Airport also will get $1.5 million for the planned air cargo road at CIRA.

“Right now, a lot of the air cargo goes through the main terminal road there. We will now build an alternative road so that heavy traffic and air cargo won’t be on the same road. So, it helps with safety, but it also allows the airport to expand their air cargo business model which we think makes a lot of sense,” said LaHood.

The grant is about a third of the total $4.5 million cost. LaHood called it a good start.

"It’s going to help the private sector and private sector growth whether that’s FedEx, UPS, or other companies that deal with air cargo at the airport,” he said.

WGLT Senior Reporter Charlie Schlenker has spent more than three award-winning decades in radio. He lives in Normal with his family.