A bipartisan group of 15 members of Congress endorsed the Hostages and Missing Families Forum for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize in a letter to the selection committee on Tuesday.
“The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has heroically demanded action from governments, international organizations and civil society, ensuring that the hostages are not forgotten amid the broader geopolitical calculus,” per the letter.
“They have organized rallies, briefed world leaders and driven a global effort that has kept the hostages’ fate at the forefront of diplomatic negotiations,” it added.
Reps. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) and Max Miller (R-Ohio) led the correspondence to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, backing Schneider’s nomination of the group advocating for the release of the hostages held in Gaza following the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“In the wake of Hamas’s barbaric attacks, the families of those taken hostage or missing channeled their grief into action—mobilizing a remarkable global movement to keep their loved ones at the forefront of diplomatic negotiations, demanding accountability and advocating for all those suffering the devastations of war,” Schneider wrote in a separate statement.
The letter was endorsed by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Action, Hadassah–The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, J Street, Jewish Federations of North America, National Council of Jewish Women and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
“Through unfathomable anguish and heartbreak, these families have become the conscience of the world, steadfastly reminding the world that their loved ones are not bargaining chips or statistics, but human beings—each with names, stories and families waiting to embrace them,” the letter stated.
“Undaunted by the horrors of their loved ones’ captivity and the dashed hopes of promised rescue agreements always just over the horizon, the members of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum have not only shown extraordinary grace and humanity, they have helped the world see the humanity of all those suffering the devastation of war,” the letter added.
The correspondence was also signed by Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Wesley Bell (D-Mo.), Donald Davis (D-N.C.), Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Thomas Kean (R-N.J.), Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.), Thomas Suozzi (D-N.Y.), Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.).