While more than 61,000 Palestinians lay dead in Gaza — most of them women and children — and hundreds of thousands more faced deliberate starvation, 34 members of the United States Congress spent their August recess on trips to Israel funded by the American Israel Education Foundation (AIEF), the lobbying arm of AIPAC.

They did not spend that recess in their home districts. They did not hold town halls. They did not meet with Palestinian-American constituents, Muslim community leaders, or the families of American aid workers killed in Gaza. They flew to Israel, met with its leaders, and returned.

The Democratic delegation — 14 members — met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, the same official who declared publicly, “It’s an entire nation out there that is responsible,” framing every Palestinian civilian as a legitimate target. The Republican delegation — 20 members — sat down with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently sought by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges. House Speaker Mike Johnson used the occasion to declare Israel’s supposed “right” to the West Bank — from the grounds of an illegal settlement.

The 14 House Democrats on the AIEF trip include Steny Hoyer (MD), Pete Aguilar (CA), Brad Schneider (IL), Tim Kennedy (NY), Gil Cisneros (CA), Josh Riley (NY), Nellie Pou (NJ), Wesley Bell (MO), Laura Gillen (NY), Johnny Olszewski (MD), Eugene Vindman (VA), Luz Rivas (CA), Herb Conaway (NJ), and George Latimer (NY).

The 20 House Republicans on the trip include House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (MN), Harriet Hageman (WY), Michael Baumgartner (WA), and others identified in published reports.

The AIEF is the tax-exempt educational affiliate of AIPAC, one of the most powerful foreign policy lobbying organizations in Washington. These trips are a well-documented mechanism for shaping congressional attitudes toward Israel — and for creating the kind of political relationships that make it harder for lawmakers to later vote against Israeli military aid or speak plainly about Palestinian rights.

United Voices is publishing these names because the American public has a right to know where their elected representatives spent their recess, who paid for it, and who they chose to meet with while their own constituents — including hundreds of thousands of Palestinian-Americans, Arab Americans, and Muslim Americans — were demanding answers, accountability, and basic human dignity for the people of Gaza.

Representation means showing up for the people who elected you. It means being willing to hear difficult truths, ask hard questions, and let the evidence guide your votes — not the itinerary of a foreign lobbying organization. The 34 members of Congress who chose AIEF’s junket over their constituents this August owe those constituents an explanation.