A Queens congresswoman is urging the State Department to get constituents out of Israel and back home to New York City amid the Israel-Hamas war. 

U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, a Democrat who represents New York’s 6th Congressional District in northern Queens, lead the bipartisan letter, alongside Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, of Staten Island, to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, pressing the department to “use all tools at its disposal help get Americans out of Israel.” 

During an appearance on “Mornings On 1” Wednesday, Meng continued to echo the call, saying “time really is of the essence.” 

“Since Saturday night, and then the end of the holiday, [constituents] have been reaching out to me. Almost everyone knows someone or has a relative in Israel. Kids were there for gap year. People were visiting family for the holidays and now they need to come home, they need to go back to school, they need to go back to work, some people need medication,” she said. 

Meng said she hopes that Republicans in Congress will move quickly to help elect a new speaker of the House so that lawmakers can offer additional support to Israel. Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted out of the position last week.