[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4976 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4976

To prohibit United States assistance to the Palestinian Authority if a 
  Palestinian state is declared unilaterally, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 26, 2000

  Mr. Nadler (for himself, Mr. Reynolds, Mr. Lantos, Mrs. Lowey, Mr. 
 Engel, Mr. Brady of Texas, Mr. Franks of New Jersey, Mr. Weiner, Mr. 
 Tancredo, Mr. Crowley, Ms. Berkley, Mr. Berman, Mr. Sisisky, and Mr. 
    Lazio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                  Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit United States assistance to the Palestinian Authority if a 
  Palestinian state is declared unilaterally, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Middle East Peace Process Support 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) it is only through direct negotiations between the 
        parties that progress toward peace has been and can be achieved 
        in the Middle East;
            (2) the process that began with the signing of the Oslo 
        accords in 1993 has created an important negotiating framework 
        between Israel and the Palestinians that has produced the 
        promise of an end to the conflict;
            (3) as part of the Oslo accords, Palestinian Chairman 
        Arafat committed that ``all outstanding issues relating to 
        permanent status will be resolved through negotiations'';
            (4) the repeated Palestinian threat to declare an 
        independent state unilaterally after September 13, 2000, is 
        contrary to both the spirit and letter of the Oslo accords;
            (5) the unilateral declaration of an independent 
        Palestinian state will inevitably lead to violence and the end 
        of the negotiating process;
            (6) the United States agreed to provide assistance to the 
        Palestinians only after the Oslo accords were signed in order 
        to help advance the cause of peace;
            (7) on March 11, 1999, the Senate overwhelmingly adopted 
        Senate Concurrent Resolution 5, and on March 16, 1999, the 
        House of Representatives adopted House Concurrent Resolution 
        24, both of which resolved that: ``any attempt to establish 
        Palestinian statehood outside the negotiating process will 
        invoke the strongest Congressional opposition''; and
            (8) on July 25, 2000, Palestinian Chairman Arafat and 
        Israeli Prime Minister Barak issued a joint statement agreeing 
        that the ``two sides understand the importance of avoiding 
        unilateral actions that prejudice the outcome of negotiations 
        and that their differences will be resolved in good-faith 
        negotiations.''.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the period 
beginning on the date on which a Palestinian state is unilaterally 
declared and ending on the date on which such unilateral declaration of 
Palestinian statehood is rescinded--
            (1) United States assistance may not be provided directly 
        or indirectly to the Palestinian Authority or to any successor 
        or related entity; and
            (2) Federal funds may not be used to extend United States 
        recognition to such a unilaterally-declared Palestinian state, 
        including, but not limited to, funds for the payment of the 
        salary of any ambassador, consul, or other diplomatic personnel 
        to such a state, or for the cost of establishing, operating, or 
        maintaining an embassy, consulate, or other diplomatic facility 
        in such a state.

SEC. 4. OPPOSITION TO UNITED NATIONS ADMISSION OR RECOGNITION.

    The President shall instruct the United States representative to 
the United Nations to use the voice, vote, and influence of the United 
States to oppose, in the United Nations Security Council, General 
Assembly, or any other United Nations body, admission to the United 
Nations of a unilaterally-declared Palestinian state or formal 
recognition by the United Nations of such a state.
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