IV 112th CONGRESS 2d Session H. RES. 524 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 24, 2012 Mrs. McCarthy of New York submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Palestine Liberation Organization should not be allowed to maintain an official office in Washington, DC.

Whereas in section 1003 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989, Congress made it unlawful to establish or maintain an office, headquarters, premises, or other facilities or establishments within the jurisdiction of the United States at the behest or direction of, or with funds provided by, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) or any of its constituent groups, any successor to any of those, or any agents thereof; Whereas the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act of 1993 granted authority to the President to suspend section 1003 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989, specifically the authority to suspend the prohibition against a PLO office in Washington DC; Whereas Congress has extended this waiver authority several times over the years, most recently in annual appropriations bills; Whereas the genesis of the waiver authority granted to the President beginning with the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act of 1993 was significant progress in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, specifically following the September 1993 agreements between Israel and the PLO wherein the PLO recognized Israel’s right to exist, rejected violence and terrorism, and accepted United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338; Whereas the United States’ good faith commitment to the Palestinians is predicated in their commitment to a bilateral peace process with Israel and their renouncement of violence, acceptance of Israel’s right to exist, and acceptance of prior agreements made by the Palestinians (the Quartet conditions); Whereas in 2011, the House of Representatives reaffirmed its longstanding support for a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the passage of H. Res. 268; Whereas the President has continued to grant requests and waivers pertaining to the General Delegation of the PLO to the United States, despite their increasing efforts to unilaterally achieve recognition of statehood; Whereas, effective July 20, 2010, the Department of State and at the request of the PLO representative granted permission to the General Delegation of the PLO to the United States to fly the Palestinian flag outside of its office in Washington, DC; Whereas former Department of State spokesman Philip J. Crowley explained that the request was approved as a reflection of improved relations between the United States and Palestinians; Whereas, on May 4, 2011, Fatah, the largest faction of the PLO, came to a unity agreement with Hamas, an organization designated by the Department of State as a foreign terrorist organization; Whereas amid rampant speculation of Palestinians’ pursuit of a coordinated strategy to unilaterally seek statehood within the United Nations and its specialized agencies, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on September 23, 2011, formally presented the bid for Palestinian statehood to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon; and Whereas today, Palestinians continue to pursue recognition from other countries and within the United Nations and its specialized agencies: Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives believes firmly that the Palestine Liberation Organization should not be allowed to maintain an official office in Washington, DC, if— (1)the Palestine Liberation Organization continues to circumvent a bilateral two-state solution by seeking recognition of a Palestinian state from other countries, the United Nations, and its specialized agencies; and (2)Fatah or any affiliated branch of the Palestine Liberation Organization forms a unified government with the Department of State-designated foreign terrorist organization Hamas.