[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4581 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4581

 To prohibit the United States from funding projects that discriminate 
 against Israeli organizations that operate beyond the 1949 armistice 
                                 lines.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 6, 2014

 Mr. Stockman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To prohibit the United States from funding projects that discriminate 
 against Israeli organizations that operate beyond the 1949 armistice 
                                 lines.

    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 ``Prohibiting Discrimination Against 
Israel Act''.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

    Congress finds:
            (1) In 1995, the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the 
        Gaza Strip (commonly referred to as the Oslo II Accord) 
        formally divided Judea and Samaria into three administrative 
        divisions, with Area C being under full Israeli civil and 
        security control; therefore, foreign countries should not 
        discriminate against Israeli organizations that operate there.
            (2) In 1995, the United States Congress passed the 
        Jerusalem Embassy Act (Public Law 104-45) which formally 
        recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel, and 
        concluded that it should remain an undivided city.
            (3) The claim that Israeli settlements beyond the 1949 
        armistice lines are an obstacle to peace has been repeatedly 
        disproven, and the 2005 expulsion from Gaza and the 2010 freeze 
        on natural growth in the settlements harmed the peace process 
        and led to an increase in violence, not a decrease.
            (4) Notwithstanding allegations to the contrary, Israeli 
        settlements in these territories do not in any way violate 
        Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention; they are completely 
        voluntary, and do not involve ``individual or mass forcible 
        transfers'' prohibited by subpart (1) of Article 49.
            (5) In 2009, the Kingdom of Spain refused to allow a team 
        from Ariel University Center of Samaria (now known as Ariel 
        University) to participate in a solar energy competition funded 
        by the United States Department of Energy solely because the 
        university was located beyond Israel's 1949 armistice line.
            (6) In 2010, The Government Pension Fund of Norway excluded 
        several Israeli companies based solely on the fact that they 
        operate in Judea and Samaria.
            (7) In 2010, the European Court of Justice issued a ruling 
        in Brita GmbH v. Hauptzollamt Hamburg-Hafen (Case C-386/08) 
        prohibiting Israeli products produced beyond the 1949 armistice 
        line from being labeled as ``Made in Israel'', which caused 
        them to be subject to higher tariffs.
            (8) In 2010, the United Kingdom banned an Israeli tourism 
        advertisement because it included a photograph of the Old City 
        of Jerusalem, which is located beyond the 1949 armistice line 
        and was fully annexed by Israel in 1980.
            (9) In 2013, the European Union issued orders forbidding 
        its member states from cooperating, transferring funds, or 
        giving scholarships or research grants to organizations beyond 
        Israel's 1949 armistice line.

SEC. 3. GENERAL AUTHORIZATION.

    It shall be the policy of the United States that no funds 
authorized or appropriated by Federal law may be expended for any 
international project that prohibits participation of Israeli 
organizations that operate beyond the 1949 armistice line.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The provisions of this Act shall take effect immediately following 
enactment.
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