[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2537 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2537

    To amend the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 with respect to certain 
prohibitions regarding the Palestine Liberation Organization under that 
                                  Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 10, 2016

   Mr. Cruz introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 with respect to certain 
prohibitions regarding the Palestine Liberation Organization under that 
                                  Act.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    The Act may be cited as the ``PLO Accountability Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Mission 
        office, representing the PLO, and by extension, the Palestinian 
        Authority, in Washington, DC, was opened in 1994 in order to 
        implement the Oslo Accords, which initiated direct negotiations 
        between the PLO and the Government of Israel.
            (2) Section 1003 of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 (Public 
        Law 100-204; 22 U.S.C. 5202), makes 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 or any of its 
        constituent groups, any successor to any of those, or any 
        agents thereof''.
            (3) Using various authorities, the Executive branch has 
        waived the provisions of section 1003 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 
        of 1987.
            (4) Article XXXI, clause 7, of the Israeli-Palestinian 
        Interim Agreement on the Status of the West Bank and the Gaza 
        Strip (September 28, 1995) states that ``Neither side shall 
        initiate or take any step that will change the status of the 
        West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the 
        permanent status negotiations''.
            (5) In January 2009, the PLO sent a declaration to the 
        International Criminal Court under Article 12(3) of the Rome 
        Statute of the International Criminal Court on behalf of the 
        Palestinian Authority.
            (6) On October 31, 2011, the United Nations Educational, 
        Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) voted to admit 
        the ``State of Palestine'' as its 195th full member. Since 
        being admitted, the Palestinians have used UNESCO to pass anti-
        Israel rulings, including a recent proposal to have the Western 
        Wall classified as part of the Aqsa compound.
            (7) On November 29, 2012, the United Nations General 
        Assembly voted to accord the ``State of Palestine'' status as a 
        nonmember observer state at the United Nations.
            (8) On April 2, 2014, the PLO joined the Geneva Conventions 
        as well as 13 other organizations.
            (9) On January 2, 2015, the PLO acceded to the Rome 
        Statute, and on January 16, 2015, the Prosecutor of the 
        International Criminal Court opened a ``preliminary examination 
        of the situation in Palestine'' after accepting jurisdiction of 
        the International Criminal Court ``over alleged crimes 
        committed in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East 
        Jerusalem, since June 13, 2014''.
            (10) The PLO's decision to accede to the Rome Statute as 
        well as several international organizations is an attempt to 
        change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip outside 
        of direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.
            (11) On January 7, 2015, the Department of State's Office 
        of the Spokesperson stated, ``we have made clear our opposition 
        to Palestinian action in seeking to join the Rome Statute of 
        the International Criminal Court. This step is counter-
        productive, will damage the atmosphere with the very people 
        with whom Palestinians ultimately need to make peace, and will 
        do nothing to further the aspirations of the Palestinian people 
        for a sovereign and independent state.''.
            (12) On February 23, 2015, a jury in a New York Federal 
        court found the PLO and the Palestinian Authority liable for 
        six terrorist attacks in Israel between 2002 and 2004 that 
        killed 33 people and injured more than 450 others, including 
        United States citizens among the victims.
            (13) The Federal jury ordered the PLO and the Palestinian 
        Authority, both of which are headed by Mahmoud Abbas, to pay 
        $218,500,000 in reparations to the victims and their families 
        of these terror acts.
            (14) On April 1, 2015, the ``State of Palestine'' 
        officially became a member of the International Criminal Court.
            (15) The PLO continues to reward terrorists and their 
        families who commit terrorist attacks, providing a higher 
        reward to those with longer jail sentences.
            (16) The PLO continues to refuse to disclose all of its 
        financial assets, including the multibillion-dollar Palestinian 
        National Fund (PNF) belonging to Mahmoud Abbas. The Fund is 
        estimated to have tens of billions of dollars, though its exact 
        amount is unknown. It is allegedly used by Abbas to fund 
        everything from his international campaign against Israel to 
        compensation to the families of Palestinian terrorists.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has failed 
        to live up to its commitment to a bilateral peace process with 
        Israel, renounce violence, accept Israel's right to exist, 
        honor previous diplomatic agreements made by the Palestinians, 
        and continues to circumvent a negotiated settlement with Israel 
        by seeking unilateral statehood at the United Nations and from 
        other countries, and continues to actively endorse terror;
            (2) Mahmoud Abbas has purposefully blurred the lines 
        between the PLO and the Palestinian Authority in order to avoid 
        responsibility for violating previous agreements with Israel 
        while continuing to receive United States aid;
            (3) the Palestinian initiation of an International Criminal 
        Court investigation, or active support for such an 
        investigation, that subjects Israeli nationals to an 
        investigation for alleged crimes against Palestinians, would 
        violate the Palestinians' commitment to not change the status 
        of the West Bank and Gaza Strip;
            (4) only a solution negotiated directly between the 
        Israelis and Palestinians can result in a lasting peace, and 
        the Palestinians should not turn to outside parties, including 
        international organizations, to impose or otherwise influence a 
        solution between the parties;
            (5) if the Palestinian Authority or any representation 
        thereof initiates or supports an investigation at the 
        International Criminal Court, the Secretary of State should 
        close the Palestine Liberation Organization Mission office in 
        the United States; and
            (6) it is in the national security interests of the United 
        States to remove the PLO office from Washington, DC.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITIONS REGARDING THE PLO UNDER THE ANTI-TERRORISM ACT OF 
              1987.

    Section 1003 of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 (22 U.S.C. 5202) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``It shall be unlawful'' and inserting 
        ``(a) In General.--It shall be unlawful''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Waiver.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
including section 604 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, 
Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107-228), the President may waive for a 
period of not more than 6 months the provisions of subsection (a) if 
the President determines and certifies in writing to Congress, no less 
than 45 days before the waiver is to take effect, that--
            ``(1)(A) the Palestinians have not, on or after April 1, 
        2015, obtained in the United Nations or any specialized agency 
        thereof the same standing as member states or full membership 
        as a state outside an agreement negotiated between Israel and 
        the Palestinians;
            ``(B) the Palestinians have officially ceased to be members 
        of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and have withdrawn 
        from the Rome Statute;
            ``(C) any preliminary examination or ongoing investigation 
        against Israel, the Government of Israel, the Israeli Armed or 
        Security Forces, or any Israeli national initiated by, or on 
        behalf of, the Palestinians, or referred to the ICC by a state 
        party, the United Nations Security Council, or a Pre-Trial 
        Chamber has been withdrawn and terminated;
            ``(D) the PLO and the Palestinian Authority no longer 
        provide any financial award, payment, or salary to Palestinian 
        terrorists imprisoned in Israel who have committed terrorist 
        attacks, or their families; and
            ``(E) the PLO and the Palestinian Authority no longer 
        engage in a pattern of incitement against the United States or 
        Israel; or
            ``(2) the Palestinians have entered into a final negotiated 
        peace agreement with, and have ceased all hostilities against, 
        Israel.
    ``(c) Definition.--In subsection (b)(1)(E), the term `incitement' 
means--
            ``(1) statements, media, communication, or other activities 
        against any religion, ethnicity, or nationality;
            ``(2) advocacy, endorsement, or glorification of violence, 
        martyrdom, or terrorism; or
            ``(3) endorsement, glorification, honor, or other 
        memorialization of any person or group that has advocated, 
        sponsored, or committed acts of terrorism, including the naming 
        after or dedication to such person or group of any school, 
        community center, camp, stadium, public square, street, land, 
        landmark, waterway, or other facility.''.
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