[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 17, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S173]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 1384. Mr. PAUL submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to 
amendment SA 1381 proposed by Mrs. Murray to the bill H.R. 2872, of 
2013 to allow the Secretary of the Interior to issue electronic stamps 
under such Act, and for other purposes,; which was ordered to lie on 
the table; as follows:

        At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. __. PROHIBITION ON FOREIGN ASSISTANCE TO THE PALESTINIAN 
                   AUTHORITY OR ANY OTHER PALESTINIAN GOVERNING 
                   ENTITY IN THE WEST BANK AND GAZA.

       (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) On October 7, 2023, the terrorist organization Hamas 
     conducted a brutal attack against Israel, killing some 1,200 
     innocent men, women, and children, and taking approximately 
     250 people hostage.
       (2) At least 33 United States citizens lost their lives in 
     the October 7, 2023, attack.
       (3) At least 6 United States citizens remain unaccounted 
     for and presumed taken captive by Hamas.
       (4) Hamas continues to fire rockets indiscriminately toward 
     Israel.
       (5) Hamas was designated as a foreign terrorist 
     organization by the United States in October 1997.
       (6) On November 26, 2023, a spokesperson for the Israel 
     Defense Forces said that 770 ``terrorism events'' were 
     carried out by Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7, 
     2023, including shootings and hurling stones and Molotov 
     cocktails.
       (7) The United States provided more than $7,600,000,000 in 
     bilateral assistance to Palestinians in the West Bank and 
     Gaza since 1993.
       (8) The United States obligated more than $280,000,000 to 
     the West Bank and Gaza in 2023.
       (9) The Department of State's West Bank and Gaza 2022 Human 
     Rights Report identified significant human rights issues with 
     respect to the Palestinian Authority, including credible 
     reports of unlawful or arbitrary killings by Palestinian 
     Authority officials, torture or cruel, inhumane, or degrading 
     treatment or punishments by Palestinian Authority officials, 
     arbitrary arrest or detention of political prisoners and 
     detainees, and significant problems with the independence of 
     the judiciary.
       (10) The report identified the Palestinian Authority 
     committing arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; 
     serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media, 
     including violence, threats of violence, unjustified 
     detentions and prosecutions of journalists, and censorship; 
     and serious restrictions on internet freedom.
       (11) The report identified the Palestinian Authority 
     committing substantial interference with the freedom of 
     peaceful assembly and freedom of association, including 
     harassment of nongovernmental organizations, serious and 
     unreasonable restrictions on political participation, 
     including no national elections since 2006, and serious 
     government corruption.
       (12) The report found that the Palestinian Authority did 
     not adequately investigate or hold accountable gender-based 
     violence, and crimes, violence, and threats of violence 
     motivated by anti-Semitism.
       (b) Prohibition on Assistance to Palestinian Authority and 
     Other Governing Entities in the West Bank and Gaza.--
       (1) In general.--Except as provided under paragraph (2) and 
     notwithstanding any other provision of law, no amounts may be 
     obligated or expended to provide any direct United States 
     assistance, loan guarantee, or debt relief to the Palestinian 
     Authority or any other Palestinian governing entity in the 
     West Bank and Gaza.
       (2) Exception.--The prohibition under paragraph (1) shall 
     have no effect for a fiscal year if the President certifies 
     to Congress during that fiscal year that--
       (A) the Palestinian Authority, or other Palestinian 
     governing entity in the West Bank and Gaza, has--
       (i) formally recognized the right of Israel to exist as a 
     Jewish state;
       (ii) publicly recognized the state of Israel;
       (iii) renounced terrorism;
       (iv) purged all individuals with terrorist ties from 
     security services;
       (v) terminated funding of anti-American and anti-Israel 
     incitement;
       (vi) publicly renounced Hamas and the October 7, 2023, 
     attacks perpetrated by Hamas on Israel; and
       (vii) honored previous diplomatic agreements; and
       (B) all hostages abducted on October 7, 2023, and held in 
     territory governed by the Palestinian Authority or other 
     Palestinian governing authority have been released.
       (c) Request for Information on Human Rights Practices by 
     the Palestinian Authority or Any Other Palestinian Governing 
     Entity in the West Bank and Gaza.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
     the adoption of this resolution, the Secretary of State, in 
     collaboration with the Assistant Secretary of State for 
     Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor and the Office of the 
     Legal Adviser, shall submit to the Committee on Foreign 
     Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
     of the House of Representatives a report on the human rights 
     practices of the Palestinian Authority, or any other 
     Palestinian governing entity in the West Bank and Gaza.
       (2) Elements.--The report required under paragraph (1) 
     shall include--
       (A) all available credible information concerning alleged 
     violations of internationally recognized human rights by the 
     Palestinian Authority or any other Palestinian governing 
     entity in the West Bank and Gaza, including--
       (i) the denial of the right to life to Israeli citizens, 
     Jewish individuals, women and girls, or any other minority 
     group; and
       (ii) the use of torture or cruel, inhumane, or degrading 
     treatment or punishment, prolonged detention without charges 
     and trial, causing the disappearance of persons by the 
     abduction and clandestine detention of those persons, and 
     other flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, or the 
     security of person;
       (B) a description of the steps that the United States 
     Government has taken to--
       (i) promote respect for and observance of human rights as 
     part of the activities of the Palestinian Authority or any 
     other Palestinian governing entity in the West Bank and Gaza;
       (ii) discourage any practices that are inimical to 
     internationally recognized human rights; and
       (iii) publicly or privately call attention to, and 
     disassociate the United States and any foreign assistance 
     provided for the Palestinian Authority or any other 
     Palestinian governing entity in the West Bank and Gaza from, 
     any practices described in clause (ii);
       (C) a description of the intended uses of all foreign 
     assistance provided by the United States to the Palestinian 
     Authority or any other Palestinian governing entity in the 
     West Bank and Gaza; and
       (D) a list of international organizations that--
       (i) accept financial contributions from the United States 
     Government; and
       (ii) provide assistance of any kind to the Palestinian 
     Authority or any other Palestinian governing entity in the 
     West Bank and Gaza.
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