I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4522 

To amend the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 with respect to certain prohibitions 

regarding the Palestine Liberation Organization under that Act. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2016 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. 

HUELSKAMP, Mr. SALMON, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. MICA, Mr. 

CRENSHAW, Mr. KLINE, Mr. KINZINGER of Illinois, Mr. ZELDIN, Mr. 

SCHWEIKERT, and Mr. YOHO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 with respect to 

certain prohibitions regarding the Palestine Liberation 

Organization under that Act. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 The Act may be cited as the ‘‘PLO Accountability 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Palestine Liberation Organization 

2 (PLO) Mission office, representing the PLO, and by 

3 extension, the Palestinian Authority, in Washington, 

4 DC, was opened in 1994 in order to implement the 

5 Oslo Accords, which initiated direct negotiations be6 tween the PLO and the Government of Israel. 

7 (2) Section 1003 of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 

8 1987 (Public Law 100–204; 22 U.S.C. 5202), 

9 makes it unlawful to ‘‘establish or maintain an of10 fice, headquarters, premises, or other facilities or es11 tablishments within the jurisdiction of the United 

12 States at the behest or direction of, or with funds 

13 provided by the Palestine Liberation Organization or 

14 any of its constituent groups, any successor to any 

15 of those, or any agents thereof’’. 

16 (3) Using various authorities, the executive 

17 branch has waived the provisions of section 1003 of 

18 the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987. 

19 (4) Article XXXI, clause 7, of the Israeli-Pales20 tinian Interim Agreement on the Status of the West 

21 Bank and the Gaza Strip (September 28, 1995) 

22 states that ‘‘Neither side shall initiate or take any 

23 step that will change the status of the West Bank 

24 and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the per25 manent status negotiations’’. 


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1 (5) In January 2009, the PLO sent a declara2 tion to the International Criminal Court under Arti3 cle 12(3) of the Rome Statute of the International 

4 Criminal Court on behalf of the Palestinian Author5 ity. 

6 (6) On October 31, 2011, the United Nations 

7 Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 

8 (UNESCO) voted to admit the ‘‘State of Palestine’’ 

9 as its 195th full member. Since being admitted, the 

10 Palestinians have used UNESCO to pass anti-Israel 

11 rulings, including a recent proposal to have the 

12 Western Wall classified as part of the Aqsa com13 pound. 

14 (7) On November 29, 2012, the United Nations 

15 General Assembly voted to accord the ‘‘State of Pal16 estine’’ status as a nonmember observer State at the 

17 United Nations. 

18 (8) On April 2, 2014, the PLO joined the Gene19 va Conventions as well as 13 other organizations. 

20 (9) On January 2, 2015, the PLO acceded to 

21 the Rome Statute, and on January 16, 2015, the 

22 Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court 

23 opened a ‘‘preliminary examination of the situation 

24 in Palestine’’ after accepting jurisdiction of the 

25 International Criminal Court ‘‘over alleged crimes 


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1 committed ‘in the occupied Palestinian territory, in2 cluding East Jerusalem, since June 13, 2014’’. 

3 (10) The PLO’s decision to accede to the Rome 

4 Statute as well as several international organizations 

5 is an attempt to change the status of the West Bank 

6 and the Gaza Strip outside of direct negotiations be7 tween the Israelis and Palestinians. 

8 (11) On January 7, 2015, the Department of 

9 State’s Office of the Spokesperson stated, ‘‘we have 

10 made clear our opposition to Palestinian action in 

11 seeking to join the Rome Statute of the Inter12 national Criminal Court. This step is counter-pro13 ductive, will damage the atmosphere with the very 

14 people with whom Palestinians ultimately need to 

15 make peace, and will do nothing to further the aspi16 rations of the Palestinian people for a sovereign and 

17 independent state.’’. 

18 (12) On February 23, 2015, a jury in a New 

19 York Federal court found the PLO and the Pales20 tinian Authority liable for six terrorist attacks in 

21 Israel between 2002 and 2004 that killed 33 people 

22 and injured more than 450 others, including United 

23 States citizens among the victims. 

24 (13) The Federal jury ordered the PLO and the 

25 Palestinian Authority, both of which are headed by 


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1 Mahmoud Abbas, to pay $218,500,000 in repara2 tions to the victims and their families of these terror 

3 acts. 

4 (14) On April 1, 2015, the ‘‘State of Palestine’’ 

5 officially became a member of the International 

6 Criminal Court. 

7 (15) The PLO continues to reward terrorists 

8 and their families who commit terrorist attacks, pro9 viding a higher reward to those with longer jail sen10 tences. 

11 (16) The PLO continues to refuse to disclose 

12 all of its financial assets, including the multi-billion 

13 dollar Palestinian National Fund (PNF) belonging 

14 to Mahmoud Abbas. The Fund is estimated to have 

15 tens of billions of dollars, though its exact amount 

16 is unknown. It is allegedly used by Abbas to fund ev17 erything from his international campaign against 

18 Israel to compensation to the families of Palestinian 

19 terrorists. 

20 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

21 It is the sense of Congress that— 

22 (1) the Palestine Liberation Organization 

23 (PLO) has failed to live up to its commitment to a 

24 bilateral peace process with Israel, renounce vio25 lence, accept Israel’s right to exist, honor previous 


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1 diplomatic agreements made by the Palestinians, 

2 and continues to circumvent a negotiated settlement 

3 with Israel by seeking unilateral statehood at the 

4 United Nations and from other countries, and con5 tinues to actively endorse terror; 

6 (2) Mahmoud Abbas has purposefully blurred 

7 the lines between the PLO and the Palestinian Au8 thority in order to avoid responsibility for violating 

9 previous agreements with Israel while continuing to 

10 receive United States aid; 

11 (3) the Palestinian initiation of an International 

12 Criminal Court investigation, or active support for 

13 such an investigation, that subjects Israeli nationals 

14 to an investigation for alleged crimes against Pal15 estinians, would violate the Palestinians’ commit16 ment to not change the status of the West Bank and 

17 Gaza Strip; 

18 (4) only a solution negotiated directly between 

19 the Israelis and Palestinians can result in a lasting 

20 peace, and the Palestinians should not turn to out21 side parties, including international organizations, to 

22 impose or otherwise influence a solution between the 

23 parties; 

24 (5) if the Palestinian Authority or any rep25 resentation thereof initiates or supports an invesVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:21 Feb 11, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4522.IH H4522

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1 tigation at the International Criminal Court, the 

2 Secretary of State should close the Palestine Libera3 tion Organization Mission office in the United 

4 States; and 

5 (6) it is in the national security interests of the 

6 United States to remove the PLO office from Wash7 ington, DC. 

8 SEC. 4. PROHIBITIONS REGARDING THE PLO UNDER THE 

9 ANTI-TERRORISM ACT OF 1987. 

10 Section 1003 of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 (22 

11 U.S.C. 5202) is amended— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘It shall be unlawful’’ and in13 serting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful’’; 

14 and 

15 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(b) WAIVER.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

17 of law, including section 604 of the Foreign Relations Au18 thorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107–228), 

19 the President may waive for a period of not more than 

20 6 months the provisions of subsection (a) if the President 

21 determines and certifies in writing to Congress, no less 

22 than 45 days before the waiver is to take effect, that— 

23 ‘‘(1)(A) the Palestinians have not, on or after 

24 April 1, 2015, obtained in the United Nations or 

25 any specialized agency thereof the same standing as 


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1 member states or full membership as a state outside 

2 an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Pal3 estinians; 

4 ‘‘(B) the Palestinians have officially ceased to 

5 be members of the International Criminal Court 

6 (ICC) and have withdrawn from the Rome Statute; 

7 ‘‘(C) any preliminary examination or ongoing 

8 investigation against Israel, the Government of 

9 Israel, the Israeli Armed or Security Forces, or any 

10 Israeli national initiated by, or on behalf of, the Pal11 estinians, or referred to the ICC by a state party, 

12 the United Nations Security Council, or a Pre-Trial 

13 Chamber has been withdrawn and terminated; 

14 ‘‘(D) the PLO and the Palestinian Authority no 

15 longer provide any financial award, payment, or sal16 ary to Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel 

17 who have committed terrorist attacks, or their fami18 lies; and 

19 ‘‘(E) the PLO and the Palestinian Authority no 

20 longer engage in a pattern of incitement against the 

21 United States or Israel; or 

22 ‘‘(2) the Palestinians have entered into a final 

23 negotiated peace agreement with, and have ceased 

24 all hostilities against, Israel. 


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1 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—In subsection (b)(1)(E), the term 

2 ‘incitement’ means— 

3 ‘‘(1) statements, media, communication, or 

4 other activities against any religion, ethnicity, or na5 tionality; 

6 ‘‘(2) advocacy, endorsement, or glorification of 

7 violence, martyrdom, or terrorism; or 

8 ‘‘(3) endorsement, glorification, honor, or other 

9 memorialization of any person or group that has ad10 vocated, sponsored, or committed acts of terrorism, 

11 including the naming after or dedication to such per12 son or group of any school, community center, camp, 

13 stadium, public square, street, land, landmark, wa14 terway, or other facility.’’. 

Æ 


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