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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5388 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5388

 To restore funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for 
              Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 21, 2024

Mr. Welch (for himself, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Klobuchar, and 
  Ms. Hirono) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To restore funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for 
              Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

    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 ``UNRWA Funding Emergency Restoration 
Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached a 
        catastrophic emergency level, with at least 2,000,000 
        Palestinian civilians suffering daily due to a lack of access 
        to basic necessities of life caused by the escalating conflict.
            (2) In October 2024, the Integrated Food Security Phase 
        Classification's Famine Review Committee concluded--
                    (A) the entire Gaza Strip is in IPC Phase 4 
                (Emergency) acute food insecurity; and
                    (B) there is a risk of famine for the entire Gaza 
                Strip between November 2024 and April 2025.
            (3) Since 1949, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency 
        for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (referred to in this 
        Act as ``UNRWA'') has played a vital and central role in 
        providing shelter, education, healthcare, and financial 
        assistance to millions of Palestinians living in vulnerable 
        refugee communities in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, and 
        Jordan.
            (4) UNRWA's aid operations are essential to meeting the 
        humanitarian needs of Palestinian civilians living in Gaza and 
        elsewhere.
            (5) Following allegations of direct involvement by fewer 
        than 20 UNRWA employees in the devastating terrorist attacks of 
        October 7, 2023, UNRWA Commissioner-General Lazzarini acted 
        swiftly and decisively, fully cooperating with Israeli 
        authorities, publicly disclosing the allegations, and 
        immediately terminating all the employees who may have been 
        involved. These fewer than 20 employees represent a small 
        percentage of the approximately 13,000 UNRWA employees in Gaza 
        and UNRWA's total workforce of approximately 30,000.
            (6) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres took 
        additional action, including--
                    (A) launching an investigation into the allegations 
                by the United Nation's highest oversight body, the 
                Office of Internal Oversight Services; and
                    (B) creating an Independent Review Group, led by 
                former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, to 
                assess whether UNRWA is doing everything within its 
                power to ensure neutrality and respond to allegations 
                of serious neutrality breaches.
            (7) In April 2024, the Independent Review Group--
                    (A) concluded that UNRWA--
                            (i) has established a significant number of 
                        mechanisms and procedures to ensure compliance 
                        with humanitarian principles with an emphasis 
                        on the principle of neutrality;
                            (ii) already possesses a more developed 
                        approach to neutrality than other similar 
                        United Nations entities or nongovernmental 
                        organizations; and
                            (iii) recommended additional steps to 
                        strengthen neutrality policies, all of which 
                        UNRWA immediately agreed to fully implement.
            (8) UNRWA has implemented a High-Level Action Plan to 
        implement the Independent Review Group's recommendations. As of 
        September 2024--
                    (A) 2 recommendations have been fully implemented;
                    (B) 17 recommendations are in progress; and
                    (C) the timeline for implementing the remaining 
                recommendations is outlined in UNRWA's related High-
                Level Action Plan, which articulates specific actions 
                and resource requirements.
            (9) On October 28, 2024, Department of State spokesperson 
        Matthew Miller declared--
                    (A) UNRWA plays ``an irreplaceable role right now 
                in Gaza, where they are on the front lines getting 
                humanitarian assistance to the people that need it. 
                There's nobody that can replace them right now in the 
                middle of the crisis.''; and
                    (B) UNRWA plays ``an important role providing 
                services to Palestinians in the West Bank and 
                throughout the region as well.''.
            (10) On November 12, 2024, Ambassador Linda Thomas-
        Greenfield, the United States Permanent Representative to the 
        United Nations, confirmed, ``UNRWA's role has been vital as the 
        frontline of this humanitarian response. The Agency facilitates 
        approximately 80 percent of humanitarian aid in Gaza.''.
            (11) Following the decisive actions taken by the United 
        Nations and the commitments made by UNRWA toward additional 
        reforms, major member-state supports of UNRWA, including the 
        European Union, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Japan, 
        France, Switzerland, Canada, The Netherlands, Australia, Italy, 
        Austria, Finland, Iceland, Romania, and Estonia have resumed 
        their funding to UNRWA.
            (12) Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and Belgium have since 
        provided resources to UNRWA beyond their original commitments.
            (13) The United States, which has historically been the 
        largest funder of UNRWA, plays a pivotal role in supporting 
        UNRWA's critical mission.
            (14) Properly vetted funding for UNRWA remains in the 
        comprehensive strategic interests of the United States and its 
        allies.
            (15) In an October 13, 2024 letter to the State of Israel 
        Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, and the State of Israel 
        Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, Secretary of State 
        Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin warned 
        that 2 draft bills being considered by the Knessett ``would 
        devastate the Gaza humanitarian response'' and ``could have 
        implications under relevant U.S. law and policy''.
            (16) On October 19, 2024, Ambassador Linda Thomas-
        Greenfield, the United States Permanent Representative to the 
        United Nations, expressed concerns about these 2 draft bills at 
        the United Nations Security Council Briefing on the Middle 
        East, and stated ``there is no alternative to UNRWA when it 
        comes to delivering food and other life-saving aid in Gaza''.
            (17) On October 28, 2024, the Israel Knesset approved these 
        2 bills, which bar UNRWA from operating in Israel and will 
        drastically curtail UNRWA operations in the West Bank and Gaza.
            (18) On November 1, 2024, the world's leading humanitarian 
        coordination forum, known as the Inter-Agency Standing 
        Committee, declared that implementation of the Knesset 
        legislation ``would be a catastrophe for the humanitarian 
        response in Gaza, diametrically opposed to the United Nations 
        Charter, with potential dire impacts on the human rights of the 
        millions of Palestinians depending on UNRWA's assistance . . . 
        there is no alternative to UNRWA.''.
            (19) If UNRWA cannot operate in the occupied Palestinian 
        territory, the responsibility for providing services to 
        Palestinians, and for bearing the cost of these services, will 
        lie not with the United Nations, but with Israel.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    Congress--
            (1) recognizes that preventing further erosion of civilian 
        conditions in Gaza remains in the strategic and moral interests 
        of the United States;
            (2) supports UNRWA's unique and indispensable contribution 
        to immediately addressing urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, 
        especially in mitigating and stopping the spread of famine and 
        disease;
            (3) reaffirms the imperative of UNRWA's continued provision 
        of humanitarian and human development services to Palestinian 
        refugees in all its current fields of operation, including 
        Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, and the West Bank (including East 
        Jerusalem);
            (4) urges the Government of Israel to assist UNRWA in its 
        neutrality efforts by providing names, information, and 
        evidence UNRWA can use to aggressively pursue allegations 
        related to staff violations of UNRWA's neutrality policies;
            (5) urges the President--
                    (A) to join United States allies in restoring 
                funding to UNRWA in response to the responsible actions 
                taken by the United Nations and the commitments made by 
                UNRWA toward additional accountability and 
                transparency; and
                    (B) to ensure continued funding to UNRWA is 
                assessed based on UNRWA's ongoing execution of the 
                recommendations of the Independent Review Group, led by 
                Catherine Colonna;
            (6) recognizes the implementation of some of the 
        Independent Review Group's recommendations will require United 
        Nations member state cooperation, including additional funding;
            (7) urges the United States and Israel to assist UNRWA in 
        its implementation efforts of the Independent Review Group's 
        recommendations; and
            (8) supports appropriating critical funds to UNRWA for 
        fiscal year 2025 and beyond.

SEC. 4. RESTORATION OF FUNDING FOR UNRWA.

    (a) In General.--Beginning on the date of the enactment of this 
Act--
            (1) title III of division G of the Further Consolidated 
        Appropriations Act, 2024 (Public Law 118-47) is hereby 
        repealed;
            (2) section 308 of the Israel Security Supplemental 
        Appropriations Act, 2024 (division A of Public Law 118-50) is 
        hereby repealed; and
            (3) notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
        Secretary of State shall, as soon as practicable--
                    (A) rescind the temporary pause in funding for 
                UNRWA described in the press statement entitled 
                ``Statement on UNRWA Allegations'' issued on January 
                26, 2024; and
                    (B) resume the provision of funding to UNRWA under 
                current authorities of the Department of State.
    (b) Reports.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and quarterly thereafter through December 31, 
2027, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to the appropriate 
congressional committees of jurisdiction describing the steps UNRWA is 
taking to implement the recommendations made by the Independent Review 
Group, led by Catherine Colonna.
                                 <all>
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