II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1409

To impose sanctions against the PLO or the Palestinian Authority if the

President determines that those entities have failed to substantially comply with commitments made to the State of Israel.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 6, 2001

Mr. MCCONNELL (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. DASCHLE, Mr. SCHUMER, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. CRAPO, Mrs. CLINTON, Mrs. CARNAHAN, Mrs.

BOXER, Mr. TORRICELLI, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr. CLELAND, Mr. ENSIGN,

Mr. JOHNSON, and Mr. INOUYE) introduced the following bill; which was

read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

A BILL

To impose sanctions against the PLO or the Palestinian

Authority if the President determines that those entities

have failed to substantially comply with commitments

made to the State of Israel.

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 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Middle East Peace

5 Compliance Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:
2

•S 1409 IS

1 (1) On September 9, 1993, Palestinian Libera2 tion Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat

3 made the following commitments in an exchange of

4 letters with Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin:

5 (A) ‘‘The PLO recognizes the right of the

6 State of Israel to exist in peace and security.’’.

7 (B) ‘‘The PLO accepts United Nations Se8 curity Council Resolutions 242 and 338’’ per9 taining to the cessation of hostilities and the es10 tablishment of a just and lasting peace in the

11 Middle East.

12 (C) ‘‘The PLO commits itself to the Mid13 dle East peace process, and to a peaceful reso14 lution of the conflict between the two sides and

15 declares that all outstanding issues relating to

16 permanent status will be resolved through nego17 tiations.’’.

18 (D) ‘‘The PLO considers that the signing

19 of the Declaration of Principles constitutes a

20 historic event, inaugurating a new epoch of

21 peaceful coexistence, free from violence and all

22 other acts which endanger peace and stability.

23 Accordingly, the PLO renounces the use of ter24 rorism and other acts of violence and will as25 sume responsibility over all PLO elements and
3

•S 1409 IS

1 personnel in order to assure their compliance,

2 prevent violence and discipline violators.’’.

3 (E) ‘‘In view of the promise of a new era

4 and the signing of the Declaration of Principles

5 and based on Palestinian acceptance of Security

6 Council Resolutions 242 and 338, the PLO af7 firms that those articles of the Palestinian Cov8 enant which deny Israel’s right to exist, and the

9 provisions of the Covenant which are incon10 sistent with the commitments of this letter are

11 now inoperative and no longer valid.’’.

12 (2) The Palestinian Authority, the governing

13 body of autonomous Palestinian territories, was cre14 ated as a result of the agreements between the PLO

15 and the State of Israel that are a direct outgrowth

16 of the September 9, 1993, commitments.

17 (3) The United States Congress has provided

18 authorities to the President to suspend certain stat19 utory restrictions relating to the PLO, subject to

20 Presidential certification that the PLO has contin21 ued to abide by commitments made.

22 SEC. 3. REPORTS.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall, at the times

24 specified in subsection (b), transmit to Congress a

25 report—
4

•S 1409 IS

1 (1) detailing and assessing the steps that the

2 PLO or the Palestinian Authority, as appropriate,

3 has taken to substantially comply with its 1993 com4 mitments, as specified in section 2(1) of this Act;

5 (2) a description of the steps taken by the PLO

6 or the Palestinian Authority, as appropriate, to in7 vestigate and prosecute those responsible for violence

8 against American and Israeli citizens;

9 (3) making a determination as to whether the

10 PLO or the Palestinian Authority, as appropriate,

11 has substantially complied with such commitments

12 during the period since the submission of the pre13 ceding report, or, in the case of the initial report,

14 during the preceding 6-month period; and

15 (4) detailing progress made in determining the

16 designation of the PLO, or one or more of its con17 stituent groups (including Fatah and Tanzim) or

18 groups operating as arms of the Palestinian Author19 ity (including Force 17) as a foreign terrorist orga20 nization, in accordance with section 219(a) of the

21 Immigration and Nationality Act.

22 (b) TRANSMISSION.—The initial report required

23 under subsection (a) shall be transmitted not later than

24 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act. Each sub25 sequent report shall be submitted on the date on which
5

•S 1409 IS

1 the President is next required to submit a report under

2 the PLO Commitments Compliance Act of 1989 (title VIII

3 of Public Law 101–246) and may be combined with such

4 report.

5 SEC. 4. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—If, in any report transmitted pur7 suant to section 3, the President determines that the PLO

8 or Palestinian Authority, as appropriate, has not substan9 tially complied with the commitments specified in section

10 2(1), the following sanctions shall apply:

11 (1) SUSPENSION OF ASSISTANCE.—The Presi12 dent shall suspend all United States assistance to

13 the West Bank and Gaza except for humanitarian

14 assistance.

15 (2) ADDITIONAL SANCTION OR SANCTIONS.—

16 The President shall impose one or more of the fol17 lowing sanctions:

18 (A) DENIAL OF VISAS TO PLO AND PALES19 TINIAN AUTHORITY FIGURES.—The President

20 shall prohibit the Secretary of State from

21 issuance of any visa for any member of the

22 PLO or any official of the Palestinian Author23 ity.

24 (B) DOWNGRADE IN STATUS OF PLO OF25 FICE IN THE UNITED STATES.—Notwith-
6

•S 1409 IS

1 standing any other provision of law, the Presi2 dent shall withdraw or terminate any waiver by

3 the President of the requirements of section

4 1003 of the Foreign Relations Authorization

5 Act of 1988 and 1989 (22 U.S.C. 5202) (pro6 hibiting the establishment or maintenance of a

7 Palestinian information office in the United

8 States), and such section shall apply so as to

9 prohibit the operation of a PLO or Palestinian

10 Authority office in the United States from car11 rying out any function other than those func12 tions carried out by the Palestinian information

13 office in existence prior to the Oslo Accord.

14 (b) DURATION OF SANCTIONS.—The period of time

15 referred to in subsection (a) is the period of time com16 mencing on the date that the report pursuant to section

17 3 was transmitted and ending on the later of—

18 (1) the date that is 6 months after such date;

19 (2) the date that the next report under section

20 3 is required to be transmitted; or

21 (3) the date, if any, on which the President de22 termines and informs Congress that the conditions

23 that were the basis for imposing the sanctions are

24 no longer valid.
7

•S 1409 IS

1 (c) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The President may waive

2 any or all of the sanctions imposed under this Act if the

3 President determines that such a waiver is in the national

4 security interest of the United States, and reports such

5 a determination to the appropriate committees of Con6 gress.

7 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE; TERMINATION DATE.

8 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall take effect on

9 the date of enactment of this Act.

10 (b) TERMINATION DATE.—This Act shall cease to be

11 effective 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act.

Æ