II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1060 

To strengthen prohibitions regarding the Palestine Liberation Organization, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 4, 2017 

Mr. CRUZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To strengthen prohibitions regarding the Palestine Liberation 

Organization, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘PLO Accountability 

5 Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Palestine Liberation Organization 

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

10 extension, the Palestinian Authority (PA), in WashVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:34 May 10, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1060.IS S1060

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1 ington, DC, was opened in 1994 in order to imple2 ment the Oslo Accords, which initiated direct nego3 tiations between the PLO and the Government of 

4 Israel. 

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

6 1987 (title X of Public Law 100–204; 22 U.S.C. 

7 5202), makes it unlawful to ‘‘establish or maintain 

8 an office, headquarters, premises, or other facilities 

9 or establishments within the jurisdiction of the 

10 United States at the behest or direction of, or with 

11 funds provided by the Palestine Liberation Organi12 zation or any of its constituent groups, any suc13 cessor to any of those, or any agents thereof’’. 

14 (3) Using various authorities, the executive 

15 branch has waived the provisions of section 1003 of 

16 the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987. 

17 (4) Article XXXI, clause 7, of the Israeli-Pales18 tinian Interim Agreement on the Status of the West 

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

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

21 step that will change the status of the West Bank 

22 and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the per23 manent status negotiations’’. 

24 (5) In January 2009, the PLO sent a declara25 tion to the International Criminal Court under ArtiVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:34 May 10, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1060.IS S1060

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1 cle 12(3) of the Rome Statute of the International 

2 Criminal Court on behalf of the Palestinian Author3 ity. 

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

5 Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 

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

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

8 Palestinians have used UNESCO to pass anti-Israel 

9 resolutions, including a recent effort to deny the his10 torical connection of the Jewish people to holy sites 

11 including the Temple Mount and Western Wall in 

12 Jerusalem. 

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

14 General Assembly voted to accord the ‘‘State of Pal15 estine’’ status as a nonmember observer State at the 

16 United Nations. 

17 (8) On April 2, 2014, the PLO joined the Gene18 va Conventions as well as 13 other organizations. 

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

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

21 Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court 

22 opened a ‘‘preliminary examination of the situation 

23 in Palestine’’ after accepting jurisdiction of the 

24 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.’’ 

13 (12) On April 1, 2015, the ‘‘State of Palestine’’ 

14 officially became a member of the International 

15 Criminal Court. 

16 (13) The PLO and PA continue to engage in 

17 incitement and glorify terrorism, and reward terror18 ists, their families, and the families of those who 

19 died committing terrorist attacks with roughly 

20 $300,000,000 annually in salaries and benefits, pro21 viding a higher reward to those with longer jail sen22 tences. 

23 (14) On August 30, 2016, Deputy Secretary of 

24 State, Anthony J. Blinken, submitted to Congress a 

25 report as required under section 804(b) of the ForVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:34 May 10, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1060.IS S1060

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1 eign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 

2 and 1991 (Public Law 101–246), sections 603 and 

3 604 of the Middle East Peace Commitments Act of 

4 2002 (subtitle A of title VI of Public Law 107–228), 

5 and section 699 of the Foreign Relations Authoriza6 tion Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107–228). 

7 (15) In this report, Deputy Secretary of State 

8 Blinken, acting under authority delegated to him as 

9 Deputy Secretary pursuant to the President’s Dele10 gation of Functions on April 30, 2009, made the de11 termination that ‘‘the PLO and PA are not in com12 pliance with certain commitments to prevent viola13 tions, discipline violators, and assume responsibility 

14 over all PLO elements . . . thus the sanction speci15 fied in section 604(a)(2) of [Public Law 107–228], 

16 calling for a downgrade in status of the PLO office 

17 in Washington, DC, has been imposed’’. 

18 (16) On January 31, 2017, then Acting Sec19 retary of State, Thomas Shannon, pursuant to the 

20 President’s Delegation of Functions dated April 30, 

21 2009, submitted to Congress a similar report to 

22 Congress as required under section 804(b) of the 

23 Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 

24 1990 and 1991, sections 603 and 604 of the Middle 

25 East Peace Commitments Act of 2002, and section 


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1 699 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fis2 cal Year 2003, in which the same determination was 

3 made that the PLO and PA are not in compliance 

4 with their commitments, and imposed the same 

5 sanction of a downgrade in the status of the PLO 

6 office in Washington, DC. 

7 (17) In both the August 30, 2016, and January 

8 31, 2017, reports, the sanctions were immediately 

9 waived. 

10 (18) Section 604(a) of the Middle East Peace 

11 Commitments Act of 2002 (subtitle A of title VI of 

12 Public Law 107–228) requires that if the President 

13 determines that the PLO or the Palestinian Author14 ity has not complied with each of the commitments 

15 specified in such section, the President shall impose 

16 one or more of the following sanctions: 

17 (A) The denial of visas to PLO and PA of18 ficials. 

19 (B) The downgrade in status of the PLO 

20 office in the United States. 

21 (C) The designation as a foreign terrorist 

22 organization of the PLO, or one or more of its 

23 constituent groups (including Fatah). 


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1 (D) The prohibition on United States as2 sistance to the West Bank and Gaza (except 

3 humanitarian assistance). 

4 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that— 

6 (1) the Palestine Liberation Organization 

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

8 bilateral peace process with Israel, renounce vio9 lence, accept Israel’s right to exist, and honor pre10 vious diplomatic agreements made by the Palestin11 ians, and continues to circumvent a negotiated set12 tlement with Israel by seeking unilateral statehood 

13 at the United Nations and from other countries, ac14 tively endorsing terror, and supporting boycotts, di15 vestments, and sanctions (BDS) against Israel; 

16 (2) the Palestinian initiation of an International 

17 Criminal Court preliminary examination, investiga18 tion, or active support for such an investigation, that 

19 subjects Israeli nationals to an investigation for al20 leged crimes against Palestinians, is part of a delib21 erate effort to engage in diplomatic, legal warfare 

22 against Israel and would violate the Palestinians’ 

23 commitment to not change the status of the West 

24 Bank and Gaza Strip; 


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1 (3) the only path towards solving the conflict is 

2 through direct negotiations between Israel and the 

3 Palestinians; 

4 (4) the Palestinians should not turn to outside 

5 parties, including international organizations, to im6 pose or otherwise influence a solution; 

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

8 United States to close down the PLO office in 

9 Washington, DC; and 

10 (6) the executive branch should avail itself of 

11 the range of sanctions as allowed under the author12 ity to impose sanctions under section 604 of the 

13 Middle East Peace Commitments Act of 2002 (sub14 title A of title VI of Public Law 107–228) in order 

15 to hold the Palestinian leadership accountable. 

16 SEC. 4. PROHIBITIONS REGARDING THE PALESTINE LIB17 ERATION ORGANIZATION UNDER THE ANTI18 TERRORISM ACT OF 1987. 

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

20 U.S.C. 5202) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘It shall be unlawful’’ and in22 serting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful’’; 

23 and 

24 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub25 section: 


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

2 of law, including section 604 of the Middle East Peace 

3 Commitments Act of 2002 (subtitle A of title VI of Public 

4 Law 107–228), the President may waive for a period of 

5 not more than 6 months the provisions of subsection (a) 

6 if the President determines and certifies in writing to Con7 gress, not later than 45 days before the waiver is to take 

8 effect, that— 

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

10 January 1, 2017, obtained in the United Nations or 

11 any specialized agency thereof the same standing as 

12 member states or full membership as a state outside 

13 an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Pal14 estinians; 

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

16 be members of the International Criminal Court 

17 (ICC) and have withdrawn from the Rome Statute 

18 of the International Criminal Court; 

19 ‘‘(C) any preliminary examination or ongoing 

20 investigation against Israel, the Government of 

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

22 Israeli national initiated by, or on behalf of, the Pal23 estinians, or referred to the ICC by a state party, 

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

25 Chamber has been withdrawn and terminated; 


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

2 longer provide any financial award, payment, salary, 

3 or benefit to Palestinians who have committed ter4 rorist attacks, their families, or the families of those 

5 who died committing acts of terrorism; 

6 ‘‘(E) the PLO and the Palestinian Authority 

7 have ceased to engage in a pattern of incitement 

8 against or with respect to the United States or 

9 Israel; or 

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

11 negotiated peace agreement with, and have ceased 

12 all hostilities against, Israel. 

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

14 ‘incitement’ means to advocate, endorse, or express sup15 port for violence, martyrdom, or terrorism, or glorify, 

16 honor, or otherwise memorialize any person or group that 

17 has advocated, sponsored, or committed acts of terrorism, 

18 including the naming after or dedication to such person 

19 or group of any school, community center, camp, sports 

20 team, stadium, public square, street, land, landmark, wa21 terway, or other facility.’’. 

Æ 


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