II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 3250

To provide for a United States response in the event of a unilateral

declaration of a Palestinian state.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 26 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2000

Mr. BROWNBACK (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. LUGAR, Mr. SCHUMER,

Mr. GORTON, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. HELMS, Mr. ALLARD, Mr. ASHCROFT,

Mr. WYDEN, Mr. TORRICELLI, Mr. DEWINE, Mr. GRAMS, Mr. ROTH,

Mrs. HUTCHISON, Mr. SMITH of Oregon, Mr. BOND, Mr. DURBIN, Mr.

CLELAND, Mr. GRASSLEY, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. KYL, Mr. BREAUX, Mr.

LAUTENBERG, Mr. HATCH, Mr. MURKOWSKI, Mrs. LINCOLN, Ms.

LANDRIEU, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. VOINOVICH, Mr. MILLER, Mr. ROBB, Mr.

INHOFE, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. BUNNING, Mr. EDWARDS, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr.

LOTT, Mr. DASCHLE, Mr. REID, Mr. SANTORUM, Mr. FITZGERALD, Ms.

SNOWE, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. REED, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr.

HAGEL, Mr. GRAMM, Mr. MOYNIHAN, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. L. CHAFEE,

Mr. CAMPBELL, and Mr. ROCKEFELLER) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

A BILL

To provide for a United States response in the event of

a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state.

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 ‘‘Peace Through Nego5 tiations Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress makes the following findings:

3 (1) Resolving the political status of the territory

4 controlled by the Palestinian Authority is one of the

5 central issues of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

6 (2) The Palestinian threat to declare an inde7 pendent state unilaterally constitutes a fundamental

8 violation of the underlying principles of the Oslo Ac9 cords and the Middle East peace process.

10 (3) On March 11, 1999, the Senate overwhelm11 ingly adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution 5, and

12 on March 16, 1999, the House of Representatives

13 adopted House Concurrent Resolution 24, both of

14 which resolved that: ‘‘any attempt to establish Pales15 tinian statehood outside the negotiating process will

16 invoke the strongest congressional opposition.’’.

17 (4) On July 25, 2000, Palestinian Chairman

18 Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Barak issued a

19 joint statement agreeing that the ‘‘two sides under20 stand the importance of avoiding unilateral actions

21 that prejudice the outcome of negotiations and that

22 their differences will be resolved in good-faith nego23 tiations’’.

24 SEC. 3. POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES.

25 It shall be the policy of the United States to oppose

26 the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state, to with-
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1 hold diplomatic recognition of any Palestinian state that

2 is unilaterally declared, and to encourage other countries

3 and international organizations to withhold diplomatic rec4 ognition of any Palestinian state that is unilaterally de5 clared.

6 SEC. 4. MEASURES TO BE APPLIED IF A PALESTINIAN

7 STATE IS UNILATERALLY DECLARED.

8 (a) MEASURES.—Notwithstanding any other provi9 sion of law, beginning on the date that a Palestinian state

10 is unilaterally declared and ending on the date such unilat11 eral declaration is rescinded or on the date the President

12 notifies the Committee on International Relations of the

13 House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign

14 Relations of the Senate that an agreement between Israel

15 and the Palestinian Authority regarding the establishment

16 of a Palestinian state has been concluded, the following

17 measures shall be applied:

18 (1) DOWNGRADE IN STATUS OF PALESTINIAN

19 OFFICE IN THE UNITED STATES.—

20 (A) Notwithstanding any other provision of

21 law, it shall be unlawful for the government of

22 any unilaterally declared Palestinian state, the

23 Palestinian Authority, the Palestine Liberation

24 Organization, any of its constituent groups, or

25 any successors thereof, to establish or maintain
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1 an office, headquarters, premises, or other fa2 cilities or establishments within the jurisdiction

3 of the United States.

4 (B) Nothing in this paragraph shall be

5 construed to preclude—

6 (i) the establishment or maintenance

7 of a Palestinian information office in the

8 United States, operating under the same

9 terms and conditions as the Palestinian in10 formation office that existed prior to the

11 Oslo Accords; or

12 (ii) diplomatic contacts between Pales13 tinian officials and United States counter14 parts.

15 (2) PROHIBITION ON UNITED STATES ASSIST16 ANCE TO A UNILATERALLY DECLARED PALESTINIAN

17 STATE.—United States assistance may not be pro18 vided to the government of a unilaterally declared

19 Palestinian state, the Palestinian Authority, or to

20 any successor or related entity.

21 (3) PROHIBITION ON UNITED STATES ASSIST22 ANCE TO THE WEST BANK AND GAZA.—United

23 States assistance (except humanitarian assistance)

24 may not be provided to programs or projects in the

25 West Bank or Gaza.
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1 (4) AUTHORITY TO WITHHOLD PAYMENT OF

2 UNITED STATES CONTRIBUTIONS TO INTER3 NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT RECOGNIZE A UNI4 LATERALLY DECLARED PALESTINIAN STATE.—The

5 President is authorized to—

6 (A) withhold up to 10 percent of the

7 United States assessed contribution to any

8 international organization that recognizes a uni9 laterally declared Palestinian state; and

10 (B) reduce the United States voluntary

11 contribution to any international organization

12 that recognizes a unilaterally declared Pales13 tinian state up to 10 percent below the level of

14 the United States voluntary contribution to

15 such organization in the fiscal year prior to the

16 fiscal year in which such organization recog17 nized a unilaterally declared Palestinian state.

18 (5) OPPOSITION TO LENDING BY INTER19 NATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.—The Sec20 retary of the Treasury shall instruct the United

21 States Executive Director at each international fi22 nancial institution (as defined in section 1701(c)(2)

23 of the International Financial Institutions Act) to

24 use the voice, vote, and influence of the United

25 States to oppose—
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1 (A) membership for a unilaterally declared

2 Palestinian state in such institution, or other

3 recognition of a unilaterally declared Pales4 tinian state by such institution; and

5 (B) the extension by such institution to a

6 unilaterally declared Palestinian state of any

7 loan or other financial or technical assistance.

8 (6) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS TO EXTEND

9 UNITED STATES RECOGNITION.—No funds available

10 under any provision of law may be used to extend

11 United States recognition to a unilaterally declared

12 Palestinian state, including, but not limited to,

13 funds for the payment of the salary of any ambas14 sador, consul, or other diplomatic personnel to such

15 a unilaterally declared state, or for the cost of estab16 lishing, operating, or maintaining an embassy, con17 sulate, or other diplomatic facility in such a unilater18 ally declared state.

19 (b) SUSPENSION OF MEASURES.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President may suspend

21 the application of any of paragraphs (3) through (5)

22 of subsection (a) for a period of not more than one

23 year if, with respect to the suspension of the applica24 tion of any such paragraph, the President deter25 mines and certifies to the Committee on Inter-
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1 national Relations of the House of Representatives

2 and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen3 ate that—

4 (A) such suspension is in the national se5 curity interest of the United States; or

6 (B) the application of such paragraph or

7 paragraphs would significantly hinder the pros8 pects for a negotiated peace agreement in the

9 Middle East.

10 Such certification shall be accompanied by a jus11 tification for the basis of the determination.

12 (2) RENEWAL.—The President may renew the

13 suspension of the application of any of paragraphs

14 (3) through (5) of subsection (a) for a successive pe15 riod or periods of not more than one year if, before

16 each such period, the President makes a determina17 tion and transmits a certification in accordance with

18 paragraph (1).

19 (3) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—A suspension

20 of the application of any of paragraphs (3) through

21 (5) of subsection (a) under paragraph (1) or para22 graph (2) shall cease to be effective after one year

23 or at such earlier date as the President may specify.
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1 (c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of paragraphs (2)

2 and (3) of subsection (a), the term ‘‘United States

3 assistance’’—

4 (1) means—

5 (A) assistance under the Foreign Assist6 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.),

7 except—

8 (i) assistance under chapter 8 of part

9 I of such Act (relating to international

10 narcotics control assistance);

11 (ii) assistance under chapter 9 of part

12 I of such Act (relating to international dis13 aster assistance); and

14 (iii) assistance under chapter 6 of

15 part II of such Act (relating to assistance

16 for peacekeeping operations);

17 (B) assistance under the Arms Export

18 Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.), including

19 the license or approval for export of defense ar20 ticles and defense services under section 38 of

21 that Act; and

22 (C) assistance under the Export-Import

23 Bank Act of 1945; and
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1 (2) does not include counter-terrorism assist2 ance.

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