II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2479 

To withhold United States contributions to the United Nations Relief and 

Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 27, 2021 

Mr. RISCH (for himself, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. CRAPO, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. 

DAINES, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. PORTMAN, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. 

SCOTT of Florida, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BOOZMAN, and Mr. THUNE) 

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

Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To withhold United States contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees 

in the Near East (UNRWA), 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 ‘‘UNRWA Account5 ability and Transparency Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

7 (a) PALESTINIAN REFUGEE DEFINED.—It shall be 

8 the policy of the United States, in matters concerning the 


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1 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine 

2 Refugees in the Near East (referred to in this Act as 

3 ‘‘UNRWA’’), which operates in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, 

4 the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, to define a Pales5 tinian refugee as a person who— 

6 (1) resided, between June 1946 and May 1948, 

7 in the region controlled by Britain between 1922 

8 and 1948 that was known as Mandatory Palestine; 

9 (2) was personally displaced as a result of the 

10 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict; and 

11 (3) has not accepted an offer of legal residency 

12 status, citizenship, or other permanent adjustment 

13 in status in another country or territory. 

14 (b) LIMITATIONS ON REFUGEE AND DERIVATIVE

15 REFUGEE STATUS.—In applying the definition under sub16 section (a) with respect to refugees receiving assistance 

17 from UNRWA, it shall be the policy of the United States, 

18 consistent with the definition of refugee in section 

19 101(a)(42) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

20 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42)) and the requirements for eligibility 

21 for refugee status under section 207 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

22 1157), that— 

23 (1) derivative refugee status may only be ex24 tended to the spouse or a minor child of a Pales25 tinian refugee; and 


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1 (2) an alien who is firmly resettled in any coun2 try is not eligible to retain refugee status. 

3 SEC. 3. UNITED STATES CONTRIBUTIONS TO UNRWA. 

4 Section 301(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

5 (22 U.S.C. 2221) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(c) WITHHOLDING.— 

7 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

8 ‘‘(A) ANTI-SEMITIC.—The term ‘anti-Se9 mitic’— 

10 ‘‘(i) has the meaning adopted on May 

11 26, 2016, by the International Holocaust 

12 Remembrance Alliance as the non-legally 

13 binding working definition of anti-Semi14 tism; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) includes the contemporary exam16 ples of anti-Semitism in public life, the 

17 media, schools, the workplace, and in the 

18 religious sphere identified on such date by 

19 the International Holocaust Remembrance 

20 Alliance. 

21 ‘‘(B) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COM22 MITTEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional 

23 committees’ means— 

24 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Foreign Rela25 tions of the Senate; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Appropriations 

2 of the Senate; 

3 ‘‘(iii) the Committee on Foreign Af4 fairs of the House of Representatives; and 

5 ‘‘(iv) the Committee on Appropria6 tions of the House of Representatives. 

7 ‘‘(C) BOYCOTT OF, DIVESTMENT FROM, 

8 AND SANCTIONS AGAINST ISRAEL.—The term 

9 ‘boycott of, divestment from, and sanctions 

10 against Israel’ has the meaning given to such 

11 term in section 909(f)(1) of the Trade Facilita12 tion and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (19 

13 U.S.C. 4452(f)(1)). 

14 ‘‘(D) FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZA15 TION.—The term ‘foreign terrorist organization’ 

16 means an organization designated as a foreign 

17 terrorist organization by the Secretary of State 

18 in accordance with section 219(a) of the Immi19 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a)). 

20 ‘‘(E) UNRWA.—The term ‘UNRWA’ 

21 means the United Nations Relief and Works 

22 Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near 

23 East. 

24 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION.—Notwithstanding any 

25 other provision of law, the United States may not 


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1 provide contributions to UNRWA, to any successor 

2 or related entity, or to the regular budget of the 

3 United Nations for the support of UNRWA or a 

4 successor entity (through staff positions provided by 

5 the United Nations Secretariat or otherwise) unless 

6 the Secretary of State submits a written certification 

7 to the appropriate congressional committees that— 

8 ‘‘(A) no official, employee, consultant, con9 tractor, subcontractor, representative, affiliate 

10 of UNRWA, an UNRWA partner organization, 

11 or an UNRWA contracting entity pursuant to 

12 completion of a thorough vetting and back13 ground check process— 

14 ‘‘(i) is a member of, is affiliated with, 

15 or has any ties to a foreign terrorist orga16 nization, including Hamas and Hezbollah; 

17 ‘‘(ii) has advocated, planned, spon18 sored, or engaged in any terrorist activity; 

19 ‘‘(iii) has propagated or disseminated 

20 anti-American, anti-Israel, or anti-Semitic 

21 rhetoric, incitement, or propaganda, in22 cluding— 

23 ‘‘(I) calling for or encouraging 

24 the destruction of Israel; 


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1 ‘‘(II) failing to recognize Israel’s 

2 right to exist; 

3 ‘‘(III) showing maps without 

4 Israel; 

5 ‘‘(IV) describing Israelis as ‘occu6 piers’ or ‘settlers’; 

7 ‘‘(V) advocating, endorsing, or 

8 expressing support for violence, ha9 tred, jihad, martyrdom, or terrorism, 

10 glorifying, honoring, or otherwise me11 morializing any person or group that 

12 has advocated, sponsored, or com13 mitted acts of terrorism, or providing 

14 material support to terrorists or their 

15 families; 

16 ‘‘(VI) expressing support for boy17 cott of, divestment from, and sanc18 tions against Israel (commonly re19 ferred to as ‘BDS’); 

20 ‘‘(VII) claiming or advocating for 

21 a ‘right of return’ of refugees into 

22 Israel; 

23 ‘‘(VIII) ignoring, denying, or not 

24 recognizing the historic connection of 


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1 the Jewish people to the land of 

2 Israel; and 

3 ‘‘(IX) calling for violence against 

4 Americans; or 

5 ‘‘(iv) has used any UNRWA re6 sources, including publications, websites, or 

7 social media platforms, to propagate or 

8 disseminate anti-American, anti-Israel, or 

9 anti-Semitic rhetoric, incitement, or propa10 ganda, including with respect to any of the 

11 matters described in subclauses (I) 

12 through (IX) of clause (iii); 

13 ‘‘(B) no UNRWA school, hospital, clinic, 

14 facility, or other infrastructure or resource is 

15 being used by a foreign terrorist organization or 

16 any member thereof— 

17 ‘‘(i) for terrorist activities, such as op18 erations, planning, training, recruitment, 

19 fundraising, indoctrination, communica20 tions, sanctuary, storage of weapons or 

21 other materials; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) as an access point to any under23 ground tunnel network, or any other ter24 rorist-related purposes; 


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1 ‘‘(C) UNRWA is subject to comprehensive 

2 financial audits by an internationally recognized 

3 third party independent auditing firm that— 

4 ‘‘(i) is agreed upon by the Govern5 ment of Israel and the Palestinian Author6 ity; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) has implemented an effective sys8 tem of vetting and oversight to prevent the 

9 use, receipt, or diversion of any UNRWA 

10 resources by any foreign terrorist organiza11 tion or members thereof; 

12 ‘‘(D) no UNRWA controlled or funded fa13 cility, such as a school, an educational institu14 tion, or a summer camp, uses textbooks or 

15 other educational materials that propagate or 

16 disseminate anti-American, anti-Israel, or anti17 Semitic rhetoric, incitement, or propaganda, in18 cluding with respect to any of the matters de19 scribed in subclauses (I) through (IX) of sub20 paragraph (A)(iii); 

21 ‘‘(E) no recipient of UNRWA funds or 

22 loans is— 

23 ‘‘(i) a member of, is affiliated with, or 

24 has any ties to a foreign terrorist organiza25 tion; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) otherwise engaged in terrorist ac2 tivities; and 

3 ‘‘(F) UNRWA holds no accounts or other 

4 affiliations with financial institutions that the 

5 United States considers or believes to be 

6 complicit in money laundering and terror fi7 nancing. 

8 ‘‘(3) PERIOD OF EFFECTIVENESS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A certification de10 scribed in paragraph (2) shall be effective until 

11 the earlier of— 

12 ‘‘(i) the date on which the Secretary 

13 receives information rendering the certifi14 cation described in paragraph (2) factually 

15 inaccurate; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) the date that is 180 days after 

17 the date on which it is submitted to the 

18 appropriate congressional committees. 

19 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION OF RENUNCIATION.— 

20 If a certification becomes ineffective pursuant 

21 to subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall 

22 promptly notify the appropriate congressional 

23 committees of the reasons for renouncing or 

24 failing to renew such certification. 


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1 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION.—During any year in which a 

2 certification described in paragraph (1) is in effect, 

3 the United States may not contribute to UNRWA, 

4 or to any successor entity, an amount that— 

5 ‘‘(A) is greater than the highest contribu6 tion to UNRWA made by a member country of 

7 the League of Arab States for such year; and 

8 ‘‘(B) is greater (as a proportion of the 

9 total UNRWA budget) than the proportion of 

10 the total budget for the United Nations High 

11 Commissioner for Refugees paid by the United 

12 States.’’. 

13 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

14 (a) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

15 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con16 gressional committees’’ means— 

17 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

18 Senate; 

19 (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

20 Senate; 

21 (3) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

22 House of Representatives; and 

23 (4) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

24 House of Representatives. 


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1 (b) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

2 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

3 the Secretary of State shall submit a report to the appro4 priate congressional committees describing the actions 

5 being taken to implement a comprehensive plan for— 

6 (1) encouraging other countries to adopt the 

7 policy regarding Palestinian refugees that is de8 scribed in section 2; 

9 (2) urging other countries to withhold their 

10 contributions to UNRWA, to any successor or re11 lated entity, or to the regular budget of the United 

12 Nations for the support of UNRWA or a successor 

13 entity (through staff positions provided by the 

14 United Nations Secretariat or otherwise) until 

15 UNRWA has met the conditions listed in subpara16 graphs (A) through (F) of section 301(c)(2) of the 

17 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by section 

18 3; 

19 (3) working with other countries to phase out 

20 UNRWA and assist Palestinians receiving UNRWA 

21 services by— 

22 (A) integrating such Palestinians into their 

23 local communities in the countries in which they 

24 are residing; or 


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1 (B) resettling such Palestinians in coun2 tries other than Israel or territories controlled 

3 by Israel in the West Bank in accordance with 

4 international humanitarian principles; and 

5 (4) ensuring that the actions described in para6 graph (3)— 

7 (A) are being implemented in complete co8 ordination with, and with the support of, Israel; 

9 and 

10 (B) do not endanger the security of Israel 

11 in any way. 

Æ 


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