II 

Calendar No. 247 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3467 

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 

JANUARY 10, 2022 

Mr. RISCH (for himself, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. WICKER, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. 

TILLIS, Mr. BOOZMAN, and Mr. THUNE) introduced the following bill; 

which was read the first time 

JANUARY 18, 2022 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

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

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

4 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine 

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

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

7 the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, to define a Pales8 tinian refugee as a person who— 

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

10 in the region controlled by Britain between 1922 

11 and 1948 that was known as Mandatory Palestine; 

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

13 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict; and 

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

15 status, citizenship, or other permanent adjustment 

16 in status in another country or territory. 

17 (b) LIMITATIONS ON REFUGEE AND DERIVATIVE

18 REFUGEE STATUS.—In applying the definition under sub19 section (a) with respect to refugees receiving assistance 

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

21 consistent with the definition of refugee in section 

22 101(a)(42) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

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

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

25 1157), that— 


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1 (1) derivative refugee status may only be ex2 tended to the spouse or a minor child of a Pales3 tinian refugee; and 

4 (2) an alien who is firmly resettled in any coun5 try is not eligible to retain refugee status. 

6 SEC. 3. UNITED STATES’ CONTRIBUTIONS TO UNRWA. 

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

8 (22 U.S.C. 2221) is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(c) WITHHOLDING.— 

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

11 ‘‘(A) ANTI-SEMITIC.—The term ‘anti-Se12 mitic’— 

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

14 26, 2016, by the International Holocaust 

15 Remembrance Alliance as the non-legally 

16 binding working definition of antisemitism; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(ii) includes the contemporary exam19 ples of antisemitism in public life, the 

20 media, schools, the workplace, and in the 

21 religious sphere identified on such date by 

22 the International Holocaust Remembrance 

23 Alliance. 


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1 ‘‘(B) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COM2 MITTEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional 

3 committees’ means— 

4 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Foreign Rela5 tions of the Senate; 

6 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Appropriations 

7 of the Senate; 

8 ‘‘(iii) the Committee on Foreign Af9 fairs of the House of Representatives; and 

10 ‘‘(iv) the Committee on Appropria11 tions of the House of Representatives. 

12 ‘‘(C) BOYCOTT OF, DIVESTMENT FROM, 

13 AND SANCTIONS AGAINST ISRAEL.—The term 

14 ‘boycott of, divestment from, and sanctions 

15 against Israel’ has the meaning given to such 

16 term in section 909(f)(1) of the Trade Facilita17 tion and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (19 

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

19 ‘‘(D) FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZA20 TION.—The term ‘foreign terrorist organization’ 

21 means an organization designated as a foreign 

22 terrorist organization by the Secretary of State 

23 in accordance with section 219(a) of the Immi24 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a)). 


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1 ‘‘(E) UNRWA.—The term ‘UNRWA’ 

2 means the United Nations Relief and Works 

3 Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near 

4 East. 

5 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION.—Notwithstanding any 

6 other provision of law, the United States may not 

7 provide contributions to UNRWA, to any successor 

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

9 United Nations for the support of UNRWA or a 

10 successor entity (through staff positions provided by 

11 the United Nations Secretariat or otherwise) unless 

12 the Secretary of State submits a written certification 

13 to the appropriate congressional committees that— 

14 ‘‘(A) no official, employee, consultant, con15 tractor, subcontractor, representative, affiliate 

16 of UNRWA, an UNRWA partner organization, 

17 or an UNRWA contracting entity pursuant to 

18 completion of a thorough vetting and back19 ground check process— 

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

21 or has any ties to a foreign terrorist orga22 nization, including Hamas and Hezbollah; 

23 ‘‘(ii) has advocated, planned, spon24 sored, or engaged in any terrorist activity; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) has propagated or disseminated 

2 anti-American, anti-Israel, or anti-Semitic 

3 rhetoric, incitement, or propaganda, in4 cluding— 

5 ‘‘(I) calling for or encouraging 

6 the destruction of Israel; 

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

8 right to exist; 

9 ‘‘(III) showing maps without 

10 Israel; 

11 ‘‘(IV) describing Israelis as ‘occu12 piers’ or ‘settlers’; 

13 ‘‘(V) advocating, endorsing, or 

14 expressing support for violence, ha15 tred, jihad, martyrdom, or terrorism, 

16 glorifying, honoring, or otherwise me17 morializing any person or group that 

18 has advocated, sponsored, or com19 mitted acts of terrorism, or providing 

20 material support to terrorists or their 

21 families; 

22 ‘‘(VI) expressing support for boy23 cott of, divestment from, and sanc24 tions against Israel (commonly re25 ferred to as ‘BDS’); 


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1 ‘‘(VII) claiming or advocating for 

2 a ‘right of return’ of refugees into 

3 Israel; 

4 ‘‘(VIII) ignoring, denying, or not 

5 recognizing the historic connection of 

6 the Jewish people to the land of 

7 Israel; and 

8 ‘‘(IX) calling for violence against 

9 Americans; or 

10 ‘‘(iv) has used any UNRWA re11 sources, including publications, websites, or 

12 social media platforms, to propagate or 

13 disseminate anti-American, anti-Israel, or 

14 anti-Semitic rhetoric, incitement, or propa15 ganda, including with respect to any of the 

16 matters described in subclauses (I) 

17 through (IX) of clause (iii); 

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

19 facility, or other infrastructure or resource is 

20 being used by a foreign terrorist organization or 

21 any member thereof— 

22 ‘‘(i) for terrorist activities, such as op23 erations, planning, training, recruitment, 

24 fundraising, indoctrination, communicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Jan 19, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3467.PCS S3467

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1 tions, sanctuary, storage of weapons or 

2 other materials; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) as an access point to any under4 ground tunnel network, or any other ter5 rorist-related purposes; 

6 ‘‘(C) UNRWA is subject to comprehensive 

7 financial audits by an internationally recognized 

8 third party independent auditing firm that— 

9 ‘‘(i) is agreed upon by the Govern10 ment of Israel and the Palestinian Author11 ity; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) has implemented an effective sys13 tem of vetting and oversight to prevent the 

14 use, receipt, or diversion of any UNRWA 

15 resources by any foreign terrorist organiza16 tion or members thereof; 

17 ‘‘(D) no UNRWA controlled or funded fa18 cility, such as a school, an educational institu19 tion, or a summer camp, uses textbooks or 

20 other educational materials that propagate or 

21 disseminate anti-American, anti-Israel, or anti22 Semitic rhetoric, incitement, or propaganda, in23 cluding with respect to any of the matters de24 scribed in subclauses (I) through (IX) of sub25 paragraph (A)(iii); 


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

2 loans is— 

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

4 has any ties to a foreign terrorist organiza5 tion; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) otherwise engaged in terrorist ac7 tivities; and 

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

9 affiliations with financial institutions that the 

10 United States considers or believes to be 

11 complicit in money laundering and terror fi12 nancing. 

13 ‘‘(3) PERIOD OF EFFECTIVENESS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A certification de15 scribed in paragraph (2) shall be effective until 

16 the earlier of— 

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

18 receives information rendering the certifi19 cation described in paragraph (2) factually 

20 inaccurate; or 

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

22 the date on which it is submitted to the 

23 appropriate congressional committees. 

24 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION OF RENUNCIATION.— 

25 If a certification becomes ineffective pursuant 


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1 to subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall 

2 promptly notify the appropriate congressional 

3 committees of the reasons for renouncing or 

4 failing to renew such certification. 

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

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

7 the United States may not contribute to UNRWA, 

8 or to any successor entity, an amount that— 

9 ‘‘(A) is greater than the highest contribu10 tion to UNRWA made by a member country of 

11 the League of Arab States for such year; and 

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

13 total UNRWA budget) than the proportion of 

14 the total budget for the United Nations High 

15 Commissioner for Refugees paid by the United 

16 States.’’. 

17 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

18 (a) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

19 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con20 gressional committees’’ means— 

21 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

22 Senate; 

23 (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

24 Senate; 


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1 (3) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

2 House of Representatives; and 

3 (4) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

4 House of Representatives. 

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

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

7 the Secretary of State shall submit a report to the appro8 priate congressional committees describing the actions 

9 being taken to implement a comprehensive plan for— 

10 (1) encouraging other countries to adopt the 

11 policy regarding Palestinian refugees that is de12 scribed in section 2; 

13 (2) urging other countries to withhold their 

14 contributions to UNRWA, to any successor or re15 lated entity, or to the regular budget of the United 

16 Nations for the support of UNRWA or a successor 

17 entity (through staff positions provided by the 

18 United Nations Secretariat or otherwise) until 

19 UNRWA has met the conditions listed in subpara20 graphs (A) through (F) of section 301(c)(2) of the 

21 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by section 

22 3; 

23 (3) working with other countries to phase out 

24 UNRWA and assist Palestinians receiving UNRWA 

25 services by— 


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1 (A) integrating such Palestinians into their 

2 local communities in the countries in which they 

3 are residing; or 

4 (B) resettling such Palestinians in coun5 tries other than Israel or territories controlled 

6 by Israel in the West Bank in accordance with 

7 international humanitarian principles; and 

8 (4) ensuring that the actions described in para9 graph (3)— 

10 (A) are being implemented in complete co11 ordination with, and with the support of, Israel; 

12 and 

13 (B) do not endanger the security of Israel 

14 in any way. 

15 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

16 This Act shall take effect on the date that is 5 days 

17 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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Calendar No. 247 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3467 

A BILL 

To withhold United States contributions to the 

and for other purposes. Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), United Nations Relief and Works Agency for 

JANUARY 18, 2022 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 


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