I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1795

To require the imposition of sanctions with respect to the Palestine Liberation

Organization (PLO) or the Palestinian Authority if the President determines that these entities have not complied with certain commitments

made by the entities, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 10, 2001

Mr. ACKERMAN (for himself, Mr. GILMAN, and Mr. LANTOS) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

A BILL

To require the imposition of sanctions with respect to the

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) or the Palestinian Authority if the President determines that these

entities have not complied with certain commitments

made by the entities, 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 ‘‘Middle East Peace

5 Commitments Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:
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1 (1) In 1993, the Palestine Liberation Organiza2 tion (hereinafter in this title referred to as the

3 ‘‘PLO’’) made the following commitments in an ex4 change of letters with the Prime Minister of Israel:

5 (A) Recognition of the right of the State of

6 Israel to exist in peace and security.

7 (B) Acceptance of United Nations Security

8 Council Resolutions 242 and 338.

9 (C) Resolution of all outstanding issues in

10 the conflict between the two sides through nego11 tiations and exclusively peaceful means.

12 (D) Renunciation of the use of terrorism

13 and all other acts of violence and responsibility

14 over all PLO elements and personnel in order

15 to assure their compliance, prevent violations,

16 and discipline violators.

17 (2) The Palestinian Authority, the governing

18 body of autonomous Palestinian territories, was cre19 ated as a result of agreements between the PLO and

20 the State of Israel that are a direct outgrowth of the

21 commitments made in 1993.

22 (3) The PLO made the following commitments

23 in the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Gov24 ernment Arrangements of 1993, the Israeli-Pales25 tinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the
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1 Gaza Strip of 1995, and the Wye River Memo2 randum of 1998:

3 (A) To resolve disputes arising out of any

4 agreements pertaining to the interim period by

5 negotiations, arbitration, or other mutually

6 agreed upon mechanisms of conciliation.

7 (B) To take all measures necessary in

8 order to prevent acts of terrorism, crime and

9 hostilities directed against the State of Israel.

10 (C) To abstain from incitement, including

11 hostile propaganda, against the State of Israel,

12 and to take legal measures to prevent such in13 citement by organizations, groups, or individ14 uals under their control.

15 (D) To arrest and prosecute individuals

16 suspected of perpetrating acts of violence and

17 terror and to punish all persons involved in acts

18 of violence and terror.

19 (E) To provide for the protection of Jewish

20 holy sites in areas under the administration of

21 the Palestinian Authority, as well as persons

22 visiting them, and to ensure the peaceful use of

23 such sites, to prevent any instances of disorder

24 and to respond to any incident.
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1 (F) To prevent the establishment or oper2 ation in the West Bank or Gaza Strip of any

3 armed force other than the Palestinian Police

4 and Israeli military forces.

5 (G) To establish, and vigorously and con6 tinually implement, a systematic program for

7 the collection and appropriate handling of all il8 legal firearms, ammunition or weapons.

9 (H) To maintain continuous intensive and

10 comprehensive bilateral security cooperation

11 with Israel.

12 (4) The President of the United States wit13 nessed and signed the Declaration of Principles on

14 Interim Self-Government Arrangements of 1993, the

15 Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West

16 Bank and the Gaza Strip of 1995, and the Wye

17 River Memorandum of 1998, placing at issue the

18 credibility and reputation of the United States with

19 regard to the implementation of the agreements.

20 (5) The United States has a longstanding, and

21 enduring, vital national security interest in the

22 peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,

23 and to that end has provided the parties with its

24 good offices and considerable financial assistance.
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1 (6) The State of Israel has made incontrovert2 ible and extensive efforts to resolve its conflict with

3 the PLO by negotiating in good faith and offering

4 concessions of a magnitude to demonstrate conclu5 sively its clear commitment to reaching a just and

6 enduring settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian con7 flict.

8 (7) The PLO’s commitment to its freely accept9 ed obligations, specified in paragraphs (1) and (3),

10 has come into question as a result of the violence

11 and mayhem occurring since September 28, 2000,

12 creating significant doubt as to the PLO’s commit13 ment to the fundamental principle of resolving its

14 conflict with the State of Israel exclusively through

15 direct bilateral negotiations.

16 SEC. 3. REPORTS.

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

18 specified in subsection (b), transmit to the appropriate

19 congressional committees a report on compliance by the

20 PLO or the Palestinian Authority, as appropriate, with

21 each of the commitments specified in section 2(1) and

22 2(3). The report shall include, with respect to each such

23 commitment, the determination of the President as to

24 whether or not the PLO or the Palestinian Authority, as

25 appropriate, has complied with that commitment during
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1 the period since the submission of the preceding report

2 or, in the case of the initial report, during the preceding

3 six-month period. In the event that the President imposed

4 one or more sanctions under section 4 during the period

5 covered by the report, the report shall include a descrip6 tion of the each such sanction imposed.

7 (b) TRANSMISSION.—The initial report required

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

9 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act. Each sub10 sequent report shall be submitted on the date on which

11 the President is next required to submit a report under

12 the P.L.O. Commitments Compliance Act of 1989 (title

13 VIII of Public Law 101–246) and may be combined with

14 such report.

15 SEC. 4. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—If, in any report transmitted pur17 suant to section 3, the President determines that the PLO

18 or the Palestinian Authority, as appropriate, has not com19 plied with each of the commitments specified in section

20 2(1) and 2(3), or if the President fails to make a deter21 mination with respect to such compliance, the President

22 shall, for a period of time not less than the period de23 scribed in subsection (b), impose one or more of the fol24 lowing sanctions:
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1 (1) DENIAL OF VISAS TO PLO AND PALES2 TINIAN AUTHORITY OFFICIALS.—The Secretary of

3 State shall not issue a visa to any member of the

4 PLO or any official of the Palestinian Authority.

5 (2) DOWNGRADE IN STATUS OF PLO OFFICE IN

6 THE UNITED STATES.—Notwithstanding any other

7 provision of law, the President shall withdraw or ter8 minate any waiver by the President of the require9 ments of section 1003 of the Foreign Relations Au10 thorization Act of 1988 and 1989 (22 U.S.C. 5202)

11 (prohibiting the establishment or maintenance of a

12 Palestinian information office in the United States),

13 and such section shall apply so as to prohibit the op14 eration of a PLO or Palestinian Authority office in

15 the United States from carrying out any function

16 other than those functions carried out by the Pales17 tinian information office in existence prior to the

18 Oslo Accords.

19 (3) DESIGNATION AS A FOREIGN TERRORIST

20 ORGANIZATION.—The President shall designate the

21 PLO, or one or more of its constituent groups (in22 cluding Fatah and Tanzim) or groups operating as

23 arms of the Palestinian Authority (including Force

24 17) as a foreign terrorist organization, in accordance
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1 with section 219(a) of the Immigration and Nation2 ality Act.

3 (4) PROHIBITION ON UNITED STATES ASSIST4 ANCE TO THE WEST BANK AND GAZA.—United

5 States assistance (except humanitarian assistance)

6 shall not be provided to programs or projects in the

7 West Bank or Gaza.

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

9 referred to in subsection (a) is the period of time com10 mencing on the date that the report pursuant to section

11 3 was transmitted and ending on the later of—

12 (1) the date that is six months after such date;

13 or

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

15 3 is required to be transmitted.

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

17 any or all of the sanctions imposed under subsection (a)

18 if the President determines that such a waiver is in the

19 national security interest of the United States. The Presi20 dent shall report such a determination to the appropriate

21 congressional committees.

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