(C) ‘‘A number of changes in UNRWA 
could benefit the refugees, the Middle East, and 
the United States, but those changes will not 
occur unless the United States, ideally with 
support from UNRWA’s other main financial 
supporter, the European Union, compels the 
agency to enact reforms.’’. 
(D) ‘‘If the [UNRWA commissioner-gen-
eral’s] power is used in ways that are [in] con-
flict with the donors’ political objectives, it is up 
to the donors to take the necessary actions to 
ensure that their interests are respected. When 
they have done so, UNRWA—given the tight fi-
nancial leash it has been on for most of its ex-
istence—has tended to follow their dictates, 
even if sometimes slowly.’’. 
(9) During Israel’s Operation Protective Edge 
in 2014 in response to Hamas rocket attacks against 
Israel, UNRWA’s Commissioner General gave a 
press briefing ignoring the extraordinary efforts 
Israel goes to avoid civilian casualties, and not once 
in the nearly 1,100 word statement mentioning 
Hamas or condemning Hamas’ use of Palestinian 
children, women, and men as human shields in viola-
tion of international humanitarian law. 
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(10) On July 16, 2014, UNRWA reported that 
it had found 20 missiles in one of its schools in 
Gaza, likely placed there by Hamas, and then in-
stead of dismantling the missiles, UNRWA returned 
them to the ‘‘relevant authorities’’ in Gaza, and 
since Hamas controls Gaza, it likely turned them 
back over to Hamas. 
(11) On July 22, 2014, UNRWA reported that 
it had found a second instance in which missiles 
were stockpiled in one of its schools in Gaza, and 
again failed to condemn Hamas publicly. 
(12) On July 29, 2014, UNRWA confirmed 
that, for the third time in less than a month, a 
stockpile of Hamas rockets was found in one of its 
schools in Gaza, establishing a pattern of Hamas 
weapons being stored in UNRWA facilities, and call-
ing into question UNRWA’s claim of being caught 
unawares to Hamas’ actions. 
(13) On July 30, 2014, three Israeli Defense 
Force soldiers were killed in an explosion at a booby- 
trapped UNRWA health clinic, which was housing 
the opening to one of Hamas’ underground tunnels. 
(14) On July 30, 2014, John Ging, head of 
UNRWA from 2006–2011, when asked if Hamas 
has been using human shields and using United Na-
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tions schools and hospitals to store weapons and as 
a shelter from which to launch missiles into Israel, 
stated in an interview, ‘‘Yes, the armed groups are 
firing their rockets into Israel from the vicinity of 
UN facilities and residential areas. Absolutely.’’. 
(15) During Operation Protective Edge in 
Gaza, UNRWA repeatedly distorted the facts and 
accused Israel of targeting Palestinian women and 
children based off of the casualty numbers provided 
to it by Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, which 
has been shown to have deliberately lied about the 
casualty numbers. 
(16) On September 1, 2015, the nongovern-
mental organization, UN Watch, published a report 
which documented 12 different Facebook accounts 
operated by UNRWA officials that openly incite to 
anti-Semitism and violence, including Ahmed Fathi 
Bader, who identified himself as a Deputy School 
Principal at UNRWA and who praised the murder 
of ‘‘a group of collaborators with the Jews’’. 
(17) On October 16, 2015, UN Watch pub-
lished a report entitled ‘‘Report on UNRWA Teach-
ers and Other Officials Inciting Violence & Anti-
semitism’’, identifying an additional 10 UNRWA in-
dividuals that openly incite to anti-Semitism and vio-
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lence, including Hani Al Ramahi, who identified 
himself as a ‘‘Projects Support Assistant at 
UNRWA’’, and who posted an image that encour-
aged Palestinians to ‘‘stab Zionist dogs’’. 
(18) On October 20, 2015, the United Nations 
Secretary-General’s Deputy Spokesman’s office, in 
response to a question regarding the UNRWA alle-
gations raised in the UN Watch reports, stated that 
‘‘in a number of cases so far, the Agency has found 
staff Facebook postings to be in violation of its so-
cial media rules . . . the staff have been subject to 
both remedial and disciplinary action, including sus-
pension and loss of pay. The remaining allegations 
are under assessment’’. 
(19) As of October 21, 2015, there have been 
at least 9 Israelis killed and dozens more injured in 
at least 44 violent attacks in Israel and the Pales-
tinian territories since September 13, 2015. 
SEC. 3. UNITED STATES CONTRIBUTIONS TO UNRWA. 
Section 301 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 
(22 U.S.C. 2221) is amended by striking subsection (c) 
and inserting the following new subsection: 
‘‘(c)(1) 
WITHHOLDING.—Contributions 
by 
the 
United States to the United Nations Relief and Works 
Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East 
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(UNRWA), to any successor or related entity, or to the 
regular budget of the United Nations for the support of 
UNRWA or a successor entity (through staff positions 
provided by the United Nations Secretariat or otherwise), 
may be provided only during a period for which a certifi-
cation described in paragraph (2) is in effect. 
‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION.—A certification described in 
this paragraph is a written determination by the Secretary 
of State, based on all information available after diligent 
inquiry, and transmitted to the appropriate congressional 
committees along with a detailed description of the factual 
basis therefore, that— 
‘‘(A) no official, employee, consultant, con-
tractor, subcontractor, representative, or affiliate of 
UNRWA— 
‘‘(i) is a member of a foreign terrorist or-
ganization; 
‘‘(ii) has propagated, disseminated, or in-
cited anti-American, anti-Israel, or anti-Semitic 
rhetoric or propaganda; or 
‘‘(iii) has used any UNRWA resources, in-
cluding publications or Web sites, to propagate 
or disseminate political materials, including po-
litical rhetoric regarding the Israeli-Palestinian 
conflict; 
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‘‘(B) no UNRWA school, hospital, clinic, other 
facility, or other infrastructure or resource is being 
used by a foreign terrorist organization for oper-
ations, planning, training, recruitment, fundraising, 
indoctrination, communications, sanctuary, storage 
of weapons or other materials, or as an access point 
to any underground tunnel network, or any other 
purposes; 
‘‘(C) UNRWA is subject to comprehensive fi-
nancial audits by an internationally recognized third 
party independent auditing firm and has imple-
mented an effective system of vetting and oversight 
to prevent the use, receipt, or diversion of any 
UNRWA resources by any foreign terrorist organiza-
tion or members thereof; 
‘‘(D) no UNRWA-funded school or educational 
institution uses textbooks or other educational mate-
rials that propagate or disseminate anti-American, 
anti-Israel, or anti-Semitic rhetoric, propaganda or 
incitement; 
‘‘(E) no recipient of UNRWA funds or loans is 
a member of a foreign terrorist organization; and 
‘‘(F) UNRWA holds no accounts or other affili-
ations with financial institutions that the United 
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States deems or believes to be complicit in money 
laundering and terror financing. 
‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(A) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’ means— 
‘‘(i) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 
Committee on Appropriations, and the Com-
mittee on Oversight and Government Reform of 
the House of Representatives; and 
‘‘(ii) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 
the Committee on Appropriations, and the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Govern-
mental Affairs of the Senate. 
‘‘(B) FOREIGN
TERRORIST
ORGANIZATION.— 
The term ‘foreign terrorist organization’ means an 
organization designated as a foreign terrorist organi-
zation by the Secretary of State in accordance with 
section 219(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a)). 
‘‘(4) EFFECTIVE DURATION OF CERTIFICATION.— 
The certification described in paragraph (2) shall be effec-
tive for a period of 180 days from the date of transmission 
to the appropriate congressional committees, or until the 
Secretary receives information rendering that certification 
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factually inaccurate, whichever is earliest. In the event 
that a certification becomes ineffective, the Secretary shall 
promptly transmit to the appropriate congressional com-
mittees a description of any information that precludes the 
renewal or continuation of the certification. 
‘‘(5) LIMITATION.—During a period for which a cer-
tification described in paragraph (2) is in effect, the 
United States may not contribute to UNRWA or a suc-
cessor entity an amount on an annual basis that— 
‘‘(A) is greater than the highest annual con-
tribution to UNRWA made by a member country of 
the League of Arab States for the same year; 
‘‘(B) as a proportion of the total UNRWA 
budget, exceeds the proportion of the total budget 
for the United Nations High Commissioner for Ref-
ugees (UNHCR) paid by the United States; or 
‘‘(C) exceeds 22 percent of the total budget of 
UNRWA.’’. 
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) the President and the Secretary of State 
should lead a high-level diplomatic effort to encour-
age other responsible nations to withhold contribu-
tions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agen-
cy for Palestine Refugees in the Near East 
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(UNRWA), to any successor or related entity, or to 
the regular budget of the United Nations for the 
support of UNRWA or a successor entity (through 
staff positions provided by the United Nations Sec-
retariat or otherwise) until UNRWA has met the 
conditions listed in subparagraphs (A) through (F) 
of section 301(c)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
1961 (as added by section 3 of this Act); 
(2) citizens of recognized states should be re-
moved from UNRWA’s jurisdiction; 
(3) UNRWA’s definition of a ‘‘Palestine ref-
ugee’’ should be changed to that used for a refugee 
by the Office of the United Nations High Commis-
sioner for Refugees; and 
(4) in order to alleviate the suffering of Pales-
tinian refugees, responsibility for those refugees 
should be fully transferred to the Office of the 
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 
Æ 
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