I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4976
To prohibit United States assistance to the Palestinian Authority if a
Palestinian state is declared unilaterally, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 26, 2000
Mr. NADLER (for himself, Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. LANTOS, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr.
ENGEL, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey, Mr. WEINER,
Mr. TANCREDO, Mr. CROWLEY, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. SISI-
SKY, and Mr. LAZIO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on International Relations
A BILL
To prohibit United States assistance to the Palestinian Au-
thority if a Palestinian state is declared unilaterally,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Middle East Peace
Process Support Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) it is only through direct negotiations be-
tween the parties that progress toward peace has
been and can be achieved in the Middle East;
(2) the process that began with the signing of
the Oslo accords in 1993 has created an important
negotiating framework between Israel and the Pal-
estinians that has produced the promise of an end
to the conflict;
(3) as part of the Oslo accords, Palestinian
Chairman Arafat committed that ‘‘all outstanding
issues relating to permanent status will be resolved
through negotiations’’;
(4) the repeated Palestinian threat to declare
an independent state unilaterally after September
13, 2000, is contrary to both the spirit and letter of
the Oslo accords;
(5) the unilateral declaration of an independent
Palestinian state will inevitably lead to violence and
the end of the negotiating process;
(6) the United States agreed to provide assist-
ance to the Palestinians only after the Oslo accords
were signed in order to help advance the cause of
peace;
(7) on March 11, 1999, the Senate overwhelm-
ingly adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution 5, and
on March 16, 1999, the House of Representatives
adopted House Concurrent Resolution 24, both of
which resolved that: ‘‘any attempt to establish Pales-
tinian statehood outside the negotiating process will
invoke the strongest Congressional opposition’’; and
(8) on July 25, 2000, Palestinian Chairman
Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Barak issued a
joint statement agreeing that the ‘‘two sides under-
stand the importance of avoiding unilateral actions
that prejudice the outcome of negotiations and that
their differences will be resolved in good-faith nego-
tiations.’’.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the
period beginning on the date on which a Palestinian state
is unilaterally declared and ending on the date on which
such unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood is
rescinded—
(1) United States assistance may not be pro-
vided directly or indirectly to the Palestinian Au-
thority or to any successor or related entity; and
(2) Federal funds may not be used to extend
United States recognition to such a unilaterally-de-
clared Palestinian state, including, but not limited
to, funds for the payment of the salary of any am-
bassador, consul, or other diplomatic personnel to
such a state, or for the cost of establishing, oper-
ating, or maintaining an embassy, consulate, or
other diplomatic facility in such a state.
SEC. 4. OPPOSITION TO UNITED NATIONS ADMISSION OR
RECOGNITION.
The President shall instruct the United States rep-
resentative to the United Nations to use the voice, vote,
and influence of the United States to oppose, in the
United Nations Security Council, General Assembly, or
any other United Nations body, admission to the United
Nations of a unilaterally-declared Palestinian state or for-
mal recognition by the United Nations of such a state.
Æ