IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 524 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Palestine 
Liberation Organization should not be allowed to maintain an official 
office in Washington, DC. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 24, 2012 
Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the Palestine Liberation Organization should not be al-
lowed to maintain an official office in Washington, DC. 
Whereas in section 1003 of the Foreign Relations Authoriza-
tion Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989, Congress made it 
unlawful to establish or maintain an office, headquarters, 
premises, or other facilities or establishments within the 
jurisdiction of the United States at the behest or direc-
tion of, or with funds provided by, the Palestine Libera-
tion Organization (PLO) or any of its constituent groups, 
any successor to any of those, or any agents thereof; 
Whereas the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act of 1993 
granted authority to the President to suspend section 
1003 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal 
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•HRES 524 IH 
Years 1988 and 1989, specifically the authority to sus-
pend the prohibition against a PLO office in Washington 
DC; 
Whereas Congress has extended this waiver authority several 
times over the years, most recently in annual appropria-
tions bills; 
Whereas the genesis of the waiver authority granted to the 
President beginning with the Middle East Peace Facilita-
tion Act of 1993 was significant progress in Israeli-Pales-
tinian negotiations, specifically following the September 
1993 agreements between Israel and the PLO wherein 
the PLO recognized Israel’s right to exist, rejected vio-
lence and terrorism, and accepted United Nations Secu-
rity Council Resolutions 242 and 338; 
Whereas the United States’ good faith commitment to the 
Palestinians is predicated in their commitment to a bilat-
eral peace process with Israel and their renouncement of 
violence, acceptance of Israel’s right to exist, and accept-
ance of prior agreements made by the Palestinians (the 
‘‘Quartet conditions’’); 
Whereas in 2011, the House of Representatives reaffirmed its 
longstanding support for a negotiated solution to the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the passage of H. Res. 
268; 
Whereas the President has continued to grant requests and 
waivers pertaining to the General Delegation of the PLO 
to the United States, despite their increasing efforts to 
unilaterally achieve recognition of statehood; 
Whereas, effective July 20, 2010, the Department of State 
and at the request of the PLO representative granted 
permission to the General Delegation of the PLO to the 
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•HRES 524 IH 
United States to fly the Palestinian flag outside of its of-
fice in Washington, DC; 
Whereas former Department of State spokesman Philip J. 
Crowley explained that the request was approved as a re-
flection of ‘‘improved relations’’ between the United 
States and Palestinians; 
Whereas, on May 4, 2011, Fatah, the largest faction of the 
PLO, came to a unity agreement with Hamas, an organi-
zation designated by the Department of State as a for-
eign terrorist organization; 
Whereas amid rampant speculation of Palestinians’ pursuit of 
a coordinated strategy to unilaterally seek statehood 
within the United Nations and its specialized agencies, 
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on September 23, 
2011, formally presented the bid for Palestinian state-
hood to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon; 
and 
Whereas today, Palestinians continue to pursue recognition 
from other countries and within the United Nations and 
its specialized agencies: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives believes 
firmly that the Palestine Liberation Organization should 
not be allowed to maintain an official office in Wash-
ington, DC, if— 
(1) the Palestine Liberation Organization con-
tinues to circumvent a bilateral two-state solution by 
seeking recognition of a Palestinian state from other 
countries, the United Nations, and its specialized 
agencies; and 
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•HRES 524 IH 
(2) Fatah or any affiliated branch of the Pal-
estine Liberation Organization forms a unified gov-
ernment with the Department of State-designated 
foreign terrorist organization Hamas. 
Æ 
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