IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 244 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that a Palestinian 
government which includes Hamas should be prohibited from receiving 
United States aid until that government publicly commits to the Quartet 
principles. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 3, 2011 
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
a Palestinian government which includes Hamas should 
be prohibited from receiving United States aid until that 
government publicly commits to the Quartet principles. 
Whereas, on April 27, 2011, Fatah and Hamas initialed a 
document of understandings as a foundation for a ‘‘Pal-
estinian National Accord’’ agreement, to be signed by all 
of the Palestinian factions on May 4 in Cairo, under the 
aegis of the Egyptian transitional government and with 
the 
presence 
of 
Palestinian 
Authority 
President 
Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Political Bureau head 
Khaled Mash’al; 
Whereas the document of understandings, signed by the head 
of the Fatah party in the Palestinian Legislative Council, 
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•HRES 244 IH 
Azzam Al-Ahmad, and by the deputy head of Hamas’s 
Political Bureau, Moussa Abu Marzouq, has not yet been 
released to the public; 
Whereas Fatah negotiator Azzam Al-Ahmad has said that 
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who 
has been a leader in developing the Palestinian economy 
in the West Bank as well as a primary peace negotiator 
with Israel, will not be a part of the interim unity govern-
ment; 
Whereas, on Al-Jazeera TV on April 27, 2011, Foreign Min-
ister of the Hamas Gaza Government and a member of 
the Hamas delegation to the Cairo discussions Mahmoud 
Al-Zahhar said, ‘‘We believe that negotiations with the 
Israeli enemy are in vain. . . . It will be impossible for 
an interim government to take part in the peace process 
with Israel’’; 
Whereas Hamas has been a designated terrorist organization 
by the United States (1995) and European Union 
(2003), for embracing violence and calling for the de-
struction of Israel in the Hamas Charter; 
Whereas terrorists under the aegis of Hamas have murdered 
hundreds of innocent Israelis, kidnapped and refused Red 
Cross access to Israeli soldiers, smuggled Iranian arms 
into the Gaza Strip, and launched thousands of rockets 
and mortars into Israel, including more than 300 since 
the beginning of 2011; 
Whereas the negotiating principles of the Quartet (the United 
States, the European Union, the United Nations, and the 
Russian Federation) require Hamas to recognize Israel’s 
right to exist, renounce violence, and accept previous 
Israeli-Palestinian agreements; 
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•HRES 244 IH 
Whereas Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in 
April 2009 that the United States would ‘‘not deal with, 
nor in any way fund, a Palestinian government that in-
cludes Hamas unless and until Hamas has renounced vio-
lence, recognized Israel and agreed to follow the previous 
obligations of the Palestinian Authority’’; and 
Whereas in a personal call to Palestinian Authority President 
Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli President Shimon Peres said, ‘‘I 
urge the Palestinian leadership: Unite for peace and 
don’t put on a facade of unity that will prevent you from 
moving in any direction. Walking hand-in-hand with a 
terrorist organization will be a step backwards and will 
prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state’’: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved, That— 
(1) the House of Representatives— 
(A) strongly supports and maintains a 
deep interest in achieving a resolution to the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the creation 
of a viable and independent Palestinian state 
living in peace alongside the State of Israel; 
(B) strongly encourages the inclusion of 
Prime Minister Fayyad in any interim and sub-
sequent Palestinian governments; and 
(C) maintains that a Palestinian govern-
ment which includes Hamas must be prohibited 
from receiving United States aid until the gov-
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•HRES 244 IH 
ernment publicly commits to the Quartet prin-
ciples; and 
(2) it is the sense of the House of Representa-
tives that United States aid to the Palestinians is in-
tended to prevent acts of terrorism against Israel, to 
create a cycle of stability and prosperity in the West 
Bank and the Gaza Strip that promotes peaceful co-
existence with Israel, and to meet humanitarian 
needs in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. 
Æ 
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