I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4721 
To withhold United States contributions to the United Nations Relief and 
Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 27, 2021 
Mr. ROY (for himself, Mr. PERRY, Mr. MAST, Mr. JACKSON, Ms. TENNEY, 
Ms. HERRELL, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. GOH-
MERT, Mr. BISHOP of North Carolina, Mr. BABIN, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. 
BUDD, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. CAWTHORN, Mr. GOODEN of 
Texas, Mr. DAVIDSON, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. 
GROTHMAN, Mr. MOORE of Alabama, Ms. MACE, Mr. CLOUD, Mrs. 
CAMMACK, Mr. DONALDS, Mr. WEBER of Texas, and Mr. PALAZZO) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on For-
eign Affairs 
A BILL 
To withhold United States contributions to the United Na-
tions Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees 
in the Near East (UNRWA), 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 ‘‘UNRWA Account-
ability and Transparency Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
(a) PALESTINIAN REFUGEE DEFINED.—It shall be 
the policy of the United States, in matters concerning the 
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine 
Refugees in the Near East (referred to in this Act as 
‘‘UNRWA’’), which operates in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, 
the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, to define a Pales-
tinian refugee as a person who— 
(1) resided, between June 1946 and May 1948, 
in the region controlled by Britain between 1922 
and 1948 that was known as Mandatory Palestine; 
(2) was personally displaced as a result of the 
1948 Arab-Israeli conflict; and 
(3) has not accepted an offer of legal residency 
status, citizenship, or other permanent adjustment 
in status in another country or territory. 
(b) LIMITATIONS
ON REFUGEE
AND DERIVATIVE 
REFUGEE STATUS.—In applying the definition under sub-
section (a) with respect to refugees receiving assistance 
from UNRWA, it shall be the policy of the United States, 
consistent with the definition of refugee in section 
101(a)(42) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1101(a)(42)) and the requirements for eligibility 
for refugee status under section 207 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 
1157), that— 
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(1) derivative refugee status may only be ex-
tended to the spouse or a minor child of a Pales-
tinian refugee; and 
(2) an alien who is firmly resettled in any coun-
try is not eligible to retain refugee status. 
SEC. 3. UNITED STATES CONTRIBUTIONS TO UNRWA. 
Section 301(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 
(22 U.S.C. 2221) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(c) WITHHOLDING.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) ANTI-SEMITIC.—The term ‘anti-Se-
mitic’— 
‘‘(i) has the meaning adopted on May 
26, 2016, by the International Holocaust 
Remembrance Alliance as the non-legally 
binding working definition of antisemitism; 
and 
‘‘(ii) includes the contemporary exam-
ples of antisemitism in public life, the 
media, schools, the workplace, and in the 
religious sphere identified on such date by 
the International Holocaust Remembrance 
Alliance. 
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‘‘(B) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COM-
MITTEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional 
committees’ means— 
‘‘(i) the Committee on Foreign Rela-
tions of the Senate; 
‘‘(ii) the Committee on Appropriations 
of the Senate; 
‘‘(iii) the Committee on Foreign Af-
fairs of the House of Representatives; and 
‘‘(iv) the Committee on Appropria-
tions of the House of Representatives. 
‘‘(C) BOYCOTT
OF, DIVESTMENT
FROM, 
AND
SANCTIONS
AGAINST
ISRAEL.—The term 
‘boycott of, divestment from, and sanctions 
against Israel’ has the meaning given to such 
term in section 909(f)(1) of the Trade Facilita-
tion and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (19 
U.S.C. 4452(f)(1)). 
‘‘(D) 
FOREIGN
TERRORIST
ORGANIZA-
TION.—The term ‘foreign terrorist organization’ 
means an organization designated as a foreign 
terrorist organization by the Secretary of State 
in accordance with section 219(a) of the Immi-
gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a)). 
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‘‘(E) 
UNRWA.—The 
term 
‘UNRWA’ 
means the United Nations Relief and Works 
Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near 
East. 
‘‘(2) 
CERTIFICATION.—Notwithstanding 
any 
other provision of law, the United States may not 
provide contributions to 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) unless 
the Secretary of State submits a written certification 
to the appropriate congressional committees that— 
‘‘(A) no official, employee, consultant, con-
tractor, subcontractor, representative, affiliate 
of UNRWA, an UNRWA partner organization, 
or an UNRWA contracting entity pursuant to 
completion of a thorough vetting and back-
ground check process— 
‘‘(i) is a member of, is affiliated with, 
or has any ties to a foreign terrorist orga-
nization, including Hamas and Hezbollah; 
‘‘(ii) has advocated, planned, spon-
sored, or engaged in any terrorist activity; 
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‘‘(iii) has propagated or disseminated 
anti-American, anti-Israel, or anti-Semitic 
rhetoric, incitement, or propaganda, in-
cluding— 
‘‘(I) calling for or encouraging 
the destruction of Israel; 
‘‘(II) failing to recognize Israel’s 
right to exist; 
‘‘(III) showing maps without 
Israel; 
‘‘(IV) describing Israelis as ‘occu-
piers’ or ‘settlers’; 
‘‘(V) advocating, endorsing, or 
expressing support for violence, ha-
tred, jihad, martyrdom, or terrorism, 
glorifying, honoring, or otherwise me-
morializing any person or group that 
has advocated, sponsored, or com-
mitted acts of terrorism, or providing 
material support to terrorists or their 
families; 
‘‘(VI) expressing support for boy-
cott of, divestment from, and sanc-
tions against Israel (commonly re-
ferred to as ‘BDS’); 
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‘‘(VII) claiming or advocating for 
a ‘right of return’ of refugees into 
Israel; 
‘‘(VIII) ignoring, denying, or not 
recognizing the historic connection of 
the Jewish people to the land of 
Israel; and 
‘‘(IX) calling for violence against 
Americans; or 
‘‘(iv) has used any UNRWA re-
sources, including publications, websites, or 
social media platforms, to propagate or 
disseminate anti-American, anti-Israel, or 
anti-Semitic rhetoric, incitement, or propa-
ganda, including with respect to any of the 
matters 
described 
in 
subclauses 
(I) 
through (IX) of clause (iii); 
‘‘(B) no UNRWA school, hospital, clinic, 
facility, or other infrastructure or resource is 
being used by a foreign terrorist organization or 
any member thereof— 
‘‘(i) for terrorist activities, such as op-
erations, planning, training, recruitment, 
fundraising, 
indoctrination, 
communica-
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tions, sanctuary, storage of weapons or 
other materials; or 
‘‘(ii) as an access point to any under-
ground tunnel network, or any other ter-
rorist-related purposes; 
‘‘(C) UNRWA is subject to comprehensive 
financial audits by an internationally recognized 
third party independent auditing firm that— 
‘‘(i) is agreed upon by the Govern-
ment of Israel and the Palestinian Author-
ity; and 
‘‘(ii) has implemented an effective sys-
tem 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 controlled or funded fa-
cility, such as a school, an educational institu-
tion, or a summer camp, uses textbooks or 
other educational materials that propagate or 
disseminate anti-American, anti-Israel, or anti- 
Semitic rhetoric, incitement, or propaganda, in-
cluding with respect to any of the matters de-
scribed in subclauses (I) through (IX) of sub-
paragraph (A)(iii); 
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‘‘(E) no recipient of UNRWA funds or 
loans is— 
‘‘(i) a member of, is affiliated with, or 
has any ties to a foreign terrorist organiza-
tion; or 
‘‘(ii) otherwise engaged in terrorist ac-
tivities; and 
‘‘(F) UNRWA holds no accounts or other 
affiliations with financial institutions that the 
United States considers or believes to be 
complicit in money laundering and terror fi-
nancing. 
‘‘(3) PERIOD OF EFFECTIVENESS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—A certification de-
scribed in paragraph (2) shall be effective until 
the earlier of— 
‘‘(i) the date on which the Secretary 
receives information rendering the certifi-
cation described in paragraph (2) factually 
inaccurate; or 
‘‘(ii) the date that is 180 days after 
the date on which it is submitted to the 
appropriate congressional committees. 
‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION OF RENUNCIATION.— 
If a certification becomes ineffective pursuant 
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to subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall 
promptly notify the appropriate congressional 
committees of the reasons for renouncing or 
failing to renew such certification. 
‘‘(4) LIMITATION.—During any year in which a 
certification described in paragraph (1) is in effect, 
the United States may not contribute to UNRWA, 
or to any successor entity, an amount that— 
‘‘(A) is greater than the highest contribu-
tion to UNRWA made by a member country of 
the League of Arab States for such year; and 
‘‘(B) is greater (as a proportion of the 
total UNRWA budget) than the proportion of 
the total budget for the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees paid by the United 
States.’’. 
SEC. 4. REPORT. 
(a) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMITTEES 
DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con-
gressional committees’’ means— 
(1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
Senate; 
(2) the Committee on Appropriations of the 
Senate; 
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(3) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
House of Representatives; and 
(4) the Committee on Appropriations of the 
House of Representatives. 
(b) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 
the Secretary of State shall submit a report to the appro-
priate congressional committees describing the actions 
being taken to implement a comprehensive plan for— 
(1) encouraging other countries to adopt the 
policy regarding Palestinian refugees that is de-
scribed in section 2; 
(2) urging other countries to withhold their 
contributions to UNRWA, to any successor or re-
lated 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) until 
UNRWA has met the conditions listed in subpara-
graphs (A) through (F) of section 301(c)(2) of the 
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by section 
3; 
(3) working with other countries to phase out 
UNRWA and assist Palestinians receiving UNRWA 
services by— 
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