United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 
has addressed the world’s estimated 65,000,000 dis-
placed persons with a staff of just over 10,000 and 
a 2017 budget of $7,700,000,000. UNRWA, which 
claims it works on behalf of over 5,300,000 Pales-
tinian refugees, has a staff of over 30,000, with a 
2016 budget of $1,450,000,000. 
(7) UNRWA has 1 relief worker per roughly 
170 refugees, 40 times the allocation of relief work-
ers to non-Palestinian refugees by the United Na-
tions High Commissioner for Refugees. 
(8) UNRWA facilities have been used to launch 
terror attacks against Israel, and UNRWA employ-
ees have frequently faced credible charges of working 
with terrorist groups such as Hamas, including the 
following: 
(A) 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 returned them to the ‘‘relevant au-
thorities’’ in Gaza, territory controlled by 
Hamas. 
(B) UNRWA reported finding missiles in 
their schools again on July 22, 2014, and July 
29, 2014. 
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(C) On July 30, 2014, three Israeli De-
fense 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. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) the United States should— 
(A) support UNRWA solely to the extent 
necessary to accomplish its original and in-
tended purpose to resettle refugees from the 
Arab-Israeli Conflict of 1948; 
(B) make contributions to UNRWA in pro-
portion to the number of refugees it assists that 
meet the United States definition of a refugee; 
and 
(C) continue to assist other needy popu-
lations around the world through international 
aid and development assistance, including Pal-
estinians in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Leb-
anon, and Syria; 
(2) the Secretary of State should determine and 
accordingly provide to UNRWA a voluntary con-
tribution in an amount that bears the same propor-
tion to the total requested United States contribu-
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tion as the proportion that refugees of the Arab- 
Israeli Conflict of 1948 who meet the requirements 
described in section 4(a) bear to the full population 
supported by UNRWA programs; 
(3) amounts made available to the Secretary of 
State that are withheld from UNRWA in accordance 
with the determination described in paragraph (2) 
should instead be made available to the Adminis-
trator of the United States Agency for International 
Development for providing assistance to other popu-
lations in need in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, 
Lebanon, and Syria; and 
(4) in accordance with the prohibition under 
section 301(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 
(22 U.S.C. 2221(c)), United States assistance 
should not be made available to any refugee who is 
receiving military training as a member of the Pal-
estine Liberation Army or who is a part of any orga-
nization engaging in acts of terrorism. 
SEC. 4. STATEMENTS OF POLICY WITH RESPECT TO CRI-
TERIA FOR RECOGNITION OF REFUGEE STA-
TUS. 
(a) CRITERIA FOR RECOGNITION OF UNRWA REF-
UGEE STATUS.—It shall be the policy of the United 
States, with respect to recognizing the refugee status of 
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persons receiving assistance through UNRWA, that a Pal-
estinian refugee is a person, or the spouse or minor child 
of a person— 
(1) whose resided, between June 1946 and May 
1948, in the region controlled by Britain between 
1922 and 1948 known as Mandatory Palestine; 
(2) who was personally displaced as a result of 
the Arab-Israeli Conflict of 1948; and 
(3) who has not accepted an offer of legal resi-
dency status, citizenship, or other permanent adjust-
ment in status in another country. 
(b) CONSISTENCY WITH UNITED STATES ELIGI-
BILITY FOR REFUGEE STATUS.—In applying the criteria 
described in subsection (a) with respect to refugees under 
UNRWA, it shall be the policy of the United States, con-
sistent with the definition of a refugee in section 101(a) 
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1101(a)) and the requirements for eligibility for refugee 
status under such Act, that— 
(1) derivative refugee status may only be ex-
tended to the spouse or minor child of such a ref-
ugee; and 
(2) an alien who was firmly resettled in any 
country is not eligible to retain refugee status. 
Æ 
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