I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5647 
To promote transparency, accountability, and reform within the United Na-
tions Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near 
East, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. PERRY, Mr. YOHO, and Mr. DESANTIS) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To promote transparency, accountability, and reform within 
the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Pal-
estine Refugees in the Near East, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘UNRWA Anti-Terrorism Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents is 
as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:28 Oct 03, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6211
E:\BILLS\H5647.IH
H5647
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. United States contributions to UNRWA. 
Sec. 4. Sense of Congress. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) The total annual budget of the United Na-
tions Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refu-
gees in the Near East (UNRWA), including its core 
programs, emergency activities, and special projects, 
exceeds $1,400,000,000. 
(2) The United States has long been the largest 
single contributing country to UNRWA. 
(3) From 1950 to 2014, the United States has 
contributed almost $5,000,000,000 to UNRWA, in-
cluding an average of over $260,000,000 per year 
between fiscal years 2009 and 2014. 
(4) UNRWA staff unions, including the teach-
ers’ union, are frequently controlled by members af-
filiated with Hamas. 
(5) The curriculum of UNRWA schools, which 
has been known to use the textbooks of their respec-
tive host governments or authorities, has a history 
of containing materials that are anti-Israel, anti-Se-
mitic, and supporting violent extremism. 
(6) Despite UNRWA’s contravention of United 
States law and activities that compromise its strictly 
humanitarian mandate, UNRWA continues to re-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:28 Oct 03, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5647.IH
H5647
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
ceive 
United 
States 
contributions, 
including 
$294,000,000 in fiscal year 2013 and over 
$250,000,000 in just the first 6 months of 2014. 
(7) Assistance from the United States and 
other responsible nations allows UNRWA to claim 
that criticisms of the agency’s behavior are un-
founded. UNRWA spokesman Christopher Gunness 
has dismissed concerns by stating that, ‘‘If these 
baseless allegations were even halfway true, do you 
really think the U.S. and [European Commission] 
would give us hundreds of millions of dollars per 
year?’’. 
(8) Former UNRWA general counsel James 
Lindsay noted in a 2009 report the following: 
(A) ‘‘The United States, despite funding 
nearly 75 percent of UNRWA’s national budget 
and remaining its largest single country donor, 
has mostly failed to make UNRWA reflect U.S. 
foreign policy objectives . . . Recent U.S. efforts 
to shape UNRWA appear to have been ineffec-
tive . . .’’. 
(B) ‘‘[T]he United States is not obligated 
to fund agencies that refuse to check its rolls 
for individuals their donors do not wish to sup-
port.’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:28 Oct 03, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5647.IH
H5647
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(C) ‘‘A number of changes in UNRWA 
could benefit the refugees, the Middle East, and 
the United States, but those changes will not 
occur unless the United States, ideally with 
support from UNRWA’s other main financial 
supporter, the European Union, compels the 
agency to enact reforms.’’. 
(D) ‘‘If the [UNRWA commissioner-gen-
eral’s] power is used in ways that are conflict 
with the donors’ political objectives, it is up to 
the donors to take the necessary actions to en-
sure that their interests are respected. When 
they have done so, UNRWA—given the tight fi-
nancial leash it has been on for most of its ex-
istence—has tended to follow their dictates, 
even if sometimes slowly.’’. 
(9) During Israel’s Operation Protective Edge 
in 2014 in response to Hamas rocket attacks against 
Israel, UNRWA’s Commissioner General gave a 
press briefing ignoring the extraordinary efforts 
Israel goes to avoid civilian casualties, and not once 
in the nearly 1,100 word statement mentioning 
Hamas or condemning Hamas’ use of Palestinian 
children, women, and men as human shields in viola-
tion of international humanitarian law. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:28 Oct 03, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5647.IH
H5647
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(10) 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 in-
stead of dismantling the missiles, UNRWA returned 
them to the ‘‘relevant authorities’’ in Gaza, and 
since Hamas controls Gaza, it likely turned them 
back over to Hamas. 
(11) On July 22, 2014, UNRWA reported that 
it had found a second instance in which missiles 
were stockpiled in one of its schools in Gaza, and 
again failed to condemn Hamas publicly. 
(12) On July 29, 2014, UNRWA confirmed 
that, for the third time in less than a month, a 
stockpile of Hamas rockets was found in one of its 
schools in Gaza, establishing a pattern of Hamas 
weapons being stored in UNRWA facilities, and call-
ing into question UNRWA’s claim of being caught 
unawares to Hamas’ actions. 
(13) On July 30, 2014, three Israeli Defense 
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. 
(14) On July 30, 2014, John Ging, head of 
UNRWA from 2006–2011, when asked if Hamas 
has been using human shields and using United Na-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:28 Oct 03, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5647.IH
H5647
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS