I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 265 
To recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, to relocate to Jerusalem 
the United States Embassy in Israel, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 4, 2017 
Mr. LANCE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, to relocate 
to Jerusalem the United States Embassy in Israel, 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 ‘‘Jerusalem Embassy 
and Recognition Act of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. RECOGNITION OF JERUSALEM AS THE CAPITAL OF 
ISRAEL AND RELOCATION OF THE UNITED 
STATES EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM. 
(a) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States to 
recognize Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the State 
of Israel, both de jure and de facto. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that— 
(1) Jerusalem must remain an undivided city in 
which the rights of every ethnic and religious group 
are protected as they have been by Israel since 
1967; 
(2) every citizen of Israel should have the right 
to reside anywhere in the undivided city of Jeru-
salem; 
(3) the President and the Secretary of State 
should publicly affirm as a matter of United States 
policy that Jerusalem must remain the undivided 
capital of the State of Israel; 
(4) the President should immediately implement 
the provisions of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 
1995 (Public Law 104–5) and begin the process of 
relocating the United States Embassy in Israel to 
Jerusalem; and 
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(5) United States officials should refrain from 
any actions that contradict United States law on 
this subject. 
(c) REMOVAL OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The Jeru-
salem Embassy Act of 1995 (Public Law 104–45) is 
amended— 
(1) by striking section 7; and 
(2) by redesignating section 8 as section 7. 
(d) IDENTIFICATION OF JERUSALEM ON GOVERN-
MENT DOCUMENTS.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, any official document of the United States 
Government which lists countries and their capital cities 
shall identify Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. 
(e) TIMETABLE.— 
(1) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of 
the United States that the United States Embassy 
in Israel should be established in Jerusalem as soon 
as possible, but not later than January 1, 2019. 
(2) OPENING DETERMINATION.—Not more than 
50 percent of the funds appropriated to the Depart-
ment of State for fiscal year 2017 for ‘‘Acquisition 
and Maintenance of Buildings Abroad’’ may be obli-
gated until the Secretary of State determines and 
reports to Congress that the United States Embassy 
in Jerusalem has officially opened. 
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(f) FISCAL YEARS 2017 AND 2018 FUNDING.— 
(1) FISCAL YEAR 2017.—Of the funds author-
ized to be appropriated for ‘‘Acquisition and Mainte-
nance of Buildings Abroad’’ for the Department of 
State for fiscal year 2017, such sums as may be nec-
essary should be made available until expended only 
for construction and other costs associated with the 
establishment of the United States Embassy in 
Israel in the capital of Jerusalem. 
(2) FISCAL YEAR 2018.—Of the funds author-
ized to be appropriated for ‘‘Acquisition and Mainte-
nance of Buildings Abroad’’ for the Department of 
State for fiscal year 2018, such sums as may be nec-
essary should be made available until expended only 
for construction and other costs associated with the 
establishment of the United States Embassy in 
Israel in the capital of Jerusalem. 
(g) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘United 
States Embassy’’ means the offices of the United States 
diplomatic mission and the residence of the United States 
chief of mission. 
Æ 
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