Title: International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace Authorization Act of 2017
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace Authorization Act of 2017
This bill urges the President to make every effort, in conjunction with the government of Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and the international community, to establish an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace to promote and support contact, cooperation, dialogue, shared community building, peaceful coexistence, joint economic development, and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians.
The bill authorizes appropriations for U.S. contributions to the fund following the committee of jurisdictions' agreement to the structure of the fund and its board.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1221 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1221

To seek the establishment of and contributions to an International Fund 
                     for Israeli-Palestinian Peace.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 27, 2017

Mr. Fortenberry (for himself and Mr. Crowley) introduced the following 
      bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To seek the establishment of and contributions to an International Fund 
                     for Israeli-Palestinian Peace.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``International Fund for Israeli-
Palestinian Peace Authorization Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Peaceful co-existence in the Middle East between 
        Israelis and Palestinians, and between Muslims, Christians, 
        Jews, and those of all backgrounds is in the interests of the 
        United States, Israel, the Palestinian people, and the world.
            (2) While the United States and its international allies 
        continue to support diplomatic and political negotiations 
        between the representatives of the parties to the conflict as 
        well as others, in the long run such efforts require broad 
        popular support among people in order to succeed. In order to 
        achieve lasting peace in the region, the people who live there 
        must, over time, sustain any potential high-level agreements.
            (3) Through many independent individual and nongovernmental 
        activities, tens of thousands of people of different 
        backgrounds are already working together to build better 
        relations between people, through people-to-people coexistence 
        and trust-building measures, activities, and other cooperative 
        efforts.
            (4) By working cooperatively on shared goals and addressing 
        mutual understanding, participants in such activities, 
        including youth, can come to reject violence and understand the 
        promise of peaceful coexistence.
            (5) Through support for people-to-people exchanges in the 
        region and joint economic initiatives, millions of ordinary 
        citizens affected by this conflict can assist in building 
        support for lasting peace.
            (6) Working together, the United States, countries around 
        the world, and the private sector can, and often seek to 
        support opportunities that, help sustain support for peace with 
        the establishment and funding of an independent International 
        Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace (referred to in this Act as 
        the ``International Fund''), to promote and support contact, 
        cooperation, dialogue, shared community building, peaceful 
        coexistence, joint economic development, and reconciliation 
        between Israelis and Palestinians.
            (7) United States and international support for grassroots 
        people-to-people efforts can help serve as an antidote to false 
        propaganda by terrorist groups and the growing issue of 
        incitement.
            (8) The International Fund shall serve as a coordinating 
        entity offering expertise and support, adhering to best 
        practices for governance, transparency, assessment and 
        accountability. The International Fund will be an ongoing 
        presence and catalyst for rejecting violence and building broad 
        public support for sustaining peace in the region. The 
        International Fund is not intended to be a political forum, but 
        a grant-making body to facilitate enduring people-to-people 
        relationships and sustained joint economic development.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are as follows:
            (1) To urge the President to make every effort, in 
        conjunction with the Government of Israel, the Palestinian 
        Authority, regional governments, and the international 
        community to establish a non-political, mutually acceptable 
        International Fund to promote and support contact, cooperation, 
        dialogue, shared community building, peaceful coexistence, 
        joint economic development, and reconciliation between Israelis 
        and Palestinians.
            (2) To provide for United States contributions to consist 
        of amounts made available to carry out chapter 4 of part II of 
        the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346 et seq. 
        (relating to the Economic Support Fund)) for payment to the 
        International Fund to carry out the activities described in 
        paragraph (1), in addition to overhead costs of the 
        establishment of said fund and the function of its oversight 
        board.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN 
              PEACE.

    Congress urges the President to make every effort, in conjunction 
with the Government of Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and the 
international community, to establish an International Fund for 
Israeli-Palestinian Peace governed by a board of the constituent 
parties to carry out the purposes described in section 2(b).

SEC. 4. UNITED STATES CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR 
              ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE.

    (a) In General.--Of the amounts made available for each of fiscal 
years 2017 through 2021 to carry out chapter 4 of part II of the 
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346 et seq. (relating to the 
Economic Support Fund)), $50,000,000 is authorized to be appropriated 
for United States contributions to the International Fund following the 
committee of jurisdictions agreement to the structure of the fund and 
its board.
    (b) Additional Authorities.--Amounts authorized to be appropriated 
pursuant to subsection (a)--
            (1) are in addition to amounts otherwise authorized to be 
        appropriated for such purposes; and
            (2) are authorized to remain available until expended.

SEC. 5. CONDITIONS AND UNDERSTANDINGS RELATING TO INTERNATIONAL FUND 
              FOR ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE.

    (a) Support and Promotion of Purposes.--United States contributions 
to the International Fund provided for in section 4 may be used only to 
support and promote the purposes described in section 2(b).
    (b) Additional Restrictions.--The restrictions described in section 
531(e) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346(e)) shall 
apply to United States contributions to the International Fund provided 
for in section 4 to the same extent and in the same manner as such 
restrictions apply to amounts made available to carry out chapter 4 of 
part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. The United States 
contributions shall be managed and dispersed through existing USAID 
mechanisms.
    (c) United States Representation on Board of International Fund.--
The United States shall provide two representatives from different 
political parties to the Board of the International Fund. The function 
of the board is to provide recommendations for programmatic support and 
direction on promoting contact, cooperation, dialogue, shared community 
building, peaceful coexistence, joint economic development, and 
reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. The board should 
oversee and contain an expertise in program integrity, monitoring and 
evaluation and assessment.

SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORT.

    (a) In General.--At the end of each fiscal year in which the United 
States Government makes any contribution to the International Fund in 
accordance with this Act, the President shall transmit to Congress a 
written report on the extent to which the International Fund and United 
States contributions to the International Fund have contributed to 
promoting and supporting contact, cooperation, dialogue, shared 
community building, peaceful coexistence, joint economic development, 
and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians.
    (b) Matters To Be Included.--The reports required under subsection 
(a) shall also include the following:
            (1) Information on contributions pledged to, contributions 
        (including donations from the private sector) received by, and 
        projects funded by the International Fund, and the mechanisms 
        established for transparency and accountability in the grant-
        making process.
            (2) A description of the International Fund's operations, 
        activities, budget, receipts, and expenditures for the 
        preceding 12-month period, including an audited report of the 
        International Fund's finances, including statements of 
        financial position, operations, and cash flows, in accordance 
        with the United States generally accepted government auditing 
        standards as prescribed by the Comptroller General.
            (3) Insights gleaned from what drives the efficacy of 
        people-to-people relationships in addition to a description of 
        potential strategies for getting to sustainability for civic 
        institutions that the fund creates or supports including novel 
        financing mechanisms.
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