Title: End Palestinian Terror Salaries Act of 2018
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
End Palestinian Terror Salaries Act of 2018
This bill directs the President to impose sanctions on entities affiliated with the Palestinian Authority or the Palestine Liberation Organization that authorize compensation payments to terrorists in Israeli prisons or to the families of deceased terrorists.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3801 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3801

   To impose sanctions with respect to any entity of the Palestinian 
 Authority, the Palestine Liberation Organization, or any successor or 
 affiliated organization that is responsible for providing payments to 
  Palestinian terrorists imprisoned for committing acts of terrorism 
 against citizens of Israel or the United States, the families of such 
    terrorists, or the families of Palestinian terrorists who died 
       committing such acts of terrorism, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 20, 2018

   Mr. Cruz introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
    referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To impose sanctions with respect to any entity of the Palestinian 
 Authority, the Palestine Liberation Organization, or any successor or 
 affiliated organization that is responsible for providing payments to 
  Palestinian terrorists imprisoned for committing acts of terrorism 
 against citizens of Israel or the United States, the families of such 
    terrorists, or the families of Palestinian terrorists who died 
       committing such acts of terrorism, and for other purposes.

    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 ``End Palestinian Terror Salaries Act 
of 2018''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) In March 2018, the Taylor Force Act (title X of 
        division S of Public Law 115-141) was enacted into law, in 
        which Congress--
                    (A) found that ``the Palestinian Authority's 
                practice of paying salaries to terrorists serving in 
                Israeli prisons, as well as to the families of deceased 
                terrorists, is an incentive to commit acts of terror'';
                    (B) called on ``the Palestinian Authority, the 
                Palestine Liberation Organization, and any successor or 
                affiliated organizations to stop payments for acts of 
                terrorism by individuals who are imprisoned after being 
                fairly tried and convicted for acts of terrorism and by 
                individuals who died committing acts of terrorism and 
                to repeal the laws authorizing such payments''; and
                    (C) limited assistance for the West Bank and Gaza 
                that directly benefits the Palestinian Authority unless 
                the Secretary of State certifies in writing that the 
                Palestinian Authority, the Palestine Liberation 
                Organization, and any successor or affiliated 
                organization has, among other things--
                            (i) ``terminated payments for acts of 
                        terrorism against Israeli citizens and United 
                        States citizens to any individual, after being 
                        fairly tried, who has been imprisoned for such 
                        acts of terrorism and to any individual who 
                        died committing such acts of terrorism, 
                        including to a family member of such 
                        individuals''; and
                            (ii) ``revoked any law, decree, regulation, 
                        or document authorizing or implementing a 
                        system of compensation for imprisoned 
                        individuals that uses the sentence or period of 
                        incarceration of an individual imprisoned for 
                        an act of terrorism to determine the level of 
                        compensation paid, or have taken comparable 
                        action that has the effect of invalidating any 
                        such law, decree, regulation, or document''.
            (2) In July 2018, the Palestinian Authority committed to 
        continuing payments for terrorism as follows:
                    (A) On July 3, 2018, the Commissioner of Prisoner 
                Affairs of the Palestinian Authority, Issa Qaraqe, said 
                such payments are ``our national duty and we will not 
                abandon it. So the government will continue to pay 
                these stipends to the families, even if we are in 
                financial crisis.''.
                    (B) On July 8, 2018, the President of the 
                Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, said, ``We will 
                not allow anyone to interfere with the money that 
                Israel is against us paying to the families of martyrs 
                and prisoners. These are our martyrs, our wounded and 
                our prisoners, and we will continue to pay them.''.
                    (C) On July 23, 2018, President Mahmoud Abbas said, 
                ``we will not accept a cut or cancellation of salaries 
                to the families of martyrs and prisoners . . . [and] 
                even if we only have a penny left, we will give it to 
                the martyrs, the prisoners and their families''.
            (3) Between July and December 2018, Palestinian terrorists 
        wounded or killed more than a dozen Israelis, including 45-year 
        old American-Israeli Ari Fuld who was stabbed to death on 
        September 16, 2018, and became eligible for payments for 
        terrorism by the Palestinian Authority, according to the United 
        States Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, who--
                    (A) on September 20, 2018, tweeted, ``The 
                Palestinian Prisoner Affairs Commission has confirmed 
                that the family of the terrorist who murdered Ari Fuld 
                is `eligible to receive a monthly salary' as 
                compensation for his incarceration. This practice is 
                unconscionable and must stop if there is to be any hope 
                for peace.''; and
                    (B) on December 13, 2018, tweeted, ``In the past 
                week Palestinian terrorists have killed or wounded 14 
                Israelis in multiple attacks. The Pal Authority 
                maintains laws that will compensate these terrorists 
                and their families for their heinous acts.''.

SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.

    (a) In General.--Beginning on the date that is 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the President--
            (1) shall impose sanctions pursuant to Executive Order 
        13224 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking property and 
        prohibiting transactions with persons who commit, threaten to 
        commit, or support terrorism) with respect to any individual 
        that the President determines is a commissioner or holds an 
        equivalent position in a commission described in subsection 
        (b); and
            (2) may impose such sanctions with respect to any 
        individual that the President determines is affiliated with 
        such a commission.
    (b) Commission Described.--A commission described in this 
subsection is an entity of the Palestinian Authority, the Palestine 
Liberation Organization, or any successor or affiliated organization 
that authorizes or implements payments or a system of compensation as 
described in subparagraph (B) or (C) of section 1004(a)(1) of the 
Taylor Force Act (title X of division S of Public Law 115-141).
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