Title: Condemning the murder of Sara Duker and renouncing Palestinian Authority martyr payments to terrorists.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution condemns terrorist attacks on U.S. citizens and calls for justice for Sara Duker and all other victims of terrorist attacks. Further, it renounces the practice of martyr payments (i.e., payments made by the Palestinian Authority to the families of terrorists) and calls on the international community to condemn this practice.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1131 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1131

    Condemning the murder of Sara Duker and renouncing Palestinian 
                Authority martyr payments to terrorists.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 21, 2020

 Mr. Gottheimer submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
 to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee 
  on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Condemning the murder of Sara Duker and renouncing Palestinian 
                Authority martyr payments to terrorists.

Whereas this resolution may be cited as the ``Resolution to Stop Rewarding 
        Terrorists'';
Whereas Sara Duker attended high school at the Frisch School in Paramus, New 
        Jersey, and graduated from Barnard College, Columbia University, in May 
        1995;
Whereas, on February 25, 1996, three United States citizens, Sara Duker of 
        Teaneck, New Jersey, Matthew Eisenfeld of West Hartford, Connecticut, 
        and Ira Weinstein of New York City, were killed in a Hamas bus bombing 
        in Jerusalem;
Whereas Barnard College President Judith Shapiro remembered Sara as ``a person 
        of extraordinary talent and promise'';
Whereas Sara traveled to Israel with Matthew, a graduate of Yale University and 
        a second-year rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary;
Whereas Ira Weinstein, a dual American and Israeli citizen, died of burns 
        suffered from the bus bombing, leaving behind a widow and three 
        children;
Whereas, since 1993, the terrorist group Hamas has killed more than 400 Israelis 
        and at least 25 United States citizens, including Sara Duker;
Whereas the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates that 1,360 people have 
        been killed by Palestinian violence and terrorism since September 2000;
Whereas 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;
Whereas the Palestinian Authority rewards deadlier attacks of terrorism with 
        even more money;
Whereas, since fiscal year 2015, Congress has mandated the reduction of aid for 
        the Palestinian Authority as a result of their payments for acts of 
        terrorism including, in fiscal year 2017, a dollar-for-dollar reduction 
        of the amount of money that the Palestinian Authority and Palestine 
        Liberation Organization pay to terrorists and their families from the 
        Economic Support Fund aid that the United States provides;
Whereas, on March 23, 2018, Congress passed the Taylor Force Act (Public Law 
        115-141), bipartisan legislation which eliminates funds that directly 
        benefit the Palestinian Authority if the Palestinian Authority continues 
        to make payments to terrorists; and
Whereas martyr payments for violence and terror continue to undermine the 
        prospects for peace, making it even harder to achieve a viable 
        Palestinian state: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns the attacks on United States citizens by 
        Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and other 
        terrorist groups and their followers, and demands that the 
        Palestinian Authority work with Israel to protect all innocent 
        individuals from terrorism;
            (2) offers its condolences to the families and loved ones 
        of United States and Israeli citizens who were killed in 
        terrorist attacks;
            (3) calls for justice for Sara Duker and all other victims 
        of terrorist attacks;
            (4) calls on the international community to condemn the 
        practice of paying salaries to terrorists and to urge the 
        Palestinian Authority to revoke all associated laws, budgetary 
        funding, and agencies devoted to such payments; and
            (5) affirms its support for penalties for the failure to 
        comply with the Taylor Force Act, as well visa restrictions for 
        terrorists and those responsible for martyr payments.
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