Recognition of Jerusalem as the Capital of the State of Israel Act

Bill: 115-hr-257
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Franks, Trent [R-AZ-8]
Introduced: 2017-01-04
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Appropriations

Arab-Israeli relations

Building construction

Congressional oversight

Department of State

Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad

Government buildings, facilities, and property

Government information and archives

Israel

Middle East

Presidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents

Sovereignty, recognition, national governance and status
Latest action: action_date: 2017-02-16
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Middle East and North Africa.

Summaries:
action_date: 2017-01-04
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>Recognition of Jerusalem as the Capital of the State of Israel Act</strong></p> <p>This bill states that it is U.S. policy to recognize Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel. </p> <p>The bill expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the United States should recognize the sovereign status of an undivided Jerusalem as Israel's capital, (2) recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and transferring the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv will signal U.S. commitment to Israel, (3) the President and the Department of State should affirm as a matter of U.S. policy that Jerusalem must remain Israel's undivided capital, (4) the President should implement the provisions of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 and begin the process of relocating the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and (5) U.S. officials should refrain from actions that contradict U.S. law on this subject.</p> <p> The bill states that any official U.S. government document that lists countries and their capital cities should identify Jerusalem as Israel's capital. </p> <p> The President shall relocate the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem by January 1, 2019.</p> <p>The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 is amended to eliminate the President's authority, effective January, 1, 2018, to waive certain funding limitations for State Department acquisition and maintenance of buildings abroad until the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has officially opened. </p>

tv_txt: I 115th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 257 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 4, 2017 Mr. Franks of Arizona (for himself, Mr. DeSantis , and Mr. Zeldin ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to transfer to Jerusalem the United States Embassy located in Tel Aviv.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Recognition of Jerusalem as the Capital of the State of Israel Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) For more than 3,000 years, the Jewish people have maintained a continuous connection and presence in the land of Israel and their eternal and indivisible capital city of Jerusalem. (2) The State of Israel was established on May 14, 1948, in the wake of World War II in order to serve as a homeland and place of refuge for the Jewish people. (3) From 1948 to 1967, Jerusalem was a divided city and not all Israeli citizens of all faiths were entitled to visit the holy sites, and Jews from other countries were restricted in their access to holy sites in the area controlled by Jordan. In 1967, the city of Jerusalem was reunited during the conflict known as the Six Day War, and since 1967, Jerusalem has been a unified city administered by Israel, and persons of all faiths have been guaranteed full access to the holy sites within the city. (4) On July 31, 1988, Jordan relinquished its disputed sovereignty claims to Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem, and therefore sovereign claims to these areas remain disputed , not occupied . (5) In 1990, Congress unanimously adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution 106, which declares that Congress strongly believes that Jerusalem must remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic religious group are protected . (6) In 1995, Congress overwhelmingly approved the Jerusalem Embassy Act ( Public Law 104–45 ), requiring the establishment of the United States Embassy in Jerusalem not later than May 31, 1999. (7) The United States maintains its embassy in the functioning capital in every country except in the State of Israel. (8) Israel has far exceeded the 1907 Hague Regulation as directed by international law. Israel has taken all measures to restore and ensure public order and safety in Jerusalem. (9) Jerusalem has been far safer and more protected under Israel’s administration than under any previous authorities. (10) Civil life is entirely present in Jerusalem, and all government institutions and related frameworks are also present, including the Knesset, the Bank of Israel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister’s and President’s offices, and the Supreme Court. 3. Recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocation of the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv 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 Congress that— (1) the United States should recognize the sovereign status of an undivided Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel; (2) recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and transferring the United States Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv will send a signal of United States commitment and resolve to Israel; (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 104–45 ), as amended by section 4 of this Act, and begin the process of relocating the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem; and (5) United States officials should refrain from any actions that contradict United States law on this subject. (c) Identification of Jerusalem on Government Documents Notwithstanding any other provision 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. (d) Relocation Not later than January 1, 2019, the President shall relocate the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. 4. Amendment to the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 (a) Repeal Subject to subsection (b) of this section, section 7 of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 is repealed. (b) Effective date The repeal specified in subsection (a) shall take effect on January 1, 2018. (c) Redesignation At the time of the repeal specified in subsection (a), section 8 of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 shall be redesignated as section 7. 5. Implementation report Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to Congress a report that— (1) details the Department of State’s plan to implement this Act; (2) includes estimated dates of completion for each phase of the establishment of the United States Embassy in Jerusalem, including— (A) site identification; (B) land acquisition; (C) architectural, engineering, and construction surveys; (D) site preparation; and (E) construction; and (3) includes an estimate of the funding needed to implement this Act, including all costs associated with establishing the United States Embassy in Jerusalem.