Legislation that would pressure the Palestinian Authority to stop monetarily rewarding acts of terror is moving toward final passage, according to one of the bill’s top backers.
South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham said the Taylor Force Act could either be attached to an upcoming omnibus spending bill or put on the floor separately, “sooner rather than later.”
“I don’t know if we’re going to put it on the omnibus or take a floor vote, but it’s going to pass one way or the other,” he said Thursday. The bill is named after Taylor Force, an Army veteran and Vanderbilt University graduate student who was fatally stabbed in a March 2016 terror attack in Tel Aviv.
The legislation easily passed the House in December. It restricts assistance to the Palestinians until the PA ends its program paying terrorists who are or were imprisoned in Israeli jails, as well as the families of so-called “martyrs.” The PA set aside about $344 million in 2017 for such payments.
But lawmakers disagree on the details of the legislation, including on the sorts of aid exemptions that should be carved out. The House-passed version creates exceptions for wastewater projects and childhood vaccinations, while a recently circulated Senate version would strike both of those but keep an exception for hospitals in east Jerusalem. Before the House passed its version, some lawmakers raised concerns about the number of exceptions.
“That flexibility will be used, once again, to circumvent the spirit of the law and congressional intent,” said Florida congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. She also noted that for the purposes of such stipends and salaries, “money is fungible.”
“We’ll try to work those out as soon as we can,” Graham told TWS last week, regarding the differences between the House and Senate versions.
Under the Senate text, the U.S. would slash aid until the PA has “terminated payments for acts of terrorism,” “revoked any law” that authorizes the payments, is “publicly condemning such acts of violence” and is “taking credible steps to end acts of violence.” The Senate bill also removes a sunset clause, or expiration date for the legislation, featured in the House-passed version.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said in mid-February that “not a single” Democratic senator would block the legislation. He has vowed to do “everything possible” to ensure its passage.
