[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5388 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5388
To restore funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 21, 2024
Mr. Welch (for himself, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Klobuchar, and
Ms. Hirono) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To restore funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
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 ``UNRWA Funding Emergency Restoration
Act of 2024''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached a
catastrophic emergency level, with at least 2,000,000
Palestinian civilians suffering daily due to a lack of access
to basic necessities of life caused by the escalating conflict.
(2) In October 2024, the Integrated Food Security Phase
Classification's Famine Review Committee concluded--
(A) the entire Gaza Strip is in IPC Phase 4
(Emergency) acute food insecurity; and
(B) there is a risk of famine for the entire Gaza
Strip between November 2024 and April 2025.
(3) Since 1949, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency
for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (referred to in this
Act as ``UNRWA'') has played a vital and central role in
providing shelter, education, healthcare, and financial
assistance to millions of Palestinians living in vulnerable
refugee communities in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, and
Jordan.
(4) UNRWA's aid operations are essential to meeting the
humanitarian needs of Palestinian civilians living in Gaza and
elsewhere.
(5) Following allegations of direct involvement by fewer
than 20 UNRWA employees in the devastating terrorist attacks of
October 7, 2023, UNRWA Commissioner-General Lazzarini acted
swiftly and decisively, fully cooperating with Israeli
authorities, publicly disclosing the allegations, and
immediately terminating all the employees who may have been
involved. These fewer than 20 employees represent a small
percentage of the approximately 13,000 UNRWA employees in Gaza
and UNRWA's total workforce of approximately 30,000.
(6) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres took
additional action, including--
(A) launching an investigation into the allegations
by the United Nation's highest oversight body, the
Office of Internal Oversight Services; and
(B) creating an Independent Review Group, led by
former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, to
assess whether UNRWA is doing everything within its
power to ensure neutrality and respond to allegations
of serious neutrality breaches.
(7) In April 2024, the Independent Review Group--
(A) concluded that UNRWA--
(i) has established a significant number of
mechanisms and procedures to ensure compliance
with humanitarian principles with an emphasis
on the principle of neutrality;
(ii) already possesses a more developed
approach to neutrality than other similar
United Nations entities or nongovernmental
organizations; and
(iii) recommended additional steps to
strengthen neutrality policies, all of which
UNRWA immediately agreed to fully implement.
(8) UNRWA has implemented a High-Level Action Plan to
implement the Independent Review Group's recommendations. As of
September 2024--
(A) 2 recommendations have been fully implemented;
(B) 17 recommendations are in progress; and
(C) the timeline for implementing the remaining
recommendations is outlined in UNRWA's related High-
Level Action Plan, which articulates specific actions
and resource requirements.
(9) On October 28, 2024, Department of State spokesperson
Matthew Miller declared--
(A) UNRWA plays ``an irreplaceable role right now
in Gaza, where they are on the front lines getting
humanitarian assistance to the people that need it.
There's nobody that can replace them right now in the
middle of the crisis.''; and
(B) UNRWA plays ``an important role providing
services to Palestinians in the West Bank and
throughout the region as well.''.
(10) On November 12, 2024, Ambassador Linda Thomas-
Greenfield, the United States Permanent Representative to the
United Nations, confirmed, ``UNRWA's role has been vital as the
frontline of this humanitarian response. The Agency facilitates
approximately 80 percent of humanitarian aid in Gaza.''.
(11) Following the decisive actions taken by the United
Nations and the commitments made by UNRWA toward additional
reforms, major member-state supports of UNRWA, including the
European Union, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Japan,
France, Switzerland, Canada, The Netherlands, Australia, Italy,
Austria, Finland, Iceland, Romania, and Estonia have resumed
their funding to UNRWA.
(12) Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and Belgium have since
provided resources to UNRWA beyond their original commitments.
(13) The United States, which has historically been the
largest funder of UNRWA, plays a pivotal role in supporting
UNRWA's critical mission.
(14) Properly vetted funding for UNRWA remains in the
comprehensive strategic interests of the United States and its
allies.
(15) In an October 13, 2024 letter to the State of Israel
Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, and the State of Israel
Minister of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, Secretary of State
Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin warned
that 2 draft bills being considered by the Knessett ``would
devastate the Gaza humanitarian response'' and ``could have
implications under relevant U.S. law and policy''.
(16) On October 19, 2024, Ambassador Linda Thomas-
Greenfield, the United States Permanent Representative to the
United Nations, expressed concerns about these 2 draft bills at
the United Nations Security Council Briefing on the Middle
East, and stated ``there is no alternative to UNRWA when it
comes to delivering food and other life-saving aid in Gaza''.
(17) On October 28, 2024, the Israel Knesset approved these
2 bills, which bar UNRWA from operating in Israel and will
drastically curtail UNRWA operations in the West Bank and Gaza.
(18) On November 1, 2024, the world's leading humanitarian
coordination forum, known as the Inter-Agency Standing
Committee, declared that implementation of the Knesset
legislation ``would be a catastrophe for the humanitarian
response in Gaza, diametrically opposed to the United Nations
Charter, with potential dire impacts on the human rights of the
millions of Palestinians depending on UNRWA's assistance . . .
there is no alternative to UNRWA.''.
(19) If UNRWA cannot operate in the occupied Palestinian
territory, the responsibility for providing services to
Palestinians, and for bearing the cost of these services, will
lie not with the United Nations, but with Israel.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
Congress--
(1) recognizes that preventing further erosion of civilian
conditions in Gaza remains in the strategic and moral interests
of the United States;
(2) supports UNRWA's unique and indispensable contribution
to immediately addressing urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza,
especially in mitigating and stopping the spread of famine and
disease;
(3) reaffirms the imperative of UNRWA's continued provision
of humanitarian and human development services to Palestinian
refugees in all its current fields of operation, including
Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, and the West Bank (including East
Jerusalem);
(4) urges the Government of Israel to assist UNRWA in its
neutrality efforts by providing names, information, and
evidence UNRWA can use to aggressively pursue allegations
related to staff violations of UNRWA's neutrality policies;
(5) urges the President--
(A) to join United States allies in restoring
funding to UNRWA in response to the responsible actions
taken by the United Nations and the commitments made by
UNRWA toward additional accountability and
transparency; and
(B) to ensure continued funding to UNRWA is
assessed based on UNRWA's ongoing execution of the
recommendations of the Independent Review Group, led by
Catherine Colonna;
(6) recognizes the implementation of some of the
Independent Review Group's recommendations will require United
Nations member state cooperation, including additional funding;
(7) urges the United States and Israel to assist UNRWA in
its implementation efforts of the Independent Review Group's
recommendations; and
(8) supports appropriating critical funds to UNRWA for
fiscal year 2025 and beyond.
SEC. 4. RESTORATION OF FUNDING FOR UNRWA.
(a) In General.--Beginning on the date of the enactment of this
Act--
(1) title III of division G of the Further Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2024 (Public Law 118-47) is hereby
repealed;
(2) section 308 of the Israel Security Supplemental
Appropriations Act, 2024 (division A of Public Law 118-50) is
hereby repealed; and
(3) notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Secretary of State shall, as soon as practicable--
(A) rescind the temporary pause in funding for
UNRWA described in the press statement entitled
``Statement on UNRWA Allegations'' issued on January
26, 2024; and
(B) resume the provision of funding to UNRWA under
current authorities of the Department of State.
(b) Reports.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and quarterly thereafter through December 31,
2027, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to the appropriate
congressional committees of jurisdiction describing the steps UNRWA is
taking to implement the recommendations made by the Independent Review
Group, led by Catherine Colonna.
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