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[Pages H4206-H4207]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PAY FOR SLAY MUST END
(Mr. LAMBORN asked and was given permission to address the House for
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. LAMBORN. Mr. Speaker, in March 2016, Taylor Force, a U.S. Army
veteran, was brutally murdered by a Palestinian terrorist while
visiting Israel. The terrorist's family now receives monthly rewards
from the so-called Palestinian Authority Martyrs Fund. Palestinian
leadership has spent over $350 million rewarding tens of thousands of
terrorists with pay-for-slay payments.
My bill, the Taylor Force Act, signed into law by President Trump in
2018, targeted these payments, but we have documented evidence that
they continue today.
The U.S. must sanction Palestinian officials, like Qadri Abu Bakr,
who are incentivizing terror and officially designate them as sponsors
of terror. We must let the enemies of peace know that the United States
will not stand by and allow the Palestinian Authority to promote and
reward the murder of innocents through pay for slay.
Mr. Speaker, in March 2016, Taylor Force, an American citizen and
U.S. Army veteran who served his country in both Iraq and Afghanistan,
was brutally and senselessly murdered by a Palestinian terrorist while
visiting Israel. The murderer was later shot dead by police after his
stabbing spree wounded another 10 innocent victims.
For carrying out this evil act, the terrorist's family receives
monthly stipends from the so-called ``Palestinian Authority Martyrs
Fund.''
In fact, tens of thousands of terrorists and their families have
received millions of dollars from Palestinian leadership as a reward
for murdering innocent men, women, and children.
The grotesque incentive is structured so that the more people they
kill, the greater their monetary reward. The most prolific killers can
receive more than $3,500 a month. This includes those who were and
remain members of designated terrorist organizations as described in
President Trump's Terrorist Designation Executive Order #13224.
Palestinian leadership has since spent over $350 million rewarding
these heinous acts of terror in what has now been universally dubbed
``pay-for-slay.''
[[Page H4207]]
My bill, the Taylor Force Act, was signed into law by President Trump
on March 23, 2018. This law was meant to disincentivize these awful
payments, end the senseless war of terror against Israel, and advance
the cause of peace by ending the cycle of violence perpetuated by the
Palestinian political leadership.
Unfortunately, Palestinian Authority leaders have publicly rejected
the terms of the Taylor Force Act. We have seen documented evidence
that the ``pay for slay'' payments are now continuing in 2020,
something which Palestinian leadership has brazenly praised without
fear of consequences from the United States.
The appropriate next step is to personally sanction the Palestinian
officials involved in this incentivizing of terror.
The Palestinian Commission of Prisoners' Affairs and its Director,
Qadri Abu Bakr, must be designated as sponsors of terror, as the
administration committed itself to in Executive Order 13224.
President Trump's Peace to Prosperity plan for ending the Israel-
Palestinian conflict specifically addresses the `Prisoner and Martyr
Payments' and calls for their immediate termination. This position has
received long-standing bipartisan support at home and abroad.
It is time we let the enemies of peace know in no uncertain terms
that the United States will not stand idly by and allow the Palestinian
Authority to promote and pay for the murder of innocents through pay-
for-slay.
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