115TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 6451
Initiated by Congressman Doug Lamborn (CO-05)

A BILL
To establish the policy of the United States with respect to contributions
to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the
Near East, and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘-----Act of 2018''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:(1)
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the
Near East (UNRWA) was founded in 1949 through United Nations General
Assembly Resolution 302 at the conclusion of the Arab-Israeli Conflict of
1948 to ‘‘alleviate the conditions of starvation and distress among the
Palestine refugees'' from that conflict.
(2) According to UNRWA's Consolidated Eligibility and Registration
Instructions (CERI), Palestinian refugees are ‘‘persons whose normal place
of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and
who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948
conflict''.
(3) Beginning in the 1950s, UNRWA changed the eligibility requirements to
be a Palestinian refugee from those displaced in 1948 that is inconsistent
with the original definition of the agency. This change significantly
inflated the number of purported refugees and subsequently the number of
individuals who are eligible to receive UNRWA benefits. UNRWA classifies
individuals eligible for benefits as Palestinian refugees including, but not
limited to, those ‘‘descendants of Palestine refugee males, including
legally adopted children'', severalgenerations
removed from the conflict, who were born decades after the conflict ended.
(4) This classification process is inconsistent with how all other
refugees in the world are classified, including the definition used by the
United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) and the laws concerning
refugees in the United States. Because of UNRWA's unique definition of a
refugee, the number of Palestinian refugees has grown exponentially over the
years, from approximately 600,000 in 1949 to 5,300,000 today. In contrast
the number of refugees from other conflicts has diminished dramatically
through UNHCR.
(5) Instead of resettling Palestinian refugees displaced as a result of
the Arab-Israeli Conflict of 1948, UNRWA provides aid to those they define
as Palestinian refugees until there is a solution they deem acceptable to
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This policy does not help resettle the
refugees from 1948 but instead maintains a refugee population in perpetuity.
(6) The United States has been UNRWA's biggest donor since its inception,
and contributes a disproportionate amount on Palestinian refugees in
comparison to other refugees around the world. The United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees has addressed the world's estimated 65,000,000
displaced persons with a staff of just over 10,000 and a 2017 budget of
$7,700,000,000. UNRWA, which claims it works on behalf of over 5,300,000
Palestinian refugees, has a staff of over 30,000, with a 2016 budget of
$1,450,000,000.
(7) UNRWA has one 1 relief worker per roughly 170 refugees, 40 times the
allocation of relief workers to non-Palestinian refugees by the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
(8) UNRWA facilities have been used to launch terror attacks against
Israel, and UNRWA employees have frequently faced credible charges of
working with terrorist groups such as Hamas, including the following:
(A) On July 16, 2014, UNRWA reported that it had found 20 missiles in one
of its schools in Gaza, likely placed there by Hamas, and then returned them
to the ‘‘relevant authorities'' in Gaza, territory controlled by Hamas.
(B) UNRWA reported finding missiles in their schools again on July 22,
2014, and July 29, 2014.(C)
On July 30, 2014, three Israeli Defense Force soldiers were killed in an
explosion at a booby-trapped UNRWA health clinic, which was housing the
opening to one of Hamas' underground tunnels.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that-
(1) the United States should-
(A) support UNRWA solely to the extent necessary to accomplish its
original and intended purpose to resettle refugees from the Arab-Israeli
Conflict of 1948;
(B) make contributions to UNRWA in proportion to the number of refugees
it assists that meet the United States definition of a refugee; and
(C) continue to assist other needy populations around the world through
international aid and development assistance, including Palestinians in the
West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria;
(2) the Secretary of State should determine and accordingly provide to
UNRWA a voluntary contribution in an amount that bears the same proportion
to the total requested United States contribution as the proportion that
refugees of the Arab- Israeli Conflict of 1948 who meet the requirements
described in section 4(a) bear to the full population supported by UNRWA
programs;
(3) amounts made available to the Secretary of State that are withheld
from UNRWA in accordance with the determination described in paragraph (2)
should instead be made available to the Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development for providing assistance to other
populations in need in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria; and
(4) in accordance with the prohibition under section 301(c) of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2221(c)), United States assistance
should not be made available to any refugee who is receiving military
training as a member of the Palestine Liberation Army or who is a part of
any organization engaging in acts of terrorism.
SEC. 4. STATEMENTS OF POLICY WITH RESPECT TO CRITERIA FOR RECOGNITION OF
REFUGEE STATUS.
(a) CRITERIA FOR RECOGNITION OF UNRWA REFUGEE STATUS.-It shall be the policy
of the United States, with respect to recognizing the refugee status of
persons receiving assistance through UNRWA, that a Palestinian refugee is a
person, or the spouse or minor child of a person-
(1) whose resided, between June 1946 and May 1948, in the region
controlled by Britain between 1922 and 1948 known as Mandatory Palestine;
(2) who was personally displaced as a result of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
of 1948; and
(3) who has not accepted an offer of legal residency status, citizenship,
or other permanent adjustment in status in another country.
(b) CONSISTENCY WITH UNITED STATES ELIGIBILITY FOR REFUGEE STATUS.-In
applying the criteria described in subsection (a) with respect to refugees
under UNRWA, it shall be the policy of the United States, consistent with
the definition of a refugee in section 101(a) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) and the requirements for eligibility for
refugee status under such Act, that-
(1) derivative refugee status may only be extended to the spouse or minor
child of such a refugee; and
(2) an alien who was firmly resettled in any country is not eligible to
retain refugee status.