The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted in favor of the Taylor Force Act 17-4, which now heads to the Senate floor. Five Democrats voted yes: Ben Cardin, Robert Menendez, Christopher Coons, Time Kaine, and Edward Markey.
The act is named after American veteran and college student Taylor Force, who was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist in March 2016 in Israel. This act “severely restricts American taxpayer funding for the Palestinian Authority until the State Department verifies that it is no longer inciting terror and has ended its policy of paying monthly salaries to convicted terrorists and their families.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) explained the man who killed Force was also killed, but he received a hero’s welcome by the Palestinian Authority, who called him the pride of all young Palestinians. They even urged others to follow in his footsteps.
Graham went on to describe how the Palestinian Authority spends a lot of its foreign aid to pay terrorists and their families. In fact, the longer you’re in prison and the more vicious the crime, the more money you and your family receive. I blogged yesterday:
The PA Finance Ministry’s 2017 budget towards the terrorists “will amount to NIS 552 million ($153.4 million).” That is 13% more than the 2016 budget.The budget also puts aside $190,869,166 for the families of the terrorists. In 2016, the PA only set aside $174,630,296 for the families.All in all, including prisoners and ex-prisoners, the total comes to $344,313,451. That is “equal to 49.6 percent of the funds Ramallah expects donors to contribute to its budget over the year.”
Graham told the media that the Palestinian Authority president said recently, “I will not compromise on this issue. I’d rather lose my job, even if I have to leave my position.”
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) then spoke and described the Palestinian Authority’s law is “sick” and that it needs to change:
“We absolutely cannot accept a policy that rewards acts of terrorism like the one that tragically took the life of Taylor Force,” said Senator Bob Corker, Republican from Tennessee and chairman of the committee, referring to the namesake of the bill– a US Army veteran who was murdered in Jaffa last year.”This legislation will force the Palestinian Authority to make a choice,” Corker said: “Either face the consequences of stoking violence or end this detestable practice immediately.”
Corker didn’t go into too much detail about the amendments added, but did say that it has a one year escrow to give them time to change the laws and so the citizens understand that this bill is not designed to cut off aid to them, but to change the Palestinian Authority’s behavior.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY