Trump Administration Supports Taylor Force Bill
The bill stops funds to the Palestinian Authority until it stops rewarding terrorists for killing Americans and Israelis.
President Donald Trump’s administration announced it will fully support the Taylor Force bill, which will stop U.S. funds to the Palestinian Authority until it stops rewarding terrorists that kill Americans and Israelis. From The Associated Press:
The State Department announcement comes nearly six weeks after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee backed the measure. The legislation, which is named after an American who was stabbed to death in Israel by a Palestinian, reflects bipartisan outrage over what lawmakers have termed a “pay to slay” program endorsed by the Palestinian Authority.
“The Trump administration strongly supports the Taylor Force Act, which is a consequence of Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization’s policy of paying terrorists and their families,” the State Department said.
The department added that President Donald Trump “raised the need to end any part of this program that incentivizes violence against Israeli and American citizens with President Mahmoud Abbas last May in both Washington and Bethlehem.”
In early August, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the Taylor Force Act 17-4.
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) said that the man who killed Force also died, but the PA celebrated his actions and encouraged others to follow in his footsteps.
The PA has denied it rewards terrorists, but Graham disputed this fact. The longer a terrorist is in prison and the more vicious the crime, the more money the terrorist and his family receives. I blogged:
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.”
Taylor Force
A Palestinian terrorist stabbed to death American veteran and Vanderbilt University student Taylor Force on March 8, 2016, while then-Vice President Joe Biden visited Israel. The terrorist seriously injured Force’s wife.
Vanderbilt University confirmed his death:
It is with extreme sadness that I write to inform you that Taylor Force, a student at our Owen Graduate School of Management, was fatally wounded March 8 in a stabbing attack while on an Owen school trip to Tel Aviv, Israel. All other Vanderbilt students, faculty and staff on the trip are safe.
Taylor embarked on this trip to expand his understanding of global entrepreneurship and also to share his insights and knowledge with start-ups in Israel. He exemplified the spirit of discovery, learning and service that is the hallmark of our wonderful Owen community. This horrific act of violence has robbed our Vanderbilt family of a young hopeful life and all of the bright promise that he held for bettering our greater world.
Taylor’s family and his friends and colleagues have our deepest sympathy and utmost support.
The professor noted the services in Israel and Vanderbilt for Force:
On Friday, March 11, 2016, a service was held for him at Ben Gurion Airport as his body was being sent back to the United States for burial. Former Knesset member Rabbi Dov Lipman arranged the ceremony and officiated, and he was joined by William Grant, Deputy Chief of Missions at the US Embassy in Israel and US Army representatives in Israel.
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Comments
I’m not a Trump fan, but his actions keep making me congratulate him. This action should be a no-brainer, but I suppose these days taking an actual strong stand against terrorism is news.
The bill passed 17 to 4… I cannot imagine why four congress critters would ever vote against this. Has anybody ever seen their defense of these votes?!?
Why are we funding them at all?
A fundamental fact about America: The government is out of money.
Any money given to the Palestinian Authority (or anyone else) has to be borrowed. And it will never be paid off. The national debt hasn’t been decreased by so much as a penny for sixty years. That means we, the American taxpayer, and our descendants, will be paying for this borrowed money forever.
No, the Palestinians—even should they transform into paragons of virtue overnight, which they won’t—aren’t worth such a cost. Nothing much is.
For this to have the teeth it seems intended to have, ALL forms of aid have to be nuked.
Otherwise, these thugs (who are pretty clever thugs) will sell material aid to convert to cash.
They don’t give a fig about their own people.
Some idiot will find an idiot District Judge who will over rule the law and say that the US MUST fund Palistine.
Bravo for that bill.
I like the Bill and the idea of not playing nice to the radical militant Islamist. We could deny them aid forever and they would still act robbed without ever expressing gratitude for what they already have received.