Pass the Bill--Not the Buck

Instead of passing the buck and requiring Israel to make concessions to strengthen the PA, maybe the US is seeing the light. That's the hope with a new bill being pushed in Congress, reported by the New York Sun (Congress Racing to Isolate a Hamas Regime):

Congress is moving quickly in the face of Hamas's victory in the Palestinian elections to slash American funding for the Palestinian Authority and the United Nations and ensure that America moves to isolate the new regime.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican of Florida, will introduce House legislation this week to slash American funding to the Palestinian Authority and the United Nations; designate the Palestinian Authority as a "terrorist sanctuary," and close down some Palestinian Authority offices in America as part of a reduction of Palestinian-American diplomatic ties.

The bill would be the first official move in Washington toward cutting funding to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Authority, as concern about the terrorist organization's electoral victory has prompted increasingly vocal calls on Capitol Hill to stop aid to the Palestinian Arabs.

The bill is expected to be introduced tomorrow when the House reconvenes for President Bush's State of the Union address, and will start in the House International Relations Committee. Ms. Ros-Lehtinen is chairwoman of the committee's Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia, which has congressional jurisdiction over the Palestinian Authority.

Ms. Ros-Lehtinen is on record as supporting Israel in general and the moving of the US embassy to Jerusalem

Whether such a bill would actual be passed in whole or in part is another question. But when you read about what it entails, it really is a thing of beauty:

According to senior congressional staff familiar with the legislation, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen's bill is a comprehensive crackdown on American aid to and interactions with a terrorist-controlled Palestinian Authority or Palestinian Legislative Council. The bill would "prohibit direct assistance to the PA, the PLC, municipalities, and other constituent elements that are 'governed' by individuals associated with Hamas or other terrorist entities," according to a "Dear Colleague" letter obtained by The New York Sun that will begin circulating in Congress today as an invitation to potential co-sponsors. America is contributing about $150 million in aid to the Palestinian government this year.

The legislation would also "audit all committees, offices, and commissions focused on the Palestinian agenda at the United Nations and recommend for their elimination," according to the letter. Ms. Ros-Lehtinen's bill would slash American U.N. contributions proportional to the amount spent by the United Nations on aid to Palestinian Arabs, and on Palestinian Authority-related programs. The Sun reported last week that the U.N. spends about $3.5 million a year on such activities; America shoulders about 22% of the U.N.'s operating costs.

Requests for comment yesterday from the United Nations about the proposed funding cut were not responded to immediately.

According to staff, the House legislation also would reduce America's ties to and interactions with a Hamasled Palestinian Authority, in order both to signal America's unwillingness to deal with terrorists and to protect America from possible terrorist activity conducted under the guise of official Palestinian Authority business here.

The bill would, for example, prohibit the State Department from issuing visas to all members or agents of foreign terrorist organizations, eliminating loopholes that might allow Hamas leaders to enter America to conduct diplomatic business as elected officials. The bill also would call for a reduction in America's diplomatic ties with the Palestinian Authority, and call for its diplomatic offices in Washington to be shut down, urging that American diplomatic business be conducted either in the Palestinian territories or through the Palestinian U.N. mission in New York.

According to Ynet.com:

Should the bill pass, it will enable the U.S. to place the Palestinians on a list of terror-supporting countries, resulting in severe sanctions on trade with the PA and the transfer of funds to it.

...The new bill is also supposed to demand the closing down of consulates and a reduction of diplomatic contacts with the Palestinians, and will also prevent the entry of Hamas leaders into the United States.

According to current laws, the U.S. cannot directly transfer funds to the PA without a signature by the president for reasons of "American national security."

No matter how good it sounds, or how much support, the bill might do no better than a bill languishing in Congress to apply pressure on Iran:

The House version of the Iran Freedom Support Act, introduced January 6, 2005, by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican of Florida, now has 333 cosponsors - almost 77% of the House. The Senate companion bill, introduced February 9, 2005, by Senator Santorum, a Republican of Pennsylvania, has 42 bipartisan co-sponsors, or almost half the Senate. Neither Senator Clinton nor Senator Schumer, both Democrats of New York, has signed on to the bill.

Despite the overwhelming bicameral support, however, neither bill has progressed further in the legislative process. In the House, the legislation has been stalled under the International Relations Committee, chaired by Rep. Henry Hyde, a Republican of Illinois. The Senate bill has not been taken up by the Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by Senator Lugar, a Republican of Indiana. The delay is prompting outrage in a restive House, where Rep. Shelley Berkley, a Democrat of Nevada and a member of the International Relations Committee, has circulated a letter among the committee pressing Mr. Hyde to move on the bill.

The article in the Sun notes:

Yet Mr. Weiner [Rep. Anthony Weiner (D) of New York] cautioned that while support for cutting funding to the Palestinian Authority is high on Capitol Hill, it is uncertain whether the authority to slash diplomatic aid and ties rest with Congress as part of its power of the purse, or with the White House as part of the executive's power to set foreign policy."

At the end of the day, the State Department has to come around on this stuff," Mr. Weiner said. The congressman added that he has begun circulating a letter to Mr. Bush requesting that his budget proposal next month exclude any funding for the Palestinian Authority.

Speaking of the State Department, Secretary of State Rice had an interview with Reuters this past Friday:

In an interview with Reuters late on Thursday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States would not give direct assistance to Hamas. When asked whether this meant humanitarian aid would stop too, she declined to speculate.

In any case, the bill goes far beyond what is coming out of the Quartet as a whole. According to Threatwatch.org:

Referred to as ‘The Quartet’, the EU, UN, Russia and the United States seemed to speak with one voice from London, saying that any funding from them would be “reviewed by donors against that government’s commitment to the principles of non-violence, recognition of Israel and the acceptance of previous agreements and obligations.” That this much was managed in unison is notable, but it should also be recognized that absent was any direct language that stated funding will not flow, merely that it will be ‘reviewed’, which leaves plenty of room for nuance, debate and deviation once the spotlight and the momentum and velocity of widespread public opinion have abated.

The CNN article linked to in the above paragraph starts off...

The international community is willing to provide crucial aid to Palestinians if the new Hamas-led government commits to non-violence, recognizes Israel's right to exist and accepts current Mideast peace agreements, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has said.

...so we already know what to expect from the EU, UN, and Russia once the requisite righteous indignation wears off.

Bottom line, a lot is going to depend on how the bill looks when it is finished being formulated and the cries of "National Security!" are dealt with. We will have to see how much of the original intent remains.

Crossposted at Israpundit

Technorati Tag: Israel and Hamas.