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38 House Republicans Send Letter Questioning Biden Administration Aid to Palestinians
by Andrew Bernard
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.). Photo: Lauren for Colorado.
38 House Republicans on Wednesday sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken questioning whether Biden Administration aid to the Palestinians violated “the spirit, if not the letter” of the Taylor Force Act, which prohibits US aid to the Palestinian Authority so long as it continues to pay salaries to terrorists and to the families of deceased terrorists.
“As of July, this Administration has provided half a billion dollars in taxpayer funding to the Palestinian Authority, and the White House recently announced an additional contribution of $316 million,” the letter, co-authored by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO-3) and Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO-5), said. “In offering hundreds of millions of dollars for the purpose of economic assistance, we are concerned that these funds are tragically enabling the Palestinian Authority’s payments to terrorists and the families of terrorists who kill innocent Americans and people of Jewish descent – also commonly referred to as ‘pay-to-slay.’”
The Taylor Force Act was passed in 2018 and named in memory of a former American army officer stabbed to death in 2016 by a Palestinian terrorist in Tel Aviv.
The Biden administration announced the $316 million aid contribution in July. Of that money, $201 million is designated for the United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which is not covered by the Taylor Force Act, and $100 million for the East Jerusalem Hospitals Network, which the act specifically exempts. According to the White House, the remaining $15 million will be distributed to the World Food Programme and two other unnamed non-governmental organizations.
“In clear violation of the law, Joe Biden has provided more than half a billion dollars to the Palestinian Authority, putting America, Israel, and our western allies at risk. This lawless administration must be held accountable,” Boebert wrote.
Of the half billion dollars in Palestinian aid already distributed by the Biden administration, the State Department says that aid comprises “more than $417 million in humanitarian assistance for Palestinian refugees through UNRWA, $75 million in support through USAID, and $20.5 million in COVID and Gaza recovery assistance.”
The letter gives the administration until 7 November to respond the allegations.
