House Republicans are demanding an investigation into allegations President Joe Biden evaded federal law to funnel a half-billion dollars to Palestinian terrorists.
Colorado Republican Reps. Lauren Boebert and Doug Lamborn led thirty-eight members of Congress in a letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken demanding written answers to a series of questions into Biden’s potentially illegal funding of Palestinian terrorists in violation of the Taylor Force Act.
The letter comes after Biden sent $500 million in U.S. taxpayer funds to the governing Palestinian Authority, with a promise of an additional $316 million.
The funds appear to violate federal law, which forbids U.S. funds to the Palestinian Authority after the group issued reward payments to terrorists who killed American Taylor Force.
“The Palestinian Authority is a terrorist organization that pays the families of terrorists lavish monthly pensions as part of a so-called ‘Martyr’s Fund.’ In 2018, President Trump signed the Taylor Force Act, prohibiting U.S. taxpayer dollars from flowing to the Palestinian Authority while they pay for terrorist attacks against Americans and Israelis,” writes Boebert in a statement.
“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 added.
“I authored the Taylor Force Act in 2017 to ensure that the humanitarian and economic assistance provided by the United States government was not being used by the Palestinian Authority for its inhumane ‘pay-to-slay’ program,” said Lamborn.
“U.S. tax dollars should never support terrorist regimes that incentivize the murder of innocent people. I am deeply concerned that the Biden Administration has decided to disregard bipartisan consensus condemning this ‘martyr’ payment program and instead continues to knowingly provide billions of taxpayer dollars to the Palestinian Authority,” said Lamborn.
The letter to Blinken reads:
Dear Secretary Blinken,
The Taylor Force Act limits U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority made under chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (relating to the Economic Support Fund) and was signed into law to counter financial incentives being offered to Palestinian terrorists. A non-public State Department report was released last month indicating that the Palestinian Authority “continued [to provide] payments to Palestinian prisoners who had committed acts of terrorism, as well as the families of so-called ‘martyrs’ who died while committing acts of terrorism.”
We are concerned about potential violations of the spirit, if not the letter, of the Taylor Force Act. 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. 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.” Administrations across the political spectrum have routinely and loudly condemned this practice; unfortunately, the Palestinian Authority has nevertheless refused to put a permanent end to pay-to-slay.
In furtherance of our Congressional oversight responsibilities, we request the answer to the following questions by COB November 7, 2022.
1). Is this Administration providing support for the Palestinian Authority through the Economic Support Fund (ESF)? Which other accounts is the Administration utilizing to provide financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority? Does the State Department agree that continuing to provide economic assistance to the Palestinian Authority – in light of this report’s findings – contradict both the spirit and letter of the Taylor Force Act? Given this nonpublic report, how are you able to certify that the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) “are taking credible steps to end acts of violence against Israeli citizens and United States citizens that are perpetrated or materially assisted by individuals under their jurisdictional control?”
2). Is the Administration prepared to publicly release, to the greatest extent possible, the State Department report cited above? Can the State Department commit to working with the Congress to publicly release this report in the following 60 days?
3). For the purposes of providing economic assistance to the Palestinian Authority, what definition of the word “refugee” is the Administration employing? Is it the same definition used by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)?
4). Does the Administration have any figures on the number of terrorists or families of terrorists that have received payments from the Palestinian Authority for killing innocent Americans and people of Jewish descent since March 8, 2016?We thank you in advance for your cooperation and look forward to your responses.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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And we were taught that Congress has the purse strings. Not any more! Then again, it’s not like the millions that are sent are going to actually help the Palestinian people – only the higher-ups get richer and richer. Let’s Go Brandon!
See Biden aids terrorisim
just look at our totally open border to see how biden aids terrorisim and drug cartels who pay china for the drugs used to make fentanyl
it takes time to make money
Ok, NOW can we impeach him for sedition?
This is supposed to be a news flash??? The DEMONcraps have been funding terrorists for years… Why do you think the GOP was against stimulus checks? Remember $25 mil to Pakistan for “gender counseling”? think about these two facts, First there is no need for gender counseling because if your gay and you are caught they throw you off the highest cliff or building they can find, second fact, Pakistan bankrolls most terrorist groups including Al-Qaida… Soooo… what’s new about this???
It’s not Joe sending the money its most likely the one calling all the shots for Joe and his administration. You know who !
where is the accountability for all that billions of dollars sent to iran by the pallet full of taxpayer money which was said was unaccounted for, don’t know where it went. somebody needs to find someone that was supposed to be in charge of those transactions and don’t sweep it under the rug
Law, Yet ANOTHER reason for impeaching the “President,” Yellon, & firing any other Administrative staff involved, for breaking a 2017 law. But the Squad is happy & so are their constituents, so the “President” is doing EVERYTHING THEY want him to do & more, but of course, it’s still not enough.
You can impeach a President for pausing a payment authorized by Congress to Ukraine (millions) to check out a government with a new president where the country has been involved in corruption & money laundering, but a “President” who makes an unauthorized expenditure (billions), which is against the law, to TERRORISTS with no status as a country, now or ever, is no biggie.
OTOH, I’m sure the Biden crime family was financially rewarded on this & future payoffs to the “Palestinians.” Will we see enriched “Palestinians” coming here illegally?
Why then is apartheid Israel being given American taxpayers dollars?