Legislation that would cut off U.S. funds to programs that support granting the Palestinians a state was introduced unilaterally in the House of Representatives.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced the United Nations Transparency, Accountability, and Reform Act (H.R. 2829) on Aug. 30.
The bill, which has 57 co-sponsors, would cut off U.S. contributions to any U.N. entity that grants membership or any other upgraded status to the Palestinian observer mission. The legislation also would withhold some U.S. dues to the United Nations if it does not change its funding system, making dues voluntary rather than assessed.
“It is time to use all our leverage to stop this unilateral Palestinian scheme — for the sake of our ally Israel and all free democracies, for the sake of peace and security, and for the sake of achieving a U.N. that upholds its founding principles,” Ros-Lehtinen, a longtime critic of the U.N.’s operations, said in an op-ed in the Miami Herald describing the legislation. — jta