Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March 2007, page 13

Congress Watch

Congress Passes Palestinian Punishment Bill, Softened by Bush Signing Statement

By Shirl McArthur

Taking advantage of a near-empty House floor on Dec. 7, just before the “lame duck” session of the 109th Congress adjourned, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) raised under “suspension of the rules” S. 2370, the Senate-passed version of the so-called “Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act.” The bill was passed by voice vote and presented to President George W. Bush on Dec. 11. Under the Constitution, a president has 10 days to either sign or veto the act. If, after a congressional adjournment, he chooses to do neither, it fails to become law—a “pocket veto.” On Dec. 21, the 10th day, Bush signed it, and it became Public Law 109-446. However, he also issued a “signing statement” that indicated his intention to ignore or loosely interpret parts of the act.

Ros-Lehtinen and Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), Israel’s foremost champions in the House, spoke in favor of the bill, while bemoaning the fact that the bill they authored, H.R. 4681, a much harsher bill intended to punish the Palestinians for holding free elections, could not be enacted. Similarly, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) complained that the bill “allows far too many loopholes,” and doesn’t close the PLO mission to the U.N., a provision that was included in H.R. 4681. On the other hand, Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and David Price (D-NC), both of whom voted against H.R. 4681, said they would support S. 2370, but with some hesitation. They expressed their hope that the president would take full advantage of the flexibility offered in the bill.

As enacted, the act prohibits aid to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Authority (PA) unless the president certifies that it has met a list of seven requirements, some of which would be difficult for more than half the countries in the world to meet. However, this provision may be waived with respect to the administrative and personal security costs of the office of the PA president, as well as certain other activities of the PA president, and for assistance for the PA’s judiciary branch “and other entities.” The president may exercise this waiver, however, only if it is in the U.S. national security interest and if the individual or entity to be assisted is not a member of or controlled by Hamas. (The bill also says that the waiver could be granted only after consulting with and submitting a written justification to Congress, but in his signing statement Bush said this provision would impinge on his constitutional authority, so he would construe references in this and other provisions to consulting as requiring only notification.)

The act would also prohibit PA representation in the U.S.

The act prohibits aid to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) for the West Bank and Gaza except for assistance to meet basic human needs, to promote democracy, and for individual members of the Palestinian Legislative Council who are not members of Hamas or any other foreign terrorist organization. In addition the president may provide any other assistance to NGOs if it is in the U.S. national security interest. (This provision also requires consultation and written justification to Congress, but see the above paragraph.)

The act also includes provisions denying visas to PA officials, restricting travel of PA and PLO representatives to the U.N., and trying to prevent international financial institutions from helping the PA. However, these provisions are discretionary rather than mandatory (by use of the word “should” rather than “shall”), and the visa and travel restrictions do not apply to the PA president and his representatives who are not members of Hamas.

The act would also prohibit PA representation in the U.S. (but makes no mention of the PLO office in Washington DC). In his signing statement, however, Bush said he would construe this provision “in a manner consistent with the president’s constitutional authority to conduct the nation’s foreign affairs.”

Finally, the act would prohibit diplomatic contacts with any “Palestinian terrorist organizations,” except in emergency or humanitarian situations. However, here, too, Bush said he would construe as advisory this and other provisions of the act “that purport to direct or burden the conduct of negotiation by the executive branch with entities abroad,” because to construe them as mandatory “would impermissibly interfere with the president’s constitutional authorities.”

Unfortunately, Ros-Lehtinen has made it clear that she does not consider passage of S. 2370 to be the last word on Palestinian sanctions. And since Lantos will head the House International Relations Committee and Ros-Lehtinen will be its ranking Republican member, it is likely that more mischief can be expected from the House during the 110th Congress.

Congress Extends Israel Loan Guarantees

On the last day of the lame duck session, Congress passed H.R. 6060, the seemingly innocuous State Department Authorities Act, authorizing certain routine activities of the Department of State. However, the bill also includes a provision extending the loan guarantees to Israel for another three years. In 2003, as part of an emergency appropriations bill, Congress approved $9 billion in loan guarantees to Israel over three years. This was later extended to 2008, and H.R. 6060 further extends the guarantees to 2011. So far, Israel has used about half of the guarantees. The bill also doubles, from $200 million to $400 million, the dollar amount of U.S. military supplies stored in Israel under the War Reserves Stockpiles program.

Meanwhile, the right-wing Israeli Arutz news service reported that, beginning in late September, the State Department has unofficially halted the shipment of military arms and technology to Israel. Arutz quoted an Israeli government official as saying that the Bush administration “has not rejected any Israeli request. Instead, the State Department and Defense Department have said that all requests must be examined.”

And Finally…

To end on a positive note, in late December Bush exercised his waiver authority preventing the transfer of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as provided for in the 1995 bill directing the move. At the same time, he issued a statement saying that his “administration remains committed to beginning the process of moving our embassy to Jerusalem.”

Shirl McArthur, a retired U.S. foreign service officer, is a consultant based in the Washington, DC area.

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