Congress: 107 · Status: active · Israel/Palestine classification: pro-Israel
Data (JSON) — machine-readable record of this bill (identifiers, sponsor, classification, actions, and the member-by-member vote breakdown).
Official record on Congress.gov — full text, actions, and cosponsor history for S 2194.
Sponsor: McConnell, Mitch (R-Kentucky)
Arafat Accountability Act - Expresses the support of Congress for the President's efforts to achieve comprehensive peace in the State of Israel. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the United States should urge an immediate and unconditional cessation of all terrorist activities and the commencement of a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians; (2) the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) should immediately surrender to Israel for detention and prosecution those Palestinian extremists wanted by Israel for the assassination of Israeli Minister of Tourism Rehavam Zeevi; and (3) Yasser Arafat and the PLO must take immediate and concrete action to publicly condemn all acts of terrorism, confiscate and destroy the infrastructures of terrorism, and end (and urge all Arab nations to end) financial support for terrorism. Prohibits the Secretary of State (Secretary) and the Attorney General, respectively, from issuing a visa or admitting to the United States any member of the PLO or official of the PA. Permits the President to waive this prohibition in the national security interest of the United States. Directs the Secretary to prohibit the operation of a PLO or PA office in the United States from carrying out any function other than those carried out prior to the Oslo Accords. Requires the Secretary to impose travel restrictions on the senior official of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine. Requires the Secretary and the Attorney General to identify and freeze United States assets of the PLO, the PA, and Yasser Arafat. Requires the President to report to specified congressional committees on PLO terrorist activities.
This bill expresses congressional support for Israeli-Palestinian peace while imposing restrictions on Palestinian officials and organizations. It bans PLO and Palestinian Authority members from entering the US (with a presidential waiver option), freezes their US assets, restricts their offices' operations to pre-Oslo Accords functions, and requires the State Department to limit travel by Palestinian diplomats. It calls on Arafat and the PLO to condemn terrorism and surrender individuals wanted by Israel.
This 2001-era bill locked in statutory restrictions on Palestinian diplomatic presence and financial assets in the US, setting a precedent for treating the PLO/PA as entities to isolate rather than negotiate with. The asset freeze and visa ban reflect a take on accountability that centers Israeli security claims without parallel restrictions on other parties.