Congress: 112 · 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 HR 1501.
Sponsor: Walsh, Joe (R-IL)
Expresses the sense of Congress that now that evidence is available that nullifies the most controversial aspects of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (the Goldstone Report) the United Nations (U.N.) should formally retract the Report. Directs the Secretary of State to withhold U.S. contributions to the regularly assessed U.N. biennial budget until the U.N. formally retracts the Report. Defines "formally retracts" as a U.N.-adopted resolution stating that insufficient information relating to the Report's subject matter was available before its release and that the Report is annulled.
This bill directs the Secretary of State to stop paying U.S. dues to the United Nations' regular budget until the UN formally retracts the Goldstone Report, a 2009 fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict. 'Formal retraction' means the UN must pass a resolution saying the Report lacked sufficient information and is annulled.
The Goldstone Report was controversial for concluding both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups may have committed war crimes in Gaza; this bill uses U.S. funding leverage to pressure the UN to disavow those findings. It represents a congressional effort to shield Israel-related investigations from UN accountability mechanisms.