Congress: 114 · 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 HCONRES 165.
Sponsor: Royce, Edward R. (R-CA)
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.) Expresses the sense of Congress that: a sustainable peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians will come only through direct bilateral negotiations between the parties; any widespread international recognition of a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood outside of the context of such a peace agreement would cause severe harm to the peace process and would likely trigger the implementation of penalties under provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 regarding limitations on assistance to support a Palestinian state and uses of funds for assistance for the West Bank and Gaza; efforts by outside bodies, including the United Nations Security Council, to impose an agreement are likely to set back the cause of peace; and the U.S. government should continue to oppose and veto Security Council resolutions that seek to impose solutions to final status issues or that are one-sided and anti-Israel, and should continue to support and facilitate the resumption of negotiations without preconditions toward a sustainable peace agreement.
This resolution expresses Congress's view that Israeli-Palestinian peace must come only through direct negotiations between the two parties, not through unilateral Palestinian statehood declarations or UN Security Council resolutions. It warns that unilateral Palestinian statehood could trigger funding cuts under existing law and calls on the U.S. to veto UN resolutions it deems one-sided, while supporting unconditional peace talks.
This is a non-binding expression of congressional sentiment that reinforces the U.S. veto power over UN Security Council resolutions on Israel-Palestine and opposes international mechanisms for Palestinian statehood recognition. It signals support for a negotiation-based approach without Palestinian preconditions, which shapes the diplomatic context for any future administration.