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 HR 114.
Sponsor: Garrett, Scott (R-NJ)
Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act of 2015 States that it is U.S. policy: (1) to recognize Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel, and (2) that the U.S. Embassy in Israel should be established in Jerusalem not later than January 1, 2017. Amends the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 to eliminate the President's authority to waive certain funding limitations for Department of State acquisition and maintenance of buildings abroad until the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has officially opened. Requires any official U.S. document which lists countries and their capital cities to identify Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Limits appropriations that may be obligated in FY2015 for Department acquisition and maintenance of buildings abroad until the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has officially opened. States that for each of FY2015-FY2016, of funds authorized to be appropriated for Department acquisition and maintenance of buildings abroad, necessary sums should be made available until expended only for construction and other costs associated with the establishment in Jerusalem of the U.S. Embassy in Israel.
This bill declares it U.S. policy to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's undivided capital and directs the State Department to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem by January 1, 2017. It strips the President's power to waive budget restrictions on State Department building projects overseas and redirects funds earmarked for those projects to Jerusalem embassy construction instead, until the embassy opens.
This legislation constrains executive flexibility on Middle East diplomatic recognition and spending, pre-emptively committing federal resources to a Jerusalem embassy location that has been a central point of dispute in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The budget mechanism makes the policy harder to reverse without additional congressional action.