Congress: 115 · 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 257.
Sponsor: Franks, Trent (R-AZ)
Recognition of Jerusalem as the Capital of the State of Israel Act This bill states that it is U.S. policy to recognize Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel. The bill expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the United States should recognize the sovereign status of an undivided Jerusalem as Israel's capital, (2) recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and transferring the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv will signal U.S. commitment to Israel, (3) the President and the Department of State should affirm as a matter of U.S. policy that Jerusalem must remain Israel's undivided capital, (4) the President should implement the provisions of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 and begin the process of relocating the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and (5) U.S. officials should refrain from actions that contradict U.S. law on this subject. The bill states that any official U.S. government document that lists countries and their capital cities should identify Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The President shall relocate the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem by January 1, 2019. The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 is amended to eliminate the President's authority, effective January, 1, 2018, to waive certain funding limitations for State Department acquisition and maintenance of buildings abroad until the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has officially opened.
This bill declares it U.S. policy to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's undivided capital and directs the President to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by January 1, 2019. It requires all official U.S. government documents to list Jerusalem as Israel's capital and removes the President's ability to waive funding restrictions for State Department buildings abroad until the embassy relocation is complete.
This is a non-binding resolution that formalizes congressional support for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital—a status Palestinians dispute, as they claim East Jerusalem as their future capital. The bill also mandates concrete action (embassy relocation), which would signal U.S. alignment with Israeli sovereignty claims over the entire city.