Congress: 117 · 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 4721.
Sponsor: Roy, Chip (R-Texas)
UNRWA Accountability and Transparency Act This bill makes changes to U.S. foreign policy in matters concerning the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). For purposes of this policy, the bill defines Palestinian refugee as a person who (1) resided from June 1946 to May 1948 in Mandatory Palestine (a region controlled by Britain until 1948), (2) was personally displaced as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, and (3) has not accepted citizenship or other permanent adjustment in status in another country. The bill withholds U.S. funding for the UNRWA unless the Department of State makes certifications concerning the UNRWA's staff, partners, and funding. Specifically, the State Department must certify that neither UNRWA staff and partners nor its funding and facilities are affiliated with terrorism or engaged in the dissemination of anti-American, anti-Israel, or anti-Semitic ideologies. Additionally, the State Department must certify that the UNRWA is subject to comprehensive financial audits by an independent auditing firm and is unaffiliated with any financial institutions that the United States considers to be complicit in money laundering or terror financing. The bill also requires the State Department to implement a plan to encourage other countries to align their activities and efforts regarding the UNRWA with U.S. policy objectives, including the phase out of the UNRWA by resettling Palestinian refugees in countries other than Israel and in territories not controlled by Israel. The State Department must report to Congress on this plan.
This bill blocks U.S. funding to UNRWA (the UN agency that provides aid to Palestinian refugees) unless the State Department certifies that UNRWA staff, partners, and funding have no ties to terrorism or anti-American, anti-Israel, or antisemitic ideologies, and that UNRWA undergoes independent audits and avoids banks linked to money laundering. The bill also redefines Palestinian refugees narrowly (only those personally displaced in 1948 who haven't gained citizenship elsewhere) and requires the State Department to push other countries to phase out UNRWA by resettling Palestinian refugees outside Israel and Israeli-controlled territories.
UNRWA is the largest humanitarian provider in Gaza and the West Bank; conditioning funding on broad ideological certifications could cut aid to millions of Palestinians. The bill's push to phase out UNRWA in favor of resettlement outside Israeli-controlled areas could reshape Palestinian asylum and residency rights. The certification requirement gives the State Department wide discretion to block aid based on political judgments about antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment.