A Florida congresswoman teamed up with a Republican presidential hopeful to unveil a bill taking aim at the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) due to its support of terrorism and opposition to Israel.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, currently running for the Republican presidential nomination, and U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., the chairwoman of the U.S. House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, unveiled the “PLO Accountability Act” on Thursday. The bill would shut down the PLO office in Washington, D.C., which has been open since the Oslo Accords in 1994 unless it stops backing terrorism and anti-Israeli and anti-Semitism.
“The PLO office in Washington, D.C. was allowed to open in 1994, despite a prohibition in U.S. law, with the intention of implementing the Oslo Accords and facilitating a Middle East peace, but in the 22 years its doors have been open, the PLO has done nothing but violate Oslo and make the possibility of a lasting peace even more remote,” Ros-Lehtinen said on Thursday as she unveiled the bill. “There is simply no justification in allowing the PLO office to remain while Palestinian leaders openly incite violence against Israel, continue their efforts to delegitimize the Jewish state at the UN, and move forward with their scheme to achieve unilateral statehood at the UN without reaching a negotiated agreement with Israel. The legislation that we have introduced in both the House and Senate will ensure that the Palestinians no longer get a free pass and will be held accountable for their actions.”
"The Palestinian Liberation Organization has for decades been a relentless advocate for terrorist violence against the Jewish people,” Cruz said. “The United States needs to make it perfectly clear to the Palestinians that this behavior is intolerable, and that we stand with our ally Israel.
“Closing the PLO office in Washington D.C. sends the clear signal that the days of America turning a blind eye to the militant anti-Semitism of this organization are over, and that we will no longer allow political correctness to force us to host terrorist organizations in Washington, D.C.," Cruz added.
Ros-Lehtinen’s bill has been sent to the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee. She has reeled in more than dozen co-sponsors including Florida Republican U.S. Reps. Ander Crenshaw, John Mica and Ted Yoho.
Cruz’s bill has been sent to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. So far, Cruz has not garnered any co-sponsors.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
