Bill Named for Slain Vanderbilt University Graduate Student Demands Palestinian Authority End Terrorism Payments
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) today praised Senate Foreign Relations Committee passage of legislation demanding the Palestinian Authority end its policy of rewarding terrorism. The Taylor Force Act, legislation introduced by Graham and Corker this week, would restrict U.S. economic aid to the West Bank and Gaza until the Palestinian Authority stops paying terrorists guilty of violence against Israelis and Americans. The bill is named after a Vanderbilt University graduate student who was killed in a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv last year.
“I want to thank Chairman Corker for bringing the Taylor Force Act up for consideration,” said Graham. “This bill shines a light on the very real problem of ‘Pay to Slay.’ Taylor was an American hero who was brutally murdered at the hands of terrorists. Yet instead of condemning this horrific attack – and so many others like it – the Palestinian Authority rewards terrorists. These rewards for terrorist attacks are inconsistent with American values. They are inconsistent with decency. And they are certainly inconsistent with peace. Simply put, you can’t be a partner in peace when you are paying people to commit acts of terror. It is long past time to let the Palestinian Authority know that these practices are wholly unacceptable.”
“We absolutely cannot accept a policy that rewards acts of terrorism like the one that tragically took the life of Taylor Force,” said Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “This legislation will force the Palestinian Authority to make a choice: either face the consequences of stoking violence or end this detestable practice immediately. I thank Senator Graham for his important role in this effort and look forward to this bill becoming law.”
Text of the bill is available here.
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