WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Tom Cotton (Ark.), along with Representatives Lee Zeldin (N.Y.) and Doug Lamborn (Colo.), held a press conference today announcing the reintroduction of The Taylor Force Act. The legislation would make U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority contingent upon the Secretary of State certifying that the PA has ended its policy of financially rewarding terrorists and their family members.

Blunt, Graham, Cotton, Zeldin, and Lamborn were joined at today’s press conference by Taylor Force’s parents, Stuart and Robbi Force. Taylor was a former U.S. Army officer who was visiting Israel as part of a Vanderbilt University student group when he was brutally stabbed and killed by a Palestinian terrorist.

“We cannot continue allowing U.S. taxpayer dollars to be used by the Palestinian Authority to reward convicted terrorists and their families for acts of violence against Israel or the United States,” said Blunt. “Under current Palestinian Authority law, the more heinous an act of terror an individual commits, the greater the reward. This is an outrageous policy and I urge my Senate colleagues to support this effort to end the Palestinian Authority’s unconscionable law.”

The Taylor Force Act provides a limitation on assistance to the West Bank and Gaza unless the Secretary of State certifies that the Palestinian Authority:

• Is taking credible steps to end acts of violence against U.S. and Israeli citizens perpetrated by individuals under its jurisdiction, such as the March 2016 attack that killed Taylor Force;

• Is publicly condemning such acts of violence and is taking steps to investigate or is cooperating in investigations of such acts to bring the perpetrators to justice; and

• Has terminated payments for acts of terrorism against United States and Israeli citizens to any individual who has been imprisoned after being fairly tried and convicted for such acts of terrorism, and to the family members of individuals who died committing such acts of terrorism.

The legislation was originally introduced by Senators Blunt and Graham, and former U.S. Senator Dan Coats (Ind.), in 2016.