Top Republican and Democratic Senators on the Foreign Relations Committee expressed reservations regarding the Taylor Force Act that was introduced this week to cut off all U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority if payments to family members of terrorists continue.
[This story originally appeared on jewishinsider.com]
Ranking Democratic Member Ben Cardin (D-Md.) told Jewish Insider, “I generally don’t support an approach that could jeopardize needed assistance for stability in the West Bank.”
When asked if he backed Senator Lindsay Graham’s legislation (R-S.C.), Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-TN) told Jewish Insider on Thursday, “I think there is probably a more targeted way of dealing with that issue.”
At a press conference on Tuesday to introduce the bill along with Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Roy Blunt (R-MI), Graham predicted that the Taylor Force Act “if it gets to the Senate floor it will be overwhelmingly passed,” while assuring that President Donald Trump would sign the legislation.
Typically, the legislation’s next step would be review and approval in the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), where Corker and Cardin serve as top members on the body. Often bills never arrive for a Senate floor vote because of opposition within the SFRC.
The bill was named after a US military officer who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian terrorist while participating in a study abroad program in Israel. The Taylor Force Act was introduced last Congressional session but failed to pass the Senate and obtained no Democratic support.
