The House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously approved the Taylor Force Act Wednesday.
The bill, named for US army veteran Taylor Force, who was murdered in a terrorist stabbing attack in Tel Aviv in March, 2016, would cut US funding to the Palestinian Authority unless it stopped its payments to terrorists and their families.
The bill will move to the House floor to be voted into law. A similar version of the bill was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The House version of the bill includes three exceptions which would continue to receive US funding even if the PA does not halt its payments to terrorists, funding for hospitals in eastern Jerusalem, funding for water projects in Judea and Samaria, and funding for the vaccination of children.
Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said following the the vote that "with this legislation, we are forcing the PA to choose between US assistance and these morally reprehensible policies, and I am pleased to see the measure move forward with so much support."
A report released by Palestinian Media Watch contends that the PA budget for jailed terrorists stands at 550 Million Shekels ($158 million) in 2017, a 13% increase from the previous 488 Million shekels ($135 million) that it handed out in 2016. In addition, payments to the families of terrorists has risen to 687 million shekels ($197 million), up 4% from its 2016 budget of 660 million shekels ($183 million).
The Taylor Force Act was included in the the 2018 Foreign Operations budget in the Senate