S. 2479: UNRWA Accountability and Transparency Act

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S. 2479: UNRWA Accountability and Transparency Act

117th Congress · introduced 2021-07-27 · International Affairs · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

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Official title

UNRWA Accountability and Transparency Act

Plain summary

UNRWA Accountability and Transparency Act This bill makes changes to U.S. foreign policy in matters concerning the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). For purposes of this policy, the bill defines Palestinian refugee as a person who (1) resided from June 1946 to May 1948 in Mandatory Palestine (a region controlled by Britain until 1948), (2) was personally displaced as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, and (3) has not accepted citizenship or other permanent adjustment in status in another country. The bill withholds U.S. funding for the UNRWA unless the Department of State makes certifications concerning the UNRWA's staff, partners, and funding. Specifically, the State Department must certify that neither UNRWA staff and partners nor its funding and facilities are affiliated with terrorism or engaged in the dissemination of anti-American, anti-Israel, or anti-Semitic ideologies. Additionally, the State Department must certify that the UNRWA is subject to comprehensive financial audits by an independent auditing firm and is unaffiliated with any financial institutions that the United States considers to be complicit in money laundering or terror financing. The bill also requires the State Department to implement a plan to encourage other countries to align their activities and efforts regarding the UNRWA with U.S. policy objectives, including the phase out of the UNRWA by resettling Palestinian refugees in countries other than Israel and in territories not controlled by Israel. The State Department must report to Congress on this plan.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID] · 13 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Thom Tillis (R-NC), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Steve Daines (R-MT), Todd Young (R-IN), Susan M. Collins (R-ME), Rick Scott (R-FL), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Boozman (R-AR), John Thune (R-SD), Roger F. Wicker (R-MS)

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID] reported raising $3.9 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Sources

• Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
• Congress.gov
• Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-117s2479.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/117/s>

Record fed-us-cong117-s2479 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong117 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong117