On March 8, 2016, U.S. Army Veteran Taylor Force, a Texas native, was stabbed to death by an Arab terrorist while on a visit to Israel. The reaction to the murder of someone who risked his life for his own country by joining the U.S. military and served in both Iraq and Afghanistan should have been met with much more anger than it was.
Yet the U.S. still funds the Palestinian Authority (PA), while the PA refuses to denounce terrorism, funds terrorism and names schools and town squares after terrorists, whom they refer to as “martyrs” and “heroes.”
This begs the question: Why do we still fund this evil organization, which is nothing more than an offshoot of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), which identified as a terrorist group led by Yasser Arafat? To solve this problem, both the House and Senate, led by Reps. Doug Lamborn and Lee Zeldin and Sen. Lindsey Graham, introduced legislation, appropriately called the Taylor Force Act, to stop taxpayer money from funding the PA until it stops funding terrorism and stops paying surviving family members of suicide bombers. These three men were joined by Senators Ted Cruz, Roy Blunt, Tom Cotton, and the act was cosponsored by Sens. Tim Scott, Marco Rubio, John Boozman, Richard Burr and John Thune.
The senators and congressmen each released statements regarding the act. Cruz The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives stated:
This bill delivers a message that should be heard loud and clear: The United States must not fund a Palestinian leadership that engages in incitement and supports acts of terrorism against both American and Israeli citizens. I’m proud to work with Sen. Graham and my colleagues on this legislation, named in honor of Taylor Force, a Texas native and Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran who served multiple tours in defense of our country before being murdered by a Palestinian terrorist in Tel Aviv last year. The U.S. must hold the Palestinian leadership accountable for continuing this heinous practice of incentivizing and rewarding terrorism by providing monthly salaries and benefits to terrorists, their families, and the families of those who died committing acts of terrorism. We must ensure U.S. taxpayer dollars are not being used to fund and enable Palestinian terrorism and stand with Israel against radical Islamic terrorism that targets citizens from both of our countries.
Americans should not be subsidizing terror, especially when it directly affects Americans who risked their lives to protect us. Subsidizing a government that itself subsidizes terror is a slap in the face to Israel and in this case, an affront to our own servicemen.
The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on February 16, 2017.
We should pass the Taylor Force Act.
Now.
