I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 902
To prohibit the use of materials that use the term ‘‘West Bank’’, and
for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY31, 2025
Ms. T
ENNEY(for herself, Mr. WEBERof Texas, Mrs. MILLERof Illinois, Mr.
M
OOREof Alabama, and Mr. OGLES) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
A BILL
To prohibit the use of materials that use the term ‘‘West
Bank’’, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Retiring the Egregious 4
Confusion Over the Genuine Name of Israel’s Zone of In-5
fluence by Necessitating Government-use of Judea and 6
Samaria Act’’ or the ‘‘RECOGNIZING Judea and Sama-7
ria Act’’. 8
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SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1
It is the sense of the Congress that the United States 2
Government— 3
(1) should refer to the land annexed by Israel 4
from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War by its 5
historical names of ‘‘Judea and Samaria’’, with the 6
land south of Jerusalem being considered ‘‘Judea’’ 7
and the land north of Jerusalem being considered 8
‘‘Samaria’’; and 9
(2) should no longer use the term ‘‘West Bank’’ 10
in official government materials. 11
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF MATERIALS THAT USE 12
THE TERM ‘‘WEST BANK’’. 13
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-14
sion of law, none of the funds authorized to be appro-15
priated or otherwise made available after the date of the 16
enactment of this Act may be obligated or expended to 17
prepare or promulgate any policy, guidance, regulation, 18
notice, Executive order, materials, briefing, press release, 19
communications, or other work product that refers to 20
Judea and Samaria as the ‘‘West Bank’’. 21
(b) E
XCEPTION.—The prohibition in this section 22
shall not apply with respect to the obligation or expendi-23
ture of funds relating to obligations of the United States 24
under international treaties or other agreements. 25
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(c) WAIVER.—The Secretary of State may waive the 1
prohibition in this section if the Secretary— 2
(1) determines that is in the interests of the 3
United States to do so; and 4
(2) submits to Congress an explanation for the 5
waiver not later than 30 days after the date on 6
which the Secretary makes the determination. 7
SEC. 4. CONFORMING CHANGES TO UNITED STATES LAW. 8
(a) F
OREIGNASSISTANCEACT OF1961.—The For-9
eign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended as follows: 10
(1) In section 620K(f)(3) (22 U.S.C. 11
2378b(f)(3)), by striking ‘‘the West Bank’’ and in-12
serting ‘‘Judea and Samaria’’. 13
(2) In section 620L (22 U.S.C. 2378c)— 14
(A) in the section heading, by striking 15
‘‘
THE WEST BANK ’’ and inserting ‘‘JUDEA 16
AND SAMARIA ’’; and 17
(B) by striking ‘‘the West Bank’’ each 18
place it appears and inserting ‘‘Judea and Sa-19
maria’’. 20
(b) T
AYLORFORCEACT.—Section 1004 of the Tay-21
lor Force Act (22 U.S.C. 2378c–1) is amended— 22
(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘
THE 23
WEST BANK’’ and inserting ‘‘JUDEA AND SAMA -24
RIA’’; 25
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(2) by striking ‘‘the West Bank’’ each place it 1
appears and inserting ‘‘Judea and Samaria’’. 2
(c) M
ULTINATIONALFORCE ANDOBSERVERSPAR-3
TICIPATIONRESOLUTION.—Section 2 of the Multinational 4
Force and Observers Participation Resolution (22 U.S.C. 5
3421) is amended by striking ‘‘the West Bank’’ and in-6
serting ‘‘Judea and Samaria’’. 7
(d) O
MNIBUS DIPLOMATIC SECURITY AND 8
A
NTITERRORISMACT OF1986.—Section 414 of the Om-9
nibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act of 1986 10
(22 U.S.C. 4862) is amended— 11
(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘
WEST 12
BANK’’ and inserting ‘‘JUDEA AND SAMARIA ’’; 13
and 14
(2) by striking ‘‘the West Bank’’ and inserting 15
‘‘Judea and Samaria’’. 16
(e) U
NITEDSTATES-ISRAELFREETRADEAREAIM-17
PLEMENTATION ACT OF1985.—Section 9 of the United 18
States-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation Act of 19
1985 (19 U.S.C. 2112 note) is amended by striking ‘‘the 20
West Bank’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Judea 21
and Samaria’’. 22
(f) I
MPLEMENTINGRECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 9/11 23
C
OMMISSIONACT OF2007.—Section 2021(i) of the Im-24
plementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act 25
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of 2007 (22 U.S.C. 2151 note) is amended by striking 1
‘‘the West Bank’’ and inserting ‘‘Judea and Samaria’’. 2
(g) F
OREIGNRELATIONSAUTHORIZATIONACT, FIS-3
CALYEAR2003.—Section 699 of the Foreign Relations 4
Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (22 U.S.C. 2301 5
note) is amended— 6
(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘
WEST 7
BANK’’ and inserting ‘‘JUDEA AND SAMARIA ’’; 8
and 9
(2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘the West 10
Bank’’ and inserting ‘‘Judea and Samaria’’. 11
(h) N
ITAM. LOWEYMIDDLEEASTPARTNERSHIP 12
FORPEACEACT.—Section 8005 of the Nita M. Lowey 13
Middle East Partnership for Peace Act (Pub. L. 116–260) 14
is amended by striking ‘‘the West Bank’’ each place it ap-15
pears and inserting ‘‘Judea and Samaria’’. 16
Æ
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