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Senators Target U.S. Aid to Palestinians
(Greenville [S.C.] News) Mary Orndorff Troyan - Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), along with Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.), and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), says the U.S. should stop all economic assistance to the Palestinian Authority until it stops financially rewarding terrorists who commit acts of violence against Israel. Congress has previously required that U.S. aid be reduced by the same amount the Palestinian Authority spends to support terror suspects and their families. Graham said legislation introduced Tuesday would target all economic assistance. "This bill is not a result of animosity toward the Palestinian people, it's a pushback against state-sponsored terrorism," Graham said. Since the mid-1990s, the U.S. government has provided more than $5 billion in economic and security assistance to the Palestinians, according to the Congressional Research Service. With the congressional session drawing to a close, the legislation has no chance of passing this year, but Graham said he considered it the start of a long process to draw attention to how the Palestinian Authority misuses U.S. economic aid intended to make the region more stable.