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S 198 119th Congress Senate International Affairs

PLO and PA Terror Payments Accountability Act of 2025

Introduced: January 22, 2025 Introduced by: Cotton, Tom Republican · Arkansas See on congress.gov
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jan 22, 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Jan 22, 2025
Introduced in Senate
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 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

PLO and PA Terror Payments Accountability Act of 2025

This bill requires the President to impose sanctions on foreign persons (individuals and entities) that are involved with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) or Palestinian Authority (PA) system of compensation supporting acts of terrorism. The bill defines this system of compensation as payments to an individual who (1) has been imprisoned for terrorist acts against Israeli or U.S. citizens after being fairly tried, (2) died while committing such terrorist acts, or (3) is a family member of such individuals. The definition also includes compensation for individuals imprisoned for terrorism where the level of compensation is based on the length of incarceration.

Specifically, the President must impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions on any foreign person that has facilitated this compensation system, including PLO and PA officials as well as entities such as the Institute for the Care of the Families of the Martyrs and the Wounded. The President must also impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions on foreign persons who knowingly provide significant support to, or engage in significant transactions with, any of the aforementioned persons.

The President must sanction foreign financial institutions that facilitate payments or benefits related to this compensation system by (1) prohibiting them from opening correspondent or payable-through accounts in the United States, and (2) prohibiting or imposing strict conditions on the maintenance of such accounts.

The provisions of this bill shall terminate if the Department of State certifies that such compensation system has ceased.

What's happening now January 22, 2025

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

 Related & companion bills 1
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Lobbying activity 7

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 198: PLO and PA Terror Payments Accountability Act of 2025. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-198/
MLA
"S. 198: PLO and PA Terror Payments Accountability Act of 2025." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-198/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 198, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-198/.
Markdown link
[S. 198: PLO and PA Terror Payments Accountability Act of 2025](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-198/)
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