Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Recognition of the 1995 Jordan Extradition Treaty with the U.S. Act”.
Recognition of the 1995 Jordan Extradition Treaty with the U.S. Act
A BILL
To limit assistance to Jordan until the Government of Jordan recognizes the validity of the 1995 extradition treaty between the two countries, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Findings
Congress finds the following:
The Attorney General filed criminal charges against Ahlam al Tamimi, a Jordanian national who participated in the 2001 suicide bombing of a Jerusalem pizza restaurant that killed 15 people, including two Americans, in 2013.
Those charges were unsealed in early 2017.
Al Tamimi is on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Most Wanted Terrorist List.
The United States requested Ahlam Al Tamimi’s extradition in 2017, but Jordan’s Court of Cassation ruled that the extradition treaty was invalid.
In November 2019, the Secretary of State said that “the United States regards the extradition treaty as valid”.
The United States and Jordan signed a Memorandum of Understanding on United States foreign assistance to Jordan, the third such agreement between the United States and Jordan, committing the United States to providing $1,275,000,000 per year in bilateral foreign assistance over a five-year period, for a total of $6,375,000,000 between fiscal years 2018 and 2022.
This latest memorandum of understanding represents a 27-percent increase in the United States commitment to Jordan above the previous iteration and is the first five-year memorandum with the kingdom. The previous two agreements had each been in effect for three years.
Sec. 3 Statement of policy
It is the policy of the United States—
to pursue justice for the victims of Ahlam al Tamimi; and
to withhold foreign assistance from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan until Jordan recognizes the Extradition Treaty between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, signed at Washington on March 28, 1995, and entered into force on July 29, 1995.
Sec. 4 Limitation on funds
In general— Beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, no funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for any program, project, or activity in Jordan may be obligated or expended unless the President determines that the Government of Jordan has recognized the validity of the Extradition Treaty between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
Withdrawal from memorandum of understanding— The United States shall withdraw from the memorandum of understanding described in section 2(4) unless the President makes the determination described in subsection (a).