{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-to-biden-continued-support-for-the-unrwa-funds-terrorist-activities-and-prolongs-war", "Cotton to Biden: Continued Support for UNRWA Funds Terrorist Activities and Prolongs War", "2024-10-23", "2024", "2024-10", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler or Patrick McCann (202) 224-2353\n\nOctober 23, 2024\n\nCotton to Biden: Continued Support for UNRWA Funds Terrorist Activities and Prolongs War\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today wrote a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to impose terrorism sanctions on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The Biden-Harris administration\u2019s support for UNRWA threatens American national security and enables continued violence while American hostages remain in Gaza.\n\nIn part, Senator Cotton wrote:\n\n\u201cCongress blocked funding to UNRWA earlier this year because of its ties to Hamas. Yet your administration continues to ignore both legislative intent and plain common sense. Your administration\u2019s inadequate oversight has almost certainly enabled U.S. funds to flow to UNRWA affiliates. You even lectured Israel about its proposal to designate UNRWA as a terrorist organization. Your administration has become UNRWA\u2019s most prominent apologist and best advocate. \u201d\n\nFull text of the letter may be found here and below.\n\nOctober 23, 2024\n\nPresident Joseph R. Biden\n\nThe White House\n\n1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW\n\nWashington, DC 20500\n\nI write to protest the Biden-Harris administration\u2019s continued support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and to urge you to impose terrorism sanctions on the agency. Your advocacy for the Hamas-affiliated UNRWA as \u201cindispensable\u201d to humanitarian aid in Gaza undercuts America\u2019s national-security interests by prolonging the Israel-Hamas war, enabling continued violence, and sustaining enemies actively holding American hostages in Gaza.\n\nCongress blocked funding to UNRWA earlier this year because of its ties to Hamas. Yet your administration continues to ignore both legislative intent and plain common sense. Your administration\u2019s inadequate oversight has almost certainly enabled U.S. funds to flow to UNRWA affiliates. You even lectured Israel about its proposal to designate UNRWA as a terrorist organization. Your administration has become UNRWA\u2019s most prominent apologist and best advocate.\n\nThe evidence for UNRWA\u2019s complicity in Hamas\u2019s terrorist activity is overwhelming. UNRWA itself admitted that many of its members participated in the October 7 attacks. Hamas terrorists have fired against Israel from UNRWA clinics. Israel has found weapons stashes in UNRWA facilities as well as tunnel shafts around and under those facilities. An Israeli hostage revealed he had been held in a UNRWA employee\u2019s house. And Israel reportedly found a passport belonging to a UNRWA teacher on Yahya Sinwar\u2019s body this week as well as UNRWA food bags in his bunker.\n\nYou must end your support for those who abet terrorism. I call on you to use your authority under Executive Order 13224 to designate UNRWA as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity, allowing the U.S. to impose sanctions and block UNRWA assets.\n\nSincerely,\n\nTom Cotton\n\nUnited States Senator\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:57:20Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-to-biden-continued-support-for-the-unrwa-funds-terrorist-activities-and-prolongs-war"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8972340729087591, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}