NAMED FOR VANDERBILT TERROR VICTIM, TAYLOR FORCE ACT RESTRICTS U.S. FOREIGN AID TO STOP PALESTINIAN MARTYRDOM PAYMENTS

REP. SCOTT DESJARLAIS VOTES FOR BILL TO HONOR SLAIN ARMY VET, PUNISH “PAY TO SLAY”

WASHINGTON, D.C. —  Army veteran Taylor Force served two tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq, before enrolling at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management. In 2016, on a trip to study international business, the Texas native became the latest victim of Islamic extremism in Israel, where the Palestinian government pays terrorists to murder Americans and Israelis.

            “Taylor served his country, working to protect Americans and to make the world a safer place. In his memory, the House has passed severe restrictions on financial aid to the Palestinian Authority, funding terrorism, while the majority of its people subsist in poverty,” said Congressman Scott DesJarlais, M.D. “Until it ends institutional support for violence against innocent civilians, the government there will never be a legitimate partner for peace.”

            The Taylor Force Act, which the House of Representatives passed yesterday, would require the Palestinian Authority to renounce support for payments to terrorists and to abolish laws and funding, including for affiliate organizations. The U.S. Secretary of State must regularly certify compliance. “Sadly, Taylor is not the only American citizen to have died in the climate of hate the Authority’s radical policies create. Taxpayers here should have no part,” said Rep. DesJarlais (TN-04).

            If successful, terrorists and their families receive pensions and other financial rewards from a Martyrs Fund. According to estimates, the territorial government spends approximately $300 million annually, or seven percent of its budget, on such payments. Because foreign aid to alleviate poverty and debt in the West Bank is fungible, American taxpayer dollars, averaging $335 million per year, free funds for martyrdom operations or may directly subsidize them.

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