US bill wants to put breaks on unilateral PA moves

Over White House objections, a House panel approves a bill that withholds hundreds of millions of dollars from the State Department until it produces more documents to lawmakers investigating the deadly 2012 attack on the US diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya.

The bill provides money for embassy security and assistance to countries, including Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Ukraine. It also funds democracy programs; international broadcasting; and Central America’s efforts to address the tens of thousands of unaccompanied children that have come to the United States during the past year. It also states that the Palestinian Authority will not receive economic aid if it continues to pursue unilateral efforts at the United Nations and other international organization outside of a negotiated peace agreement with Israel.

A large part of the bill calls for the publication of emails exchanged by then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton which were sent from a private server. Clinton was accused of hiding some evidence by deleting some of the emails.

Rep. Nita Lowey of New York, the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee that handles State Department spending, tried unsuccessfully to remove the punitive provision from the bill, but her amendment failed.

“The proposed 15 percent cut to the State Department’s operating funds if officials don’t feed the sham investigation of Benghazi is simply atrocious,” said Lowey, who accused Republicans of trying to “profit politically” from the tragedy in Benghazi.

— AP