Congressman Ted Deutch has signed on as a cosponsor of H.R. 1006, the Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act of 2011. On September 23rd, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, who has been in close coordination with Hamas (a recognized terrorist organization) will attempt to have the United Nations Security Council and at the United Nations General Assembly, to recognize a Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as the capital. Although the United States officially supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the move to declare Palestine a state outside the agreed upon negotiations framework would damage and undermine the peace process. It is the official position of the United States that Jerusalem is, and rightly ought to remain, the undivided capital of Israel. The Congress has repeatedly and overwhelmingly adopted multiple resolutions reaffirming this commitment.  On June 4, 2008, while still serving as a United States Senator, President Obama pledged that: “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.” Despite this apparent unanimity, however, the United States has inexplicably never acted to move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.  United States officials do conduct diplomatic meetings and other business in the city of Jerusalem in de facto recognition of its status as the capital of Israel, but the Embassy remains firmly grounded in Tel Aviv. The Jerusalem Embassy Act will close the loophole that has continued to allow the diplomatic embarrassment of not having our Embassy located in the capital city of Israel to continue for ten years.

You can read H.R. 1006, the Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act of 2011, here.