Sponsors (2)
The bill creates a single, explicit U.S. naming policy across laws and agencies—trading clearer, uniform domestic administration and discretionary diplomatic exceptions against elevated risks of diplomatic friction, legal uncertainty, and administrative costs.
Federal, state, and local officials will use one consistent geographic label (replacing 'West Bank' with 'Judea and Samaria') across statutes and agency guidance, reducing internal ambiguity for employees and implementers.
The measure preserves diplomatic flexibility by allowing exceptions for treaty or agreement obligations and by giving the Secretary of State discretionary waiver authority with a short congressional notice requirement.
Making statutory terminology uniform across multiple laws should streamline administration of U.S. foreign-aid and related programs by clarifying which territory program texts refer to, easing eligibility and implementation decisions for program managers.
U.S. use of unfamiliar or politically charged terminology could be perceived as taking a side in a territorial dispute, risking diplomatic friction, undermining U.S. neutrality in peace efforts, and complicating relations with allies and partners.
Altering statutory place names may create legal uncertainty and prompt litigation over program coverage and applicability until courts or agencies interpret the changes, disrupting existing legal expectations.
Agencies will face administrative and operational costs — revising maps, documents, templates, databases, translations, and training staff — producing budgetary burdens for federal employees and taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Directs U.S. government materials and statutes to use “Judea and Samaria” instead of “West Bank,” bans funds for new materials using “West Bank” with limited exceptions.
Official title: Prohibit the use of materials that use the term "West Bank", and for other purposes.
Introduced February 4, 2025 by Thomas Bryant Cotton · Last progress February 4, 2025
Requires the U.S. government to stop using the geographic term “West Bank” in new official materials and instead use the historical names “Judea and Samaria.” It bans use of funds to prepare or publish materials that call that territory the West Bank (with a Secretary of State waiver for U.S. interests) and modifies numerous federal statutes by replacing the phrase “the West Bank” with “Judea and Samaria.” The bill is largely symbolic and terminological but also makes broad textual changes in U.S. law that alter how statutes refer to that territory, and it restricts federal agencies’ ability to use the older term in future guidance, communications, and rulemaking except where treaty obligations require otherwise or the Secretary of State waives the restriction.