Leading Congressional efforts to prevent U.S. taxpayer money from flowing to terrorists or their propaganda has been Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ). Earlier this year, he introduced a resolution calling for UNRWA to put its textbooks on the Internet for public inspection and for the U.S. to screen the agency’s payroll for terrorists.

His ultimate goal, he explains, is simple: “Not one penny of U.S. taxpayer dollars should go either directly or indirectly to anyone associated with Hamas or any other terrorist organization. Nor should any go to terrorist propaganda in classrooms.”

Congress moved one step further in that direction earlier this month. In the supplemental appropriations bill that included an additional $119 million for UNRWA for the current fiscal year, lawmakers made clear that they are not happy with the status quo. The spending bill requires State to propose a plan to increase transparency and accountability of UNRWA. More important, it sets aside $1 million for the State Department Inspector General to audit USAID.

Within the next month, the House foreign aid appropriators could go even further in the spending bill for 2010. Rothman has several proposals to increase accountability and transparency for both USAID and UNRWA.

But changing the law alone is not enough. Judging by current procedures, State seems intent on not enforcing the laws actually passed by Congress.

Lawmakers have repeatedly and explicitly dictated that no U.S. taxpayer funds can go to any organization that has even “advocated” terrorism—meaning no money should go to groups whose leaders have declared on Al-Jazeera or elsewhere that suicide bombers are “martyrs.” This is not trivial. Figures who lionize terrorists and praise evil acts poison society and ultimately help cause more terrorism.

State’s standards for its contractors and aid recipients, however, are set much lower. Even under the most thorough vetting State currently conducts, essentially only people who have actively participated in terrorism would be declared ineligible. It appears that State hasn’t even bothered to think of a way to determine which people trying to receive U.S. taxpayer dollars have advocated terrorism.

Considering Europe’s and the UN’s longstanding indifference to Palestinian radicalism, the U.S. is likely the only party who can start to drain the cultural swamp.

The stakes are high. If the U.S. doesn’t put its full efforts toward real peace, what signal does that send to Israel and the Palestinians?