[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4826 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4826

To provide victims of the Holocaust access to their insurance policies.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 13, 1998

  Mr. Sherman (for himself, Mr. Lantos, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Yates, Mr. 
    Waxman, and Mr. Frost) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in addition to the Committee 
on International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
        fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide victims of the Holocaust access to their insurance policies.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Holocaust Victim Insurance Relief 
Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) During World War II, 6,000,000 victims of the Holocaust 
        lost their lives and property.
            (2) In addition to the many atrocities that befell the 
        victims of the Nazi regime, many of the insurance claims that 
        rightfully should have been paid to the victims and their 
        families were not.
            (3) In many instances, insurance company records are the 
        only proof of the existence of these insurance policies 
        belonging to Holocaust victims.
            (4) Many Holocaust survivors and their descendants have 
        been fighting for 50 years to persuade insurance companies to 
        settle unpaid claims.
            (5) Holocaust survivors and families of victims have asked 
        that insurance companies disclose any information they possess 
        that could show proof of insurance policies held by Holocaust 
        victims and survivors.
            (6) Insurance companies doing business in the United States 
        have a responsibility to ensure that any involvement they or 
        their related companies may have had with insurance policies of 
        Holocaust victims are disclosed to the Federal Government and 
        to ensure the rapid resolution of these questions, eliminating 
        the further victimization of these policyholders and their 
        families.
            (7) The international Jewish community is negotiating with 
        responsible insurance companies to establish an international 
        commission to resolve the issue of outstanding insurance 
        claims.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF HOLOCAUST INSURANCE REGISTRY.

    The Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of State, and Secretary of 
Commerce shall jointly establish and maintain a central registry 
containing records and information relating to insurance policies of 
victims, living and deceased, of the Holocaust. The registry shall be 
known as the Holocaust Insurance Registry and shall be accessible to 
the public.

SEC. 4. FULL DISCLOSURE BY INSURANCE FIRMS.

    Any insurer currently doing business in the United States that sold 
life, property, liability, health, annuity, dowry, educational, or 
casualty insurance policies, directly or through a related company, to 
persons in Europe, which were in effect between 1920 and 1945, whether 
the sale occurred before or after the insurer and the related company 
became related, shall, within 180 days following the date of the 
enactment of this Act, file or cause to be filed the following 
information with the Departments of the Treasury, State, or Commerce to 
be entered into the Holocaust Insurance Registry:
            (1) The number of such insurance policies.
            (2) The holder, beneficiary, and current status of such 
        policies.
            (3) A comparison of the names of holders and beneficiaries 
        of such policies and the names of the victims of the Holocaust.
The names of victims of the Holocaust shall be provided by the 
Department of State and may additionally be obtained from the Yad 
Vashem repository in Israel.

SEC. 5. CERTIFICATION BY INSURANCE COMPANIES.

    Each insurer subject to section 4 shall certify under penalty of 
perjury to any of the following:
            (1) The proceeds of the policies described in section 4 
        have been paid to the designated beneficiaries or their heirs 
        where that person or persons, after diligent search, could be 
        located and identified.
            (2) The proceeds of the policies where the beneficiaries or 
        heirs could not, after diligent search, be located or 
        identified, have been distributed to Holocaust survivors or to 
        qualified charitable nonprofit organizations for the purpose of 
        assisting Holocaust survivors.
            (3) A court of law has certified in a legal proceeding 
        resolving the rights of unpaid policyholders, their heirs, and 
        beneficiaries, a plan for the distribution of the proceeds.
            (4) The proceeds have not been distributed and the amount 
        of those proceeds.
An insurer currently doing business in the United States that did not 
sell any insurance policies in Europe prior to 1945, shall not be 
subject to this section if a related company, whether or not authorized 
and currently doing business in the United States, has made a filing 
under this section.

SEC. 6. PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO DISCLOSE INFORMATION.

    (a) In General.--Any insurer that knowingly files information 
required by this Act that is false shall be liable for a civil penalty 
not to exceed $5,000 for each violation, which penalty is hereby 
appropriated to the Departments of Treasury, State, and Commerce to be 
used to aid in the resolution of Holocaust insurance claims.
    (b) Suspension.--Any insurance company that fails to comply with 
the requirements of this Act by the 210th day after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, shall be suspended from practicing in the 
insurance business until the time that the insurer complies with this 
Act.
    (c) Regulation.--The Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of State, 
and Secretary of Commerce shall jointly adopt regulations to implement 
this Act.

SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that outstanding claims under insurance 
policies held by Holocaust victims and survivors be resolved at the 
earliest possible time.

SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) The term ``Holocaust victim'' means any person who was 
        persecuted during the period of 1929 to 1945, inclusive, by 
        Nazi Germany, its allies, or sympathizers.
            (2) The term ``related company'' means any parent, 
        subsidiary, reinsurer, successor in interest, managing general 
        agent, or affiliate company of the insurer.
            (3) The term ``proceeds'' means the face value or other 
        payout value of insurance policies and annuities plus 
        reasonable interest to date of payment without diminution for 
        wartime or immediate postwar currency devaluation.
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