[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 271 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 271

   To amend title 28, United States Code, relating to jurisdictional 
immunities of the Federal Republic of Germany, to grant jurisdiction to 
  the courts of the United States in certain cases involving acts of 
 genocide occurring against certain individuals during World War II in 
 the predecessor states of the Federal Republic of Germany, or in any 
  territories or areas occupied, annexed, or otherwise controlled by 
                             those states.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 6, 1999

   Ms. Slaughter (for herself, Mr. Horn, Mr. Farr of California, Mr. 
Frost, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mrs. Mink of Hawaii, Mr. 
Calvert, Mrs. Meek of Florida, Mr. McNulty, Mrs. Kelly, Mr. Foley, Mr. 
Holden, Mr. Tierney, Mr. George Miller of California, Mrs. Lowey, Mrs. 
Maloney of New York, Mr. Bilbray, Mr. Towns, Mr. Engel, Mr. Gutierrez, 
 Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Wexler, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Hinchey, Ms. Waters, Mr. 
  Deutsch, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Payne, Mr. Levin, Mrs. 
  Morella, Mr. Nader, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Forbes, Mr. Romero-Barcelo, Mr. 
Weygand, Mr. Sandlin, Mr. Franks of New Jersey, Mr. Walsh, Mr. Matsui, 
 Mr. Reyes, Mr. Bentsen, Mr. Hefley, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Sherman, and Mr. 
   Clyburn) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 28, United States Code, relating to jurisdictional 
immunities of the Federal Republic of Germany, to grant jurisdiction to 
  the courts of the United States in certain cases involving acts of 
 genocide occurring against certain individuals during World War II in 
 the predecessor states of the Federal Republic of Germany, or in any 
  territories or areas occupied, annexed, or otherwise controlled by 
                             those states.

    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 ``Justice for Holocaust Survivors 
Act''.

SEC. 2. EXCEPTION TO FOREIGN SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY FOR CERTAIN CASES 
              INVOLVING ACTS OF GENOCIDE IN A FOREIGN STATE.

    Section 1605 of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking ``or'' at the end of paragraph (6);
                    (B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
                (7) and inserting ``; or''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) not otherwise encompassed in paragraph (2), in which 
        money damages are sought against the Federal Republic of 
        Germany for the personal injury of a United States citizen 
        occurring in the predecessor states of the Federal Republic of 
        Germany, or in any territories or areas occupied, annexed, or 
        otherwise controlled by those states and caused by an act of 
        genocide committed against that citizen during World War II by, 
        or under the direction or supervision of, such predecessor 
        state or by, or under the direction or supervision of, an 
        official or employee of such predecessor state while acting 
        within the scope of his or her office or employment, whether or 
        not the individual whose injury gave rise to the action was a 
        United States citizen at the time the conduct causing such 
        injury occurred, except that--
                    ``(A) the court shall decline to hear a claim under 
                this paragraph if the claimant has not exhausted 
                adequate and available remedies under the law of the 
                Federal Republic of Germany, unless pursuing such 
                remedies would cause or would have caused the claimant 
                undue hardship on account of the nature of the injuries 
                sustained and their effects on the ability of the 
                claimant to pursue such remedies; and
                    ``(B) an action under this paragraph shall not be 
                maintained unless the cause of action is brought within 
                24 months after the date of the enactment of this 
                paragraph.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(h) For purposes of paragraph (8) of subsection (a), the term 
`act of genocide' means conduct that would be a violation of section 
1091 of title 18 if committed in the United States.''.

SEC. 3. EXCEPTION TO IMMUNITY FROM ATTACHMENT.

    (a) Foreign State.--Section 1610(a) of title 28, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (7) and 
        inserting ``, or''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(8) the judgment relates to a claim for which the foreign 
        state is not immune by virtue of section 1605(a)(8), regardless 
        of whether the property was involved in the act upon which the 
        claim is based.''.
    (b) Agency or Instrumentality.--Section 1610(b)(2) of such title is 
amended by striking ``or (7)'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``(7), or 
(8)''.

SEC. 4. VENUE.

    Section 1391(f) of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3) by striking ``or'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (4) by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) in the case of an action for which there is no 
        immunity by virtue of section 1605(a)(8), in the judicial 
        district in which the plaintiff resides.''.

SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY.

    The amendments made by this Act shall apply to any cause of action 
arising before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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