[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3358 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3358

  To provide for payment of certain claims against the Government of 
                                 Iran.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 20, 2005

Ms. Ros-Lehtinen (for herself, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Pence, Mr. 
  Engel, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Tancredo, Mr. 
Cardoza, Mr. Norwood, Mr. Kirk, Mr. McCotter, Mrs. Emerson, Mr. Burton 
 of Indiana, Mr. Barrett of South Carolina, Mr. Poe, and Mr. Lewis of 
  Kentucky) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
    Committee on the Judiciary, 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 for payment of certain claims against the Government of 
                                 Iran.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) On November 4, 1979, the Iranian militants seized the 
        United States Embassy in Tehran, Iran, and held 52 Americans 
        hostage for 444 days until their negotiated release on January 
        20, 1981.
            (2) On January 19, 1981, the Department of State entered 
        into a series of agreements with Iran that came to be known as 
        the Algiers Accords. The accords established the United States-
        Iran Claims Tribunal to adjudicate United States and Iranian 
        commercial claims. The Accords, however, sought to preclude the 
        52 American hostages or their families from bringing suit 
        against Iran for their seizure, detention, torture, and 
        injuries.
            (3) On December 29, 2000, the 52 American hostages and 
        their spouses and children filed suit in the United States 
        District Court for the District of Columbia, pursuant to the 
        Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (Public 
        Law 104-132).
            (4) On August 6, 2001, the District Court entered a default 
        judgment against Iran after certifying the case as a class 
        action.
            (5) The Department of State moved to vacate the decision of 
        the District Court, despite Iran's continued refusal to appear 
        in court.
            (6) In response to the motion to vacate by the Department 
        of State, Congress amended the Antiterrorism and Effective 
        Death Penalty Act of 1996 by adding language to allow the claim 
        of the hostages to proceed to judgment. The accompanying 
        Conference Report specifically stated that the amendment 
        ``quashes the State Department's motion to vacate the judgment 
        obtained by plaintiffs in Case Number 1:00CV03110 (ESG) in the 
        United States District Court for the District of Columbia''.
            (7) Congress further reaffirmed this view by enacting 
        section 208 of division B of Public Law 107-117, making a 
        technical correction to the case number.
            (8) On May 12, 2003, during oral arguments, the United 
        States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit 
        noted that the agreements reached pursuant to the Algiers 
        Accords ``were at the point of a gun'', and observed that the 
        Court ``doubt[ed] that the Government of the United States 
        would defend this agreement on the theory that we would have 
        entered into this voluntarily without them holding onto our 
        hostages''.
            (9) On May 12, 2003, during oral arguments before the Court 
        of Appeals, the attorneys representing the Department of 
        Justice affirmed to the Court that ``both Congress and the 
        President, both the political branches in other words, have the 
        authority to abrogate the international obligations of the 
        United States''.

SEC. 2. STATEMENTS OF POLICY.

    (a) Pursuit of Justice and Accountability.--It is the policy of the 
United States, as articulated in the Antiterrorism and Effective Death 
Penalty Act of 1996 and in other United States laws, to seek justice 
for United States victims of terrorism and to hold terrorists and their 
state-sponsors accountable for their actions.
    (b) Preemption.--United States law regarding victims of terrorism 
supersedes the Algiers Accords and any other agreement with Iran 
stemming from the holding of American hostages in Iran from November 4, 
1979, through January 20, 1981.

SEC. 3. JUSTICE FOR FORMER AMERICAN HOSTAGES IN IRAN.

    (a) Inapplicability of Algiers Accords.--Any provision of the 
Algiers Accords, entered into with Iran on January 19, 1981, that 
purports to bar a citizen of the United States from prosecuting any 
claim in any court of the United States or to limit the jurisdiction of 
any court of the United States is hereby abrogated and deemed 
nonapplicable.
    (b) Common Fund for Hostages.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury, in 
        consultation with the Secretary of State, shall commence 
        payments to a common fund to be established and administered by 
        the certified class representatives for the former American 
        hostages in Iran and their survivors (as identified in case 
        number 1:00CV03110 (EGS) of the United States District Court 
        for the District of Columbia). Such common fund shall--
                    (A) be administered to pay claims to the Americans 
                held hostage in Iran, and to members of their families, 
                who are identified as class members in case number 
                1:00CV03110 (EGS) of the United States District Court 
                for the District of Columbia; and
                    (B) be administered solely for purposes of 
                satisfying such claims, as approved by the certified 
                class representatives identified in that case number.
            (2) Funding.--Payments to the fund under paragraph (1) 
        shall be derived from the liquidation of blocked assets (as 
        defined in section 201(d)(2) of the Terrorism Risk Insurance 
        Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-297; 28 U.S.C. 1610 note) with 
        respect to Iran, and from amounts in the Iran Foreign Military 
        Sales Fund account within the Foreign Military Sales Fund. The 
        Secretary of the Treasury may liquidate such assets for 
        purposes of this subsection.
            (3) Amount.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall make 
        payments into the fund in amounts equal to--
                    (A) for each former hostage identified as a class 
                member under paragraph (1)(A), $1,000 for each day of 
                captivity;
                    (B) for each spouse and child identified as a class 
                member under pareagraph (1)(A), $500 for each day of 
                captivity of the former hostages; and
                    (C) interest on each amount under subparagraph (A) 
                and (B), calculated at the daily prime rate, as 
                determined by the Board of Governors of the Federal 
                Reserve System, for the period from the date of the 
                taking of the hostages until the date of payment under 
                this section.
                                 <all>