[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1944 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1944

      To provide justice for victims of state-sponsored terrorism.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 2, 2007

Mr. Lautenberg (for himself, Mr. Specter, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. 
Coleman, Mr. Lott, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Schumer, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Casey, 
 Ms. Collins, Mr. Graham, Mr. Biden, Mr. Stevens, and Mrs. Feinstein) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To provide justice for victims of state-sponsored terrorism.

    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 Victims of State 
Sponsored Terrorism Act''.

SEC. 2. TERRORISM EXCEPTION TO IMMUNITY.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 97 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after section 1605 the following:
``Sec. 1605A. Terrorism exception to the jurisdictional immunity of a 
              foreign state
    ``(a) In General.--
            ``(1) No immunity.--A foreign state shall not be immune 
        from the jurisdiction of courts of the United States or of the 
        States in any case not otherwise covered by this chapter in 
        which money damages are sought against a foreign state for 
        personal injury or death that was caused by an act of torture, 
        extrajudicial killing, aircraft sabotage, hostage taking, or 
        the provision of material support or resources (as defined in 
        section 2339A of title 18) for such an act if such act or 
        provision of material support is engaged in by an official, 
        employee, or agent of such foreign state while acting within 
        the scope of his or her office, employment, or agency.
            ``(2) Claim heard.--The court shall hear a claim under this 
        section if--
                    ``(A) the foreign state was designated as a state 
                sponsor of terrorism under section 6(j) of the Export 
                Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)) or 
                section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
                U.S.C. 2371) at the time the act occurred, unless later 
                designated as a result of such act;
                    ``(B) the claimant or the victim was--
                            ``(i) a national of the United States (as 
                        that term is defined in section 101(a)(22) of 
                        the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
                        1101(a)(22));
                            ``(ii) a member of the Armed Forces of the 
                        United States (as that term is defined in 
                        section 976 of title 10); or
                            ``(iii) otherwise an employee of the 
                        government of the United States or one of its 
                        contractors acting within the scope of their 
                        employment when the act upon which the claim is 
                        based occurred; or
                    ``(C) where the act occurred in the foreign state 
                against which the claim has been brought, the claimant 
                has afforded the foreign state a reasonable opportunity 
                to arbitrate the claim in accordance with the accepted 
                international rules of arbitration.
    ``(b) Definition.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) the terms `torture' and `extrajudicial killing' have 
        the meaning given those terms in section 3 of the Torture 
        Victim Protection Act of 1991 (28 U.S.C. 1350 note);
            ``(2) the term `hostage taking' has the meaning given that 
        term in Article 1 of the International Convention Against the 
        Taking of Hostages; and
            ``(3) the term `aircraft sabotage' has the meaning given 
        that term in Article 1 of the Convention for the Suppression of 
        Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation.
    ``(c) Time Limit.--An action may be brought under this section if 
the action is commenced not later than the latter of--
            ``(1) 10 years after April 24, 1996; or
            ``(2) 10 years from the date on which the cause of action 
        arose.
    ``(d) Private Right of Action.--A private cause of action may be 
brought against a foreign state designated under section 6(j) of the 
Export Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. 2405(j)), and any 
official, employee, or agent of said foreign state while acting within 
the scope of his or her office, employment, or agency which shall be 
liable to a national of the United States (as that term is defined in 
section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1101(a)(22)), a member of the Armed Forces of the United States (as 
that term is defined in section 976 of title 10), or an employee of the 
government of the United States or one of its contractors acting within 
the scope of their employment or the legal representative of such a 
person for personal injury or death caused by acts of that foreign 
state or its official, employee, or agent for which the courts of the 
United States may maintain jurisdiction under this section for money 
damages which may include economic damages, solatium, pain, and 
suffering, and punitive damages if the acts were among those described 
in this section. A foreign state shall be vicariously liable for the 
actions of its officials, employees, or agents.
    ``(e) Additional Damages.--After an action has been brought under 
subsection (d), actions may also be brought for reasonably foreseeable 
property loss, whether insured or uninsured, third party liability, and 
life and property insurance policy loss claims.
    ``(f) Special Masters.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Courts of the United States may from 
        time to time appoint special masters to hear damage claims 
        brought under this section.
            ``(2) Transfer of funds.--The Attorney General shall 
        transfer, from funds available for the program under sections 
        1404C of the Victims Crime Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10603c) to 
        the Administrator of the United States District Court in which 
        any case is pending which has been brought pursuant to section 
        1605(a)(7) such funds as may be required to carry out the 
        Orders of that United States District Court appointing Special 
        Masters in any case under this section. Any amount paid in 
        compensation to any such Special Master shall constitute an 
        item of court costs.
    ``(g) Appeal.--In an action brought under this section, appeals 
from orders not conclusively ending the litigation may only be taken 
pursuant to section 1292(b) of this title.
    ``(h) Property Disposition.--
            ``(1) In general.--In every action filed in a United States 
        district court in which jurisdiction is alleged under this 
        section, the filing of a notice of pending action pursuant to 
        this section, to which is attached a copy of the complaint 
        filed in the action, shall have the effect of establishing a 
        lien of lis pendens upon any real property or tangible personal 
        property located within that judicial district that is titled 
        in the name of any defendant, or titled in the name of any 
        entity controlled by any such defendant if such notice contains 
        a statement listing those controlled entities.
            ``(2) Notice.--A notice of pending action pursuant to this 
        section shall be filed by the clerk of the district court in 
        the same manner as any pending action and shall be indexed by 
        listing as defendants all named defendants and all entities 
        listed as controlled by any defendant.
            ``(3) Enforceability.--Liens established by reason of this 
        subsection shall be enforceable as provided in chapter 111 of 
        this title.''.
    (b) Amendment to Chapter Analysis.--The chapter analysis for 
chapter 97 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
after the item for section 1605 the following:

``1605A. Terrorism exception to the jurisdictional immunity of a 
                            foreign state.''.

SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Property.--Section 1610 of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) Property in Certain Actions.--
            ``(1) In general.--The property of a foreign state, or 
        agency or instrumentality of a foreign state, against which a 
        judgment is entered under this section, including property that 
        is a separate juridical entity, is subject to execution upon 
        that judgment as provided in this section, regardless of--
                    ``(A) the level of economic control over the 
                property by the government of the foreign state;
                    ``(B) whether the profits of the property go to 
                that government;
                    ``(C) the degree to which officials of that 
                government manage the property or otherwise control its 
                daily affairs;
                    ``(D) whether that government is the sole 
                beneficiary in interest of the property; or
                    ``(E) whether establishing the property as a 
                separate entity would entitle the foreign state to 
                benefits in United States courts while avoiding its 
                obligations.
            ``(2) United states sovereign immunity inapplicable.--Any 
        property of a foreign state, or agency or instrumentality of a 
        foreign state, to which paragraph (1) applies shall not be 
        immune from execution upon a judgment entered under this 
        section because the property is regulated by the United States 
        Government by reason of action taken against that foreign state 
        under the Trading With the Enemy Act or the International 
        Emergency Economic Powers Act.''.
    (b) Victims of Crime Act.--Section 1404C(a)(3) of the Victims of 
Crime Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10603c(a)(3)) is amended by striking 
``December 21, 1988, with respect to which an investigation or'' and 
inserting ``October 23, 1983, with respect to which an investigation or 
civil or criminal''.
    (c) General Exception.--Section 1605 of title 28, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (5)(B), by inserting ``or'' after 
                the semicolon;
                    (B) in paragraph (6)(D), by striking ``; or'' and 
                inserting a period; and
                    (C) by striking paragraph (7); and
            (2) by striking subsections (e) and (f).

SEC. 4. APPLICATION TO PENDING CASES.

    (a) In General.--The amendments made by this Act shall apply to any 
claim arising under section 1605A or 1605(g) of title 28, United States 
Code, as added by this Act.
    (b) Prior Actions.--Any judgment or action brought under section 
1605(a)(7) of title 28, United States Code, or section 101(c) of Public 
Law 104-208 after the effective date of such provisions relying on 
either of these provisions as creating a cause of action, which has 
been adversely affected on the grounds that either or both of these 
provisions fail to create a cause of action opposable against the 
state, and which is still before the courts in any form, including 
appeal or motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b), shall, on 
motion made to the Federal District Court where the judgment or action 
was initially entered, be given effect as if it had originally been 
filed pursuant to section 1605A(d) of title 28, United States Code. The 
defenses of res judicata, collateral estoppel and limitation period are 
waived in any re-filed action described in this paragraph and based on 
the such claim. Any such motion or re-filing must be made not later 
than 60 days after enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>