[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4237 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4237

To ensure that the courts of the United States may provide an impartial 
 forum for claims brought by United States citizens and others against 
  any railroad organized as a separate legal entity, arising from the 
deportation of United States citizens and others to Nazi concentration 
 camps on trains owned or operated by such railroad, and by the heirs 
                     and survivors of such persons.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 8, 2009

  Mrs. Maloney (for herself, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, and Mr. Nadler of New 
    York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To ensure that the courts of the United States may provide an impartial 
 forum for claims brought by United States citizens and others against 
  any railroad organized as a separate legal entity, arising from the 
deportation of United States citizens and others to Nazi concentration 
 camps on trains owned or operated by such railroad, and by the heirs 
                     and survivors of such persons.

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

SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) During World War II, more than 75,000 Jews and 
        thousands of other persons were deported from France to Nazi 
        concentration camps, on trains operated for profit by the 
        Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais (in this Act 
        referred to as ``SNCF''), including deportations to Auschwitz 
        and Buchenwald. Numerous citizens and residents of the United 
        States were among those who were on the trains or had relatives 
        on the trains. United States servicemen who were pilots shot 
        down over France were also among the persons deported on the 
        SNCF trains to Nazi concentration camps.
            (2) United States citizens and others have sought redress 
        against SNCF by filing a class action suit in the United States 
        District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The named 
        plaintiffs and class members include United States Army Air 
        Force pilots and United States citizens.
            (3) The complaint filed alleges that SNCF, a separate 
        corporate entity that remained independent during World War II, 
        operated the deportation trains for a profit, as ordinary 
        commercial transactions. SNCF remained under French civilian 
        control throughout World War II and is alleged to have 
        collaborated willingly with the German Nazi regime.
            (4) The complaint alleges that SNCF provided the necessary 
        rolling stock, scheduled the departures, and supplied the 
        employees to operate the trains bound for the concentration 
        camps. SNCF allegedly charged an ordinary passenger coach fare 
        for the deportations, calculated per person and per kilometer, 
        and considered these trains as ordinary commercial activities. 
        The plaintiffs further contend that SNCF herded as many people 
        as possible into each car, requiring passengers of all ages and 
        sexes, including the elderly and young children, to stand 
        throughout the trip of several days' duration, with no 
        provision for food or water and no sanitary facilities. The 
        complaint further alleges that SNCF cleaned the trains after 
        each trip, removing the corpses of persons who perished during 
        transit due to the execrable conditions of the train cars. The 
        destination was in each case a camp in which the deportees were 
        to be exterminated, worked to death, or made to suffer terrible 
        and inhuman conditions.
            (5) The complaint contends that SNCF's actions violated the 
        Principles of the Nuremberg Tribunal, 1950, relating to crimes 
        under international law (earlier recognized by the Martens 
        Clause of the Hague Convention IV of 1907), and aided and 
        abetted the commission of war crimes and crimes against 
        humanity. SNCF has not denied its actions and has never 
        disgorged the money that it was paid for the deportations or 
        otherwise compensated the deportees or their heirs.
            (6) SNCF's records concerning the deportation trains have 
        not been made available to the plaintiffs, and SNCF archives 
        concerning its wartime activities remain closed to the general 
        public.
            (7) SNCF moved to dismiss the lawsuit on a claim of 
        sovereign immunity under the foreign sovereign immunities 
        provisions of title 28, United States Code (28 U.S.C. 1330 and 
        1602 et seq.), even though it is one of the 500 largest 
        corporations in the world, earns hundreds of millions of 
        dollars from its commercial activities in the United States, 
        and is not accorded sovereign immunity under the laws of 
        France. SNCF's motion to dismiss the lawsuit was granted by the 
        United States District Court for the Eastern District of New 
        York. Plaintiffs appealed the decision, their appeal was 
        granted, and the case was remanded for further proceedings. 
        Subsequently, in light of Republic of Austria v. Altmann, 541 
        U.S. 677 (2004), in November 2004, on remand, the Court of 
        Appeals for the Second Circuit recalled its prior mandate and 
        determined that SNCF was entitled to immunity and affirmed the 
        dismissal of the complaint. The Second Circuit stated that 
        ``the railroad's conduct at the time lives on in infamy'' but 
        concluded that ``the evil actions of the French national 
        railroad's former private masters in knowingly transporting 
        thousands to death camps during World War II are not 
        susceptible to legal redress in Federal court today.''.
            (8) This lawsuit, which arises from the unique historical 
        facts of the deportation of persons to Nazi concentration 
        camps, presents issues of substantial importance to citizens 
        and veterans of the United States. Many of those who have 
        sought redress against SNCF are elderly and would have 
        difficulty traveling outside the United States in order to 
        pursue their claims elsewhere. The courts of the United States 
        are and should be a proper forum for this lawsuit. The Foreign 
        Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976, which had not been enacted at 
        the time of SNCF's actions during World War II, was not 
        intended to bar suit against the SNCF.

SEC. 2. ACCESS TO UNITED STATES COURTS FOR HOLOCAUST DEPORTEES.

    (a) Jurisdiction of District Courts.--The United States district 
courts shall have original jurisdiction, without regard to the amount 
in controversy, of any civil action for damages for personal injury or 
death that--
            (1) arose from the deportation of persons to Nazi 
        concentration camps during the period beginning on January 1, 
        1942, and ending on December 31, 1944; and
            (2) is brought by any such person, or any heir or survivor 
        of such person, against a railroad that--
                    (A) owned or operated the trains on which the 
                persons were so deported; and
                    (B) was organized as a separate legal entity at the 
                time of the deportation, whether or not any of the 
                equity interest in the railroad was owned by a foreign 
                state.
    (b) Other Laws Not Applicable.--Sections 1330 and 1601 through 1611 
of title 28, United States Code, or any other law limiting the 
jurisdiction of the United States courts, whether by statute or under 
common law, shall not preclude any action under subsection (a).
    (c) Inapplicability of Statutes of Limitation.--An action described 
in subsection (a) shall not be barred by a defense that the time for 
bringing such action has expired under a statute of limitations.
    (d) Applicability.--This section shall apply to any action pending 
on January 1, 2002, and to any action commenced on or after that date.
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