[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4596 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4596

To allow for enforcement of State disclosure laws and access to courts 
           for covered Holocaust-era insurance policy claims.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 4, 2010

  Ms. Ros-Lehtinen (for herself, Mr. Klein of Florida, Mr. Pence, Mr. 
 Garamendi, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Lincoln Diaz-
     Balart of Florida, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Meek of Florida, Mrs. 
   Blackburn, and Mr. Kirk) introduced the following bill; which was 
 referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, 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 allow for enforcement of State disclosure laws and access to courts 
           for covered Holocaust-era insurance policy claims.

    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 Insurance Accountability 
Act of 2010''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Holocaust, an event in which millions of people 
        endured enormous suffering through torture and other violence, 
        including the murder of 6,000,000 Jews and millions of others, 
        the destruction of families and communities, and the theft of 
        their assets, was one of the most heinous crimes in human 
        history.
            (2) Before and during World War II, millions of people 
        purchased insurance policies to safeguard family assets, plan 
        for retirement, provide for a dowry, or save for their 
        children's education.
            (3) When Holocaust survivors or heirs of Holocaust victims 
        presented claims to insurance companies after World War II, 
        many were rejected because they did not have death certificates 
        or physical possession of policy documents that had been 
        confiscated by the Nazis or lost in the devastation of the 
        Holocaust.
            (4) In many instances, insurance company records and 
        records in government archives are the only proof of the 
        existence of insurance policies belonging to Holocaust victims.
            (5) Holocaust survivors and heirs have been attempting for 
        decades to persuade insurance companies to settle unpaid 
        insurance claims.
            (6) In 1998, the International Commission on Holocaust Era 
        Insurance Claims (in this section referred to as ``ICHEIC'') 
        was established by the National Association of Insurance 
        Commissioners in cooperation with several European insurance 
        companies, European regulators, the Government of Israel, and 
        non-governmental organizations with the promise that it would 
        expeditiously address the issue of unpaid insurance policies 
        issued to Holocaust victims.
            (7) On July 17, 2000, the United States and Germany signed 
        an executive agreement in support of the German Foundation 
        ``Remembrance, Responsibility, and the Future'', which 
        designated ICHEIC to resolve all Holocaust-era insurance 
        policies issued by German companies and their subsidiaries.
            (8) On January 17, 2001, the United States and Austria 
        signed an executive agreement, which designated ICHEIC to 
        resolve all Holocaust-era insurance policies issued by Austrian 
        companies and their subsidiaries.
            (9) The ICHEIC process ended in 2007 and companies holding 
        Holocaust-era insurance policies continue to withhold names of 
        owners and beneficiaries of thousands of insurance policies 
        sold to Jewish customers prior to World War II.
            (10) Experts estimate that only a small fraction of the 
        policies estimated to have been sold to Jews living in Europe 
        at the beginning of World War II have been paid through ICHEIC.
            (11) In American Insurance Association, Inc., v. Garamendi, 
        the United States Supreme Court held that under the supremacy 
        clause of the Constitution of the United States, executive 
        agreements and Federal Government policy calling for insurance 
        claims against German and Austrian companies to be handled 
        within ICHEIC preempted State laws authorizing State insurance 
        commissioners to subpoena company records and require 
        publication of the names of Holocaust era policy holders.
            (12) In the Garamendi case, the Supreme Court stated that 
        Congress, which has the power to regulate international 
        commerce and prescribe Federal court jurisdiction, had not 
        addressed disclosure and restitution of insurance policies of 
        Holocaust victims.
            (13) Subsequent court decisions have dismissed survivors' 
        suits against an Italian insurance company, even though there 
        is no executive agreement between the United States and Italy.
            (14) Congress supports the rights of Holocaust survivors 
        and the heirs and beneficiaries of Holocaust victims to obtain 
        information from insurers and to bring legal actions in courts, 
        wherever jurisdiction requirements are met, to recover unpaid 
        funds from entities that participated in the theft of family 
        insurance assets or the affiliates of such entities.
            (15) Congress intends for this Act to be interpreted to 
        allow for State causes of action and disclosure requirement 
        laws regarding Holocaust-era insurance policies to be valid and 
        not preempted.
            (16) This Act expresses the intent of Congress to deem 
        valid State laws protecting the rights of Holocaust survivors 
        and the heirs and beneficiaries of Holocaust victims to obtain 
        information from insurers and to bring actions in courts of 
        proper jurisdiction to recover unpaid funds from entities that 
        participated in the theft of family insurance assets or the 
        affiliates of such entities.
            (17) Insurance payments should be expedited to the victims 
        of the most heinous crime of the 20th century to ensure that 
        justice is served.
            (18) This Act will enable survivors, heirs, and 
        beneficiaries to obtain compensation commensurate with the real 
        monetary value of their losses.
            (19) Under the circumstances faced by Holocaust victims and 
        their families, courts should be open to Holocaust victims and 
        their families for a reasonable number of years after the 
        enactment of this Act, without regard to any other statutes of 
        limitation.

SEC. 3. VALIDITY OF STATE LAWS.

    (a) Validity of Laws Creating Cause of Action.--Any State law 
creating a cause of action against any insurer or related company based 
on a claim arising out of or related to a covered policy shall not be 
invalid or preempted by reason of any executive agreement between the 
United States and any foreign country.
    (b) Validity of Laws Requiring Disclosure of Information.--Any 
State law that is enacted on or after March 1, 1998, and that requires 
an insurer doing business in that State, including any related company, 
to disclose information regarding any covered policy shall be deemed to 
be in effect on the date of the enactment of such law and shall not be 
invalid or preempted by reason of any executive agreement between the 
United States and any foreign country.
    (c) Waiver.--The President may waive the application of subsection 
(a) or (b) with respect to any executive agreement that is entered into 
between the United States and a foreign country on or after the date of 
the enactment of this Act and that involves covered policies if, not 
later than 30 legislative days before the signing of the executive 
agreement--
            (1) the President determines that the executive agreement 
        is vital to the national security interests of the United 
        States; and
            (2) the President provides to the appropriate congressional 
        committees a report explaining the reasons for such 
        determination.
    (d) Statements of Interest.--No funds may be used by the Department 
of State, or any other department or agency of the United States, for 
the purpose of issuing a statement of interest seeking to encourage a 
court in the United States to dismiss any claim brought to recover 
compensation arising out of or related to a covered policy.
    (e) Statute of Limitations.--No court may dismiss a claim that is 
brought under a State law described in subsection (a) or (b) within 10 
years after the date of the enactment of this Act on the ground that 
the claim is barred under any statute of limitations.

SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY.

    This Act shall apply to any claim that is brought, before, on, or 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, under a State law 
described in subsection (a) or (b), including--
            (1) any claim dismissed, before the date of the enactment 
        of this Act, on the ground of executive preemption; and
            (2) any claim that is deemed released as a result of the 
        settlement of a class action that was entered into before the 
        date of the enactment of this Act, if the claimant did not 
        receive any payment pursuant to the settlement.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on 
        Foreign Affairs in the House of Representatives, the Committee 
        on Foreign Relations in the Senate, and the Committees on the 
        Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
            (2) Covered policy.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``covered policy'' means 
                any life, dowry, education, property, or other 
                insurance policy that--
                            (i) was in effect at any time after January 
                        30, 1933, and before December 31, 1945; and
                            (ii) was issued to a policyholder domiciled 
                        in any area that was occupied or controlled by 
                        Nazi Germany.
                    (B) Nazi germany.--In this paragraph, the term 
                ``Nazi Germany'' means--
                            (i) the Nazi government of Germany; and
                            (ii) any government in any area occupied by 
                        the military forces of the Nazi government of 
                        Germany.
            (3) Insurer.--The term ``insurer'' means any person engaged 
        in the business of insurance (including reinsurance) in 
        interstate or foreign commerce, if the person issued a covered 
        policy, or a successor in interest to such person.
            (4) Legislative days.--The term ``legislative days'' means 
        those days on which both Houses of Congress are in session.
            (5) Related company.--The term ``related company'' means an 
        affiliate, as that term is defined in section 104(g) of the 
        Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6701(g)).
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