[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 48 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. CON. RES. 48

  Expressing the sense of Congress that the Italian Supreme Court of 
 Cassation should domesticate and recognize judgments issued by United 
States courts on behalf of United States victims of terrorism, and that 
  the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs should cease its political 
 interference with Italy's independent judiciary, which it carries out 
  in the interests of state sponsors of terrorism such as the Islamic 
                           Republic of Iran.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 14, 2016

 Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mr. Kirk, and Mr. Murphy) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of Congress that the Italian Supreme Court of 
 Cassation should domesticate and recognize judgments issued by United 
States courts on behalf of United States victims of terrorism, and that 
  the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs should cease its political 
 interference with Italy's independent judiciary, which it carries out 
  in the interests of state sponsors of terrorism such as the Islamic 
                           Republic of Iran.

Whereas, in 1996, Congress passed the Terrorism Exception to the Foreign 
        Sovereign Immunities Act to give United States citizens a private means 
        of redress for injuries and deaths caused by state-sponsored acts of 
        terrorism (originally codified at section 1605(a)(7) of title 28, United 
        States Code and subsequently amended and recodified at section 1605A of 
        title 28, United States Code) (in this resolution referred to as the 
        ``Terrorism Exception'');
Whereas the Terrorism Exception continues to be an important tool for the United 
        States Government to protect the interests of its nationals, and to 
        deter global terrorism;
Whereas the families of Alisa Flatow, Sarah Duker, and Matthew Eisenfeld, United 
        States students killed in Iran-sponsored bombings, secured judgments 
        against the Islamic Republic of Iran in United States Federal court for 
        its role in those murders;
Whereas the families of Alisa Flatow, Sarah Duker, and Matthew Eisenfeld 
        attempted to enforce those United States judgments against Iranian 
        assets held in Italy;
Whereas the families of Alisa Flatow, Sarah Duker, and Matthew Eisenfeld 
        initially domesticated their judgments in Italian court;
Whereas the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs entered appearances in 
        subsequent proceedings on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 
        interfering with the domestication and successfully causing the Italian 
        Supreme Court of Cassation (Italy's highest court of appeal) to overturn 
        the Court of Appeals of Rome's judgment in favor of these United States 
        terrorism victims (Islamic Republic of Iran v. Flatow, Cass., sez. un., 
        22 giugno 2007, n. 14570 (It.); Islamic Republic of Iran v. Eisenfeld, 
        Cass., sez. un., 22 giugno 2007, n. 14571 (It.));
Whereas the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation condemned the Terrorism 
        Exception--a crucial United States antiterrorism statute--as a violation 
        of international law on the grounds that it gives United States citizens 
        a remedy for acts of terrorism committed outside of the United States 
        (Flatow v. Islamic Republic of Iran, Cass., sez. un., 28 ottobre 2015, 
        n. 21946 (It.); Eisenfeld v. Islamic Republic of Iran, Cass., sez. un., 
        28 ottobre 2015, n. 21947 (It.));
Whereas the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation therefore refuses to recognize 
        any judgments issued by United States courts under the Terrorism 
        Exception (id.);
Whereas Congress will use every tool at its disposal to seek justice for United 
        States citizens who are murdered in acts of terrorism, including attacks 
        committed outside the United States; and
Whereas United States courts have applied the Terrorism Exception to bring 
        justice to European Union victims of state-sponsored terrorism directed 
        against United States nationals (see, e.g., Hurst v. Socialist People's 
        Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, 474 F. Supp. 2d 19 (D.D.C. 2007); Rein v. 
        Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, 995 F. Supp. 325 (E.D.N.Y. 
        1998)): Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) Italy has violated the principle of reciprocity 
        governing the mutual recognition of domestic court awards 
        between our two nations;
            (2) the intervention by the Italian Ministry of Foreign 
        Affairs on behalf of Iran against victims of Iranian terrorism 
        was initiated to the detriment of both United States and 
        European Union terrorism victims; and
            (3) the European Court of Human Rights should--
                    (A) overturn the Italian Supreme Court of 
                Cassation's erroneous rulings in Flatow v. Islamic 
                Republic of Iran (Cass., sez. un., 28 ottobre 2015, n. 
                21946 (It.)) and Eisenfeld v. Islamic Republic of Iran 
                (Cass., sez. un., 28 ottobre 2015, n. 21947 (It.)); and
                    (B) order the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation to 
                recognize the United States judgments held by the 
                Flatow, Duker, and Eisenfeld families against Iran.
                                 <all>