[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8545 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8545

    To amend the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 to make technical 
                              corrections.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 23, 2024

  Mr. Murphy (for himself, Ms. Ross, Ms. Manning, Mr. Davis of North 
 Carolina, Mr. Jackson of North Carolina, Mr. Rouzer, Mr. Hudson, Ms. 
Lee of Florida, Mr. McHenry, Mr. Edwards, and Mr. Hunt) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 to make technical 
                              corrections.

    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 ``Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO THE CAMP LEJEUNE JUSTICE ACT OF 2022 .

    Section 804 of the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 (28 U.S.C. 2671 
note) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by striking ``in the United States 
        District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina'';
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
            ``(1) In general.--The party filing an action under this 
        section shall be entitled to appropriate relief upon showing--
                    ``(A) the existence of one or more relationships 
                between the water at Camp Lejeune and the type of harm 
                suffered by the individual; and
                    ``(B) that the individual was present at Camp 
                Lejeune for a period of not less than 30 days (whether 
                or not consecutive).''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``the water at 
                Camp Lejeune and the harm'' and inserting ``any water 
                at Camp Lejeune and the type of harm'';
            (3) by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:
    ``(d) Exclusive Jurisdiction and Venue.--The United States District 
Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina shall have exclusive 
jurisdiction and venue for coordinated or consolidated pretrial 
proceedings and resolution over any action filed under subsection (b), 
and a party filing the action may transfer such action to any United 
States district court situated within the United States Court of 
Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for trial of such action. Any action 
against the United States under subsection (b) shall, at the request of 
either party to such action, be tried by the court with a jury. The 
court shall advance an action filed under subsection (b) on the docket, 
and expedite the disposition of such action to the greatest extent 
possible.'';
            (4) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ``latent disease'' 
        and inserting ``latent harm'';
            (5) in subsection (j)(1), by striking ``before the date of 
        enactment of this Act'' and inserting ``before, on, or after 
        the date of enactment of this Act''; and
            (6) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(k) Attorney Fees.--
            ``(1) In general.--The total amount of attorneys fees under 
        this section shall be in an amount that is equal to--
                    ``(A) 20 percent of any settlement entered into 
                before a civil action under subsection (b) is 
                commenced; or
                    ``(B) 25 percent of any judgement rendered or 
                settlement entered into after a civil action under 
                subsection (b) is commenced.
            ``(2) Division of fees.--A division of a fee under 
        paragraph (1) between attorneys who are not in the same firm 
        may be made only if the division is in proportion to the 
        services performed by each attorney.''.
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