[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 100 (Thursday, July 27, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7729-S7730]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  UNANIMOUS-CONSENT AGREEMENT--S. 1796

  Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I have a unanimous consent request for 
the leader.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order for the 
majority leader, after consultation with the minority leader, to 
proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 460, S. 1796, under the 
following limitations: 2 hours for debate equally divided between the 
chairman and ranking members, or their designees.
  I further ask unanimous consent that the only amendment in order be a 
Mack, Lautenberg, Leahy, and Feinstein substitute amendment No. 4021.
  Finally, I ask unanimous consent that following the use or yielding 
back of time, and the disposition of the above-listed amendment, the 
bill be read the third time, and the Senate proceed to a vote on 
passage of the bill as amended, if amended.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased that we have reached a time 
agreement to take up and consider S.1796, the Justice for Victims of 
Terrorism Act. However, it is regrettable that we could not pass this 
important legislation by unanimous consent this week, as I had hoped.
  The Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act addresses an issue that 
should deeply concern all of us: the enforcement of court-ordered 
judgments that compensate the victims of state-sponsored terrorism. 
This legislation has the strong support of American families who have 
lost loved ones due to the callous indifference to life of 
international terrorist organizations and their client states, and it 
deserves our support as well.
  One such family is the family of Alisa Flatow, an American student 
killed in Gaza in a 1995 bus bombing. The Flatow family obtained a $247 
million judgment in Federal court against the Iranian-sponsored Islamic 
Jihad, which proudly claimed responsibility for the bombing that took 
her life. But the family has been unable to enforce this judgment 
because Iranian assets in the United States remain frozen.
  This bill would provide an avenue for the Flatow family and others in 
their position to recover the damages due them under American law. It 
would permit successful plaintiffs to attach certain foreign assets to 
satisfy judgments against foreign states for personal injury or death 
caused by an act of torture, extrajudicial killing, aircraft sabotage, 
hostage taking, or the provision of material support or resources for 
such an act. Meanwhile, it allows the President to waive the bill's 
provisions if that is necessary for the national security interest.
  Some have raised concerns that the legislation could cause the United 
States to violate its treaty obligations to protect the diplomatic 
property of other nations, and thus provoke retaliation against our 
diplomatic property in other nations. I believe that this bill can and 
should be construed as being consistent with our international 
obligations, and I trust the State Department to ensure that it does 
not compromise the integrity of our diplomatic property abroad. I want 
to commend Senator Biden for working with the sponsors and the State 
Department to help fashion the changes to S.1796 that help accomplish 
that goal.
  I am also pleased that the time agreement will allow the Senate to 
consider a Mack-Lautenberg-Leahy-Feinstein amendment dealing with 
support for victims of international terrorism. This amendment will 
enable the Office for Victims of Crime to provide more immediate and 
effective assistance to Americans who are victims of terrorism abroad--
Americans like those killed or injured in the embassy bombings in Kenya 
and Tanzania, and in the Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. 
These victims deserve help, but according to OVC, existing programs are 
failing to meet their needs. Working with OVC, we have crafted 
legislation to correct this problem.

  Our amendment will permit the Office for Victims of Crime to serve 
these victims better by expanding the types of assistance for which the 
VOCA emergency reserve fund may be used, and the range of organizations 
to which such funds may be provided. These changes will not require new 
or appropriated funds: They simply allow OVC greater flexibility in 
using existing reserve funds to assist victims of terrorism abroad, 
including the victims of the Lockerbie and embassy bombings.
  Our amendment will also authorize OVC to raise the cap on the VOCA 
emergency reserve fund from $50 million to $100 million, so that the 
fund is large enough to cover the extraordinary costs that would be 
incurred if a terrorist act caused massive casualties, and to replenish 
the reserve fund with unobligated funds from its other grant programs.
  At the same time, the amendment will simplify the presently-
authorized system of using VOCA funds to provide

[[Page S7730]]

victim compensation to American victims of terrorism abroad, by 
permitting OVC to establish and operate an international crime victim 
compensation program. This program will, in addition, cover foreign 
nationals who are employees of any American government institution 
targeted for terrorist attack. The source of funding is the VOCA 
emergency reserve fund, which we authorized in an amendment I offered 
to the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act.
  Finally, our amendment clarifies that deposits into the Crime Victims 
Fund remain available for intended uses under VOCA when not expended 
immediately. This should quell concerns raised regarding the effect of 
spending caps included in appropriations bills last year and this. I 
understand the appropriations' actions to have deferred spending but 
not to have removed deposits from the Fund. This provision makes that 
explicit.
  I want to thank Senator Feinstein for her support and assistance on 
this initiative. Senator Feinstein cares deeply about the rights of 
victims, and I am pleased that we could work together on some 
practical, pragmatic improvements to our federal crime victims' laws. 
We would have liked to do more. In particular, we would have liked to 
allow OVC to deliver timely and critically needed emergency assistance 
to all victims of terrorism and mass violence occurring outside the 
United States and targeted at the United States or United States 
nationals.
  Unfortunately, to achieve bipartisan consensus on our amendment, we 
were compelled to restrict OVC's authority, so that it may provide 
emergency assistance only to United States nationals and employees. It 
seems more than a little bizarre to me that the richest country in the 
world would reserve emergency aid for victims of terrorism who can 
produce a passport or W-2. I will continue to work with OVC and 
victims' organization to remedy this anomaly.
  I regret that we have not done more for victims this year, or during 
the last few years. I have on several occasions noted my concern that 
we not dissipate the progress we could be making by focusing 
exclusively on efforts to amend the Constitution. Regretfully, I must 
note that the pace of victims legislation has slowed noticeably and 
many opportunities for progress have been squandered.
  I am hopeful that we can make some progress this year by passing our 
amendment to S.1796, and I look forward to continuing to work with the 
Administration, victims groups, prosecutors, judges and other 
interested parties on how we can most effectively assist victims and 
provide them the greater voice and rights that they deserve.
  I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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