[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 146 (Monday, September 15, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H8098-H8103]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE AND TERRORISM ACT

  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 5167) to amend the National Defense Authorization 
Act for Fiscal Year 2008 to remove the authority of the President to 
waive certain provisions, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5167

       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 ``Justice for Victims of 
     Torture and Terrorism Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       The Congress finds the following:
       (1) During the Gulf War against Iraq in 1991, Americans 
     serving in the United States Armed Forces were captured, 
     became Prisoners of War (POWs), and were subsequently 
     tortured, beaten, starved, hooked to electrical shock 
     devices, and subjected to other horrendous acts by Saddam 
     Hussein's regime.
       (2) CBS News reporter Bob Simon and cameraman Roberto 
     Alvarez were kidnapped while on

[[Page H8099]]

     assignment during the 1991 Gulf War and were held and 
     tortured, along with the American POWs.
       (3) Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, 
     many United States citizens were detained by Iraq, beaten, 
     subjected to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, 
     confined under deplorable conditions, and used as ``human 
     shields'' for the avowed purpose of preventing the United 
     States and its coalition allies from using military force to 
     liberate Kuwait.
       (4) At the time these acts occurred, the Department of 
     State had classified Iraq as a state sponsor of terrorism.
       (5) The brave American POWs and American civilian hostages 
     have suffered long-term physical, emotional, and mental 
     damage as a result of this brutal, state-sponsored torture 
     and terrorism.
       (6) When the American POWs returned home after the Gulf War 
     ended, they were given a hero's welcome by then Secretary of 
     Defense Dick Cheney, who told them, ``Your country is opening 
     its arms to greet you''.
       (7) During the Gulf War, the Congress unanimously passed 
     resolutions condemning the brutal treatment by the Government 
     of Iraq of captured United States service members, demanding 
     that the Government of Iraq abide by the Geneva Convention 
     regarding the treatment of prisoners of war, and stating an 
     intention to hold Iraq accountable for the torture of 
     American POWs.
       (8) In 1996, Congress passed an amendment to the Foreign 
     Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) provisions of title 28, 
     United States Code, so that torture victims like the American 
     POWs and the American ``human shield'' victims from the Gulf 
     War could seek compensation for their injuries from terrorist 
     countries, including Iraq.
       (9) On April 4, 2002, 17 Gulf War POWs and their families 
     filed claims in the United States District Court for the 
     District of Columbia seeking compensation for damages related 
     to their torture and abuse by the Government of Iraq. The 
     POWs included Colonel Clifford Acree, USMC (Ret.); Lieutenant 
     Colonel Craig Berryman, USMC (Ret.); Former Staff Sergeant 
     Troy Dunlap, US Army; Colonel David Eberly, USAF (Ret.); 
     Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey D. Fox, USAF (Ret.); Chief Warrant 
     Officer 5 Guy Hunter, USMC (Ret.); Sergeant David Lockett, US 
     Army; Colonel H. Michael Roberts, USAF; Colonel Russell 
     Sanborn, USMC; Captain Lawrence Randolph Slade, USN (Ret.); 
     Major Joseph Small, USMC (Ret.); Staff Sergeant Daniel 
     Stamaris, US Army (Ret.); Lieutenant Colonel Richard Dale 
     Storr, Air National Guard; Lieutenant Colonel Robert Sweet, 
     USAF; Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Tice, USAF (Ret.); Former 
     Lieutenant Robert Wetzel, USN; and Former Commander Jeffrey 
     Zaun, USN.
       (10) In 2003, after the Government of Iraq repeatedly 
     refused to participate in arbitration on the damage claims, 
     and after hearing evidence of how the former POWs had been 
     repeatedly tortured, a judge awarded them a judgment for 
     damages, stating that ``deterring torture of POWs should be 
     of the highest priority''.
       (11) Despite this ruling, the POWs and their families have 
     not received payment, and are unable to further pursue their 
     claims in United States courts because of the waiver that was 
     granted for Iraq by the President under authority established 
     in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
     2008.
       (12) In December 2001, after conducting an evidentiary 
     hearing, the United States district court held, in Hill v. 
     Republic of Iraq, that Iraq was liable for having taken 
     United States citizens hostage following the Iraqi invasion 
     of Kuwait and subsequently awarded 180 of those former 
     hostages and their spouses a judgment for damages.
       (13) On March 20, 2003, on the eve of Operation Iraqi 
     Freedom, the President of the United States directed that all 
     of the judgments that had been awarded in Hill v. Republic of 
     Iraq be paid from moneys held in blocked Iraqi accounts.
       (14) On that same date, the President issued an Executive 
     order confiscating all remaining blocked assets of Iraq and 
     ordering them to be deposited into the United States Treasury 
     to be used for Iraq reconstruction.
       (15) The claims of more than 200 United States citizens 
     who, at the same time and in the same manner as the Hill 
     plaintiffs, were held hostage in territory occupied by Iraq 
     are currently pending in a United States district court in 
     the case of Vine v. Republic of Iraq.
       (16) The plaintiffs in Vine v. Republic of Iraq have not 
     been compensated and are unable to enforce any judgment they 
     may obtain in United States courts because of the waiver that 
     was granted for Iraq by the President under authority 
     established in the National Defense Authorization Act for 
     Fiscal Year 2008.
       (17) Article 131 of the Third Geneva Convention relative to 
     the Treatment of Prisoners of War (August 12, 1949) prohibits 
     the United States as a party to that treaty from absolving 
     the Government of Iraq of any liability incurred due to the 
     torture of prisoners of war, such as the American POWs 
     referred to in this section.
       (18) The United States has a moral obligation to protect 
     its past, present, and future members of its Armed Forces, 
     and all United States citizens, from torture and hostage-
     taking, and the Congress is committed to holding state 
     sponsors of terrorism accountable for such horrendous acts.

     SEC. 3. RESOLUTION OF CERTAIN CLAIMS AGAINST IRAQ.

       (a) Resolution by Iraq of Certain Claims.--
       (1) In general.--Unless the President, before the end of 
     the 90-day period beginning on the date described in 
     paragraph (2)(A), certifies to the Congress that the 
     Government of Iraq has adequately settled the claims in the 
     cases referred to in subsection (b), then, upon the 
     expiration of that 90-day period, the waiver authority 
     granted to the President in section 1083(d) of the National 
     Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 
     110-181; 122 Stat. 343), and any waiver granted before the 
     end of that 90-day period under such authority, shall 
     terminate.
       (2) Date described.--
       (A) In general.--The date described in this paragraph is--
       (i) 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
     unless the President has certified to the Congress, before 
     the end of that 30-day period, that--

       (I) the Government of Iraq has not, before, on, or after 
     the enactment of this Act, compensated any foreign persons or 
     entities for claims or liabilities incurred by or under the 
     control of the Saddam Hussein regime, including, but not 
     limited to, commercial or financial claims, and claims for 
     acts against individuals similar to those described in 
     section 1605A(a)(1) of title 28, United States Code; or
       (II) negotiations are ongoing with the Government of Iraq 
     to settle the claims in the cases referred to in subsection 
     (b), and the President believes that those negotiations are 
     being conducted in good faith and could lead to a 
     satisfactory settlement of those claims; or

       (ii) if a certification is made under clause (i), the day 
     after the date on which that certification terminates or, if 
     a subsequent certification is in effect under subparagraph 
     (B), the day after the date on which the last such 
     certification terminates.
       (B) Duration of certifications.--A certification under 
     subclause (I) or (II) of subparagraph (A)(i) terminates 180 
     days after it is made. The President may make subsequent 
     certifications under subclause (I) or (II) of subparagraph 
     (A)(i) for periods of not more than 180 days each.
       (b) Cases.--The cases referred to in subsection (a)(1) are 
     cases numbered 99:00CV03346 (TPJ), 1:01CV02674 (HHK), CIV.A. 
     02-632 (RWR) (July 7, 2003), 1:03CV00691 (HHK), and 
     1:03CV00888 (HHK), in the United States District Court for 
     the District of Columbia.
       (c) Adequate Settlement.--For purposes of subsection 
     (a)(1), adequate settlement means payment by the Government 
     of Iraq of, or an unqualified and unconditional guarantee 
     made by a United States depository institution to pay within 
     30 days after the end of the 90-day period described in 
     subsection (a)(1), at least the following amounts to the 
     following persons:
       (1) To any person--
       (A) whose claim in the applicable case referred to in 
     subsection (b) arose from an act of hostage taking or from 
     being held in hostage status, and
       (B) who has not obtained a judgment on the claim before the 
     date of the enactment of this Act,

     $150,000, plus $6,000 for each day the person was held as a 
     hostage, but in no event more than $900,000.
       (2) To any person--
       (A) whose claim in the applicable case referred to in 
     subsection (b) arose from an act of hostage taking or from 
     being held in hostage status,
       (B) who, while a hostage, was subjected to torture, and
       (C) who has not obtained a judgment on the claim before the 
     date of the enactment of this Act,

     $2,500,000, plus $6,000 for each day the person was held as a 
     hostage.
       (3) To a plaintiff in the applicable case referred to in 
     subsection (b) who is the spouse or child of any person who 
     qualifies for receipt of payment under paragraph (1) or (2), 
     one third of the amount that such person qualifies for 
     receipt under such paragraph.
       (4) To any person who, before the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, obtained a judgment for compensatory damages in a 
     case referred to in subsection (b) (regardless of whether 
     such judgment was subsequently vacated)--
       (A) payment of the unsatisfied amount of such judgment, in 
     an amount that is the lesser of $1,000,000 or the unsatisfied 
     amount of the award; and
       (B) if the amount of the judgment exceeds $1,000,000, one 
     third of the unsatisfied amount of such excess.
       (d) Additional Condition in Case of Guarantee of Payment.--
     If the claims in the cases referred to in subsection (b) are 
     adequately settled for purposes of subsection (a)(1) because 
     of a guarantee of payment by a depository institution within 
     the 30-day period specified in subsection (c), and such 
     payment is not made within that 30-day period, then upon the 
     expiration of that 30-day period, the waiver authority 
     described in subsection (a)(1), and any waiver granted before 
     the end of that 30-day period under such authority, shall 
     terminate.
       (e) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) Foreign person or entity.--The term ``foreign person or 
     entity'' means--
       (A) an individual other than a national of the United 
     States; and
       (B) a person or entity, other than an individual, that is 
     organized under the laws of a country other than the United 
     States.
       (2) Hostage.--The term ``hostage'' means an individual in 
     hostage status or an individual seized or detained in the 
     commission of an act of hostage taking.
       (3) Hostage status.--The term ``hostage status'' has the 
     meaning given that term in section 599C(d)(1) of the Foreign 
     Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs 
     Appropriations Act, 1991 (Public Law 101-513).
       (4) Hostage taking.--The term ``hostage taking'' has the 
     meaning given that term in section 1605A(h)(2) of title 28, 
     United States Code.
       (5) National of the united states.--The term ``national of 
     the United States'' has the meaning given that term in 
     section 1605A(h)(5) of title 28, United States Code.

[[Page H8100]]

       (6) Torture.--The term ``torture'' has the meaning given 
     that term in section 3 of the Torture Victim Protection Act 
     of 1991 (28 U.S.C. 1350 note).
       (7) United states.--The term ``United States'' means the 
     several States, the District of Columbia, and any 
     commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States.
       (8) United states depository institution.--The term 
     ``United States depository institution'' means a depository 
     institution organized under the laws of any State, the 
     District of Columbia, or the United States, including a 
     branch or agency of a foreign depository institution.

     SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON CERTAIN CLAIMS.

       No funds of the United States Government may be used to pay 
     any claim--
       (1) that is cognizable under section 1605A of title 28, 
     United States Code, as added by section 1083 of the National 
     Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, for money 
     damages against Iraq for personal injury or death that was 
     caused by acts committed by an official, officer, or employee 
     of the Iraqi Government under Saddam Hussein; and
       (2) with respect to which the waiver authority under 
     section 1083(d) of the National Defense Authorization Act for 
     Fiscal Year 2008 has been or may be exercised.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Scott) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.


                             General Leave

  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Virginia?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the Justice and Victims of Torture and Terrorism Act, 
introduced by the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Braley) and the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Sestak), will enable American POWs and civilians 
to hold the Government of Iraq liable for the physical and emotional 
injuries they sustained while held captive by Iraqi officials during 
the Gulf War.
  During the Persian Gulf War, American pilots captured by Iraq were 
brutalized in horrendous ways. They were starved, exposed to extreme 
temperatures, severely beaten, and subjected to mock executions.
  Because Iraq believed that these pilots had more sensitive 
information, they were subjected to especially brutal treatment. They 
sustained long-lasting physical and emotional injuries.
  American civilians who had the misfortune of being held in Iraq at 
the time it invaded Kuwait were held hostage as ``human shields,'' used 
as leverage to interfere with the campaign to liberate Kuwait and 
defeat the Iraqi forces. These civilians were held in cruel and 
degrading conditions and forced to live in constant fear.
  While Congress has supported giving terrorism victims the right to 
obtain effective relief, the executive branch has allowed State 
Department sensitivities to overshadow the fundamental rights of these 
victims to fair redress.
  In amending the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act in 1996, Congress 
intended to create a Federal statutory cause of action for American 
victims of terrorism, so that they could hold foreign States that 
commit or provide material support for terrorist acts accountable in 
United States courts.
  Congress reaffirmed that intent last December in the National Defense 
Authorization Act. Unfortunately, the President vetoed the bill on that 
basis and insisted that the Congress give him waiver authority for 
Iraq, which he promptly exercised, once again placing relief out of 
reach for these victims.
  In its introduced form, the bill simply rescinded that waiver 
authority. It has now been amended, with the assistance of the 
sponsors, as well as the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa), working 
with the victims and their families.
  The bill we are considering today would give the Iraqi Government 90 
days after enactment to satisfactorily settle the claims of American 
victims to prevent the waiver authority from being rescinded.
  The waiver authority would also survive if the President certifies 
that Iraq has no settlement claims of non-Americans that are similar to 
the claims of the POWs and human shields and has not settled commercial 
debts to foreign corporations.
  The amended bill also specifies limits on the damage awards, to 
remove any argument about potentially open-ended liability. The 
specified amounts are a fraction of the outstanding judgment awards and 
pending claims.
  Under this proposal, the Iraqi Government would be required to pay 
approximately $415 million. The amount of recovery sought is de minimis 
relative to the 20 to $32 billion in commercial claims that Iraq has 
reportedly settled with the corporations in Japan and Korea. It also 
amounts to perhaps 1 percent of the Iraqi Government assets held in 
United States banks.
  I believe that holding Iraq accountable is an essential element in 
its full rehabilitation in the community of nations. This holds true to 
well-settled international law, as well as the Geneva Convention.
  I commend my colleagues, Mr. Braley and Mr. Sestak, for their 
leadership and unwavering dedication in bringing this important 
legislation forward. I also commend the Judiciary Committee ranking 
member, Mr. Smith, and the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) for 
their leadership in making this a bipartisan effort.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this piece of legislation. I was 
not aware of it in its earliest authorship. I became aware of it, in 
addition to the issue which I was aware of, only when it began to move 
toward our committee. As I looked at both the legislation and those 
affected, who had worked so valiantly for 17 years to try to bring 
justice to an unjust occurrence in the history of Iraq, I discovered 
that we had a large group of men and women who had been used as human 
shields, a relatively small group of people who had been tortured at 
Saddam's hands, Americans.
  But what I also discovered was that these people had no other way to 
focus the injustice of what had happened to them than by seeking a 
remedy in the courts, and that had been denied them for so long. Now 
they have that remedy from the courts, and they're being denied the 
opportunity to avail themselves of it.
  Mr. Speaker, if this were just about money, I wouldn't be standing 
here. This is not. This is about a much larger cause. Throughout our 
history, we have endeavored to compensate our men and women when we 
send them to war. We've endeavored to compensate them when they're 
prisoners of war, but we will never be able to compensate them for the 
torture that they've received at the hands of barbarians.
  The very barbarian who ordered this misconduct, Saddam Hussein, has 
been executed by the new government of Iraq. The new government of Iraq 
every day is seeking to reenter the world of justice and civilized 
nations. They're doing so in a myriad of ways, including settling the 
wrongful acts of the Saddam regime. This is no different.
  The amendments that I asked for, and on a bipartisan way were 
granted, in the Judiciary Committee sought to make it clear America 
wants no compensation from the new Iraq government unless it is 
consistent with other compensation for similar acts of the Saddam 
Hussein regime. As Mr. Scott has already said, the administration of 
Iraq is making those efforts today, and I know they will negotiate in 
good faith with the victims of torture if, in fact, they have standing 
to do so.
  That's why we're working on a bipartisan basis to grant the President 
the ability, if there are not similar settlements, to withhold this 
capability until or unless there are. I don't want this to be about 
every past war, but it wouldn't be fair to ask for this if we hadn't 
previously seen Libya make settlements finally but only after the State 
Department had withdrawn their objections.
  And to most people here on the House floor, World War II is but a 
memory or a piece of history they've read about. The men and women who 
were taken at Bataan and other places were tortured. Most of them died. 
Then, too, we felt that we shouldn't burden the new Japanese Government 
with the sins of the past government. I think that's a bad precedent.
  I believe that the making whole of people for whom you have done more

[[Page H8101]]

than just conduct war is, in fact, the responsibility on an ongoing 
basis of a government if they have the ability and certainly if they 
grant similar compensation to people from other countries or, in the 
case of Japan, Libya and post-Saddam Iraq, if they grant money damages 
to companies who often lost nothing but money.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I'm going to support this legislation 
wholeheartedly. I know my Republican colleagues will. I note that this 
is, in fact, a good message to the administration to facilitate the 
settlement rather than to stand aside on it.
  Mr. Speaker, many members of our armed forces faced horrible abuse 
and torture at the hands of Iraq's former dictator, Saddam Hussein, 
during the first Gulf War. We owe those members of the armed forces not 
only our sympathy, but our deepest thanks for enduring immense pain and 
suffering for a larger cause that helped keep all of us safe here at 
home. We also owe those members of the armed forces justice. And that's 
why we're here today to pass H.R. 5167, the Justice for Victims of 
Torture and Terrorism Act.
  In the closing hours before the most recent House recess, I was very 
pleased to see the House, and the Senate, send legislation to the 
President that statutorily approved an agreement that was reached 
between the State Department and Libya regarding the compensation of 
Americans injured by Libyan-sponsored terrorism. That legislation was 
passed by both bodies under unanimous consent. It not only approved the 
negotiated agreement, which provides for hundreds of millions of 
dollars in compensation, but it also protected the agreement from being 
undone by lawyers and judges who would have otherwise interfered with 
its implementation.
  The agreement with Libya shows that State-to-State negotiations for 
the compensation of victims of terrorism can work. It is a far more 
effective means of compensating victims than lawsuits, as domestic 
court judgments are always difficult to enforce, and foreign entities 
have many ways of moving their funds offshore to avoid collection. 
Negotiations worked to provide fair compensation for the victims of 
Libya, and they can work to provide fair compensation to the victims of 
the torture and terrorism perpetrated by Saddam Hussein's former 
regime.
  I was very pleased to have been able to craft a bill with Chairman 
Conyers that not only facilitates, but encourages, State-to-State 
negotiations with the new democracy in Iraq that is the surest means of 
providing ultimate compensation for deserving victims. An amendment I 
offered at committee with Chairman Conyers, and which is now part of 
this bill, provides that the negotiations process will be allowed to 
continue as long as ``the President has certified to the Congress . . . 
that . . . negotiations are ongoing with the Government of Iraq to 
settle the claims in the [covered] cases . . . and the President 
believes that those negotiations are being conducted in good faith and 
could lead to a satisfactory settlement of those claims . . .''
  Under this provision, the President must, on a regular basis, provide 
Congress with a status report attesting to the continuing good faith 
negotiations between the parties, and to the prospect that those 
negotiations could lead to a satisfactory settlement. That provision is 
necessary to help balance several worthy goals.
  One of those goals is the maintaining of a stable, free, and 
democratic Iraq that will help ensure horrors the likes of which were 
seen under Saddam Hussein will not be seen again. To that end, earlier 
in this Congress, Congress passed H.R. 4986, which authorized the 
President to waive lawsuits against the new democracy in Iraq if the 
President determined that the waiver is in the national security 
interest of the United States; that the waiver will promote the 
reconstruction of, the consolidation of democracy in, and the relations 
of the United States with, Iraq; and that Iraq continues to be a 
reliable ally of the United States and partner in combating acts of 
international terrorism. On the day the President signed that provision 
into law, he signed a waiver and issued a statement justifying the 
exercise of the waiver authority.
  But H.R. 4986 also included a Sense of Congress that provides as 
follows:
  ``[T]he President, acting through the Secretary of State, should work 
with the Government of Iraq on a state-to-state basis to ensure 
compensation for any meritorious claims based on terrorist acts 
committed by the Saddam Hussein regime against individuals who were 
United States nationals or members of the United States Armed Forces at 
the time of those terrorist acts and whose claims cannot be addressed 
in courts in the United States due to the exercise of the waiver 
authority.''
  It is now time to provide the statutory requirements necessary to 
implement that Sense of Congress. We do that here today by passing H.R. 
5167, which gives our policy of encouraging good faith negotiations to 
provide fair and tangible compensation to victims of torture the force 
of statutory law. I urge all my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I would reserve the balance of my time while again 
urging support for the bill.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 7 minutes to one of the 
sponsors of the bill, the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Braley).
  Mr. BRALEY of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Scott and the 
chairman of the committee, as well as Ranking Member Smith and my 
friend from California, for their support for this important bill.
  I rise today because preventing torture of U.S. prisoners of war and 
citizens should be our highest priority as a Nation. This bill, H.R. 
5167, is a bipartisan compromise that will finally, after 17 long 
years, provide justice for American POWs and civilian hostages who were 
tortured and terrorized by Saddam Hussein's regime.
  And to put a human face on this, Mr. Speaker, these are some of the 
faces of tortured POWs that this bill is designed to address.
  My friend Cliff Acree, a colonel in the United States Marine Corps, 
aviation, and Commander Jeffrey Zaun from the United States Navy were 
visible faces of the Gulf War invasion and what was happening to our 
troops in Iraq.
  This photograph shows what happens when we put our young men and 
women in harm's way and subject them to brutal regimes like what we 
found when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, and the country of Iraq was 
labeled as a State sponsor of terrorism which is a necessary predicate 
to this claim in first place.
  Immediately after these captured POWs started showing up on 
television, this Congress, including the House of Representatives which 
was under Republican control at that time, passed multiple resolutions 
condemning the brutal treatment of our prisoners of war, demanding that 
Iraq abide by the Third Geneva Convention concerning POWs and stated 
Congress' intention to hold Iraq accountable for tortured POWs.
  Why is that important? Because the United States, along with Iraq, 
are part of the signatory nations to the Third Geneva Convention, and 
one of the most important articles for the purpose of this bill was 
article 131, which says no country--and this would include Iraq--shall 
be allowed to absolve itself or any other country of any liability 
related to the prohibited treatment of prisoners of war.
  It wasn't just our POWs, though. There were civilian hostages taken 
by the Saddam Hussein regime, including famous CBS news reporter Bob 
Simon and his cameraman Roberto Alvarez who were kidnapped while on 
assignment in the Gulf War and were being held and tortured along with 
the POWs.
  There were also numerous civilians who were captured by Saddam 
Hussein in Kuwait, including children, and were kept and held as human 
shields and subject to abusive treatment and torture along with our 
U.S. military forces. That is one of the reasons why this bill came 
about in the first place.
  When these tortured POWs came home--and just so that we can put this 
into context, these POWs were subjected to cruel physical and mental 
torture. They were beaten, they were starved, they were hooked to 
electronic devices and shocked, and subjected to other horrendous acts.
  Cliff Acree, the person whose picture is on this chart, had his nose 
broken on multiple occasions and his skull fractured in addition to 
being subjected to multiple other forms of abuse.
  When these POWs came home, their Secretary of Defense, who was at 
that time Dick Cheney, said your country is opening its arms to greet 
you.
  And this body, Congress, acted promptly to address these crimes that 
were committed in violation of international law by passing amendments 
to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and, in 1996, provided that 
Americans tortured and terrorized in Iraq could seek compensation for 
their injuries from those terrorist countries, including Iraq.

                              {time}  1945

  Now, these Gulf War POWs have been through hell, and they waited a 
long

[[Page H8102]]

time for their opportunity to get justice. So in 2003, after the 
Government of Iraq repeatedly refused to negotiate these claims with 
them and refused to accept service, a judge awarded these 17 POWs a 
judgment for damages and stated in his ruling that deterring the 
torture of POWs should be of the highest priority of this government.
  But shortly after that award was entered, this administration, which 
at that time was engaged in Operation Iraqi Freedom, decided that, even 
though one group of human shield plaintiffs had been compensated by the 
Government of Iraq, that they were going to seize the assets that were 
held in U.S. banks that could have been used to satisfy the payment to 
these tortured American POWs and instead applied them to the 
reconstruction of Iraq. And Scott McClellan, who was a White House 
spokesman, on November 6 said, ``The United States condemns, in the 
strongest terms, the brutal torture to which these Americans were 
subjected. However, no amount of money can truly compensate these brave 
men and women for the suffering they went through at the hands of 
Saddam Hussein's brutal regime, so that's why we're going to extinguish 
their claims.''
  There is a problem, and this problem was mentioned by my friend Mr. 
Scott, and also by Mr. Issa; that is, that this argument is hollow when 
you look at what our government has done to help Iraq resolve $20 
billion of commercial debt that are outstanding to companies like 
Mitsubishi of Japan and Hyundai of Korea. And if you look at the fact 
that in this fiscal year the Government of Iraq will probably generate 
somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 billion in oil revenues, this 
small liability to these tortured American citizens clearly should be a 
higher priority than settling the commercial debts of Japanese and 
Korean corporations.
  That's why the Justice for Victims of Torture and Terrorism Act 
requires the Government of Iraq to resolve the claims of American 
victims who are willing to give up all of their punitive damage award 
that they've already been awarded by the court and two-thirds of their 
compensatory damages to try to get this matter resolved and allow Iraq 
to move forward as a nation that belongs to the international 
community. And the waiver is only eliminated if Iraq does not pay the 
victims within the time period allotted. And this time period has been 
part of the Defense Authorization bill since the President's veto last 
December and since we came back with a new Defense Authorization bill 
that passed in early January.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker, why does this matter? It matters because 
preventing the torture of current U.S. citizens and troops should be 
one of our highest priorities in this body.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an 
additional minute.
  Mr. BRALEY of Iowa. Upholding our international treaty obligations 
not to absolve sponsors of terrorism and deterring other countries from 
engaging in the same type of state-sponsored terrorism that Iraq 
engaged in should be the message that this legislation sends.
  This is a bipartisan agreement. We want to work with the 
administration to see that these deserving heroes finally get the 
justice they deserve after 17 years.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Sestak), an original sponsor of the 
legislation.
  Mr. SESTAK. Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak in support of this 
bill from a different perspective. My colleagues from Iowa and 
California spoke very well about this bill and its purpose.
  For 31 years, I served in the military under laws that this Congress 
passed. We knew that we were allowed to kill, but we also knew that 
this Congress of ours, under the advising and consent agreement in the 
Senate, had passed a contract with me that I was not to torture. That 
contract was one that, if I did, I would stain this Nation, and that 
this Nation then would be held liable, as had been pointed out under 
the international law that we have accepted for my act of torture. But 
at the same time, I always knew that I had a contract with this Nation, 
a Nation of laws, not of men, and that if I were to be tortured, that 
this Nation would be there for me, that it would uphold its end of this 
law that we agreed to internationally in 1949--and that was that we 
would hold another country liable for that act of torture against me, 
someone who wore the cloth of this Nation for 31 years.
  That contract--that this Nation is actually a Nation of laws and not 
of men--is what is beat into us day after day in the military. In 1996, 
one administration passed a law, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 
and said, you men, you can sue. Another administration in 2008 passed 
another law, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, and said, you men, you 
can, under law, sue. That someone, for whatever reason, decided that 
this contract with our military members would not be upheld I think is 
a stain on the institution of the Presidency and upon this institution 
of Congress if we do not uphold that contract with our warriors.
  The best picture in the Pentagon is one across from the Secretary of 
Defense's office. It is of a young servicemember kneeling in church and 
beside him is his young spouse and a young child. And under it you can 
tell this individual is about to deploy again into harm's way. And 
there is then noted that wonderful inscription from the Bible where God 
has turned to Isaiah and says, ``Whom shall I send? Who shall go for 
us?'' And Isaiah said, ``Here am I, send me.''
  We don't serve a man, we serve a Nation of laws. And that's what this 
is really about today. I urge everyone in this Congress, both sides, 
and our President, who represents us as our Commander in Chief, to 
support this bill.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this is drawing to a close. I think that so much has 
been said, not nearly enough. I appreciate my colleagues on the other 
side of the aisle who have done such a good job of making this a 
bipartisan piece of legislation.
  Additionally, I would like to echo the last speaker because the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania, rightfully so, reminded us that the men 
and women in our Armed Forces, in which he served and in which I 
served, know the rules; they know the rules that we operate under, and 
we know the penalty if we break those rules. We know that if our 
country were to, in fact, torture somebody, we would both punish those 
who did it and compensate those who were treated in any inconsistent 
way with the rule of law. We only ask that the post-Saddam Iraq, if 
they're paying compensation and apologizing to others, they do the same 
to the men who suffered at their hands.
  So I think that for all the men and women serving in the Armed Forces 
today and those who have served in the past, this Congress, on a 
bipartisan basis, is taking a giant step toward saying we will hold 
others accountable as we have always held our own accountable.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman for 
his cooperation in this bipartisan effort, and I hope that we pass the 
bill.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 5167, the 
``Justice for Victims of Torture and Terrorism Act.'' This bill was 
sponsored by Representative Braley of Iowa. The bill's purpose is to 
amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 to 
remove the authority of the President to waive certain provisions. I 
support this bill and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  H.R. 5167, the Justice for Victims of Torture and Terrorism Act, 
responds to harms suffered by U.S. nationals under the Government of 
Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War and their efforts to hold Iraq, then a 
designated foreign state sponsor of terrorism, liable for their 
injuries. H.R. 5167 presents a new proposal to facilitate the 
settlement of these claims.
  This bill is important and necessary. I was shocked when I found out 
that the President was going to veto the Defense Authorization bill on 
Christmas Eve. The President vetoed the $3.5 billion authorization 
package that would have provided resources for military members, their 
families, and veterans, because it contained a provision that would 
have allowed Operation Desert Storm Prisoners of

[[Page H8103]]

War, POW, to continue their case against the Hussein regime.
  In 2002, 17 American ex-prisoners of war were brutally tortured in 
Iraq during the first Persian Gulf War sued Saddam Hussein's regime. 
The veterans eventually won a judgement against Hussein. But shortly 
after the invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration stepped in and had 
the judgement overturned.
  According to a Dec. 28 report in Congressional Quarterly, President 
Bush issued his veto after lawyers for the Iraqi Government threatened 
to withdraw $25 billion worth of assets from U.S. banks if the 
provisions was allowed to become law. The American POWs were granted 
damages by a U.S. district court in July 2003. The court awarded $959 
million in compensatory and punitive damages to the 17 POWs--some of 
whom remain on active duty today and are serving in Iraq.
  But earlier in 2003, after signing a bill that allowed Americans to 
collect court-ordered damages from the frozen assets of terrorist 
states--a list that included Iraq at that time--President Bush had 
confiscated what was then $1.7 billion in Iraqi assets held in private 
banks. He allowed the payment of two judgments including one for so-
called ``human shield'' hostages held in Iraq in 1990, but none for the 
Americans taken prisoner in the 1991 Gulf War.
  The President chose to respect corporate interests over human 
interests and corporate rights over human rights. This is something 
that the American people have seen from this administration in the past 
in unrelated matters.
  This bill, H.R. 5167, the ``the Justice for Victims of Torture and 
Terrorism Act'' restores a provision in the previously vetoed Defense 
bill that would allow American veterans and victims of torture to 
pursue legal claims against their torturers.
  Simply put, American veterans tortured as prisoners of war do not 
deserve to be left behind by a presidential policy that keeps them from 
seeking justice. We need to hold countries accountable for torturing 
American troops so it never happens again. We need to get our 
priorities straight. Protecting American veterans and POWs should come 
before protecting a country's assets.
  We must act today to correct this problem. I urge my colleagues to 
act with me, and support this bill. A strong bipartisan message of 
support needs to be displayed by this body to right the wrongs and send 
a message to the President that American soldiers deserve better. The 
message is clear: American soldiers deserve the right to bring 
torturers to justice. I invite my colleagues to stand with me today and 
support this important legislation.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 5167, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title was amended so as to read: ``A bill to terminate the 
authority of the President to waive, with regard to Iraq, certain 
provisions under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
2008 unless certain conditions are met.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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