[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 16, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6701-S6702]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Grassley, Mrs. 
        Feinstein, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Graham, Mr. Whitehouse, 
        Mr. Lee, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Flake, Mr. Franken, Mr. Cruz, Mr. 
        Coons, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Perdue, and Mr. Markey):
  S. 2040. A bill to deter terrorism, provide justice for victims, and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of 
the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 2040

       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 Against Sponsors of 
     Terrorism Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) International terrorism is a serious and deadly problem 
     that threatens the vital interests of the United States.
       (2) The Constitution confers upon Congress the power to 
     punish crimes against the law of nations and therefore 
     Congress may by law impose penalties on those who provide 
     material support to foreign organizations engaged in 
     terrorist activity, and allow for victims of international 
     terrorism to recover damages from those who have harmed them.
       (3) International terrorism affects the interstate and 
     foreign commerce of the United States by harming 
     international trade and market stability, and limiting 
     international travel by United States citizens as well as 
     foreign visitors to the United States.
       (4) Some foreign terrorist organizations, acting through 
     affiliated groups or individuals, raise significant funds 
     outside of the United States for conduct directed and 
     targeted at the United States.
       (5) It is necessary to recognize the substantive causes of 
     action for aiding and abetting and conspiracy liability under 
     the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 (22 U.S.C. 5201 et seq.).
       (6) The decision of the United States Court of Appeals for 
     the District of Columbia in Halberstam v. Welch, 705 F.2d 472 
     (D.C. Cir. 1983), which has been widely recognized as the 
     leading case regarding Federal civil aiding and abetting and 
     conspiracy liability, including by the Supreme Court of the 
     United States, provides the proper legal framework for how 
     such liability should function in the context of the Anti-
     Terrorism Act of 1987 (22 U.S.C. 5201 et seq.).
       (7) The United Nations Security Council declared in 
     Resolution 1373, adopted on September 28, 2001, that all 
     countries have an affirmative obligation to ``[r]efrain from 
     providing any form of support, active or passive, to entities 
     or persons involved in terrorist acts,'' and to ``[e]nsure 
     that any person who participates in the financing, planning, 
     preparation or perpetration of terrorist acts or in 
     supporting terrorist acts is brought to justice''.
       (8) Consistent with these declarations, no country has the 
     discretion to engage knowingly in the financing or 
     sponsorship of terrorism, whether directly or indirectly.
       (9) Persons, entities, or countries that knowingly or 
     recklessly contribute material support or resources, directly 
     or indirectly, to persons or organizations that pose a 
     significant risk of committing acts of terrorism that 
     threaten the security of nationals of the United States or 
     the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the 
     United States, necessarily direct their conduct at the United 
     States, and should reasonably anticipate being brought to 
     court in the United States to answer for such activities.
       (10) The United States has a vital interest in providing 
     persons and entities injured as a result of terrorist attacks 
     committed within

[[Page S6702]]

     the United States with full access to the court system in 
     order to pursue civil claims against persons, entities, or 
     countries that have knowingly or recklessly provided material 
     support or resources, directly or indirectly, to the persons 
     or organizations responsible for their injuries.
       (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to provide civil 
     litigants with the broadest possible basis, consistent with 
     the Constitution of the United States, to seek relief against 
     persons, entities, and foreign countries, wherever acting and 
     wherever they may be found, that have provided material 
     support, directly or indirectly, to foreign organizations or 
     persons that engage in terrorist activities against the 
     United States.

     SEC. 3. FOREIGN SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.

       Section 1605(a) of title 28, United States Code, is 
     amended--
       (1) by amending paragraph (5) to read as follows:
       ``(5) not otherwise encompassed in paragraph (2), in which 
     money damages are sought against a foreign state arising out 
     of physical injury or death, or damage to or loss of 
     property, occurring in the United States and caused by the 
     tortious act or omission of that foreign state or of any 
     official or employee of that foreign state while acting 
     within the scope of the office or employment of the official 
     or employee (regardless of where the underlying tortious act 
     or omission occurs), including any statutory or common law 
     tort claim arising out of an act of extrajudicial killing, 
     aircraft sabotage, hostage taking, terrorism, or the 
     provision of material support or resources for such an act, 
     or any claim for contribution or indemnity relating to a 
     claim arising out of such an act, except this paragraph shall 
     not apply to--
       ``(A) any claim based upon the exercise or performance of, 
     or the failure to exercise or perform, a discretionary 
     function, regardless of whether the discretion is abused; or
       ``(B) any claim arising out of malicious prosecution, abuse 
     of process, libel, slander, misrepresentation, deceit, 
     interference with contract rights, or any claim for emotional 
     distress or derivative injury suffered as a result of an 
     event or injury to another person that occurs outside of the 
     United States; or''; and
       (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
       ``(e) Definitions.--For purposes of subsection (a)(5)--
       ``(1) the terms `aircraft sabotage', `extrajudicial 
     killing', `hostage taking', and `material support or 
     resources' have the meanings given those terms in section 
     1605A(h); and
       ``(2) the term `terrorism' means international terrorism 
     and domestic terrorism, as those terms are defined in section 
     2331 of title 18.''.

     SEC. 4. AIDING AND ABETTING LIABILITY FOR CIVIL ACTIONS 
                   REGARDING TERRORIST ACTS.

       (a) In General.--Section 2333 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(d) Liability.--In an action under subsection (a) for an 
     injury arising from an act of international terrorism 
     committed, planned, or authorized by an organization that had 
     been designated as a foreign terrorist organization under 
     section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
     1189), as of the date on which such act of international 
     terrorism was committed, planned, or authorized, or that was 
     so designated as a result of such act of international 
     terrorism, liability may be asserted as to any person who 
     aided, abetted, or conspired with the person who committed 
     such an act of international terrorism.''.
       (b) Effect on Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.--Nothing in 
     the amendments made by this section affects immunity of a 
     foreign state, as that term is defined in section 1603 of 
     title 28, United States Code, from jurisdiction under other 
     law.

     SEC. 5. PERSONAL JURISDICTION FOR CIVIL ACTIONS REGARDING 
                   TERRORIST ACTS.

       Section 2334 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by 
     inserting at the end the following:
       ``(e) Personal Jurisdiction.--The district courts shall 
     have personal jurisdiction, to the maximum extent permissible 
     under the 5th Amendment to the Constitution of the United 
     States, over any person who commits or aids and abets an act 
     of international terrorism or otherwise sponsors such act or 
     the person who committed such act, for acts of international 
     terrorism in which any national of the United States suffers 
     injury in his or her person, property, or business by reason 
     of such an act in violation of section 2333.''.

     SEC. 6. LIABILITY FOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS IN CIVIL ACTIONS 
                   REGARDING TERRORIST ACTS.

       Section 2337 of title 18, United States Code, is amended to 
     read as follows:

     ``Sec. 2337. Suits against Government officials

       ``No action may be maintained under section 2333 against--
       ``(1) the United States;
       ``(2) an agency of the United States; or
       ``(3) an officer or employee of the United States or any 
     agency of the United States acting within the official 
     capacity of the officer or employee or under color of legal 
     authority.''.

     SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY.

       If any provision of this Act or any amendment made by this 
     Act, or the application of a provision or amendment to any 
     person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder 
     of this Act and the amendments made by this Act, and the 
     application of the provisions and amendments to any other 
     person not similarly situated or to other circumstances, 
     shall not be affected by the holding.

     SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       The amendments made by this Act shall apply to any civil 
     action--
       (1) pending on, or commenced on or after, the date of 
     enactment of this Act; and
       (2) arising out of an injury to a person, property, or 
     business on or after September 11, 2001.
                                 ______