[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 200 (Thursday, December 22, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S10099]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
JUSTICE FOR THE LIVING VICTIMS OF LOCKERBIE ACT
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 5357, which is at the
desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 5357) to provide compensation for United States
victims of Libyan state-sponsored terrorism, and for other
purposes.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read
a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made
and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The bill (S. 5357) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading,
was read the third time, and passed, as follows:
S. 5357
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 the Living
Victims of Lockerbie Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINED TERM.
In this Act, the term ``compensable living victim of Libyan
state-sponsored terrorism'' means an individual who--
(1) is a United States person;
(2) was 45 years of age or older on December 3, 1991;
(3) was employed by Pan American World Airways, Inc., on
December 3, 1991;
(4) was a named claimant in Abbott et al. v. Socialist
People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (case number 1:94-cv-02444-
SS) in the United States District Court for the District of
Columbia; and
(5) was alive on August 14, 2008.
SEC. 3. LIVING VICTIMS OF LOCKERBIE CLAIMS TRUST FUND.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 30 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury
shall establish, in the Treasury of the United States, a
trust fund, to be known as the ``Living Victims of Lockerbie
Claims Trust Fund'' (in this section referred to as the
``Fund'') for the payment of claims submitted by compensable
living victims of Libyan state-sponsored terrorism under
section 4.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Once the Fund is
established pursuant to subsection (a), there shall be
appropriated to the Fund, out of any money in the Treasury of
the United States not otherwise appropriated, $20,000,000 for
fiscal year 2023, which shall be made available to provide
compensation to compensable living victims of Libyan state-
sponsored terrorism.
SEC. 4. COMPENSATION FOR LIVING VICTIMS OF LIBYAN STATE-
SPONSORED TERRORISM.
(a) Certification by the Foreign Claims Settlement
Commission.--The Foreign Claims Settlement Commission shall--
(1) not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, publish in the Federal Register a notice of a
process for filing claims on behalf of compensable living
victims of Libyan state-sponsored terrorism, which shall
include a deadline for the filing of claims of not later than
the date that is 60 days after the date of publication of the
notice;
(2) not later than 60 days after the end of the period for
filing claims described in paragraph (1)--
(A) determine if each individual who submitted a claim
under that paragraph is a compensable living victim of Libyan
state-sponsored terrorism; and
(B) approve the claim of each individual the Commission
determines under subparagraph (A) to be a compensable living
victim of Libyan state-sponsored terrorism; and
(3) upon approving a claim under paragraph (2)(B), certify
approval of the claim to the Secretary of the Treasury for
purposes of authorization of payment under subsection (b).
(b) Payments Authorized.--Upon receiving a certification
from the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission under
subsection (a)(3), the Secretary of the Treasury shall make
payments from the Fund to compensable living victims of
Libyan state-sponsored terrorism in accordance with
subsection (c).
(c) Compensation.--
(1) In general.--Upon a certification by the Foreign Claims
Settlement Commission under subsection (a)(3) of the claim of
a compensable living victim of Libyan state-sponsored
terrorism, the claimant (or, in the case of a deceased
claimant, the personal representative of the claimant's
estate) shall be entitled to an award in an amount equal to--
(A) $20,000,000, divided by
(B) the total number of claims certified under subsection
(a)(3).
(2) Representative.--If a putative claimant that otherwise
qualifies for compensation under this section is deceased, a
personal representative may bring a claim on behalf of the
estate of the claimant.
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