[Senate Report 110-195]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 418
110th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                    110-195

======================================================================



 
   TO REQUIRE PERIODIC REPORTS RELATED TO ACTS OF TERRORISM AGAINST 
     AMERICANS PERPETRATED OR SUPPORTED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF LIBYA

                                _______
                                

                October 15, 2007.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

          Mr. Biden, from the Committee on Foreign Relations,
                        submitted the following

                                 REPORT

                         [To accompany S. 1839]

    The Committee on Foreign Relations, having had under 
consideration the bill (S. 1839) to require periodic reports on 
claims related to acts of terrorism against Americans 
perpetrated or supported by the Government of Libya, reports 
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the 
bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page

  I. Purpose..........................................................1
 II. Committee Action.................................................1
III. Discussion.......................................................2
 IV. Cost Estimate....................................................2
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................3
 VI. Changes in Existing Law..........................................3

                               I. Purpose

    This legislation is designed to better inform Congress, and 
by extension the American people, of the status of outstanding 
legal claims by American victims of Libyan terrorism and their 
families and of the efforts of the Department of State on their 
behalf.

                          II. Committee Action

    S. 1839 was introduced by Senator Biden on July 19, 2007, 
with Senators Levin and Lautenberg as original cosponsors. On 
September 11, 2007, the committee ordered the bill reported 
favorably by voice vote.

                            III. Discussion

    During the rule of Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi, several 
hundred Americans have been killed or injured by acts of 
terrorism sponsored by the Government of Libya. In December 
2003, Col. Qaddafi renounced terrorism, bringing Libya closer 
to rejoining the community of nations. Earlier that year, Libya 
accepted responsibility for the heinous Pan Am 103 bombing, 
which killed 189 Americans in 1988. That admission also helped 
pave the way to the negotiations that led to Libya's 
renunciation of its support for terrorism and its WMD programs. 
But the families of the victims of Pan Am 103 are still waiting 
for the final resolution to their case.
    In 2006, the Libyan government agreed to terms with the 
victims of the bombing of the La Belle discotheque in Germany 
in 1986. Unfortunately, it has since refused to honor the 
previously agreed upon terms. Other American victims of Libyan 
terror are still waiting for justice. Their cases may be 
smaller in scale, but the pain that the victims and their 
families have suffered is no less real.
    It is in the strategic interest of the United States to 
develop better relations with Libya. But doing so requires that 
Libya fully come to terms with its past. S. 1938 is intended to 
facilitate that process by helping American victims of Libyan 
terrorism and their families receive justice for the terrible 
crimes committed against them. It requires the administration 
to submit to Congress twice yearly reports on the status of the 
outstanding legal claims by these American victims and their 
families against the government of Libya. It also requires the 
administration to explain its own efforts on their behalf. The 
prospect of a regular, public report to Congress provides a 
means to keep the pressure on both U.S. and Libyan officials to 
resolve these cases.

                           IV. Cost Estimate

    In accordance with Rule XXVI, paragraph 11(a) of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the committee provides this 
estimate of the costs of this legislation prepared by the 
Congressional Budget Office.


                            United States Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                Washington, DC, September 19, 2007.

Hon. Joseph R. Biden, Jr.,
Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.

    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1839, a bill to 
require periodic reports related to acts of terrorism against 
Americans perpetrated or supported by the government of Libya.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Sunita 
D'Monte.
              Sincerely,
                                         Robert A. Sunshine
                                   (For Peter R. Orszag, Director).

                                ------                                


S. 1839--A bill to require periodic reports on claims related to acts 
        of terrorism against Americans perpetrated or supported by the 
        government of Libya

    S. 1839 would require the Secretary of State to report 
periodically to the Congress on negotiations to resolve legal 
claims made by citizens of the United States against the 
government of Libya for acts of terrorism. CBO estimates that 
implementing the bill would cost less than $500,000 a year over 
the 2008-2012 period, assuming the availability of appropriated 
funds. Enacting the bill would not affect direct spending or 
revenues.
    S. 1839 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Sunita D'Monte. 
This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                   V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact

    Pursuant to Rule XXVI, paragraph 11(b) of the Standing 
Rules of the Senate, the committee has determined that there is 
no regulatory impact as a result of this legislation.

                      VI. Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of Rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the committee notes that no 
changes to existing law are made by this bill.

                                  
