[United States Senate Manual, 116th Congress]
[S. Doc. 116-1]
[Cleaves Manual of Conferences and Conference Reports]
[Pages 511-513]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
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TITLE 51--NATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL SPACE PROGRAMS
Chapter 509--COMMERCIAL SPACE LAUNCH ACTIVITIES
424 Sec. 50915. Paying claims exceeding liability insurance and
financial responsibility requirements
(a) General Requirements.--(1) To the extent provided in
advance in an appropriation law or to the extent additional
legislative authority is enacted providing for paying claims
in a compensation plan submitted under subsection (d) of
this section, the Secretary of Transportation shall provide
for the payment by the United States Government of a
successful claim (including reasonable litigation or
settlement expenses) of a third party against a person
described in paragraph (3)(A) resulting from an activity
carried out under the license issued or transferred under
this chapter for death, bodily injury, or property damage or
loss resulting from an activity carried out under the
license. However, claims may be paid under this section only
to the extent the total amount of successful claims related
to one launch or reentry--
(A) is more than the amount of insurance or
demonstration of financial responsibility
required under section 50914(a)(1)(A) of this
title; and
(B) is not more than $1,500,000,000 (plus
additional amounts necessary to reflect
inflation occurring after January 1, 1989) above
that insurance or financial responsibility
amount.
(2) The Secretary may not provide for paying a part of a
claim for which death, bodily injury, or property damage or
loss results from willful misconduct by the licensee or
transferee. To the extent insurance required under section
50914(a)(1)(A) of this title is not available to cover a
successful third party liability claim because of an
insurance policy exclusion the Secretary decides is usual
for the type of insurance involved, the Secretary may
provide for paying the excluded claims without regard to the
limitation contained in section 50914(a)(1).
(3)(A) A person described in this subparagraph is--
(i) a licensee or transferee under this
chapter;
(ii) a contractor, subcontractor, or
customer of the licensee or transferee;
(iii) a contractor or subcontractor of a
customer; or
(iv) a space flight participant.
(B) Clause (iv) of subparagraph (A) ceases to be
effective September 30, 2025.
(b) Notice, Participation, and Approval.--Before a
payment under subsection (a) of this section is made--
(1) notice must be given to the Government
of a claim, or a civil action related to the
claim, against a party described in subsection
(a)(1) of this section for death, bodily injury,
or property damage or loss;
(2) the Government must be given an
opportunity to participate or assist in the
defense of the claim or action; and
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(3) the Secretary must approve any part of a
settlement to be paid out of appropriations of
the Government.
(c) Withholding Payments.--The Secretary may withhold a
payment under subsection (a) of this section if the
Secretary certifies that the amount is not reasonable.
However, the Secretary shall deem to be reasonable the
amount of a claim finally decided by a court of competent
jurisdiction.
(d) Surveys, Reports, and Compensation Plans.--(1) If as
a result of an activity carried out under a license issued
or transferred under this chapter the total of claims
related to one launch or reentry is likely to be more than
the amount of required insurance or demonstration of
financial responsibility, the Secretary shall--
(A) survey the causes and extent of damage;
and
(B) submit expeditiously to Congress a
report on the results of the survey.
(2) Not later than 90 days after a court determination
indicates that the liability for the total of claims related
to one launch or reentry may be more than the required
amount of insurance or demonstration of financial
responsibility, the President, on the recommendation of the
Secretary, shall submit to Congress a compensation plan
that--
(A) outlines the total dollar value of the
claims;
(B) recommends sources of amounts to pay for
the claims;
(C) includes legislative language required
to carry out the plan if additional legislative
authority is required; and
(D) for a single event or incident, may not
be for more than $1,500,000,000.
(3) A compensation plan submitted to Congress under
paragraph (2) of this subsection shall--
(A) have an identification number; and
(B) be submitted to the Senate and the House
of Representatives on the same day and when the
Senate and House are in session.
(e) Congressional Resolutions.--(1) In this subsection,
``resolution''--
(A) means a joint resolution of Congress the
matter after the resolving clause of which is as
follows: ``That the Congress approves the
compensation plan numbered _____ submitted to
the Congress on _____ XX, 20__.'', with the
blank spaces being filled appropriately; but
(B) does not include a resolution that
includes more than one compensation plan.
(2) The Senate shall consider under this subsection a
compensation plan requiring additional appropriations or
legislative authority not later than 60 calendar days of
continuous session of Congress after the date on which the
plan is submitted to Congress.
(3) A resolution introduced in the Senate shall be
referred immediately to a committee by the President of the
Senate. All resolutions related to the same plan shall be
referred to the same committee.
(4)(A) If the committee of the Senate to which a
resolution has been referred does not report the resolution
within 20 calendar days after it is referred, a motion is in
order to discharge the committee from further consideration
of the resolution or to discharge the committee from further
consideration of the plan.
(B) A motion to discharge may be made only by an
individual favoring the resolution and is highly privileged
(except that the motion may
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not be made after the committee has reported a resolution on
the plan). Debate on the motion is limited to one hour, to
be divided equally between those favoring and those opposing
the resolution. An amendment to the motion is not in order.
A motion to reconsider the vote by which the motion is
agreed to or disagreed to is not in order.
(C) If the motion to discharge is agreed to or disagreed
to, the motion may not be renewed and another motion to
discharge the committee from another resolution on the same
plan may not be made.
(5)(A) After a committee of the Senate reports, or is
discharged from further consideration of, a resolution, a
motion to proceed to the consideration of the resolution is
in order at any time, even though a similar previous motion
has been disagreed to. The motion is highly privileged and
is not debatable. An amendment to the motion is not in
order. A motion to reconsider the vote by which the motion
is agreed to or disagreed to is not in order.
(B) Debate on the resolution referred to in subparagraph
(A) of this paragraph is limited to not more than 10 hours,
to be divided equally between those favoring and those
opposing the resolution. A motion further to limit debate is
not debatable. An amendment to, or motion to recommit, the
resolution is not in order. A motion to reconsider the vote
by which the resolution is agreed to or disagreed to is not
in order.
(6) The following shall be decided in the Senate without
debate:
(A) a motion to postpone related to the
discharge from committee.
(B) a motion to postpone consideration of a
resolution.
(C) a motion to proceed to the consideration
of other business.
(D) an appeal from a decision of the chair
related to the application of the rules of the
Senate to the procedures related to a
resolution.
(f) Application.--This section applies to a license
issued or transferred under this chapter for which the
Secretary receives a complete and valid application not
later than September 30, 2025. This section does not apply
to permits. (Pub. L. 103-272, Sec. 1(e), July 5, 1994, 108
Stat. 1338, Sec. 70113 of Title 49; Pub. L. 104-287,
Sec. 5(94), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3398; Pub. L. 105-303,
Title I, Sec. 102(a)(13), Oct. 28, 1998, 112 Stat. 2850;
Pub. L. 106-74, Title IV, Sec. 433, Oct. 20, 1999, 113 Stat.
1097; Pub. L. 106-377, Sec. 1(a)(1) [Title IV, Sec. 429],
Oct. 27, 2000, 114 Stat. 1441, 1441A-56; Pub. L. 106-405,
Sec. Sec. 5(b), 6(a), Nov. 1, 2000, 114 Stat. 1752; Pub. L.
108-428, Sec. 1, Nov. 30, 2004, 118 Stat. 2432; Pub. L. 108-
492, Sec. 2(c)(22), (23), Dec. 23, 2004, 118 Stat. 3981;
Pub. L. 111-125, Sec. 1, Dec. 28, 2009, 123 Stat. 3486;
renumbered Sec. 70113 then Sec. 50915 of Title 51 and
amended Pub. L. 111-314, Sec. 4(d)(2), (3)(O), (5)(Q), (R),
Dec. 18, 2010, 124 Stat. 3440-3442; Pub. L. 112-273, Sec. 3,
Jan. 14, 2013, 126 Stat. 2454; Pub. L. 113-76, Sec. 8, Jan.
17, 2014, 128 Stat. 7; Pub. L. 114-90, Title I,
Sec. Sec. 102(d), 103(a)(2), Nov. 25, 2015, 129 Stat. 706.)
52 u.s.c.--voting and elections
united states senate procedures enacted in law