[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]


[[Page 511]]
 
                  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

[[Page 512]]

                            (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