    [United States Senate Manual, 117th Congress]
    [S. Doc. 117-1]
    [Cleaves Manual of Conferences and Conference Reports]
    [Pages 518-520]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 518]]

                      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 519]]

                                (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

    [[Page 520]]

                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