I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3815 

To deter terrorism, provide justice for victims, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 23, 2015 

Mr. KING of New York (for himself, Mr. NADLER, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. ISRAEL, 

Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. COHEN, 

Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To deter terrorism, provide justice for victims, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Justice Against Spon5 sors of Terrorism Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) International terrorism is a serious and 

9 deadly problem that threatens the vital interests of 

10 the United States. 


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1 (2) The Constitution confers upon Congress the 

2 power to punish crimes against the law of nations 

3 and therefore Congress may by law impose penalties 

4 on those who provide material support to foreign or5 ganizations engaged in terrorist activity, and allow 

6 for victims of international terrorism to recover 

7 damages from those who have harmed them. 

8 (3) International terrorism affects the inter9 state and foreign commerce of the United States by 

10 harming international trade and market stability, 

11 and limiting international travel by United States 

12 citizens as well as foreign visitors to the United 

13 States. 

14 (4) Some foreign terrorist organizations, acting 

15 through affiliated groups or individuals, raise signifi16 cant funds outside of the United States for conduct 

17 directed and targeted at the United States. 

18 (5) It is necessary to recognize the substantive 

19 causes of action for aiding and abetting and con20 spiracy liability under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 

21 1987 (22 U.S.C. 5201 et seq.). 

22 (6) The decision of the United States Court of 

23 Appeals for the District of Columbia in Halberstam 

24 v. Welch, 705 F.2d 472 (D.C. Cir. 1983), which has 

25 been widely recognized as the leading case regarding 


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1 Federal civil aiding and abetting and conspiracy li2 ability, including by the Supreme Court of the 

3 United States, provides the proper legal framework 

4 for how such liability should function in the context 

5 of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 (22 U.S.C. 5201 

6 et seq.). 

7 (7) The United Nations Security Council de8 clared in Resolution 1373, adopted on September 

9 28, 2001, that all countries have an affirmative obli10 gation to ‘‘[r]efrain from providing any form of sup11 port, active or passive, to entities or persons involved 

12 in terrorist acts,’’ and to ‘‘[e]nsure that any person 

13 who participates in the financing, planning, prepara14 tion or perpetration of terrorist acts or in supporting 

15 terrorist acts is brought to justice’’. 

16 (8) Consistent with these declarations, no coun17 try has the discretion to engage knowingly in the fi18 nancing or sponsorship of terrorism, whether di19 rectly or indirectly. 

20 (9) Persons, entities, or countries that know21 ingly or recklessly contribute material support or re22 sources, directly or indirectly, to persons or organi23 zations that pose a significant risk of committing 

24 acts of terrorism that threaten the security of na25 tionals of the United States or the national security, 


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1 foreign policy, or economy of the United States, nec2 essarily direct their conduct at the United States, 

3 and should reasonably anticipate being brought to 

4 court in the United States to answer for such activi5 ties. 

6 (10) The United States has a vital interest in 

7 providing persons and entities injured as a result of 

8 terrorist attacks committed within the United States 

9 with full access to the court system in order to pur10 sue civil claims against persons, entities, or countries 

11 that have knowingly or recklessly provided material 

12 support or resources, directly or indirectly, to the 

13 persons or organizations responsible for their inju14 ries. 

15 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 

16 civil litigants with the broadest possible basis, consistent 

17 with the Constitution of the United States, to seek relief 

18 against persons, entities, and foreign countries, wherever 

19 acting and wherever they may be found, that have pro20 vided material support, directly or indirectly, to foreign 

21 organizations or persons that engage in terrorist activities 

22 against the United States. 

23 SEC. 3. FOREIGN SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY. 

24 Section 1605(a) of title 28, United States Code, is 

25 amended— 


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1 (1) by amending paragraph (5) to read as fol2 lows: 

3 ‘‘(5) not otherwise encompassed in paragraph 

4 (2), in which money damages are sought against a 

5 foreign state arising out of physical injury or death, 

6 or damage to or loss of property, occurring in the 

7 United States and caused by the tortious act or 

8 omission of that foreign state or of any official or 

9 employee of that foreign state while acting within 

10 the scope of the office or employment of the official 

11 or employee (regardless of where the underlying 

12 tortious act or omission occurs), including any statu13 tory or common law tort claim arising out of an act 

14 of extrajudicial killing, aircraft sabotage, hostage 

15 taking, terrorism, or the provision of material sup16 port or resources for such an act, or any claim for 

17 contribution or indemnity relating to a claim arising 

18 out of such an act, except this paragraph shall not 

19 apply to— 

20 ‘‘(A) any claim based upon the exercise or 

21 performance of, or the failure to exercise or 

22 perform, a discretionary function, regardless of 

23 whether the discretion is abused; or 

24 ‘‘(B) any claim arising out of malicious 

25 prosecution, abuse of process, libel, slander, 


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1 misrepresentation, deceit, interference with con2 tract rights, or any claim for emotional distress 

3 or derivative injury suffered as a result of an 

4 event or injury to another person that occurs 

5 outside of the United States; or’’; and 

6 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of subsection 

9 (a)(5)— 

10 ‘‘(1) the terms ‘aircraft sabotage’, ‘extrajudicial 

11 killing’, ‘hostage taking’, and ‘material support or 

12 resources’ have the meanings given those terms in 

13 section 1605A(h); and 

14 ‘‘(2) the term ‘terrorism’ means international 

15 terrorism and domestic terrorism, as those terms are 

16 defined in section 2331 of title 18.’’. 

17 SEC. 4. AIDING AND ABETTING LIABILITY FOR CIVIL AC18 TIONS REGARDING TERRORIST ACTS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2333 of title 18, United 

20 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(d) LIABILITY.—In an action under subsection (a) 

23 for an injury arising from an act of international terrorism 

24 committed, planned, or authorized by an organization that 

25 had been designated as a foreign terrorist organization 


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1 under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

2 (8 U.S.C. 1189), as of the date on which such act of inter3 national terrorism was committed, planned, or authorized, 

4 or that was so designated as a result of such act of inter5 national terrorism, liability may be asserted as to any per6 son who aided, abetted, or conspired with the person who 

7 committed such an act of international terrorism.’’. 

8 (b) EFFECT ON FOREIGN SOVEREIGN IMMUNITIES

9 ACT.—Nothing in the amendments made by this section 

10 affects immunity of a foreign state, as that term is defined 

11 in section 1603 of title 28, United States Code, from juris12 diction under other law. 

13 SEC. 5. PERSONAL JURISDICTION FOR CIVIL ACTIONS RE14 GARDING TERRORIST ACTS. 

15 Section 2334 of title 18, United States Code, is 

16 amended by inserting at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(e) PERSONAL JURISDICTION.—The district courts 

18 shall have personal jurisdiction, to the maximum extent 

19 permissible under the 5th Amendment to the Constitution 

20 of the United States, over any person who commits or aids 

21 and abets an act of international terrorism or otherwise 

22 sponsors such act or the person who committed such act, 

23 for acts of international terrorism in which any national 

24 of the United States suffers injury in his or her person, 


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1 property, or business by reason of such an act in violation 

2 of section 2333.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. LIABILITY FOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS IN CIVIL 

4 ACTIONS REGARDING TERRORIST ACTS. 

5 Section 2337 of title 18, United States Code, is 

6 amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘§ 2337. Suits against Government officials 

8 ‘‘No action may be maintained under section 2333 

9 against— 

10 ‘‘(1) the United States; 

11 ‘‘(2) an agency of the United States; or 

12 ‘‘(3) an officer or employee of the United States 

13 or any agency of the United States acting within the 

14 official capacity of the officer or employee or under 

15 color of legal authority.’’. 

16 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 

17 If any provision of this Act or any amendment made 

18 by this Act, or the application of a provision or amend19 ment to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, 

20 the remainder of this Act and the amendments made by 

21 this Act, and the application of the provisions and amend22 ments to any other person not similarly situated or to 

23 other circumstances, shall not be affected by the holding. 


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1 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 The amendments made by this Act shall apply to any 

3 civil action— 

4 (1) pending on, or commenced on or after, the 

5 date of enactment of this Act; and 

6 (2) arising out of an injury to a person, prop7 erty, or business on or after September 11, 2001. 

Æ 


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