I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3358 

To provide for payment of certain claims against the Government of Iran. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 20, 2005 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. PENCE, 

Mr. ENGEL, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. 

TANCREDO, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. KIRK, Mr. MCCOTTER, 

Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina, Mr. POE, and Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition 

to the Committee on International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for payment of certain claims against the 

Government of Iran. 

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) On November 4, 1979, the Iranian militants 

6 seized the United States Embassy in Tehran, Iran, 
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1 and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days until 

2 their negotiated release on January 20, 1981. 

3 (2) On January 19, 1981, the Department of 

4 State entered into a series of agreements with Iran 

5 that came to be known as the Algiers Accords. The 

6 accords established the United States-Iran Claims 

7 Tribunal to adjudicate United States and Iranian 

8 commercial claims. The Accords, however, sought to 

9 preclude the 52 American hostages or their families 

10 from bringing suit against Iran for their seizure, de11 tention, torture, and injuries. 

12 (3) On December 29, 2000, the 52 American 

13 hostages and their spouses and children filed suit in 

14 the United States District Court for the District of 

15 Columbia, pursuant to the Antiterrorism and Effec16 tive Death Penalty Act of 1996 (Public Law 104– 

17 132). 

18 (4) On August 6, 2001, the District Court en19 tered a default judgment against Iran after certi20 fying the case as a class action. 

21 (5) The Department of State moved to vacate 

22 the decision of the District Court, despite Iran’s con23 tinued refusal to appear in court. 

24 (6) In response to the motion to vacate by the 

25 Department of State, Congress amended the 
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1 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 

2 1996 by adding language to allow the claim of the 

3 hostages to proceed to judgment. The accompanying 

4 Conference Report specifically stated that the 

5 amendment ‘‘quashes the State Department’s mo6 tion to vacate the judgment obtained by plaintiffs in 

7 Case Number 1:00CV03110 (ESG) in the United 

8 States District Court for the District of Columbia’’. 

9 (7) Congress further reaffirmed this view by en10 acting section 208 of division B of Public Law 107– 

11 117, making a technical correction to the case num12 ber. 

13 (8) On May 12, 2003, during oral arguments, 

14 the United States Court of Appeals for the District 

15 of Columbia Circuit noted that the agreements 

16 reached pursuant to the Algiers Accords ‘‘were at 

17 the point of a gun’’, and observed that the Court 

18 ‘‘doubt[ed] that the Government of the United 

19 States would defend this agreement on the theory 

20 that we would have entered into this voluntarily 

21 without them holding onto our hostages’’. 

22 (9) On May 12, 2003, during oral arguments 

23 before the Court of Appeals, the attorneys rep24 resenting the Department of Justice affirmed to the 

25 Court that ‘‘both Congress and the President, both 
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1 the political branches in other words, have the au2 thority to abrogate the international obligations of 

3 the United States’’. 

4 SEC. 2. STATEMENTS OF POLICY. 

5 (a) PURSUIT OF JUSTICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY.— 

6 It is the policy of the United States, as articulated in the 

7 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 

8 and in other United States laws, to seek justice for United 

9 States victims of terrorism and to hold terrorists and their 

10 state-sponsors accountable for their actions. 

11 (b) PREEMPTION.—United States law regarding vic12 tims of terrorism supersedes the Algiers Accords and any 

13 other agreement with Iran stemming from the holding of 

14 American hostages in Iran from November 4, 1979, 

15 through January 20, 1981. 

16 SEC. 3. JUSTICE FOR FORMER AMERICAN HOSTAGES IN 

17 IRAN. 

18 (a) INAPPLICABILITY OF ALGIERS ACCORDS.—Any 

19 provision of the Algiers Accords, entered into with Iran 

20 on January 19, 1981, that purports to bar a citizen of 

21 the United States from prosecuting any claim in any court 

22 of the United States or to limit the jurisdiction of any 

23 court of the United States is hereby abrogated and deemed 

24 nonapplicable. 

25 (b) COMMON FUND FOR HOSTAGES.— 
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

3 of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary 

4 of State, shall commence payments to a common 

5 fund to be established and administered by the cer6 tified class representatives for the former American 

7 hostages in Iran and their survivors (as identified in 

8 case number 1:00CV03110 (EGS) of the United 

9 States District Court for the District of Columbia). 

10 Such common fund shall— 

11 (A) be administered to pay claims to the 

12 Americans held hostage in Iran, and to mem13 bers of their families, who are identified as 

14 class members in case number 1:00CV03110 

15 (EGS) of the United States District Court for 

16 the District of Columbia; and 

17 (B) be administered solely for purposes of 

18 satisfying such claims, as approved by the cer19 tified class representatives identified in that 

20 case number. 

21 (2) FUNDING.—Payments to the fund under 

22 paragraph (1) shall be derived from the liquidation 

23 of blocked assets (as defined in section 201(d)(2) of 

24 the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (Public 

25 Law 107–297; 28 U.S.C. 1610 note) with respect to 
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1 Iran, and from amounts in the Iran Foreign Military 

2 Sales Fund account within the Foreign Military 

3 Sales Fund. The Secretary of the Treasury may liq4 uidate such assets for purposes of this subsection. 

5 (3) AMOUNT.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

6 shall make payments into the fund in amounts equal 

7 to— 

8 (A) for each former hostage identified as a 

9 class member under paragraph (1)(A), $1,000 

10 for each day of captivity; 

11 (B) for each spouse and child identified as 

12 a class member under pareagraph (1)(A), $500 

13 for each day of captivity of the former hostages; 

14 and 

15 (C) interest on each amount under sub16 paragraph (A) and (B), calculated at the daily 

17 prime rate, as determined by the Board of Gov18 ernors of the Federal Reserve System, for the 

19 period from the date of the taking of the hos20 tages until the date of payment under this sec21 tion. 

Æ