I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 618

To provide for the adjudication of certain claims against the Government

of Iraq and to ensure priority for United States veterans filing such claims.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 8, 1999

Mr. DOGGETT (for himself, Mr. EVANS, and Mr. CRAMER) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

A BILL

To provide for the adjudication of certain claims against

the Government of Iraq and to ensure priority for United

States veterans filing such claims.

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 ‘‘Gulf War Veterans’

5 Iraqi Claims Protection Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. ADJUDICATION OF CLAIMS.

7 (a) CLAIMS AGAINST IRAQ.—The United States

8 Commission is authorized to receive and determine the va9 lidity and amounts of any claims by nationals of the

10 United States against the Government of Iraq. Such
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1 claims must be submitted to the United States Commis2 sion within the period specified by such Commission by

3 notice published in the Federal Register. The United

4 States Commission shall certify to each claimant the

5 amount determined by the Commission to be payable on

6 the claim under this Act.

7 (b) DECISION RULES.—In deciding claims under sub8 section (a), the United States Commission shall apply, in

9 the following order—

10 (1) applicable substantive law, including inter11 national law; and

12 (2) applicable principles of justice and equity.

13 (c) PRIORITY CLAIMS.—Before deciding any other

14 claim against the Government of Iraq, the United States

15 Commission shall, to the extent practical, decide all pend16 ing non-commercial claims of active, retired, or reserve

17 members of the United States Armed Forces, retired

18 former members of the United States Armed Forces, and

19 other individuals arising out of Iraq’s invasion and occupa20 tion of Kuwait or out of the 1987 attack on the USS

21 Stark.

22 (d) APPLICABILITY OF INTERNATIONAL CLAIMS SET23 TLEMENT ACT.—To the extent they are not inconsistent

24 with the provisions of this Act, the provisions of title I

25 (other than section 2(c)) and title VII of the International
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1 Claims Settlement Act of 1949 (22 U.S.C. 1621–1627 and

2 1645–1645o) shall apply with respect to claims under this

3 Act.

4 SEC. 3. CLAIMS FUNDS.

5 (a) IRAQ CLAIMS FUND.—The Secretary of the

6 Treasury is authorized to establish in the Treasury of the

7 United States a fund (hereafter in this Act referred to

8 as the ‘‘Iraq Claims Fund’’) for payment of claims cer9 tified under section 2(a). The Secretary of the Treasury

10 shall cover into the Iraq Claims Fund such amounts as

11 are allocated to such fund pursuant to subsection (b).

12 (b) ALLOCATION OF PROCEEDS FROM IRAQI ASSET

13 LIQUIDATION.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall allocate

15 funds resulting from the liquidation of assets pursu16 ant to section 4 in the manner the President deter17 mines appropriate between the Iraq Claims Fund

18 and such other accounts as are appropriate for the

19 payment of claims of the United States Government

20 against Iraq, subject to the limitation in paragraph

21 (2).

22 (2) LIMITATION.—The amount allocated pursu23 ant to this subsection for payment of claims of the

24 United States Government against Iraq may not ex25 ceed the amount which bears the same relation to
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1 the amount allocated to the Iraq Claims Fund pur2 suant to this subsection as the sum of all certified

3 claims of the United States Government against

4 Iraq bears to the sum of all claims certified under

5 section 2(a). As used in this paragraph, the term

6 ‘‘certified claims of the United States Government

7 against Iraq’’ means those claims of the United

8 States Government against Iraq which are deter9 mined by the Secretary of State to be outside the ju10 risdiction of the United Nations Commission and

11 which are determined to be valid, and whose amount

12 has been certified, under such procedures as the

13 President may establish.

14 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY TO VEST IRAQI ASSETS.

15 The President is authorized to vest and liquidate as

16 much of the assets of the Government of Iraq in the

17 United States that have been blocked pursuant to the

18 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50

19 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) as may be necessary to satisfy claims

20 under section 2(a), claims of the United States Govern21 ment against Iraq which are determined by the Secretary

22 of State to be outside the jurisdiction of the United Na23 tions Commission, and administrative expenses under sec24 tion 5.
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1 SEC. 5. REIMBURSEMENT FOR ADMINISTRATIVE EX2 PENSES.

3 (a) DEDUCTION.—In order to reimburse the United

4 States Government for its expenses in administering this

5 Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall deduct 1.5 per6 cent of any amount covered into the Iraq Claims Fund

7 to satisfy claims under this Act.

8 (b) DEDUCTIONS TREATED AS MISCELLANEOUS RE9 CEIPTS.—Amounts deducted pursuant to subsection (a)

10 shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States

11 as miscellaneous receipts.

12 SEC. 6. PAYMENTS.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The United States Commission

14 shall certify to the Secretary of the Treasury each award

15 made pursuant to section 2. The Secretary of the Treas16 ury shall make payment, out of the Iraq Claims Fund,

17 in the following order of priority to the extent funds are

18 available in such fund:

19 (1) Payment of $10,000 or the principal

20 amount of the award, whichever is less.

21 (2) For each claim that has priority under sec22 tion 2(c), payment of an additional $90,000 toward

23 the unpaid balance of the principal amount of the

24 award.

25 (3) Payments from time to time in ratable pro26 portions on account of the unpaid balance of the
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1 principal amounts of all awards according to the

2 proportions which the unpaid balance of such

3 awards bear to the total amount in the Iraq Claims

4 Fund that is available for distribution at the time

5 such payments are made.

6 (4) After payment has been made of the prin7 cipal amounts of all such awards, pro rata payments

8 on account of accrued interest on such awards as

9 bear interest.

10 (b) UNSATISFIED CLAIMS.—Payment of any award

11 made pursuant to this Act shall not extinguish any

12 unsatisfied claim, or be construed to have divested any

13 claimant, or the United States on his or her behalf, of

14 any rights against the Government of Iraq with respect

15 to any unsatisfied claim.

16 SEC. 7. AUTHORITY TO TRANSFER RECORDS.

17 The head of any Executive agency may transfer or

18 otherwise make available to the United States Commission

19 such records and documents relating to claims authorized

20 to be determined under this Act as may be required by

21 the United States Commission in carrying out its func22 tions under this Act.
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1 SEC. 8. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS; DISPOSITION OF UN2 USED FUNDS.

3 (a) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—Any demand or

4 claim for payment on account of an award that is certified

5 under this Act shall be barred on and after the date that

6 is one year after the date of publication of the notice re7 quired by subsection (b).

8 (b) PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—At the end of the 9-year pe10 riod specified in paragraph (2), the Secretary of the

11 Treasury shall publish a notice in the Federal Reg12 ister detailing the statute of limitations provided for

13 in subsection (a) and identifying the claim numbers

14 of, and the names of the claimants holding, unpaid

15 certified claims.

16 (2) PUBLICATION DATE.—The notice required

17 by paragraph (1) shall be published 9 years after the

18 last date on which the Secretary of the Treasury

19 covers into the Iraq Claims Fund amounts allocated

20 to that fund pursuant to section 3(b).

21 (c) DISPOSITION OF UNUSED FUNDS.—

22 (1) DISPOSITION.—At the end of the 2-year pe23 riod beginning on the publication date of the notice

24 required by subsection (b), the Secretary of the

25 Treasury shall dispose of all unused funds described

26 in paragraph (2) by depositing in the Treasury of
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1 the United States as miscellaneous receipts any such

2 funds that are not used for payments of certified

3 claims under this Act.

4 (2) UNUSED FUNDS.—The unused funds re5 ferred to in paragraph (1) are any remaining bal6 ance in the Iraq Claims Fund.

7 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

8 As used in this Act:

9 (1) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Executive

10 agency’’ has the meaning given that term by section

11 105 of title 5, United States Code.

12 (2) GOVERNMENT OF IRAQ.—The term ‘‘Gov13 ernment of Iraq’’ includes agencies, instrumental14 ities, and entities controlled by that government (in15 cluding public sector enterprises).

16 (3) UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION.—The term

17 ‘‘United Nations Commission’’ means the United

18 Nations Compensation Commission established pur19 suant to United Nations Security Council Resolution

20 687 (1991).

21 (4) UNITED STATES COMMISSION.—The term

22 ‘‘United States Commission’’ means the Foreign

23 Claims Settlement Commission of the United States.

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