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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5257 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5257

    To amend the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 to make technical 
                              corrections.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 25, 2024

 Mr. Tillis (for himself, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Budd, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. 
    Rubio, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Braun, Mr. Coons, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. 
 Duckworth, Mr. Peters, and Ms. Hirono) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
    To amend the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 to make technical 
                              corrections.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune 
Victims Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO THE CAMP LEJEUNE JUSTICE ACT OF 2022.

    Section 804 of the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 (28 U.S.C. 2671 
note prec.) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) by striking ``in the United States District 
                Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``, including a latent or 
                potential harm,'' after ``appropriate relief for 
                harm'';
            (2) by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
    ``(c) Burdens and Standard of Proof.--
            ``(1) In general.--The party filing an action under this 
        section shall be entitled to appropriate relief upon showing--
                    ``(A) the existence of one or more relationships 
                between the type of contaminant in any water at Camp 
                Lejeune and the type of harm suffered by the 
                individual, including latent or potential harm; and
                    ``(B) that the individual was present at Camp 
                Lejeune for a period of not less than 30 days, whether 
                or not consecutive.
            ``(2) Evidentiary standards.--To meet the burden of proof 
        described in paragraph (1), a party shall produce evidence 
        showing that the relationship between exposure to any level of 
        contaminants of a type in any water at Camp Lejeune and the 
        type of harm is--
                    ``(A) sufficient to conclude that a causal 
                relationship exists; or
                    ``(B) sufficient to conclude that a causal 
                relationship is at least as likely as not.'';
            (3) by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:
    ``(d) Exclusive Jurisdiction and Venue.--The United States District 
Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina shall have exclusive 
jurisdiction and venue for coordinated or consolidated pretrial 
administrative and procedural matters and resolution over any action 
filed under subsection (b), and a party filing the action may transfer 
such action to any district court of the United States situated within 
the fourth judicial circuit for trial of such action, including all 
matters related to causation and admission of evidence. Any action 
against the United States under subsection (b) shall, at the request of 
either party to such action, be tried by the court with a jury. The 
court shall advance an action filed under subsection (b) on the docket, 
and expedite the disposition of such action to the greatest extent 
possible.'';
            (4) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``latent 
                disease'' and inserting ``latent or potential harm''; 
                and
                    (B) in paragraph (2), in the matter preceding 
                subparagraph (A), by striking ``shall be offset'' and 
                inserting ``may be offset''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(k) Attorney Fees.--
            ``(1) In general.--The total amount of attorneys fees under 
        this section shall be in an amount that is not more than--
                    ``(A) 20 percent of any settlement entered into 
                before a civil action under subsection (b) is 
                commenced; or
                    ``(B) 25 percent of any judgement rendered or 
                settlement entered into after a civil action under 
                subsection (b) is commenced.
            ``(2) Division of fees.--A division of a fee under 
        paragraph (1) between attorneys who are not in the same firm 
        may be made only if the division is in proportion to the 
        services performed by each attorney.
            ``(3) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this subsection 
        shall prohibit an individual or the legal representative of an 
        individual and such individual's or representative's attorney 
        from agreeing to a fee award that is less than the maximum 
        percentage specified in paragraph (1).''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect as 
if enacted on August 10, 2022, and shall apply to any claim under 
section 804 of the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 that is pending on 
the date of enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>
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