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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2241 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2241

To provide for the settlement of certain claims against Iraq by victims 
                       of torture and terrorism.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 4, 2009

  Mr. Sestak introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To provide for the settlement of certain claims against Iraq by victims 
                       of torture and terrorism.

    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 ``Equitable Compensation for American 
Victims of Torture Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE AND TERRORISM.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) During the Gulf War against Iraq in 1991, Americans 
        serving in the United States Armed Forces were captured, became 
        Prisoners of War (POWs), and were subsequently tortured, 
        beaten, starved, hooked to electrical shock devices, and 
        subjected to other horrendous acts by Saddam Hussein's regime.
            (2) CBS News reporter Bob Simon and cameraman Roberto 
        Alvarez were kidnapped while on assignment during the 1991 Gulf 
        War and were held and tortured, along with the American POWs.
            (3) Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, 
        many United States citizens were detained by Iraq, beaten, 
        subjected to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, confined 
        under deplorable conditions, and used as ``human shields'' for 
        the avowed purpose of preventing the United States and its 
        coalition allies from using military force to liberate Kuwait.
            (4) At the time these acts occurred, the Department of 
        State had classified Iraq as a state sponsor of terrorism.
            (5) The brave American POWs and American civilian hostages 
        have suffered long-term physical, emotional, and mental damage 
        as a result of this brutal, state-sponsored torture and 
        terrorism.
            (6) When the American POWs returned home after the Gulf War 
        ended, they were given a hero's welcome by then Secretary of 
        Defense Dick Cheney, who told them, ``Your country is opening 
        its arms to greet you''.
            (7) During the 1991 Gulf War, the Congress unanimously 
        passed resolutions condemning the brutal treatment by the 
        Government of Iraq of captured United States service members, 
        demanding that the Government of Iraq abide by the Geneva 
        Convention regarding the treatment of prisoners of war, and 
        stating an intention to hold Iraq accountable for the torture 
        of American POWs.
            (8) In 1996, Congress passed an amendment to the Foreign 
        Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) provisions of title 28, United 
        States Code, so that torture victims like the American POWs and 
        the American ``human shield'' victims from the Gulf War could 
        seek compensation for their injuries from terrorist countries, 
        including Iraq.
            (9) On April 4, 2002, 17 Gulf War POWs and their families 
        filed claims in the United States District Court for the 
        District of Columbia seeking compensation for damages related 
        to their torture and abuse by the Government of Iraq. The POWs 
        included Colonel Clifford Acree, USMC (Ret.); Lieutenant 
        Colonel Craig Berryman, USMC (Ret.); Former Staff Sergeant Troy 
        Dunlap, U.S. Army; Colonel David Eberly, USAF (Ret.); 
        Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey D. Fox, USAF (Ret.); Chief Warrant 
        Officer 5 Guy Hunter, USMC (Ret.); Sergeant David Lockett, U.S. 
        Army; Colonel H. Michael Roberts, USAF; Colonel Russell 
        Sanborn, USMC; Captain Lawrence Randolph Slade, USN (Ret.); 
        Major Joseph Small, USMC (Ret.); Staff Sergeant Daniel 
        Stamaris, U.S. Army (Ret.); Lieutenant Colonel Richard Dale 
        Storr, Air National Guard; Lieutenant Colonel Robert Sweet, 
        USAF; Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Tice, USAF (Ret.); Former 
        Lieutenant Robert Wetzel, USN; and Former Commander Jeffrey 
        Zaun, USN.
            (10) In 2003, after the Government of Iraq repeatedly 
        refused to participate in arbitration on the damage claims, and 
        after hearing evidence of how the former POWs had been 
        repeatedly tortured, a judge awarded them a judgment for 
        damages, stating that ``deterring torture of POWs should be of 
        the highest priority''.
            (11) Despite this ruling, the POWs and their families have 
        not received payment, and are unable to further pursue their 
        claims in United States courts because of the waiver that was 
        granted for Iraq by the President under authority established 
        in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008.
            (12) In December 2001, after conducting an evidentiary 
        hearing, the United States district court held, in Hill v. 
        Republic of Iraq, that Iraq was liable for having taken United 
        States citizens hostage following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait 
        and subsequently awarded 180 of those former hostages and their 
        spouses a judgment for damages.
            (13) On March 20, 2003, on the eve of Operation Iraqi 
        Freedom, the President of the United States directed that all 
        of the judgments that had been awarded in Hill v. Republic of 
        Iraq be paid from moneys held in blocked Iraqi accounts.
            (14) On that same date, the President issued an Executive 
        order confiscating all remaining blocked assets of Iraq and 
        ordering them to be deposited into the United States Treasury 
        to be used for Iraq reconstruction.
            (15) The claims of more than 200 United States citizens 
        who, at the same time and in the same manner as the Hill 
        plaintiffs, were held hostage in territory occupied by Iraq are 
        currently pending in a United States district court in the case 
        of Vine v. Republic of Iraq.
            (16) The plaintiffs in Vine v. Republic of Iraq have not 
        been compensated and are unable to enforce any judgment they 
        may obtain in United States courts because of the waiver that 
        was granted for Iraq by the President under authority 
        established in the National Defense Authorization Act for 
        Fiscal Year 2008.
            (17) Article 131 of the Third Geneva Convention relative to 
        the Treatment of Prisoners of War (August 12, 1949) prohibits 
        the United States as a party to that treaty from absolving the 
        Government of Iraq of any liability incurred due to the torture 
        of prisoners of war, such as the American POWs referred to in 
        this section.
            (18) The United States has a moral obligation to protect 
        its past, present, and future members of its Armed Forces, and 
        all United States citizens, from torture and hostage-taking, 
        and the Congress is committed to holding state sponsors of 
        terrorism accountable for such horrendous acts.
    (b) Resolution of Certain Claims Against Iraq.--
            (1) Adequate settlement of certain cases.--Unless the 
        claims in the cases referred to in paragraph (2) have been 
        adequately settled before the end of the 30-day period 
        beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, then, upon 
        the expiration of that 30-day period, the waiver authority 
        granted to the President in section 1083(d) of the National 
        Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110-
        181; 122 Stat. 343), and any waiver granted before the end of 
        that 30-day period under such authority, shall terminate.
            (2) Cases.--The cases referred to in paragraph (1) are 
        cases numbered 99:00CV03346 (TPJ), 1:01CV02674 (HHK), CIV.A. 
        02-632 (RWR) (July 7, 2003), 1:03CV00691 (HHK), 1:03CV00888 
        (HHK), and No. 03-0215 (JDB), in the United States District 
        Court for the District of Columbia.
            (3) Adequate settlement.--For purposes of paragraph (1), 
        adequate settlement means payment by the Government of Iraq, or 
        payment by a United States depository institution pursuant to 
        an unqualified and unconditional guarantee made by such 
        depository institution, of at least the following amounts to 
        the following persons:
                    (A) To any person--
                            (i) whose claim in the applicable case 
                        referred to in paragraph (2) arose from an act 
                        of hostage taking or from being held in hostage 
                        status, and
                            (ii) who has not obtained a judgment on the 
                        claim before the date of the enactment of this 
                        Act,
                $150,000, plus $6,000 for each day the person was held 
                as a hostage, but in no event more than $900,000.
                    (B) To any person--
                            (i) whose claim in the applicable case 
                        referred to in paragraph (2) arose from an act 
                        of hostage taking or from being held in hostage 
                        status,
                            (ii) who, while a hostage, was subjected to 
                        torture, and
                            (iii) who has not obtained a judgment on 
                        the claim before the date of the enactment of 
                        this Act,
                $2,500,000, plus $6,000 for each day the person was 
                held as a hostage.
                    (C) To a plaintiff in the applicable case referred 
                to in paragraph (2) who is the spouse or was at the 
                time the claims arose, or child of any person who 
                qualifies for receipt of payment under paragraph (1) or 
                (2), one-third of the amount that such person qualifies 
                for receipt under such paragraph.
                    (D) To any person who, before the date of the 
                enactment of this Act, obtained a judgment for 
                compensatory damages in a case referred to in paragraph 
                (2) (regardless of whether such judgment was 
                subsequently vacated)--
                            (i) payment of the unsatisfied amount of 
                        such judgment, in an amount that is the lesser 
                        of $1,000,000 or the unsatisfied amount of the 
                        award; and
                            (ii) if the amount of the judgment exceeds 
                        $1,000,000, one-third of the unsatisfied amount 
                        of such excess.
            (4) Definitions.--In this section:
                    (A) Hostage.--The term ``hostage'' means an 
                individual in hostage status or an individual seized or 
                detained in the commission of an act of hostage taking.
                    (B) Hostage status.--The term ``hostage status'' 
                has the meaning given that term in section 599C(d)(1) 
                of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and 
                Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1991 (Public Law 
                101-513).
                    (C) Hostage taking.--The term ``hostage taking'' 
                has the meaning given that term in section 1605A(h)(2) 
                of title 28, United States Code.
                    (D) Person.--The term ``person'' includes the legal 
                representative of a claimant's estate.
                    (E) Torture.--The term ``torture'' has the meaning 
                given that term in section 3 of the Torture Victim 
                Protection Act of 1991 (28 U.S.C. 1350 note).
                    (F) United states.--The term ``United States'' 
                means the several States, the District of Columbia, and 
                any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 
                United States.
                    (G) United states depository institution.--The term 
                ``United States depository institution'' means a 
                depository institution organized under the laws of any 
                State, the District of Columbia, or the United States, 
                including a branch or agency of a foreign depository 
                institution.
    (c) Additional Provisions.--
            (1) Construction of appropriations act provision.--Section 
        1503 of the Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act, 
        2003 (Public Law 108-11; 117 Stat. 579), and any exercise of 
        authority by the President pursuant to such section 1503, was 
        never intended to and did not provide for the removal of 
        jurisdiction over cases brought under section 1605(a)(7) of 
        title 28, United States Code.
            (2) Construction of ndaa provision.--Section 1083(d) of the 
        National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public 
        Law 110-181; 122 Stat. 343), and any waiver exercised by the 
        President pursuant to such section 1083(d), was never intended 
        to and did not provide for the removal of jurisdiction over 
        cases brought under section 1605(a)(7) of title 28, United 
        States Code.
            (3) Applicability of ndaa provision.--Notwithstanding any 
        other provision of law, section 1083(c) of the National Defense 
        Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110-181; 122 
        Stat. 342) shall apply, beginning on the date of the enactment 
        of this Act, to the cases referred to in subsection (b)(2) of 
        this section, notwithstanding any waiver of that provision with 
        respect to Iraq.
                                 <all>
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