II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1257 

To amend title 28, United States Code, to clarify that persons may bring 

private rights of actions against foreign states for certain terrorist acts, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 16, 2005 

Mr. SPECTER (for himself and Mr. LAUTENBERG) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 28, United States Code, to clarify that persons may bring private rights of actions against foreign 

states for certain terrorist acts, 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. CLARIFICATION OF PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION 

4 AGAINST TERRORIST STATES; DAMAGES. 

5 (a) RIGHT OF ACTION.—Section 1605 of title 28, 

6 United States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (f), in the first sentence, by 

8 inserting ‘‘or (h)’’ after ‘‘subsection (a)(7)’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(h) CERTAIN ACTIONS AGAINST FOREIGN STATES

2 OR OFFICIALS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS OF FOREIGN

3 STATES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) CAUSE OF ACTION.— 

5 ‘‘(A) CAUSE OF ACTION.—A foreign state 

6 designated as a state sponsor of terrorism 

7 under section 6(j) of the Export Administration 

8 Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)) or sec9 tion 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

10 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371), or an official, em11 ployee, or agent of such a foreign state, shall be 

12 liable to a national of the United States (as 

13 that term is defined in section 101(a)(22) of 

14 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

15 1101(a)(22)) or the national’s legal representa16 tive for personal injury or death caused by an 

17 act of that foreign state, or by that official, em18 ployee, or agent while acting within the scope of 

19 his or her office, employment, or agency, for 

20 which the courts of the United States may 

21 maintain jurisdiction under subsection (a)(7) 

22 for money damages. The removal of a foreign 

23 state from designation as a state sponsor of ter24 rorism under section 6(j) of the Export Admin25 istration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)), 
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1 section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

2 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371), or other provision of 

3 law shall not terminate a cause of action arising 

4 under this subparagraph during the period of 

5 such designation. 

6 ‘‘(B) DISCOVERY.—The provisions of sub7 section (g) apply to actions brought under sub8 paragraph (A). 

9 ‘‘(C) NATIONALITY OF CLAIMANT.—No ac10 tion shall be maintained under subparagraph 

11 (A) arising from an act of a foreign state or an 

12 official, employee, or agent of a foreign state if 

13 neither the claimant nor the victim was a na14 tional of the United States (as that term is de15 fined in section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration 

16 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22)) 

17 when such acts occurred. 

18 ‘‘(2) DAMAGES.—In an action brought under 

19 paragraph (1) against a foreign state or an official, 

20 employee, or agent of a foreign state, the foreign 

21 state, official, employee, or agent, as the case may 

22 be, may be held liable for money damages in such 

23 action, which may include economic damages, dam24 ages for pain and suffering, or, notwithstanding sec25 tion 1606, punitive damages. In all actions brought 
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1 under paragraph (1), a foreign state shall be vicari2 ously liable for the actions of its officials, employees, 

3 or agents. 

4 ‘‘(3) APPEALS.—An appeal in the courts of the 

5 United States in an action brought under paragraph 

6 (1) may be made— 

7 ‘‘(A) only from a final decision under sec8 tion 1291 of this title, and then only if filed 

9 with the clerk of the district court within 30 

10 days after the entry of such final decision; and 

11 ‘‘(B) in the case of an appeal from an 

12 order denying the immunity of a foreign state, 

13 a political subdivision thereof, or an agency of 

14 instrumentality of a foreign state, only if filed 

15 under section 1292 of this title.’’. 

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 589 of the 

17 Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Pro18 grams Appropriations Act, 1997, as contained in section 

19 101(a) of division A of Public Law 104–208 (110 Stat. 

20 3009–172; 28 U.S.C. 1605 note), is repealed. 

21 SEC. 2. PROPERTY SUBJECT TO ATTACHMENT EXECUTION. 

22 Section 1610 of title 28, United States Code, is 

23 amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(g) PROPERTY INTERESTS IN CERTAIN ACTIONS.— 
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A property interest of a 

2 foreign state, or agency or instrumentality of a for3 eign state, against which a judgment is entered 

4 under subsection (a)(7) or (h) of section 1605, in5 cluding a property interest that is a separate jurid6 ical entity, is subject to execution upon that judg7 ment as provided in this section, regardless of— 

8 ‘‘(A) the level of economic control over the 

9 property interest by the government of the for10 eign state; 

11 ‘‘(B) whether the profits of the property 

12 interest go to that government; 

13 ‘‘(C) the degree to which officials of that 

14 government manage the property interest or 

15 otherwise control its daily affairs; 

16 ‘‘(D) whether that government is the real 

17 beneficiary of the conduct of the property inter18 est; or 

19 ‘‘(E) whether establishing the property in20 terest as a separate entity would entitle the for21 eign state to benefits in United States courts 

22 while avoiding its obligations. 

23 ‘‘(2) UNITED STATES SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY IN24 APPLICABLE.—Any property interest of a foreign 

25 state, or agency or instrumentality of a foreign 
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1 state, to which paragraph (1) applies shall not be 

2 immune from execution upon a judgment entered 

3 under subsection (a)(7) or (h) of section 1605 be4 cause the property interest is regulated by the 

5 United States Government by reason of action taken 

6 against that foreign state under the Trading With 

7 the Enemy Act or the International Emergency Eco8 nomic Powers Act.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL MASTERS. 

10 (a) VICTIMS OF CRIME ACT.—Section 1404C(a)(3) 

11 of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 

12 10603c(a)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘December 21, 

13 1988, with respect to which an investigation or’’ and in14 serting ‘‘October 23, 1983, with respect to which an inves15 tigation or a civil or criminal’’. 

16 (b) JUSTICE FOR MARINES.—The Attorney General 

17 shall transfer, from funds available for the program under 

18 sections 1404C of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (42 

19 U.S.C. 10603c), to the Administrator of the United States 

20 District Court for the District of Columbia such funds as 

21 may be required to carry out the orders of United States 

22 District Judge Royce C. Lamberth appointing Special 

23 Masters in the matter of Peterson, et al. v. The Islamic 

24 Republic of Iran, Case No. 01CV02094 (RCL). 
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1 SEC. 4. LIS PENDENS. 

2 (a) LIENS.—In every action filed in a United States 

3 district court in which jurisdiction is alleged under sub4 section (a)(7) or (h) of section 1605 of title 28, United 

5 States Code, the filing of a notice of pending action pursu6 ant to such subsection, to which is attached a copy of the 

7 complaint filed in the action, shall have the effect of estab8 lishing a lien of lis pendens upon any real property or tan9 gible personal property located within that judicial district 

10 that is titled in the name of any defendant, or titled in 

11 the name of any entity controlled by any such defendant 

12 if such notice contains a statement listing those controlled 

13 entities. A notice of pending action pursuant to subsection 

14 (a)(7) or (h) of section 1605 of title 28, United States 

15 Code, shall be filed by the clerk of the district court in 

16 the same manner as any pending action and shall be in17 dexed by listing as defendants all named defendants and 

18 all entities listed as controlled by any defendant. 

19 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Liens established by reason of 

20 subsection (a) shall be enforceable as provided in chapter 

21 111 of title 28, United States Code. 

22 SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by this 

24 Act apply to any claim for which a foreign state is not 

25 immune under subsection (a)(7) or (h) of section 1605 
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1 of title 28, United States Code, arising before, on, or after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 (b) PRIOR CAUSES OF ACTION.—In the case of any 

4 action that— 

5 (1) was brought in a timely manner but was 

6 dismissed before the enactment of this Act for fail7 ure to state of cause of action, and 

8 (2) would be cognizable by reason of the 

9 amendments made by this Act, the 10-year limita10 tion period provided under section 1605(f) of title 

11 28, United States Code, shall be tolled during the 

12 period beginning on the date on which the action 

13 was first brought and ending 60 days after the date 

14 of the enactment of this Act. 

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