I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2493 

To provide for the restoration of legal rights for claimants under holocaustera insurance policies. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 13, 2021 

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (for herself, Mr. ZELDIN, Mr. GARAMENDI, and 

Mr. KUSTOFF) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the 

Judiciary, 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 the restoration of legal rights for claimants 

under holocaust-era insurance policies. 

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 ‘‘Holocaust Insurance 

5 Accountability Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are to— 


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1 (1) allow for the enforcement of State laws re2 quiring the disclosure of information about Holo3 caust-era insurance policies, notwithstanding the 

4 holding of the Supreme Court of the United States 

5 in American Insurance Association v. Garamendi, 

6 539 U.S. 396 (2003) that such laws are preempted 

7 by the foreign policy espoused by the executive 

8 branch of the Federal Government addressed in that 

9 case; 

10 (2) facilitate the disclosure of information about 

11 Holocaust-era insurance policies under applicable 

12 State laws so that citizens of the United States (and 

13 other persons on whose behalf such laws were en14 acted) may know whether they hold any rights under 

15 the policies; 

16 (3) create a new Federal private cause of action 

17 and subject matter jurisdiction to allow the bene18 ficiaries of Holocaust-era insurance policies, many of 

19 whom are citizens of the United States, to bring 

20 suits in the courts of the United States to recover 

21 any proceeds under the policies to which they may 

22 be entitled, notwithstanding the defense that such 

23 suits are preempted by the executive branch foreign 

24 policy addressed in Garamendi, with the State law of 

25 the forum or Federal common law providing the rule 


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1 of decision governing the right of a beneficiary to re2 cover under such policies; 

3 (4) foreclose defenses to claims brought under 

4 section 4 of this Act arising from any prior judg5 ments or settlement agreements (including the class 

6 action judgment and settlement agreement (M21– 

7 89, United States District Court for the Southern 

8 District of New York) in In re: Assicurazioni Gen9 eral S.p.A. Holocaust Insurance Litigation) that 

10 were entered and approved based on the erroneous 

11 conclusion that State law claims to recover under 

12 Holocaust-era insurance claims are preempted by 

13 the executive branch foreign policy addressed in 

14 Garamendi; 

15 (5) provide for a uniform statute of limitations 

16 of 10 years after the date of enactment of this Act 

17 in any action to recover under Holocaust-era insur18 ance policies under this Act or State law; and 

19 (6) in carrying out the purposes described in 

20 paragraphs (1) through (5), preserve the lawmaking 

21 powers of Congress under article I of the Constitu22 tion of the United States, with which the judicial de23 cisions cited in this section are inconsistent. 

24 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 


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1 (1) BENEFICIARY.—The term ‘‘beneficiary’’ in2 cludes— 

3 (A) a named insured or named beneficiary 

4 under a covered policy; and 

5 (B) an heir, assignee, or legal representa6 tive of a named insured or named beneficiary 

7 described in subparagraph (A). 

8 (2) COVERED POLICY.—The term ‘‘covered pol9 icy’’ means any life, dowry, education, annuity, prop10 erty, or other insurance policy that was— 

11 (A) in effect at any time during the period 

12 beginning on January 31, 1933, and ending on 

13 December 31, 1945; and 

14 (B) issued to a policyholder domiciled in— 

15 (i) any area that was occupied or con16 trolled by Nazi Germany; or 

17 (ii) the territorial jurisdiction of Swit18 zerland. 

19 (3) INSURER.—The term ‘‘insurer’’— 

20 (A) means any person engaged in the busi21 ness of insurance (including reinsurance) in 

22 interstate or foreign commerce that issued a 

23 covered policy; and 

24 (B) includes any successor in interest to a 

25 person described in subparagraph (A). 


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1 (4) NAZI GERMANY.—The term ‘‘Nazi Ger2 many’’ means— 

3 (A) the Nazi government of Germany; and 

4 (B) any government that— 

5 (i) had friendly relations with the 

6 Nazi government of Germany; 

7 (ii) was allied with or controlled by 

8 the Nazi government of Germany; or 

9 (iii) exercised or claimed sovereignty 

10 over any area occupied by the military 

11 forces of the Nazi government of Germany. 

12 (5) RELATED COMPANY.—The term ‘‘related 

13 company’’ means an affiliate, as that term is defined 

14 in section 104(g) of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act 

15 (15 U.S.C. 6701(g)). 

16 SEC. 4. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION; CIVIL ACTIONS. 

17 (a) CIVIL ACTIONS TO RECOVER UNDER COVERED

18 POLICIES.—This Act creates a new Federal private cause 

19 of action and Federal subject matter jurisdiction for a 

20 beneficiary of a covered policy to bring a civil action 

21 against the insurer for the covered policy or a related com22 pany of the insurer to recover proceeds due under the cov23 ered policy or otherwise to enforce any rights under the 

24 covered policy. The rule of decision governing the right 

25 of a beneficiary to recover under a covered policy shall be 


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1 the law of the forum State in which the civil action is filed, 

2 or Federal common law, at the option of the beneficiary. 

3 (b) NATIONWIDE SERVICE OF PROCESS.—For a civil 

4 action brought under subsection (a) in a district court of 

5 the United States, process may be served in the judicial 

6 district where the case is brought or any other judicial 

7 district of the United States where the defendant may be 

8 found, resides, has an agent, or transacts business. 

9 (c) REMEDIES.— 

10 (1) DAMAGES.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—A court shall award to 

12 a prevailing beneficiary in a civil action brought 

13 under subsection (a)— 

14 (i) the amount of the proceeds due 

15 under the covered policy; 

16 (ii) prejudgment interest on the 

17 amount described in clause (i) from the 

18 date the amount was due until the date of 

19 judgment, calculated at a rate of 6 percent 

20 per year, compounded annually; and 

21 (iii) any other appropriate relief nec22 essary to enforce rights under the covered 

23 policy. 

24 (B) TREBLE DAMAGES.—If a court finds 

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1 surer acted in bad faith, the court shall award 

2 damages in an amount equal to 3 times the 

3 amount otherwise to be awarded under sub4 paragraph (A). 

5 (2) ATTORNEY’S FEES AND COSTS.—A court 

6 shall award reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to 

7 a prevailing beneficiary in a civil action brought 

8 under subsection (a). 

9 (d) LIMITATION.—A civil action may not be brought 

10 under this section on or after the date that is 10 years 

11 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

12 SEC. 5. EFFECT OF PRIOR JUDGMENTS AND RELEASES. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

14 (1) EFFECT.—Subject to subsection (b)(1), a 

15 judgment or release described in paragraph (2) shall 

16 not preclude, foreclose, bar, release, waive, acquit, 

17 discharge, or otherwise impair any claim brought 

18 under section 4 by any person. 

19 (2) JUDGMENTS AND RELEASES.—A judgment 

20 or release described in this paragraph is— 

21 (A) a judgment entered before the date of 

22 enactment of this Act for any claim arising 

23 under a covered policy in any civil action in a 

24 Federal or State court; or 


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1 (B) an agreement entered into before the 

2 date of enactment of this Act under which any 

3 person (on behalf of the person, any other per4 son, or a class of persons) agrees not to assert 

5 or agrees to waive or release any claim de6 scribed in subparagraph (A), regardless of 

7 whether the agreement is— 

8 (i) denominated as a release, dis9 charge, covenant not to sue, or otherwise; 

10 or 

11 (ii) approved by a court. 

12 (b) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para14 graph (2), nothing in this section shall affect the va15 lidity or enforceability of any agreement entered into 

16 between any claimant under a covered policy and the 

17 International Commission on Holocaust Era Insur18 ance Claims or an insurer under which the claimant 

19 has agreed to release or waive any claim in consider20 ation for payment under a covered policy. 

21 (2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

22 apply to any agreement for which the payment is de23 nominated as humanitarian by the International 

24 Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims. 


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1 SEC. 6. EFFECT OF EXECUTIVE AGREEMENTS AND EXECU2 TIVE FOREIGN POLICY. 

3 (a) EFFECT OF EXECUTIVE AGREEMENTS AND EX4 ECUTIVE FOREIGN POLICY ON STATE LAWS.—An execu5 tive agreement described in subsection (c)(1) and an exec6 utive foreign policy described in subsection (c)(2) shall not 

7 supercede or preempt the law of any State— 

8 (1) relating to a claim under or relating to a 

9 covered policy against the insurer for the covered 

10 policy or a related company of the insurer; or 

11 (2) that requires an insurer doing business in 

12 the State or any related company of the insurer to 

13 disclose information regarding a covered policy 

14 issued by the insurer. 

15 (b) EFFECT OF EXECUTIVE AGREEMENTS AND EX16 ECUTIVE FOREIGN POLICY ON CLAIMS BROUGHT UNDER

17 THIS ACT.—An executive agreement described in sub18 section (c)(1) and an executive foreign policy described in 

19 subsection (c)(2) shall not compromise, settle, extinguish, 

20 waive, preclude, bar, or foreclose a claim brought under 

21 section 4. 

22 (c) EXECUTIVE AGREEMENTS AND EXECUTIVE FOR23 EIGN POLICY COVERED.— 

24 (1) EXECUTIVE AGREEMENTS.—An executive 

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1 eign government entered into before, on, or after the 

2 date of enactment of this Act. 

3 (2) EXECUTIVE FOREIGN POLICY.—An execu4 tive foreign policy described in this paragraph is a 

5 foreign policy of the executive branch of the Federal 

6 Government established before, on, or after the date 

7 of enactment of this Act. 

8 SEC. 7. EFFECT ON STATE LAWS. 

9 Nothing in this Act shall supersede or preempt any 

10 State law except to the extent the law of the State conflicts 

11 with this Act. 

12 SEC. 8. TIMELINESS OF ACTIONS BROUGHT UNDER STATE 

13 LAW. 

14 A claim brought under any State law described in 

15 section 6(a) shall not be deemed untimely on the basis 

16 of any State or Federal statute of limitations or on the 

17 basis of any other legal or equitable rule or doctrine (in18 cluding laches) governing the timeliness of claims if the 

19 claim is filed not later than 10 years after the date of 

20 enactment of this Act. 

21 SEC. 9. SEVERABILITY. 

22 If any provision of this Act or the application of such 

23 provision to any person or circumstance is held to be un24 constitutional, the remainder of this Act and the applicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2493.IH H2493

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1 tion of such provision to any other person or circumstance 

2 shall not be affected thereby. 

3 SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY. 

4 This Act shall— 

5 (1) take effect on the date of enactment of this 

6 Act; and 

7 (2) apply to any claim relating to a covered pol8 icy that is brought before, on, or after the date of 

9 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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