II 

Calendar No. 560 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1535 

To deter terrorism, provide justice for victims, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013 

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. COONS, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. 

GRAHAM, Mr. HATCH, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. LEE, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. 

FRANKEN, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014 

Reported by Mr. LEAHY, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To deter terrorism, provide justice for victims, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Justice Against Spon5 sors of Terrorism Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) International terrorism is a serious and 

4 deadly problem that threatens the vital interests of 

5 the United States. 

6 (2) The Constitution confers upon Congress the 

7 power to punish crimes against the law of nations 

8 and to carry out the treaty obligations of the United 

9 States, and therefore Congress may by law impose 

10 penalties relating to the provision of material sup11 port to foreign organizations engaged in terrorist ac12 tivity, and allow for victims of international ter13 rorism to recover damages from those who have 

14 harmed them. 

15 (3) International terrorism affects the inter16 state and foreign commerce of the United States by 

17 harming international trade and market stability, 

18 and limiting international travel by United States 

19 citizens as well as foreign visitors to the United 

20 States. 

21 (4) Some foreign terrorist organizations, acting 

22 through affiliated groups or individuals, raise signifi23 cant funds outside of the United States for conduct 

24 directed and targeted at the United States. 

25 (5) Foreign organizations that engage in ter26 rorist activity are so tainted by their criminal conVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Sep 15, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1535.RS S1535

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1 duct that any contribution to such an organization 

2 facilitates that conduct. 

3 (6) The imposition of civil liability at every 

4 point along the causal chain of terrorism is nec5 essary to deter the flow of money, which is the life6 blood of terrorism. As recognized by Judge Richard 

7 Posner in Boim v. Holy Land Foundation for Relief 

8 and Development, 549 F.3d 685, 690–91 (7th Cir. 

9 2008) (en banc), ‘‘[d]amages are a less effective 

10 remedy against terrorists and their organizations 

11 than against their financial angels[,] . . . suits 

12 against financiers of terrorism can cut the terrorists’ 

13 lifeline’’. 

14 (7) It is necessary to explicitly recognize the 

15 substantive causes of action for aiding and abetting 

16 and conspiracy liability under the Anti-Terrorism 

17 Act of 1987 (22 U.S.C. 5201 et seq.), especially 

18 given that the United States Courts of Appeals for 

19 the 2d and 7th Circuits have held that such theories 

20 of liability currently are not available. See Rothstein 

21 v. UBS AG, 708 F.3d 82 (2d Cir. 2013); Boim v. 

22 Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, 

23 549 F.3d 685 (7th Cir. 2008) (en banc). 

24 (8) The decision of the United States Court of 

25 Appeals for the District of Columbia in Halberstam 


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1 v. Welch, 705 F.2d 472 (D.C. Cir. 1983), which has 

2 been widely recognized as the leading case regarding 

3 Federal civil aiding and abetting and conspiracy li4 ability, including by the Supreme Court of the 

5 United States, provides the proper legal framework 

6 for how such liability should function in the context 

7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 (22 U.S.C. 5201 

8 et seq.). 

9 (9) The United Nations Security Council de10 clared in Resolution 1373, adopted on September 

11 28, 2001, that all countries have an affirmative obli12 gation to ‘‘[r]efrain from providing any form of sup13 port, active or passive, to entities or persons involved 

14 in terrorist acts,’’ and to ‘‘[e]nsure that any person 

15 who participates in the financing, planning, prepara16 tion or perpetration of terrorist acts or in supporting 

17 terrorist acts is brought to justice’’. 

18 (10) Consistent with these declarations, no 

19 country has the discretion to engage knowingly in 

20 the financing or sponsorship of terrorism, whether 

21 directly or indirectly. 

22 (11) Persons, entities, or countries that know23 ingly or recklessly contribute material support or re24 sources, directly or indirectly, to persons or organi25 zations that pose a significant risk of committing 


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1 acts of terrorism that threaten the security of na2 tionals of the United States or the national security, 

3 foreign policy, or economy of the United States, nec4 essarily direct their conduct at the United States, 

5 and should reasonably anticipate being brought to 

6 court in the United States to answer for such activi7 ties. 

8 (12) The United States has a vital interest in 

9 providing persons and entities injured as a result of 

10 terrorist attacks committed within the United States 

11 with full access to the court system in order to pur12 sue civil claims against persons, entities, or countries 

13 that have knowingly or recklessly provided material 

14 support or resources, directly or indirectly, to the 

15 persons or organizations responsible for their inju16 ries. 

17 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 

18 civil litigants with the broadest possible basis, consistent 

19 with the Constitution of the United States, to seek relief 

20 against persons, entities, and foreign countries, wherever 

21 acting and wherever they may be found, that have pro22 vided material support or resources, directly or indirectly, 

23 to foreign organizations or persons that engage in terrorist 

24 activities against the United States. 


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1 SEC. 3. FOREIGN SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY. 

2 Section 1605(a) of title 28, United States Code, is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) by amending paragraph (5) to read as fol5 lows: 

6 ‘‘(5) not otherwise encompassed in paragraph 

7 (2), in which money damages are sought against a 

8 foreign state arising out of physical injury or death, 

9 or damage to or loss of property, occurring in the 

10 United States and caused by the tortious act or 

11 omission of that foreign state or of any official or 

12 employee of that foreign state while acting within 

13 the scope of the office or employment of the official 

14 or employee (regardless of where the underlying 

15 tortious act or omission occurs), including any statu16 tory or common law tort claim arising out of an act 

17 of extrajudicial killing, aircraft sabotage, hostage 

18 taking, terrorism, or the provision of material sup19 port or resources for such an act, or any claim for 

20 contribution or indemnity relating to a claim arising 

21 out of such an act, except this paragraph shall not 

22 apply to— 

23 ‘‘(A) any claim based upon the exercise or 

24 performance of, or the failure to exercise or 

25 perform, a discretionary function, regardless of 

26 whether the discretion is abused; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) any claim arising out of malicious 

2 prosecution, abuse of process, libel, slander, 

3 misrepresentation, deceit, interference with con4 tract rights, or any claim for emotional distress 

5 or derivative injury suffered as a result of an 

6 event or injury to another person that occurs 

7 outside of the United States; or’’; and 

8 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of subsection 

11 (a)(5)— 

12 ‘‘(1) the terms ‘aircraft sabotage’, ‘extrajudicial 

13 killing’, ‘hostage taking’, and ‘material support or 

14 resources’ have the meanings given those terms in 

15 section 1605A(h); and 

16 ‘‘(2) the term ‘terrorism’ means international 

17 terrorism and domestic terrorism, as those terms are 

18 defined in section 2331 of title 18.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. AIDING AND ABETTING LIABILITY FOR CIVIL AC20 TIONS REGARDING TERRORIST ACTS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2333 of title 18, United 

22 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(d) LIABILITY.—In an action arising under sub25 section (a), liability may be asserted as to the person or 


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1 persons who committed such act of international terrorism 

2 or any person or entity that aided, abetted, or conspired 

3 with the person or persons who committed such an act 

4 of international terrorism. 

5 ‘‘(e) NON-APPLICABILITY OF LAW OF PRE6 CLUSION.—Any civil action or claim that seeks recovery 

7 under this chapter for conduct that was the basis of a 

8 civil action or claim previously dismissed for lack of sub9 ject matter jurisdiction for failure to meet the require10 ments for an exception under section 1605(a) of title 28 

11 is not subject to dismissal under the law of preclusion.’’. 

12 (b) EFFECT ON FOREIGN SOVEREIGN IMMUNITIES

13 ACT.—Nothing in the amendments made by this section 

14 affects immunity of a foreign state, as that term is defined 

15 in section 1603 of title 28, United States Code, from juris16 diction under other law. 

17 SEC. 5. JURISDICTION FOR CIVIL ACTIONS REGARDING 

18 TERRORIST ACTS. 

19 Section 2334 of title 18, United States Code, is 

20 amended by inserting at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(e) JURISDICTION.—The district courts shall have 

22 personal jurisdiction, to the maximum extent permissible 

23 under the 5th Amendment to the Constitution of the 

24 United States, over any person who commits, aids and 

25 abets an act of international terrorism, or provides mateVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Sep 15, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1535.RS S1535

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1 rial support or resources as set forth in sections 2339A, 

2 2339B, or 2339C, for acts of international terrorism in 

3 which any national of the United States suffers injury in 

4 his or her person, property, or business by reason of such 

5 an act in violation of section 2333.’’. 

6 SEC. 6. LIABILITY FOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS IN CIVIL 

7 ACTIONS REGARDING TERRORIST ACTS. 

8 Section 2337 of title 18, United States Code, is 

9 amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘§ 2337. Suits against Government officials 

11 ‘‘No action may be maintained under section 2333 

12 against— 

13 ‘‘(a) the United States; 

14 ‘‘(b) an agency of the United States; or 

15 ‘‘(c) an officer or employee of the United States or 

16 any agency of the United States acting within the official 

17 capacity of the officer or employee or under color of legal 

18 authority.’’. 

19 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 

20 If any provision of this Act or any amendment made 

21 by this Act, or the application of a provision or amend22 ment to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, 

23 the remainder of this Act and the amendments made by 

24 this Act, and the application of the provisions and amendVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:53 Sep 15, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1535.RS S1535

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1 ments to any other person not similarly situated or to 

2 other circumstances, shall not be affected by the holding. 

3 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 The amendments made by this Act shall apply to any 

5 civil action pending on, or commenced on or after, the date 

6 of enactment of this Act. 

7 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

8 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Justice Against Spon9 sors of Terrorism Act’’. 

10 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

11 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

12 (1) International terrorism is a serious and 

13 deadly problem that threatens the vital interests of the 

14 United States. 

15 (2) The Constitution confers upon Congress the 

16 power to punish crimes against the law of nations 

17 and therefore Congress may by law impose penalties 

18 on those who provide material support to foreign or19 ganizations engaged in terrorist activity, and allow 

20 for victims of international terrorism to recover dam21 ages from those who have harmed them. 

22 (3) International terrorism affects the interstate 

23 and foreign commerce of the United States by harm24 ing international trade and market stability, and 


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1 limiting international travel by United States citi2 zens as well as foreign visitors to the United States. 

3 (4) Some foreign terrorist organizations, acting 

4 through affiliated groups or individuals, raise signifi5 cant funds outside of the United States for conduct 

6 directed and targeted at the United States. 

7 (5) It is necessary to recognize the substantive 

8 causes of action for aiding and abetting and con9 spiracy liability under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 

10 1987 (22 U.S.C. 5201 et seq.). 

11 (6) The decision of the United States Court of 

12 Appeals for the District of Columbia in Halberstam 

13 v. Welch, 705 F.2d 472 (D.C. Cir. 1983), which has 

14 been widely recognized as the leading case regarding 

15 Federal civil aiding and abetting and conspiracy li16 ability, including by the Supreme Court of the United 

17 States, provides the proper legal framework for how 

18 such liability should function in the context of the 

19 Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 (22 U.S.C. 5201 et seq.). 

20 (7) The United Nations Security Council de21 clared in Resolution 1373, adopted on September 28, 

22 2001, that all countries have an affirmative obliga23 tion to ‘‘[r]efrain from providing any form of sup24 port, active or passive, to entities or persons involved 

25 in terrorist acts,’’ and to ‘‘[e]nsure that any person 


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1 who participates in the financing, planning, prepara2 tion or perpetration of terrorist acts or in supporting 

3 terrorist acts is brought to justice’’. 

4 (8) Consistent with these declarations, no coun5 try has the discretion to engage knowingly in the fi6 nancing or sponsorship of terrorism, whether directly 

7 or indirectly. 

8 (9) Persons, entities, or countries that knowingly 

9 or recklessly contribute material support or resources, 

10 directly or indirectly, to persons or organizations that 

11 pose a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism 

12 that threaten the security of nationals of the United 

13 States or the national security, foreign policy, or 

14 economy of the United States, necessarily direct their 

15 conduct at the United States, and should reasonably 

16 anticipate being brought to court in the United States 

17 to answer for such activities. 

18 (10) The United States has a vital interest in 

19 providing persons and entities injured as a result of 

20 terrorist attacks committed within the United States 

21 with full access to the court system in order to pursue 

22 civil claims against persons, entities, or countries 

23 that have knowingly or recklessly provided material 

24 support or resources, directly or indirectly, to the per25 sons or organizations responsible for their injuries. 


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1 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 

2 civil litigants with the broadest possible basis, consistent 

3 with the Constitution of the United States, to seek relief 

4 against persons, entities, and foreign countries, wherever 

5 acting and wherever they may be found, that have provided 

6 material support, directly or indirectly, to foreign organi7 zations or persons that engage in terrorist activities against 

8 the United States. 

9 SEC. 3. FOREIGN SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY. 

10 Section 1605(a) of title 28, United States Code, is 

11 amended— 

12 (1) by amending paragraph (5) to read as fol13 lows: 

14 ‘‘(5) not otherwise encompassed in paragraph 

15 (2), in which money damages are sought against a 

16 foreign state arising out of physical injury or death, 

17 or damage to or loss of property, occurring in the 

18 United States and caused by the tortious act or omis19 sion of that foreign state or of any official or em20 ployee of that foreign state while acting within the 

21 scope of the office or employment of the official or em22 ployee (regardless of where the underlying tortious act 

23 or omission occurs), including any statutory or com24 mon law tort claim arising out of an act of 

25 extrajudicial killing, aircraft sabotage, hostage taking, 


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1 terrorism, or the provision of material support or re2 sources for such an act, or any claim for contribution 

3 or indemnity relating to a claim arising out of such 

4 an act, except this paragraph shall not apply to— 

5 ‘‘(A) any claim based upon the exercise or 

6 performance of, or the failure to exercise or per7 form, a discretionary function, regardless of 

8 whether the discretion is abused; or 

9 ‘‘(B) any claim arising out of malicious 

10 prosecution, abuse of process, libel, slander, mis11 representation, deceit, interference with contract 

12 rights, or any claim for emotional distress or de13 rivative injury suffered as a result of an event 

14 or injury to another person that occurs outside 

15 of the United States; or’’; and 

16 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of subsection 

19 (a)(5)— 

20 ‘‘(1) the terms ‘aircraft sabotage’, ‘extrajudicial 

21 killing’, ‘hostage taking’, and ‘material support or re22 sources’ have the meanings given those terms in sec23 tion 1605A(h); and 


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1 ‘‘(2) the term ‘terrorism’ means international 

2 terrorism and domestic terrorism, as those terms are 

3 defined in section 2331 of title 18.’’. 

4 SEC. 4. AIDING AND ABETTING LIABILITY FOR CIVIL AC5 TIONS REGARDING TERRORIST ACTS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2333 of title 18, United 

7 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(d) LIABILITY.—In an action under subsection (a) for 

9 an injury arising from an act of international terrorism 

10 committed, planned, or authorized by an organization that 

11 had been designated as a foreign terrorist organization 

12 under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

13 (8 U.S.C. 1189), as of the date on which such act of inter14 national terrorism was committed, planned, or authorized, 

15 or that was so designated as a result of such act of inter16 national terrorism, liability may be asserted as to any per17 son or entity that aided, abetted, or conspired with the per18 son who committed such an act of international terrorism. 

19 ‘‘(e) NON-APPLICABILITY OF LAW OF PRECLUSION.— 

20 Any civil action or claim that seeks recovery under this 

21 chapter for conduct that was the basis of a civil action or 

22 claim previously dismissed for lack of subject matter juris23 diction for failure to meet the requirements for an exception 

24 under section 1605(a) of title 28 is not subject to dismissal 

25 under the law of preclusion.’’. 


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1 (b) EFFECT ON FOREIGN SOVEREIGN IMMUNITIES

2 ACT.—Nothing in the amendments made by this section af3 fects immunity of a foreign state, as that term is defined 

4 in section 1603 of title 28, United States Code, from juris5 diction under other law. 

6 SEC. 5. PERSONAL JURISDICTION FOR CIVIL ACTIONS RE7 GARDING TERRORIST ACTS. 

8 Section 2334 of title 18, United States Code, is amend9 ed by inserting at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(e) PERSONAL JURISDICTION.—The district courts 

11 shall have personal jurisdiction, to the maximum extent 

12 permissible under the 5th Amendment to the Constitution 

13 of the United States, over any person who commits or aids 

14 and abets an act of international terrorism or otherwise 

15 sponsors such act or the person who committed such act, 

16 for acts of international terrorism in which any national 

17 of the United States suffers injury in his or her person, 

18 property, or business by reason of such an act in violation 

19 of section 2333.’’. 

20 SEC. 6. LIABILITY FOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS IN CIVIL 

21 ACTIONS REGARDING TERRORIST ACTS. 

22 Section 2337 of title 18, United States Code, is amend23 ed to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘§ 2337. Suits against Government officials 

2 ‘‘No action may be maintained under section 2333 

3 against— 

4 ‘‘(1) the United States; 

5 ‘‘(2) an agency of the United States; or 

6 ‘‘(3) an officer or employee of the United States 

7 or any agency of the United States acting within the 

8 official capacity of the officer or employee or under 

9 color of legal authority.’’. 

10 SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 

11 If any provision of this Act or any amendment made 

12 by this Act, or the application of a provision or amendment 

13 to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the 

14 remainder of this Act and the amendments made by this 

15 Act, and the application of the provisions and amendments 

16 to any other person not similarly situated or to other cir17 cumstances, shall not be affected by the holding. 

18 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

19 The amendments made by this Act shall apply to any 

20 civil action— 

21 (1) pending on, or commenced on or after, the 

22 date of enactment of this Act; and 

23 (2) arising out of an injury to a person, prop24 erty, or business on or after September 11, 2001. 


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Calendar No. 560 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1535 

A BILL 

To deter terrorism, provide justice for victims, and 

S

for other purposes. 

EPTEMBER 15, 2014 

Reported with an amendment 


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