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[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3221 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3221

     To provide for the adjudication of certain claims against the 
                          Government of Iraq.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 6, 1993

 Mr. Hamilton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
     To provide for the adjudication of certain claims against the 
                          Government of Iraq.

    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 ``Iraq Claims Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. ADJUDICATION OF CLAIMS.

    (a) Certain Claims Within the Jurisdiction of UN Commission.--The 
United States Commission is authorized to receive and determine the 
validity and amounts of any claims referred to it by the Secretary of 
State with respect to which the United States has received lump-sum 
payments from the United Nations Commission.
    (b) Other Claims Against Iraq.--The United States Commission is 
authorized to receive and determine the validity and amounts of any 
claims by nationals of the United States against the Government of Iraq 
that are determined by the Secretary of State to be outside the 
jurisdiction of the United Nations Commission.
    (c) Decision Rules.--In deciding claims under subsection (a) or 
(b), the United States Commission shall apply, in the following order--
            (1) in the case of claims under subsection (a), relevant 
        decisions of the United Nations Security Council and the United 
        Nations Commission;
            (2) applicable substantive law, including international 
        law; and
            (3) applicable principles of justice and equity.
    (d) Priority Claims.--Before deciding any other claim against the 
Government of Iraq, the United States Commission shall, to the extent 
practical, decide all pending noncommercial claims of members of the 
United States Armed Forces and other individuals arising out of Iraq's 
invasion and occupation of Kuwait.
    (e) Applicability of International Claims Settlement Act.--To the 
extent they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, the 
provisions of title I (other than section 2(c)) and title VII of the 
International Claims Settlement Act of 1949 (22 U.S.C. 1621-1627 and 
1645-1645o) shall apply with respect to claims under this Act and the 
funds established pursuant to sections 3(a) and 3(c).

SEC. 3. CLAIMS FUNDS.

    (a) UN Commission Claims Funds.--The Secretary of the Treasury is 
authorized to establish in the Treasury of the United States one or 
more funds (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the ``UN Commission 
Claims Funds'') for payment of claims under section 2(a). The Secretary 
of the Treasury shall cover into the UN Commission Claims Funds such 
amounts as are allocated to such funds pursuant to subsection (b)(1).
    (b) Allocation of Funds Received From UN Commission.--The Secretary 
of State shall allocate funds received by the United States from the 
United Nations Commission, in the manner the Secretary determines 
appropriate, between--
            (1) the UN Commission Claims Funds; and
            (2) funds established under the authority of the paragraphs 
        under the heading ``TRUST FUNDS'' in the Act entitled ``An Act 
        making appropriations for the diplomatic and consular service 
        for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and 
        ninety-seven'', approved February 26, 1896 (22 U.S.C. 2668a).
    (c) Iraq Claims Fund.--The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized 
to establish in the Treasury of the United States a fund (hereinafter 
in this Act referred to as the ``Iraq Claims Fund'') for payment of 
claims under section 2(b). The Secretary of the Treasury shall cover 
into the Iraq Claims Fund such amounts as are allocated to such fund 
pursuant to subsection (d).
    (d) Allocation of Proceeds From Iraqi Asset Liquidatation.--The 
President shall allocate funds resulting from the liquidation of assets 
pursuant to section 4 in the manner the President determines 
appropriate between the Iraq Claims Fund and such other accounts as are 
appropriate for the payment of claims of the United States Government.

SEC. 4. AUTHORITY TO VEST IRAQI ASSETS.

    The President is authorized to vest and liquidate as much of the 
assets of the Government of Iraq in the United States that have been 
blocked pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) as may be necessary to satisfy claims under 
section 2(b), as well as claims of the United States Government against 
Iraq which are determined by the Secretary of State to be outside the 
jurisdiction of the United Nations Commission.

SEC. 5. PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION SELF-SUFFICIENCY.

    (a) Deductions for Administrative Expenses.--In order to reimburse 
Executive agencies for their expenses in administering the Iraq claims 
program and this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall deduct an 
amount equal to 1\1/2\ percent--
            (1) from any amount covered into the claims funds 
        established under section 3(a) or 3(c); and
            (2) from any amounts the Secretary of State receives from 
        the United Nations Commission which are not covered into a 
        claims fund established under section 3(a) and which are not in 
        payment of a claim of the United States Government.
    (b) Distribution.--The Secretary of the Treasury--
            (1) shall determine, in consultation with the Chairman of 
        the United States Commission and the Secretary of State, the 
        proportional distribution of the reimbursement set-aside 
        provided for in subsection (a); and
            (2) shall make an advance for credit, or reimburse, an 
        Executive agency for its expenses in administering the Iraq 
        claims program and this Act.
Amounts received by an Executive agency pursuant to paragraph (2) shall 
be credited or reimbursed to the appropriation account then current and 
shall remain available for expenditure without fiscal year limitation.

SEC. 6. PAYMENTS.

    (a) In General.--The United States Commission shall certify to the 
Secretary of the Treasury each award made pursuant to section 2. The 
Secretary of the Treasury shall make payment, out of the appropriate 
fund established pursuant to section 3(a) or 3(c), in the following 
order of priority to the extent funds are available in such fund:
            (1) Payment of $10,000 or the principal amount of the 
        award, whichever is less.
            (2) For each claim that has priority under section 2(d), 
        payment of a further $90,000 toward the unpaid balance of the 
        principal amount of the award.
            (3) Payments from time to time in ratable proportions on 
        account of the unpaid balance of the principal amounts of all 
        awards according to the proportions which the unpaid balance of 
        such awards bear to the total amount in the appropriate claims 
        fund that is available for distribution at the time such 
        payments are made.
            (4) After payment has been made of the principal amounts of 
        all such awards, pro rata payments on account of accrued 
        interest on such awards as bear interest.
            (5) After payment has been made in full of all the awards 
        payable out of a fund established pursuant to section 3(a) or 
        3(c), any funds remaining in that fund shall be transferred to 
        the other claims fund created pursuant to section 3(a) or 3(c), 
        except that any funds received by the United States from the 
        United Nations Commission shall be so transferred only to the 
        extent not inconsistent with requirements of the United Nations 
        Commission.
    (b) Unsatisfied Claims.--Payment of any award made pursuant to this 
Act shall not extinguish any unsatisfied claim, or be construed to have 
divested any claimant, or the United States on his or her behalf, of 
any rights against the Government of Iraq with respect to any 
unsatisfied claim.

SEC. 7. RECORDS.

    (a) Transfer to Commission.--The head of any Executive agency may 
transfer or otherwise make available to the United States Commission 
such records and documents relating to claims authorized to be 
adjudicated by this Act as may be required by the United States 
Commission in carrying out its functions under this Act.
    (b) Public Disclosure.--Section 552 of title 5 of the United States 
Code (commonly referred to as the ``Freedom of Information Act'') shall 
not apply with respect to records that, as determined by the Secretary 
of State, are required under the rules and decisions of the United 
Nations Commission to be withheld from public disclosure.

SEC. 8. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS; DISPOSITION OF UNPAID CERTIFIED CLAIMS.

    (a) Statute of Limitations.--Any demand or claim for payment on 
account of an award that is certified under the Iraq claims program 
shall be barred one year after the publication date of the notice 
required by subsection (b).
    (b) Publication of Notice.--Nine years after the latter of--
            (1) the last date on which the Secretary of the Treasury 
        covers into any of the UN Commission Claims Funds, or into any 
        fund described in section 3(b)(2), amounts allocated to that 
        fund pursuant to section 3(b), or
            (2) the last date on which the Secretary of the Treasury 
        covers into the Iraq Claims Fund amounts allocated to that fund 
        pursuant to section 3(d),
the Secretary shall publish a notice in the Federal Register detailing 
the statute of limitations provided for in subsection (a) and 
identifying the claim numbers and awardee names of unpaid certified 
claims.
    (c) Disposition of Unpaid Certified Claims.--Two years after the 
publication date of the notice required by subsection (b), any unpaid 
certified claim amount under the Iraq claims program, and any remaining 
balance in any of the UN Commission Claims Funds, in the Iraq Claims 
Fund, or in any fund referred to in section 3(b)(2) to the extent such 
balance reflects amounts deposited pursuant to that section, shall be 
deposited to the miscellaneous receipts of the Treasury.

SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act--
            (1) the term ``Government of Iraq'' includes agencies, 
        instrumentalities, and controlled entities (including public 
        sector enterprises) of that government;
            (2) the term ``Executive agency'' has the meaning given 
        that term by section 105 of title 5, United States Code;
            (3) the term ``Iraq claims program'' means the claims whose 
        adjudication is provided for in this Act and any other claims 
        that are within the jurisdiction of the United Nations 
        Commission;
            (4) the term ``United Nations Commission'' means the United 
        Nations Compensation Commission established pursuant to United 
        Nations Security Council Resolution 687 (1991); and
            (5) the term ``United States Commission'' means the Foreign 
        Claims Settlement Commission of the United States.

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