II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 559 

To establish a fund to make payments to the Americans held hostage in 

Iran, and to members of their families, who are identified as members 

of the proposed class in case number 1:08–CV–00487 (EGS) of the 

United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 13, 2013 

Mr. ISAKSON (for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following 

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

A BILL 

To establish a fund to make payments to the Americans 

held hostage in Iran, and to members of their families, 

who are identified as members of the proposed class 

in case number 1:08–CV–00487 (EGS) of the United 

States District Court for the District of Columbia, 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 for Former 

5 American Hostages in Iran Act of 2013’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. AMERICAN HOSTAGES IN IRAN COMPENSATION 

2 FUND. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

4 Treasury a fund, to be known as the ‘‘American Hostages 

5 in Iran Compensation Fund’’ (in this section referred to 

6 as the ‘‘Fund’’) for the purposes of— 

7 (1) making payments to the Americans held 

8 hostage in Iran, and to members of their families, 

9 who are identified as members of the proposed class 

10 in case number 1:08–CV–00487 (EGS) of the 

11 United States District Court for the District of Co12 lumbia; and 

13 (2) satisfying the claims of the members of the 

14 proposed class against Iran relating to the alleged 

15 taking of hostages or treatment of personnel of the 

16 United States embassy in Tehran, Iran, between No17 vember 3, 1979, and January 20, 1981. 

18 (b) FUNDING.— 

19 (1) IMPOSITION OF SURCHARGE.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—There is imposed a sur21 charge equal to 30 percent of the amount of 

22 any fine or penalty imposed, in whole or in 

23 part, for a violation of a law or regulation speci24 fied in subparagraph (B) committed on or after 

25 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

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1 (B) LAWS AND REGULATIONS SPECI2 FIED.—A law or regulation specified in this 

3 subparagraph is any law or regulation imposing 

4 a fine or penalty for any economic activity re5 lating to Iran that is administered by the De6 partment of State, the Department of the 

7 Treasury, the Department of Justice, the De8 partment of Commerce, or the Department of 

9 Energy. 

10 (C) TERMINATION OF DEPOSITS.—The im11 position of the surcharge under subparagraph 

12 (A) shall terminate on the date on which all 

13 amounts described in subsection (c)(2) have 

14 been distributed to all recipients described in 

15 that subsection. 

16 (2) DEPOSITS INTO FUND; AVAILABILITY OF

17 AMOUNTS.— 

18 (A) DEPOSITS.—The Secretary of the 

19 Treasury shall deposit in the Fund all sur20 charges collected pursuant to paragraph (1)(A). 

21 (B) PAYMENT OF SURCHARGE TO SEC22 RETARY OF THE TREASURY.—A person upon 

23 which a surcharge is imposed under paragraph 

24 (1)(A) shall pay the surcharge to the Secretary 

25 without regard to whether the fine or penalty 

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1 with respect to which the surcharge is im2 posed— 

3 (i) is paid directly to the Federal 

4 agency that administers the law or regula5 tion pursuant to which the fine or penalty 

6 is imposed; or 

7 (ii) is deemed satisfied by a payment 

8 to another Federal agency. 

9 (C) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS IN

10 FUND.—Amounts in the Fund shall be avail11 able, without further appropriation, to make 

12 payments under subsection (c). 

13 (c) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.— 

14 (1) ADMINISTRATION OF FUND.—Payments 

15 from the Fund shall be administered, subject to 

16 oversight by the Secretary of the Treasury, by the 

17 named representatives of the proposed class de18 scribed in subsection (a)(1) and an agent the mem19 bers of the proposed class designate for the purpose 

20 of administering payments from the Fund. 

21 (2) PAYMENTS.—Subject to paragraphs (3) and 

22 (4), payments shall be made from the Fund to the 

23 following recipients in the following amounts: 

24 (A) To each living former hostage identi25 fied as a member of the proposed class demstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 scribed in subsection (a)(1), $10,000 for each 

2 day of captivity of the former hostage. 

3 (B) To the estate of each deceased former 

4 hostage identified as a member of the proposed 

5 class described in subsection (a)(1), $10,000 for 

6 each day of captivity of the former hostage. 

7 (C) To each spouse or child of a former 

8 hostage identified as a member of the proposed 

9 class described in subsection (a)(1) if the 

10 spouse or child is identified as a member of 

11 that proposed class, $5,000 for each day of cap12 tivity of the former hostage. 

13 (3) PRIORITY.—Payments from the Fund shall 

14 be distributed under paragraph (2) in the following 

15 order: 

16 (A) First, to each living former hostage de17 scribed in paragraph (2)(A). 

18 (B) Second, to the estate of each deceased 

19 former hostage described in paragraph (2)(B). 

20 (C) Third, to each spouse or child of a 

21 former hostage described in paragraph (2)(C). 

22 (4) CONSENT OF RECIPIENT.—A payment to a 

23 recipient from the Fund under paragraph (2) shall 

24 be made only after receiving the consent of the re25 cipient. 

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1 (d) PRECLUSION OF FUTURE ACTIONS AND RELEASE

2 OF CLAIMS.— 

3 (1) PRECLUSION OF FUTURE ACTIONS.—A re4 cipient of a payment under subsection (c) may not 

5 file or maintain an action against Iran in any Fed6 eral or State court for any claim relating to the 

7 events described in subsection (a)(2). 

8 (2) RELEASE OF ALL CLAIMS.—Upon the pay9 ment of all amounts described subsection (c)(2) to 

10 all recipients described in that subsection, all claims 

11 against Iran relating to the events described in sub12 section (a)(2) shall be deemed waived and forever re13 leased. 

14 (e) DEPOSIT OF REMAINING FUNDS INTO THE

15 TREASURY.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any amounts remaining in 

17 the Fund after the date specified in paragraph (2) 

18 shall be deposited in the general fund of the Treas19 ury. 

20 (2) DATE SPECIFIED.—The date specified in 

21 this paragraph is the later of— 

22 (A) the date on which all amounts de23 scribed in subsection (c)(2) have been made to 

24 all recipients described in that subsection; or 

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1 (B) the date that is 5 years after the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 

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