II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 258 

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2017 

Mr. NELSON (for himself and Mr. RUBIO) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

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 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are to— 

8 (1) allow for the enforcement of State laws re9 quiring the disclosure of information about Holo10 caust-era insurance policies, notwithstanding the 


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1 holding of the Supreme Court of the United States 

2 in American Insurance Association v. Garamendi, 

3 539 U.S. 396 (2003) that such laws are preempted 

4 by the foreign policy espoused by the executive 

5 branch of the Federal Government addressed in that 

6 case; 

7 (2) facilitate the disclosure of information about 

8 Holocaust-era insurance policies under applicable 

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

10 other persons on whose behalf such laws were en11 acted) may know whether they hold any rights under 

12 the policies; 

13 (3) allow the beneficiaries of Holocaust-era in14 surance policies, many of whom are citizens of the 

15 United States, to bring suits in the courts of the 

16 United States to recover any proceeds under the 

17 policies to which they may be entitled, notwith18 standing the defense that such suits are preempted 

19 by the executive branch foreign policy addressed in 

20 Garamendi; 

21 (4) foreclose defenses to claims brought under 

22 section 4 of this Act arising from any prior judg23 ments or settlement agreements (including the class 

24 action judgment and settlement agreement (M21– 

25 89, United States District Court for the Southern 


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1 District of New York) in In re: Assicurazioni Gen2 eral S.p.A. Holocaust Insurance Litigation) that 

3 were entered and approved based on the erroneous 

4 conclusion that State law claims to recover under 

5 Holocaust-era insurance claims are preempted by 

6 the executive branch foreign policy addressed in 

7 Garamendi; 

8 (5) provide for a uniform statute of limitations 

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

10 in any action to recover under Holocaust-era insur11 ance policies under this Act or State law; and 

12 (6) in carrying out the purposes described in 

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

14 powers of Congress under article I of the Constitu15 tion of the United States, with which the judicial de16 cisions cited in this section are inconsistent. 

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act: 

19 (1) BENEFICIARY.—The term ‘‘beneficiary’’ in20 cludes— 

21 (A) a named insured or named beneficiary 

22 under a covered policy; and 

23 (B) an heir, assignee, or legal representa24 tive of a named insured or named beneficiary 

25 described in subparagraph (A). 


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1 (2) COVERED POLICY.—The term ‘‘covered pol2 icy’’ means any life, dowry, education, annuity, prop3 erty, or other insurance policy that was— 

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

5 beginning on January 31, 1933, and ending on 

6 December 31, 1945; and 

7 (B) issued to a policyholder domiciled in— 

8 (i) any area that was occupied or con9 trolled by Nazi Germany; or 

10 (ii) the territorial jurisdiction of Swit11 zerland. 

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

13 (A) means any person engaged in the busi14 ness of insurance (including reinsurance) in 

15 interstate or foreign commerce that issued a 

16 covered policy; and 

17 (B) includes any successor in interest to a 

18 person described in subparagraph (A). 

19 (4) NAZI GERMANY.—The term ‘‘Nazi Ger20 many’’ means— 

21 (A) the Nazi government of Germany; and 

22 (B) any government that— 

23 (i) had friendly relations with the 

24 Nazi government of Germany; 


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1 (ii) was allied with or controlled by 

2 the Nazi government of Germany; or 

3 (iii) exercised or claimed sovereignty 

4 over any area occupied by the military 

5 forces of the Nazi government of Germany. 

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

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

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

9 (15 U.S.C. 6701(g)). 

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

11 (a) CIVIL ACTIONS TO RECOVER UNDER COVERED

12 POLICIES.—A beneficiary of a covered policy may bring 

13 a civil action against the insurer for the covered policy 

14 or a related company of the insurer to recover proceeds 

15 due under the covered policy or otherwise to enforce any 

16 rights under the covered policy. 

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

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

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

20 district where the case is brought or any other judicial 

21 district of the United States where the defendant may be 

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

23 (c) REMEDIES.— 

24 (1) DAMAGES.— 


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

2 a prevailing beneficiary in a civil action brought 

3 under subsection (a)— 

4 (i) the amount of the proceeds due 

5 under the covered policy; 

6 (ii) prejudgment interest on the 

7 amount described in clause (i) from the 

8 date the amount was due until the date of 

9 judgment, calculated at a rate of 6 percent 

10 per year, compounded annually; and 

11 (iii) any other appropriate relief nec12 essary to enforce rights under the covered 

13 policy. 

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

15 that an insurer or related company of the in16 surer acted in bad faith, the court shall award 

17 damages in an amount equal to 3 times the 

18 amount otherwise to be awarded under sub19 paragraph (A). 

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

21 shall award reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to 

22 a prevailing beneficiary in a civil action brought 

23 under subsection (a). 


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

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

3 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

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

5 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

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

7 judgment or release described in paragraph (2) shall 

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

9 discharge, or otherwise impair any claim brought 

10 under section 4 by any person. 

11 (2) JUDGMENTS AND RELEASES.—A judgment 

12 or release described in this paragraph is— 

13 (A) a judgment entered before the date of 

14 enactment of this Act for any claim arising 

15 under a covered policy in any civil action in a 

16 Federal or State court; or 

17 (B) an agreement entered into before the 

18 date of enactment of this Act under which any 

19 person (on behalf of the person, any other per20 son, or a class of persons) agrees not to assert 

21 or agrees to waive or release any claim de22 scribed in subparagraph (A), regardless of 

23 whether the agreement is— 


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1 (i) denominated as a release, dis2 charge, covenant not to sue, or otherwise; 

3 or 

4 (ii) approved by a court. 

5 (b) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para7 graph (2), nothing in this section shall affect the va8 lidity or enforceability of any agreement entered into 

9 between any claimant under a covered policy and the 

10 International Commission on Holocaust Era Insur11 ance Claims or an insurer under which the claimant 

12 has agreed to release or waive any claim in consider13 ation for payment under a covered policy. 

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

15 apply to any agreement for which the payment is de16 nominated as humanitarian by the International 

17 Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims. 

18 SEC. 6. EFFECT OF EXECUTIVE AGREEMENTS AND EXECU19 TIVE FOREIGN POLICY. 

20 (a) EFFECT OF EXECUTIVE AGREEMENTS AND EX21 ECUTIVE FOREIGN POLICY ON STATE LAWS.—An execu22 tive agreement described in subsection (c)(1) and an exec23 utive foreign policy described in subsection (c)(2) shall not 

24 supercede or preempt the law of any State— 


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

2 covered policy against the insurer for the covered 

3 policy or a related company of the insurer; or 

4 (2) that requires an insurer doing business in 

5 the State or any related company of the insurer to 

6 disclose information regarding a covered policy 

7 issued by the insurer. 

8 (b) EFFECT OF EXECUTIVE AGREEMENTS AND EX9 ECUTIVE FOREIGN POLICY ON CLAIMS BROUGHT UNDER

10 THIS ACT.—An executive agreement described in sub11 section (c)(1) and an executive foreign policy described in 

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

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

14 section 4. 

15 (c) EXECUTIVE AGREEMENTS AND EXECUTIVE FOR16 EIGN POLICY COVERED.— 

17 (1) EXECUTIVE AGREEMENTS.—An executive 

18 agreement described in this paragraph is an execu19 tive agreement between the United States and a for20 eign government entered into before, on, or after the 

21 date of enactment of this Act. 

22 (2) EXECUTIVE FOREIGN POLICY.—An execu23 tive foreign policy described in this paragraph is a 

24 foreign policy of the executive branch of the Federal 


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1 Government established before, on, or after the date 

2 of enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 7. EFFECT ON STATE LAWS. 

4 Nothing in this Act shall supersede or preempt any 

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

6 with this Act. 

7 SEC. 8. TIMELINESS OF ACTIONS BROUGHT UNDER STATE 

8 LAW. 

9 A claim brought under any State law described in 

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

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

12 basis of any other legal or equitable rule or doctrine (in13 cluding laches) governing the timeliness of claims if the 

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

15 enactment of this Act. 

16 SEC. 9. SEVERABILITY. 

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

18 provision to any person or circumstance is held to be un19 constitutional, the remainder of this Act and the applica20 tion of such provision to any other person or circumstance 

21 shall not be affected thereby. 

22 SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY. 

23 This Act shall— 

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

25 Act; and 


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1 (2) apply to any claim relating to a covered pol2 icy that is brought before, on, or after the date of 

3 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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