I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4596 

To allow for enforcement of State disclosure laws and access to courts for 

covered Holocaust-era insurance policy claims. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2010 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. KLEIN of Florida, Mr. PENCE, Mr. 

GARAMENDI, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. LINCOLN

DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. MEEK of Florida, 

Mrs. BLACKBURN, and Mr. KIRK) 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 allow for enforcement of State disclosure laws and access 

to courts for covered Holocaust-era insurance policy claims. 

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 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Holocaust, an event in which millions 

2 of people endured enormous suffering through tor3 ture and other violence, including the murder of 

4 6,000,000 Jews and millions of others, the destruc5 tion of families and communities, and the theft of 

6 their assets, was one of the most heinous crimes in 

7 human history. 

8 (2) Before and during World War II, millions 

9 of people purchased insurance policies to safeguard 

10 family assets, plan for retirement, provide for a 

11 dowry, or save for their children’s education. 

12 (3) When Holocaust survivors or heirs of Holo13 caust victims presented claims to insurance compa14 nies after World War II, many were rejected because 

15 they did not have death certificates or physical pos16 session of policy documents that had been con17 fiscated by the Nazis or lost in the devastation of 

18 the Holocaust. 

19 (4) In many instances, insurance company 

20 records and records in government archives are the 

21 only proof of the existence of insurance policies be22 longing to Holocaust victims. 

23 (5) Holocaust survivors and heirs have been at24 tempting for decades to persuade insurance compa25 nies to settle unpaid insurance claims. 


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1 (6) In 1998, the International Commission on 

2 Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (in this section re3 ferred to as ‘‘ICHEIC’’) was established by the Na4 tional Association of Insurance Commissioners in co5 operation with several European insurance compa6 nies, European regulators, the Government of Israel, 

7 and non-governmental organizations with the prom8 ise that it would expeditiously address the issue of 

9 unpaid insurance policies issued to Holocaust vic10 tims. 

11 (7) On July 17, 2000, the United States and 

12 Germany signed an executive agreement in support 

13 of the German Foundation ‘‘Remembrance, Respon14 sibility, and the Future’’, which designated ICHEIC 

15 to resolve all Holocaust-era insurance policies issued 

16 by German companies and their subsidiaries. 

17 (8) On January 17, 2001, the United States 

18 and Austria signed an executive agreement, which 

19 designated ICHEIC to resolve all Holocaust-era in20 surance policies issued by Austrian companies and 

21 their subsidiaries. 

22 (9) The ICHEIC process ended in 2007 and 

23 companies holding Holocaust-era insurance policies 

24 continue to withhold names of owners and beneVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:15 Feb 08, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4596.IH H4596

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1 ficiaries of thousands of insurance policies sold to 

2 Jewish customers prior to World War II. 

3 (10) Experts estimate that only a small fraction 

4 of the policies estimated to have been sold to Jews 

5 living in Europe at the beginning of World War II 

6 have been paid through ICHEIC. 

7 (11) In American Insurance Association, Inc., 

8 v. Garamendi, the United States Supreme Court 

9 held that under the supremacy clause of the Con10 stitution of the United States, executive agreements 

11 and Federal Government policy calling for insurance 

12 claims against German and Austrian companies to 

13 be handled within ICHEIC preempted State laws 

14 authorizing State insurance commissioners to sub15 poena company records and require publication of 

16 the names of Holocaust era policy holders. 

17 (12) In the Garamendi case, the Supreme 

18 Court stated that Congress, which has the power to 

19 regulate international commerce and prescribe Fed20 eral court jurisdiction, had not addressed disclosure 

21 and restitution of insurance policies of Holocaust 

22 victims. 

23 (13) Subsequent court decisions have dismissed 

24 survivors’ suits against an Italian insurance comVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:15 Feb 08, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4596.IH H4596

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1 pany, even though there is no executive agreement 

2 between the United States and Italy. 

3 (14) Congress supports the rights of Holocaust 

4 survivors and the heirs and beneficiaries of Holo5 caust victims to obtain information from insurers 

6 and to bring legal actions in courts, wherever juris7 diction requirements are met, to recover unpaid 

8 funds from entities that participated in the theft of 

9 family insurance assets or the affiliates of such enti10 ties. 

11 (15) Congress intends for this Act to be inter12 preted to allow for State causes of action and disclo13 sure requirement laws regarding Holocaust-era in14 surance policies to be valid and not preempted. 

15 (16) This Act expresses the intent of Congress 

16 to deem valid State laws protecting the rights of 

17 Holocaust survivors and the heirs and beneficiaries 

18 of Holocaust victims to obtain information from in19 surers and to bring actions in courts of proper juris20 diction to recover unpaid funds from entities that 

21 participated in the theft of family insurance assets 

22 or the affiliates of such entities. 

23 (17) Insurance payments should be expedited to 

24 the victims of the most heinous crime of the 20th 

25 century to ensure that justice is served. 


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1 (18) This Act will enable survivors, heirs, and 

2 beneficiaries to obtain compensation commensurate 

3 with the real monetary value of their losses. 

4 (19) Under the circumstances faced by Holo5 caust victims and their families, courts should be 

6 open to Holocaust victims and their families for a 

7 reasonable number of years after the enactment of 

8 this Act, without regard to any other statutes of lim9 itation. 

10 SEC. 3. VALIDITY OF STATE LAWS. 

11 (a) VALIDITY OF LAWS CREATING CAUSE OF AC12 TION.—Any State law creating a cause of action against 

13 any insurer or related company based on a claim arising 

14 out of or related to a covered policy shall not be invalid 

15 or preempted by reason of any executive agreement be16 tween the United States and any foreign country. 

17 (b) VALIDITY OF LAWS REQUIRING DISCLOSURE OF

18 INFORMATION.—Any State law that is enacted on or after 

19 March 1, 1998, and that requires an insurer doing busi20 ness in that State, including any related company, to dis21 close information regarding any covered policy shall be 

22 deemed to be in effect on the date of the enactment of 

23 such law and shall not be invalid or preempted by reason 

24 of any executive agreement between the United States and 

25 any foreign country. 


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1 (c) WAIVER.—The President may waive the applica2 tion of subsection (a) or (b) with respect to any executive 

3 agreement that is entered into between the United States 

4 and a foreign country on or after the date of the enact5 ment of this Act and that involves covered policies if, not 

6 later than 30 legislative days before the signing of the ex7 ecutive agreement— 

8 (1) the President determines that the executive 

9 agreement is vital to the national security interests 

10 of the United States; and 

11 (2) the President provides to the appropriate 

12 congressional committees a report explaining the 

13 reasons for such determination. 

14 (d) STATEMENTS OF INTEREST.—No funds may be 

15 used by the Department of State, or any other department 

16 or agency of the United States, for the purpose of issuing 

17 a statement of interest seeking to encourage a court in 

18 the United States to dismiss any claim brought to recover 

19 compensation arising out of or related to a covered policy. 

20 (e) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—No court may dis21 miss a claim that is brought under a State law described 

22 in subsection (a) or (b) within 10 years after the date of 

23 the enactment of this Act on the ground that the claim 

24 is barred under any statute of limitations. 


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1 SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY. 

2 This Act shall apply to any claim that is brought, 

3 before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

4 under a State law described in subsection (a) or (b), in5 cluding— 

6 (1) any claim dismissed, before the date of the 

7 enactment of this Act, on the ground of executive 

8 preemption; and 

9 (2) any claim that is deemed released as a re10 sult of the settlement of a class action that was en11 tered into before the date of the enactment of this 

12 Act, if the claimant did not receive any payment 

13 pursuant to the settlement. 

14 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT17 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com18 mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs in 

19 the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

20 Foreign Relations in the Senate, and the Commit21 tees on the Judiciary of the House of Representa22 tives and the Senate. 

23 (2) COVERED POLICY.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered pol25 icy’’ means any life, dowry, education, property, 

26 or other insurance policy that— 


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1 (i) was in effect at any time after 

2 January 30, 1933, and before December 

3 31, 1945; and 

4 (ii) was issued to a policyholder domi5 ciled in any area that was occupied or con6 trolled by Nazi Germany. 

7 (B) NAZI GERMANY.—In this paragraph, 

8 the term ‘‘Nazi Germany’’ means— 

9 (i) the Nazi government of Germany; 

10 and 

11 (ii) any government in any area occu12 pied by the military forces of the Nazi gov13 ernment of Germany. 

14 (3) INSURER.—The term ‘‘insurer’’ means any 

15 person engaged in the business of insurance (includ16 ing reinsurance) in interstate or foreign commerce, 

17 if the person issued a covered policy, or a successor 

18 in interest to such person. 

19 (4) LEGISLATIVE DAYS.—The term ‘‘legislative 

20 days’’ means those days on which both Houses of 

21 Congress are in session. 

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

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


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

2 (15 U.S.C. 6701(g)). 

Æ 


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