I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2790 

To make additional financial assets of the Government of Iran available 

to pay compensatory damages to the victims of terrorism sponsored 

by that Government, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 16, 2019 

Mr. PENCE (for himself and Mr. GALLEGO) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition 

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 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 make additional financial assets of the Government of 

Iran available to pay compensatory damages to the victims of terrorism sponsored by that Government, 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 ‘‘Our Obligation to Rec5 ognize American Heroes (OORAH) Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF AVAILABILITY OF FINANCIAL AS2 SETS OF IRAN TO VICTIMS OF TERRORISM. 

3 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find4 ings: 

5 (1) On October 23, 1983, terrorists sponsored 

6 by the Government of Iran bombed the United 

7 States Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. The ter8 rorists killed 241 servicemen and injured scores 

9 more. 

10 (2) Those servicemen were killed or injured 

11 while on a peacekeeping mission. 

12 (3) Terrorism sponsored by the Government of 

13 Iran threatens the national security of the United 

14 States. 

15 (4) The United States has a vital interest in en16 suring that members of the Armed Forces killed or 

17 injured by such terrorism, and the family members 

18 of such members, are able to seek justice. 

19 (b) AMENDMENTS.—Section 502 of the Iran Threat 

20 Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (22 

21 U.S.C. 8772) is amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

23 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘in 

24 the United States’’ and inserting ‘‘by or’’; 

25 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘, 

26 or an asset that would be blocked if the asset 


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1 were located in the United States,’’ after 

2 ‘‘unblocked)’’; and 

3 (C) in the flush text at the end— 

4 (i) by inserting after ‘‘in aid of execu5 tion’’ the following: ‘‘, or to an order di6 recting that the asset be brought to the 

7 State in which the court is located and 

8 subsequently to execution or attachment in 

9 aid of execution,’’; and 

10 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, without regard to 

11 concerns relating to international comity’’ 

12 after ‘‘resources for such an act’’; 

13 (2) in subsection (b)— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘that are identified’’ and 

15 inserting the following: ‘‘that are— 

16 ‘‘(1) identified’’; 

17 (B) by striking the period at the end and 

18 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(2) identified in and the subject of proceedings 

21 in the United States District Court for the Southern 

22 District of New York in Peterson et al. v. Islamic 

23 Republic of Iran et al., Case No. 13 Civ. 9195 

24 (LAP).’’; 

25 (3) by striking subsection (e); 


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1 (4) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

2 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 

3 (5) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(c) PERSONAL JURISDICTION.—For purposes of 

6 this section, the United States District Court for the 

7 Southern District of New York shall have personal juris8 diction over any foreign securities intermediary that cred9 ited financial assets described in subsection (b) to an ac10 count the intermediary holds outside the United States.’’. 

Æ 


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