I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 126

To provide for the recovery of insurance issued for victims of the Holocaust.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 6, 1999

Mr. ENGEL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Commerce

A BILL

To provide for the recovery of insurance issued for victims

of the Holocaust.

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 Victims In5 surance Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. STATUS OF POLICIES.

7 (a) REPORT.—Any person engaged in the business of

8 insurance in the United States directly or through a relat9 ed company during the period 1920 to 1945 shall, within

10 90 days of the enactment of this Act, report to the Sec11 retary of the Commerce on—
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1 (1) the number of insurance policies issued dur2 ing such period;

3 (2) the holder, beneficiary, and current status

4 of those policies;

5 (3) the attempts made by such person to locate

6 the beneficiaries of such policies for which no claim

7 of benefits has been made;

8 (4) a comparison of the names of the holders

9 and beneficiaries of such policies and the names of

10 the victims of the Holocaust;

11 (5) the reason such person is unable, after rea12 sonable and good faith efforts, to provide informa13 tion described in paragraphs (1) through (4); and

14 (6) any money contributed to a fund established

15 to compensate victims of the Holocaust as discussed

16 in section 3(b) of this Act.

17 (b) PENALTY.—Any person who does not file a report

18 as required by subsection (a) shall be subject to a civil

19 penalty of $1,000 for each day such a report is not filed

20 as required.

21 (c) TRANSMISSION OF REPORT.—The Secretary of

22 Commerce shall immediately upon receipt transmit the re23 port required by subsection (a) to the Committees on

24 Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Sen25 ate.
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1 SEC. 3. PAYMENT OF PROCEEDS OF INSURANCE.

2 (a) PAYMENTS.—If such a person engaged in the

3 business of insurance determines that it issued insurance

4 policies to individuals who were victims of the Holocaust,

5 such person shall pay to the beneficiaries or descendants

6 of the victims the proceeds of such policies.

7 (b) FUND.—Any such person who does not have

8 records of the individuals to whom it issued life insurance

9 policies during the period 1920 to 1945 is strongly encour10 aged to establish a substantial monetary fund to com11 pensate victims of the Holocaust. Such fund should be de12 rived from sources including the policies for which there

13 is no one entitled to its proceeds because the holder and

14 all beneficiaries perished in the Holocaust.

15 SEC. 4. REPORT.

16 The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with

17 State insurance commissioners, shall, within 180 days of

18 the enactment of this Act, report to the Committees on

19 Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Sen20 ate, to the extent possible, on—

21 (1) the number of individuals who were victims

22 of the Holocaust who held life insurance policies

23 during the period 1920 to 1945;

24 (2) the number of such individuals for whom

25 payment was made under such policies and the

26 amount of such payments;
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1 (3) the number of such policies for which no

2 payment has been made;

3 (4) the number of such policies for which pay4 ment was made to persons other than the policy

5 holder or their beneficiaries;

6 (5) the names of the companies which issued

7 such policies; and

8 (6) the relationship (if any) between such com9 panies and the governments of Germany, Italy, Aus10 tria, Croatia, Vichy France, Hungary, Romania,

11 Switzerland, and other provisional governments in

12 Nazi occupied countries.

13 SEC. 5. REGISTRY.

14 The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum shall

15 develop a registry of those who died in the Holocaust

16 which shall be made available to the general public, includ17 ing insurance companies preparing a report under section

18 2(a). Such sums as may be necessary are authorized to

19 be appropriated for this purpose.

20 SEC. 6. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.

21 Any action brought by Holocaust victim or heir or

22 beneficiary of a Holocaust victim, seeking proceeds of such

23 policies issued or in effect between 1920 and 1945 shall

24 not be dismissed for failure to comply with the applicable
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1 statute of limitations or laches provided the action is com2 menced on or before December 31, 2010.

3 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

4 For the purpose of this Act:

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

6 company’’ means any parent, subsidiaries, or affili7 ated companies at least 50 percent of whose stock

8 is in common ownership with an insurance carrier

9 doing business in the United States.

10 (2) VICTIM OF THE HOLOCAUST.—The term

11 ‘‘victim of the Holocaust’’ means any person who

12 lost his or her life or property as a result of dis13 criminatory laws, policies, or actions targeted

14 against discrete groups of persons between April

15 1933 and May 1945 in Nazi Germany, areas occu16 pied by Nazi Germany, and or countries allied with

17 Nazi Germany.

18 (3) INSURANCE POLICIES.—The term ‘insur19 ance policies’’ means, but is not limited to, life in20 surance, property insurance, dowry, or education

21 policies.

22 (4) PROCEEDS OF SUCH POLICIES.—The term

23 ‘‘proceeds of such policies’’ means the face or other

24 payout value of policies and annuities plus reason25 able interest to date of payment without diminution
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1 for wartime or immediate postwar currency devalu2 ation.

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