I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1632

To provide for the compensation of the people and Government of the United

States who suffered damages as a result of the attack on, and occupation

of, Kuwait by Iraq in 1990.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 26, 2001

Mr. SHADEGG (for himself, Mr. ARMEY, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SOUDER, and Mr.

FLAKE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

A BILL

To provide for the compensation of the people and Government of the United States who suffered damages as

a result of the attack on, and occupation of, Kuwait

by Iraq in 1990.

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 Victims

5 of Iraqi Aggression Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) Saddam Hussein engaged in unprovoked ag2 gression in his invasion and occupation of Kuwait on

3 August 2, 1990.

4 (2) The Iraqi occupation force inflicted physical

5 injury, including rape, torture, mutilation, and mur6 der, on persons in Kuwait.

7 (3) The Iraqi occupation force caused cata8 strophic economic and ecological damage, including

9 looting homes and businesses and setting fire to 789

10 oil wells.

11 (4) The people and Government of the United

12 States are seeking $4,300,000,000 in personal, busi13 ness, and government losses that occurred as a re14 sult of the invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi forces.

15 SEC. 3. PAYMENT OF CLAIMS AGAINST IRAQ.

16 (a) IRAQ CLAIMS FUND.—The Secretary of the

17 Treasury shall establish in the Treasury of the United

18 States a fund to be known as the Iraq Claims Fund (in

19 this section referred to as the ‘‘Fund’’).

20 (b) VESTING OF ASSETS.—All nondiplomatic ac21 counts of the Government of Iraq that have been blocked

22 pursuant to the International Economic Powers Act (50

23 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) shall vest in the President. The

24 President, not later than 30 days after the date of the
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1 enactment of this Act, shall liquidate such accounts and

2 transfer the amounts from the liquidation to the Fund.

3 (c) PAYMENTS.—

4 (1) INDIVIDUAL CLAIMS.—

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—After receiving a cer6 tification of claims from the Foreign Claims

7 Settlement Commission of the United States (in

8 this section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’)

9 under subsection (d), the Secretary of the

10 Treasury shall pay each such certified indi11 vidual claim out of the Fund as provided in

12 subparagraph (B) or (C).

13 (B) PAYMENT IN FULL.—If the total

14 amount in the Fund available for distribution

15 (after making the deduction for administrative

16 expenses under subsection (f)) is equal to or

17 greater than the sum of the amounts of all cer18 tified individual claims, the Secretary of the

19 Treasury shall pay each certified individual

20 claim in full.

21 (C) PRO RATA PAYMENT.—If the total

22 amount in the Fund available for distribution

23 (after making the deduction for administrative

24 expenses under subsection (f)) is less than the

25 sum of the amounts of all certified individual
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1 claims, the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay

2 each certified individual claim in an amount

3 bearing the same ratio to the full value of such

4 certified individual claim as the total amount in

5 the Fund available for distribution bears to the

6 sum of the amounts of all certified individual

7 claims.

8 (2) CORPORATE AND GOVERNMENT CLAIMS.—

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary of the

10 Treasury has paid all certified individual claims

11 in full under paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary of

12 the Treasury, after receiving the certification

13 from the President under subsection (e), shall

14 pay each certified corporate claim and each cer15 tified Government claim out of the Fund as

16 provided in subparagraph (B) or (C).

17 (B) PAYMENT IN FULL.—If the total

18 amount in the Fund available for distribution

19 (after paying the certified individual claims in

20 full under paragraph (1)(B)) is equal to or

21 greater than the sum of the amounts of all cer22 tified corporate claims and all certified Govern23 ment claims, the Secretary of the Treasury

24 shall pay each certified corporate claim and

25 each certified Government claim in full.
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1 (C) PRO RATA PAYMENT.—If the total

2 amount in the Fund available for distribution

3 (after paying the certified individual claims in

4 full under paragraph (1)(B)) is less than the

5 sum of the amounts of all certified corporate

6 claims and all certified Government claims, the

7 Secretary of the Treasury shall pay each cer8 tified corporate claim and each certified Gov9 ernment claim in an amount bearing the same

10 ratio to the full value of such claim as the total

11 amount in the Fund available for distribution

12 (after paying the certified individual claims in

13 full under paragraph (1)(B)) bears to the sum

14 of the amounts of all certified corporate claims

15 and all certified Government claims.

16 (d) DETERMINATION AND CERTIFICATION OF INDI17 VIDUAL AND CORPORATE CLAIMS.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after

19 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis20 sion shall determine, in accordance with applicable

21 substantive law (including international law), the va22 lidity and amount of each individual and corporate

23 claim, and shall certify such determination to the

24 Secretary of the Treasury. Such certification shall be

25 in the form of a single document, listing first the
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1 valid individual claims and second the valid cor2 porate claims, and shall include with the listing of

3 each claim the name and address of the claimant

4 and the amount of such claim, including interest, de5 termined by the Commission to be valid.

6 (2) APPLICABILITY OF THE INTERNATIONAL

7 CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT OF 1949.—Except to the

8 extent inconsistent with the provisions of this sec9 tion, the provisions of title I of the International

10 Claims Settlement Act of 1949 (22 U.S.C. 1621 et

11 seq.) shall apply with respect to each individual and

12 corporate claim under this section. Any reference in

13 such provisions to ‘‘this title’’ shall be deemed to

14 refer to those provisions and to this section.

15 (3) AWARD OF INTEREST.—In determining the

16 amount of any valid claim pursuant to this sub17 section, the Commission shall award interest on the

18 amount of the claim for the period beginning on the

19 date that the injury, loss, or damage that forms the

20 basis of the claim occurred and ending on the date

21 that the claim is certified under paragraph (1). In22 terest shall be awarded at the rate set by the Sec23 retary of the Treasury under section 1961(a) of title

24 28, United States Code, as of the date that the

25 Commission determines the validity of the claim. In-
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1 terest shall be computed daily to the date of the cer2 tification of the claim under paragraph (1), and

3 shall be compounded annually.

4 (4) COORDINATION WITH THE UNITED NATIONS

5 COMPENSATION COMMISSION.—

6 (A) NONCERTIFICATION OF PAID

7 CLAIMS.—The Commission shall not certify any

8 claim under this section to the extent that such

9 claim has been paid by the United Nations

10 Compensation Commission.

11 (B) NOTIFICATION OF UNITED NATIONS

12 CLAIMANTS.—Not later than 60 days after the

13 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary

14 of State shall notify each United Nations claim15 ant of the provisions of this section.

16 (C) NOTIFICATION OF UNITED NATIONS

17 COMPENSATION COMMISSION REGARDING SATIS18 FIED CLAIMS.—The Secretary of State shall

19 promptly notify the United Nations Compensa20 tion Commission of any amount paid under

21 subsection (c) to a United Nations claimant and

22 shall suggest that the United Nations Com23 pensation Commission reduce any eventual pay24 ment to such claimant accordingly.
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1 (e) DETERMINATION AND CERTIFICATION OF

2 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT CLAIMS.—The President

3 of the United States shall determine the validity and

4 amount of each Government claim, and shall certify the

5 amount of any such valid claims to the Secretary of the

6 Treasury.

7 (f) DEDUCTION FOR ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—

8 In order to reimburse the United States Government for

9 its expenses in administering this Act, the Secretary of

10 the Treasury, before making any payment under sub11 section (c), shall deduct from the Fund an amount equal

12 to 1.5 percent of any amounts transferred to the Fund.

13 The Secretary of the Treasury shall deposit as miscella14 neous receipts in the Treasury of the United States any

15 amounts deducted from the Fund under this subsection.

16 (g) UNSATISFIED CLAIMS.—Any payment made

17 under this section shall not extinguish the unsatisfied por18 tion of any claim, or be construed to have divested any

19 claimant, including the United States, of any rights

20 against the Government of Iraq with respect to the

21 unsatisfied portion of any claim.

22 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

23 (1) The term ‘‘corporate claim’’ means a claim

24 by any corporation, partnership, association, or

25 other legal entity organized under the laws of the
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1 United States, any State, the District of Columbia,

2 or any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the

3 United States against the Government of Iraq for

4 injuries, losses, or other damages suffered as a re5 sult of the invasion and occupation of Kuwait by

6 Iraq in 1990.

7 (2) The term ‘‘Government claim’’ means a

8 claim by the Government of the United States

9 against the Government of Iraq for injuries, losses,

10 or other damages suffered as a result of the invasion

11 and occupation of Kuwait by Iraq in 1990.

12 (3) The term ‘‘Government of Iraq’’ includes

13 agencies and instrumentalities of, and entities (in14 cluding public sector enterprises) controlled by, such

15 government.

16 (4) The term ‘‘individual claim’’ means a claim

17 by any citizen or national of the United States

18 against the Government of Iraq for injuries, losses,

19 or other damages suffered as a result of the invasion

20 and occupation of Kuwait by Iraq in 1990.

21 (5) The term ‘‘United Nations claimant’’

22 means—

23 (A) any citizen or national of the United

24 States with a claim pending before the United

25 Nations Compensation Commission; or
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1 (B) any corporation, partnership, associa2 tion, or other legal entity, organized under the

3 laws of the United States, any State, the Dis4 trict of Columbia, or any commonwealth, terri5 tory, or possession of the United States, with a

6 claim pending before the United Nations Com7 pensation Commission.

8 SEC. 4. CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.

9 The authority on which this Act rests is the power

10 of Congress to make all laws which are necessary and

11 proper for carrying into execution the powers vested by

12 the Constitution in the Government of the United States,

13 or in any Department or officer thereof, as enumerated

14 in section 8 of article I of the United States Constitution.

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