II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 868 

To establish a fund to make payments to the Americans held hostage in 

Iran, and to members of their families, who are identified as members 

of the proposed class in case number 1:00–CV–03110 (ESG) of the 

United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 26, 2015 

Mr. ISAKSON (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. GRAHAM) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To establish a fund to make payments to the Americans 

held hostage in Iran, and to members of their families, 

who are identified as members of the proposed class 

in case number 1:00–CV–03110 (ESG) of the United 

States District Court for the District of Columbia, 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 ‘‘Justice for Former 

5 American Hostages in Iran Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMERICAN HOSTAGES IN IRAN COMPENSATION 

2 FUND. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

4 Treasury a fund, to be known as the ‘‘American Hostages 

5 in Iran Compensation Fund’’ (in this section referred to 

6 as the ‘‘Fund’’) for the purposes of— 

7 (1) making payments to the Americans held 

8 hostage in Iran, and to members of their families, 

9 who are identified as members of the proposed class 

10 in case number 1:00–CV–03110 (ESG) of the 

11 United States District Court for the District of Co12 lumbia; and 

13 (2) satisfying the claims of the members of the 

14 proposed class against Iran relating to the taking of 

15 hostages and treatment of personnel of the United 

16 States embassy in Tehran, Iran, between November 

17 3, 1979, and January 20, 1981. 

18 (b) FUNDING.— 

19 (1) IMPOSITION OF SURCHARGE.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—There is imposed a sur21 charge equal to 30 percent of the amount of— 

22 (i) any fine or penalty imposed, in 

23 whole or in part, for a violation of a law 

24 or regulation specified in subparagraph 

25 (B) committed on or after the date of the 

26 enactment of this Act; or 


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1 (ii) the monetary amount of a settle2 ment entered into by a person with respect 

3 to a suspected violation of a law or regula4 tion specified in subparagraph (B) related 

5 to activities undertaken on or after such 

6 date of enactment. 

7 (B) LAWS AND REGULATIONS SPECI8 FIED.—A law or regulation specified in this 

9 subparagraph is any law or regulation imposing 

10 a fine or penalty for any economic activity re11 lating to Iran that is administered by the De12 partment of State, the Department of the 

13 Treasury, the Department of Justice, the De14 partment of Commerce, or the Department of 

15 Energy. 

16 (C) TERMINATION OF DEPOSITS.—The im17 position of the surcharge under subparagraph 

18 (A) shall terminate on the date on which all 

19 amounts described in subsection (c)(2) have 

20 been distributed to all recipients described in 

21 that subsection. 

22 (2) DEPOSITS INTO FUND; AVAILABILITY OF

23 AMOUNTS.— 


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1 (A) DEPOSITS.—The Secretary of the 

2 Treasury shall deposit in the Fund all sur3 charges collected pursuant to paragraph (1)(A). 

4 (B) PAYMENT OF SURCHARGE TO SEC5 RETARY OF THE TREASURY.—A person upon 

6 which a surcharge is imposed under paragraph 

7 (1)(A) shall pay the surcharge to the Secretary 

8 without regard to whether the fine or penalty 

9 with respect to which the surcharge is im10 posed— 

11 (i) is paid directly to the Federal 

12 agency that administers the law or regula13 tion pursuant to which the fine or penalty 

14 is imposed; or 

15 (ii) is deemed satisfied by a payment 

16 to another Federal agency. 

17 (C) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS IN

18 FUND.—Amounts in the Fund shall be avail19 able, without further appropriation, to make 

20 payments under subsection (c). 

21 (c) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.— 

22 (1) ADMINISTRATION OF FUND.—Payments 

23 from the Fund shall be administered, subject to 

24 oversight by the Secretary of the Treasury, by the 

25 named representatives of the proposed class deVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:33 Apr 03, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S868.IS S868

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1 scribed in subsection (a)(1) and the principal agent 

2 designated by the proposed class for the period be3 ginning in 1999 and continuing through the date of 

4 the enactment of this Act. 

5 (2) PAYMENTS.—Subject to paragraphs (3) and 

6 (4), payments shall be made from the Fund to the 

7 following recipients in the following amounts: 

8 (A) To each living former hostage identi9 fied as a member of the proposed class de10 scribed in subsection (a)(1), $10,000 for each 

11 day of captivity of the former hostage. 

12 (B) To the estate of each deceased former 

13 hostage identified as a member of the proposed 

14 class described in subsection (a)(1), $10,000 for 

15 each day of captivity of the former hostage. 

16 (C) To each spouse and child of a former 

17 hostage identified as a member of the proposed 

18 class described in subsection (a)(1) if the 

19 spouse or child is identified as a member of 

20 that proposed class, $5,000 for each day of cap21 tivity of the former hostage. 

22 (3) PRIORITY.—Payments from the Fund shall 

23 be distributed under paragraph (2) in the following 

24 order: 


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1 (A) First, to each living former hostage de2 scribed in paragraph (2)(A). 

3 (B) Second, to the estate of each deceased 

4 former hostage described in paragraph (2)(B). 

5 (C) Third, to each spouse and child of a 

6 former hostage described in paragraph (2)(C). 

7 (4) CONSENT OF RECIPIENT.—A payment to a 

8 recipient from the Fund under paragraph (2) shall 

9 be made only after receiving the consent of the re10 cipient. 

11 (d) PRECLUSION OF FUTURE ACTIONS AND RELEASE

12 OF CLAIMS.— 

13 (1) PRECLUSION OF FUTURE ACTIONS.—A re14 cipient of a payment under subsection (c) may not 

15 file or maintain an action against Iran in any Fed16 eral or State court for any claim relating to the 

17 events described in subsection (a)(2). 

18 (2) RELEASE OF ALL CLAIMS.—Upon the pay19 ment of all amounts described in subsection (c)(2) to 

20 all recipients described in that subsection, all claims 

21 against Iran relating to the events described in sub22 section (a)(2) shall be deemed waived and forever re23 leased. 

24 (e) DEPOSIT OF REMAINING FUNDS INTO THE

25 TREASURY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any amounts remaining in 

2 the Fund after the date specified in paragraph (2) 

3 shall be deposited in the general fund of the Treas4 ury. 

5 (2) DATE SPECIFIED.—The date specified in 

6 this paragraph is the later of— 

7 (A) the date on which all amounts de8 scribed in subsection (c)(2) have been made to 

9 all recipients described in that subsection; or 

10 (B) the date that is 5 years after the date 

11 of the enactment of this Act. 

12 (f) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON COMPLETION OF PAY13 MENTS.—Not later than 60 days after determining that 

14 a law or regulation specified in subsection (b)(1)(B) is ter15 minated or suspended or that amounts in the Fund will 

16 be insufficient for the payment of all amounts described 

17 in subsection (c)(2) to all recipients described in that sub18 section by the date that is 444 days after the date of the 

19 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit 

20 to Congress recommendations to expedite the completion 

21 of the payment of those amounts. 

Æ 


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