SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Justice for Victims 
of Torture and Terrorism Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) During the Gulf War against Iraq in 1991, 
Americans serving in the United States Armed 
Forces were captured, became Prisoners of War 
(POWs), and were subsequently tortured, beaten, 
starved, hooked to electrical shock devices, and sub-
jected to other horrendous acts by Saddam Hus-
sein’s regime. 
(2) CBS News reporter Bob Simon and cam-
eraman Roberto Alvarez were kidnapped while on 
assignment during the 1991 Gulf War and were held 
and tortured, along with the American POWs. 
(3) Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 
August 1990, many United States citizens were de-
tained by Iraq, beaten, subjected to cruel, inhumane 
and degrading treatment, confined under deplorable 
conditions, and used as ‘‘human shields’’ for the 
avowed purpose of preventing the United States and 
its coalition allies from using military force to lib-
erate Kuwait.
(4) At the time these acts occurred, the Depart-
ment of State had classified Iraq as a state sponsor 
of terrorism. 
(5) The brave American POWs and American 
civilian hostages have suffered long-term physical, 
emotional, and mental damage as a result of this 
brutal, state-sponsored torture and terrorism. 
(6) When the American POWs returned home 
after the Gulf War ended, they were given a hero’s 
welcome by then Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, 
who told them, ‘‘Your country is opening its arms to 
greet you’’. 
(7) During the Gulf War, the Congress unani-
mously passed resolutions condemning the brutal 
treatment by the Government of Iraq of captured 
United States service members, demanding that the 
Government of Iraq abide by the Geneva Convention 
regarding the treatment of prisoners of war, and 
stating an intention to hold Iraq accountable for the 
torture of American POWs. 
(8) In 1996, Congress passed an amendment to 
the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) provi-
sions of title 28, United States Code, so that torture 
victims like the American POWs and the American 
‘‘human shield’’ victims from the Gulf War could
seek compensation for their injuries from terrorist 
countries, including Iraq. 
(9) On April 4, 2002, 17 Gulf War POWs and 
their families filed claims in the United States Dis-
trict Court for the District of Columbia seeking com-
pensation for damages related to their torture and 
abuse by the Government of Iraq. The POWs in-
cluded Colonel Clifford Acree, USMC (Ret.); Lieu-
tenant Colonel Craig Berryman, USMC (Ret.); 
Former Staff Sergeant Troy Dunlap, US Army; 
Colonel David Eberly, USAF (Ret.); Lieutenant 
Colonel Jeffrey D. Fox, USAF (Ret.); Chief War-
rant Officer 5 Guy Hunter, USMC (Ret.); Sergeant 
David Lockett, US Army; Colonel H. Michael Rob-
erts, USAF; Colonel Russell Sanborn, USMC; Cap-
tain Lawrence Randolph Slade, USN (Ret.); Major 
Joseph Small, USMC (Ret.); Staff Sergeant Daniel 
Stamaris, US Army (Ret.); Lieutenant Colonel Rich-
ard Dale Storr, Air National Guard; Lieutenant 
Colonel Robert Sweet, USAF; Lieutenant Colonel 
Jeffrey Tice, USAF (Ret.); Former Lieutenant Rob-
ert Wetzel, USN; and Former Commander Jeffrey 
Zaun, USN. 
(10) In 2003, after the Government of Iraq re-
peatedly refused to participate in arbitration on the
damage claims, and after hearing evidence of how 
the former POWs had been repeatedly tortured, a 
judge awarded them a judgment for damages, stat-
ing that ‘‘deterring torture of POWs should be of 
the highest priority’’. 
(11) Despite this ruling, the POWs and their 
families have not received payment, and are unable 
to further pursue their claims in United States 
courts because of the waiver that was granted for 
Iraq by the President under authority established in 
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2008. 
(12) In December 2001, after conducting an 
evidentiary hearing, the United States district court 
held, in Hill v. Republic of Iraq, that Iraq was liable 
for having taken United States citizens hostage fol-
lowing the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and subse-
quently awarded 180 of those former hostages and 
their spouses a judgment for damages. 
(13) On March 20, 2003, on the eve of Oper-
ation Iraqi Freedom, the President of the United 
States directed that all of the judgments that had 
been awarded in Hill v. Republic of Iraq be paid 
from moneys held in blocked Iraqi accounts.
(14) On that same date, the President issued 
an Executive order confiscating all remaining 
blocked assets of Iraq and ordering them to be de-
posited into the United States Treasury to be used 
for Iraq reconstruction. 
(15) The claims of more than 200 United 
States citizens who, at the same time and in the 
same manner as the Hill plaintiffs, were held hos-
tage in territory occupied by Iraq are currently 
pending in a United States district court in the case 
of Vine v. Republic of Iraq. 
(16) The plaintiffs in Vine v. Republic of Iraq 
have not been compensated and are unable to en-
force any judgment they may obtain in United 
States courts because of the waiver that was granted 
for Iraq by the President under authority established 
in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2008. 
(17) Article 131 of the Third Geneva Conven-
tion relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War 
(August 12, 1949) prohibits the United States as a 
party to that treaty from absolving the Government 
of Iraq of any liability incurred due to the torture 
of prisoners of war, such as the American POWs re-
ferred to in this section.
(18) The United States has a moral obligation 
to protect its past, present, and future members of 
its Armed Forces, and all United States citizens, 
from torture and hostage-taking, and the Congress 
is committed to holding state sponsors of terrorism 
accountable for such horrendous acts. 
SEC. 3. RESOLUTION OF CERTAIN CLAIMS AGAINST IRAQ. 
(a) RESOLUTION BY IRAQ OF CERTAIN CLAIMS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Unless the President, before 
the end of the 90-day period beginning on the date 
described in paragraph (2)(A), certifies to the Con-
gress that the Government of Iraq has adequately 
settled the claims in the cases referred to in sub-
section (b), then, upon the expiration of that 90-day 
period, the waiver authority granted to the President 
in section 1083(d) of the National Defense Author-
ization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110- 
181; 122 Stat. 343), and any waiver granted before 
the end of that 90-day period under such authority, 
shall terminate. 
(2) DATE DESCRIBED.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The date described in 
this paragraph is— 
(i) 30 days after the date of the en-
actment of this Act, unless the President
quent certification is in effect under sub-
paragraph (B), the day after the date on 
which the last such certification termi-
nates. 
(B) DURATION
OF
CERTIFICATIONS.—A 
certification under subclause (I) or (II) of sub-
paragraph (A)(i) terminates 180 days after it is 
made. The President may make subsequent cer-
tifications under subclause (I) or (II) of sub-
paragraph (A)(i) for periods of not more than 
180 days each. 
(b) CASES.—The cases referred to in subsection 
(a)(1) are cases numbered 99:00CV03346 (TPJ), 
1:01CV02674 (HHK), CIV.A. 02-632 (RWR) (July 7, 
2003), 1:03CV00691 (HHK), and 1:03CV00888 (HHK), 
in the United States District Court for the District of Co-
lumbia. 
(c) ADEQUATE SETTLEMENT.—For purposes of sub-
section (a)(1), adequate settlement means payment by the 
Government of Iraq of, or an unqualified and uncondi-
tional guarantee made by a United States depository insti-
tution to pay within 30 days after the end of the 90-day 
period described in subsection (a)(1), at least the following 
amounts to the following persons: 
(1) To any person—
(A) whose claim in the applicable case re-
ferred to in subsection (b) arose from an act of 
hostage taking or from being held in hostage 
status, and 
(B) who has not obtained a judgment on 
the claim before the date of the enactment of 
this Act, 
$150,000, plus $6,000 for each day the person was 
held as a hostage, but in no event more than 
$900,000. 
(2) To any person— 
(A) whose claim in the applicable case re-
ferred to in subsection (b) arose from an act of 
hostage taking or from being held in hostage 
status, 
(B) who, while a hostage, was subjected to 
torture, and 
(C) who has not obtained a judgment on 
the claim before the date of the enactment of 
this Act, 
$2,500,000, plus $6,000 for each day the person 
was held as a hostage. 
(3) To a plaintiff in the applicable case referred 
to in subsection (b) who is the spouse or child of any 
person who qualifies for receipt of payment under
paragraph (1) or (2), one third of the amount that 
such person qualifies for receipt under such para-
graph. 
(4) To any person who, before the date of the 
enactment of this Act, obtained a judgment for com-
pensatory damages in a case referred to in sub-
section (b) (regardless of whether such judgment 
was subsequently vacated)— 
(A) payment of the unsatisfied amount of 
such judgment, in an amount that is the lesser 
of $1,000,000 or the unsatisfied amount of the 
award; and 
(B) if the amount of the judgment exceeds 
$1,000,000, one third of the unsatisfied amount 
of such excess. 
(d) ADDITIONAL CONDITION
IN CASE
OF GUAR-
ANTEE OF PAYMENT.—If the claims in the cases referred 
to in subsection (b) are adequately settled for purposes 
of subsection (a)(1) because of a guarantee of payment 
by a depository institution within the 30-day period speci-
fied in subsection (c), and such payment is not made with-
in that 30-day period, then upon the expiration of that 
30-day period, the waiver authority described in sub-
section (a)(1), and any waiver granted before the end of 
that 30-day period under such authority, shall terminate.
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) FOREIGN PERSON OR ENTITY.—The term 
‘‘foreign person or entity’’ means— 
(A) an individual other than a national of 
the United States; and 
(B) a person or entity, other than an indi-
vidual, that is organized under the laws of a 
country other than the United States. 
(2) HOSTAGE.—The term ‘‘hostage’’ means an 
individual in hostage status or an individual seized 
or detained in the commission of an act of hostage 
taking. 
(3) HOSTAGE STATUS.—The term ‘‘hostage sta-
tus’’ has the meaning given that term in section 
599C(d)(1) of the Foreign Operations, Export Fi-
nancing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 
1991 (Public Law 101-513). 
(4) HOSTAGE
TAKING.—The term ‘‘hostage 
taking’’ has the meaning given that term in section 
1605A(h)(2) of title 28, United States Code. 
(5) NATIONAL OF THE UNITED STATES.—The 
term ‘‘national of the United States’’ has the mean-
ing given that term in section 1605A(h)(5) of title 
28, United States Code.
(6) TORTURE.—The term ‘‘torture’’ has the 
meaning given that term in section 3 of the Torture 
Victim Protection Act of 1991 (28 U.S.C. 1350 
note). 
(7) 
UNITED
STATES.—The 
term 
‘‘United 
States’’ means the several States, the District of Co-
lumbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or posses-
sion of the United States. 
(8) UNITED
STATES
DEPOSITORY
INSTITU-
TION.—The term ‘‘United States depository institu-
tion’’ means a depository institution organized under 
the laws of any State, the District of Columbia, or 
the United States, including a branch or agency of 
a foreign depository institution. 
SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON CERTAIN CLAIMS. 
No funds of the United States Government may be 
used to pay any claim— 
(1) that is cognizable under section 1605A of 
title 28, United States Code, as added by section 
1083 of the National Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 2008, for money damages against Iraq 
for personal injury or death that was caused by acts 
committed by an official, officer, or employee of the 
Iraqi Government under Saddam Hussein; and
(2) with respect to which the waiver authority 
under section 1083(d) of the National Defense Au-
thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 has been or 
may be exercised. 
Passed the House of Representatives September 15, 
2008. 
Attest: 
Clerk.