essary to deter the flow of money, which is the life-
blood of terrorism. As recognized by Judge Richard 
Posner in Boim v. Holy Land Foundation for Relief 
and Development, 549 F.3d 685, 690–91 (7th Cir. 
2008) (en banc), ‘‘[d]amages are a less effective 
remedy against terrorists and their organizations 
than against their financial angels[,] . . . suits 
against financiers of terrorism can cut the terrorists’ 
lifeline’’. 
(7) It is necessary to explicitly recognize the 
substantive causes of action for aiding and abetting 
and conspiracy liability under the Anti-Terrorism 
Act of 1987 (22 U.S.C. 5201 et seq.), especially 
given that the United States Courts of Appeals for 
the 2d and 7th Circuits have held that such theories 
of liability currently are not available. See Rothstein 
v. UBS AG, 708 F.3d 82 (2d Cir. 2013); Boim v. 
Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, 
549 F.3d 685 (7th Cir. 2008) (en banc). 
(8) The decision of the United States Court of 
Appeals for the District of Columbia in Halberstam 
v. Welch, 705 F.2d 472 (D.C. Cir. 1983), which has 
been widely recognized as the leading case regarding 
Federal civil aiding and abetting and conspiracy li-
ability, including by the Supreme Court of the 
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United States, provides the proper legal framework 
for how such liability should function in the context 
of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 (22 U.S.C. 5201 
et seq.). 
(9) The United Nations Security Council de-
clared in Resolution 1373, adopted on September 
28, 2001, that all countries have an affirmative obli-
gation to ‘‘[r]efrain from providing any form of sup-
port, active or passive, to entities or persons involved 
in terrorist acts,’’ and to ‘‘[e]nsure that any person 
who participates in the financing, planning, prepara-
tion or perpetration of terrorist acts or in supporting 
terrorist acts is brought to justice’’. 
(10) Consistent with these declarations, no 
country has the discretion to engage knowingly in 
the financing or sponsorship of terrorism, whether 
directly or indirectly. 
(11) Persons, entities, or countries that know-
ingly or recklessly contribute material support or re-
sources, directly or indirectly, to persons or organi-
zations that pose a significant risk of committing 
acts of terrorism that threaten the security of na-
tionals of the United States or the national security, 
foreign policy, or economy of the United States, nec-
essarily direct their conduct at the United States, 
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and should reasonably anticipate being brought to 
court in the United States to answer for such activi-
ties. 
(12) The United States has a vital interest in 
providing persons and entities injured as a result of 
terrorist attacks committed within the United States 
with full access to the court system in order to pur-
sue civil claims against persons, entities, or countries 
that have knowingly or recklessly provided material 
support or resources, directly or indirectly, to the 
persons or organizations responsible for their inju-
ries. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 
civil litigants with the broadest possible basis, consistent 
with the Constitution of the United States, to seek relief 
against persons, entities, and foreign countries, wherever 
acting and wherever they may be found, that have pro-
vided material support or resources, directly or indirectly, 
to foreign organizations or persons that engage in terrorist 
activities against the United States. 
SEC. 3. FOREIGN SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY. 
Section 1605(a) of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) by amending paragraph (5) to read as fol-
lows: 
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‘‘(5) not otherwise encompassed in paragraph 
(2), in which money damages are sought against a 
foreign state arising out of physical injury or death, 
or damage to or loss of property, occurring in the 
United States and caused by the tortious act or 
omission of that foreign state or of any official or 
employee of that foreign state while acting within 
the scope of the office or employment of the official 
or employee (regardless of where the underlying 
tortious act or omission occurs), including any statu-
tory or common law tort claim arising out of an act 
of extrajudicial killing, aircraft sabotage, hostage 
taking, terrorism, or the provision of material sup-
port or resources for such an act, or any claim for 
contribution or indemnity relating to a claim arising 
out of such an act, except this paragraph shall not 
apply to— 
‘‘(A) any claim based upon the exercise or 
performance of, or the failure to exercise or 
perform, a discretionary function, regardless of 
whether the discretion is abused; or 
‘‘(B) any claim arising out of malicious 
prosecution, abuse of process, libel, slander, 
misrepresentation, deceit, interference with con-
tract rights, or any claim for emotional distress 
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or derivative injury suffered as a result of an 
event or injury to another person that occurs 
outside of the United States; or’’; and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of subsection 
(a)(5)— 
‘‘(1) the terms ‘aircraft sabotage’, ‘extrajudicial 
killing’, ‘hostage taking’, and ‘material support or 
resources’ have the meanings given those terms in 
section 1605A(h); and 
‘‘(2) the term ‘terrorism’ means international 
terrorism and domestic terrorism, as those terms are 
defined in section 2331 of title 18.’’. 
SEC. 4. AIDING AND ABETTING LIABILITY FOR CIVIL AC-
TIONS REGARDING TERRORIST ACTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2333 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(d) LIABILITY.—In an action arising under sub-
section (a), liability may be asserted as to the person or 
persons who committed such act of international terrorism 
or any person or entity that aided, abetted, or conspired 
with the person or persons who committed such an act 
of international terrorism. 
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‘‘(e) 
NON-APPLICABILITY
OF
LAW
OF
PRE-
CLUSION.—Any civil action or claim that seeks recovery 
under this chapter for conduct that was the basis of a 
civil action or claim previously dismissed for lack of sub-
ject matter jurisdiction for failure to meet the require-
ments for an exception under section 1605(a) of title 28 
is not subject to dismissal under the law of preclusion.’’. 
(b) EFFECT ON FOREIGN SOVEREIGN IMMUNITIES 
ACT.—Nothing in the amendments made by this section 
affects immunity of a foreign state, as that term is defined 
in section 1603 of title 28, United States Code, from juris-
diction under other law. 
SEC. 5. JURISDICTION FOR CIVIL ACTIONS REGARDING 
TERRORIST ACTS. 
Section 2334 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) JURISDICTION.—The district courts shall have 
personal jurisdiction, to the maximum extent permissible 
under the 5th Amendment to the Constitution of the 
United States, over any person who commits, aids and 
abets an act of international terrorism, or provides mate-
rial support or resources as set forth in sections 2339A, 
2339B, or 2339C, for acts of international terrorism in 
which any national of the United States suffers injury in 
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his or her person, property, or business by reason of such 
an act in violation of section 2333.’’. 
SEC. 6. LIABILITY FOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS IN CIVIL 
ACTIONS REGARDING TERRORIST ACTS. 
Section 2337 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘§ 2337. Suits against Government officials 
‘‘No action may be maintained under section 2333 
against— 
‘‘(a) the United States; 
‘‘(b) an agency of the United States; or 
‘‘(c) an officer or employee of the United States or 
any agency of the United States acting within the official 
capacity of the officer or employee or under color of legal 
authority.’’. 
SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY. 
If any provision of this Act or any amendment made 
by this Act, or the application of a provision or amend-
ment to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, 
the remainder of this Act and the amendments made by 
this Act, and the application of the provisions and amend-
ments to any other person not similarly situated or to 
other circumstances, shall not be affected by the holding. 
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SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments made by this Act shall apply to any 
civil action pending on, or commenced on or after, the date 
of enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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