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legal confiscation by foreign nations and their citi-
zens, including the provision of private remedies.
(6) Nations that illegally confiscate private
property should not be immune to another nation’s
laws whose purpose is to protect against the
confiscation of lawfully acquired property by its citi-
zens.
(7) Trafficking in illegally acquired property is
a crime under the laws of the United States and
other nations, yet this same activity is allowed under
international law.
(8) International law, by not providing effective
remedies, condones the illegal confiscation of prop-
erty and allows for the unjust enrichment from the
use of confiscated property by governments and pri-
vate entities at the expense of those who hold legal
claim to the property.
(9) The development of an international mecha-
nism sanctioning those governments and private en-
tities that confiscate and unjustly use private prop-
erty so confiscated should be a priority objective of
United States foreign policy.
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SEC. 6252. LIABILITY FOR TRAFFICKING IN PROPERTY
CONFISCATED FROM UNITED STATES NA-
TIONALS.
(a) CIVIL REMEDY.—
(1) LIABILITY FOR TRAFFICKING.—(A) Except
as provided in paragraphs (3) and (4), any person,
including any agency or instrumentality of a foreign
state in the conduct of a commercial activity, that,
after the end of the 6-month period beginning on the
date of the enactment of this Act, traffics in con-
fiscated property shall be liable to any United States
national who owns the claim to such property for
money damages in an amount equal to the sum of—
(i) the amount which is the greater of—
(I) the amount, if any, certified to the
claimant by the Foreign Claims Settlement
Commission 
under 
the 
International
Claims Settlement Act of 1949, plus inter-
est;
(II) the amount determined under sec-
tion 6253(a)(2), plus interest; or
(III) the fair market value of that
property, calculated as being the then cur-
rent value of the property, or the value of
the property when confiscated plus inter-
est, whichever is greater; and
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(ii) reasonable costs and attorneys’ fees.
(B) Interest under subparagraph (A)(i) shall be
at the rate set forth in section 1961 of title 28,
United States Code, computed by the court from the
date of the confiscation of the property involved to
the date on which the action is brought under this
subsection.
(2) PRESUMPTION
IN
FAVOR
OF
CERTIFIED
CLAIMS.—There shall be a presumption that the
amount for which a person, including any agency or
instrumentality of a foreign state in the conduct of
a commercial activity, is liable under clause (i) of
paragraph (1)(A) is the amount that is certified
under subclause (I) of that clause. The presumption
shall be rebuttable by clear and convincing evidence
that the amount described in subclause (II) or (III)
of that clause is the appropriate amount of liability
under that clause.
(3) INCREASED
LIABILITY
FOR
PRIOR
NO-
TICE.—Except as provided in paragraph (4), any
person, including any agency or instrumentality of a
foreign state in the conduct of a commercial activity,
that traffics in confiscated property after having re-
ceived—
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(A) notice of a claim to ownership of the
property by a United States national who owns
a claim to the confiscated property, and
(B) notice of the provisions of this section,
shall be liable to that United States national for
money damages in an amount which is the sum of
the amount equal to the amount determined under
paragraph (1)(A)(ii) plus triple the amount deter-
mined applicable under subclause (I), (II), or (III)
of paragraph (1)(A)(i).
(4) APPLICABILITY.—(A) Except as otherwise
provided in this paragraph, actions may be brought
under paragraph (1) with respect to property con-
fiscated before, on, or after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act.
(B) In the case of property confiscated before
the date of the enactment of this Act, no United
States national may bring an action under this sec-
tion unless such national acquired ownership of the
claim to the confiscated property before such date.
(C) In the case of property confiscated on or
after the date of the enactment of this Act, no Unit-
ed States national who acquired ownership of a
claim to confiscated property by assignment for
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value after such date of enactment may bring an ac-
tion on the claim under this section.
(5) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN ACTIONS.—(A) In
the case of any action brought under this section by
a United States national who was eligible to file the
underlying claim in the action with the Foreign
Claims Settlement Commission under title V of the
International Claims Settlement Act of 1949 but did
not so file the claim, the court may hear the case
only if the court determines that the United States
national had good cause for not filing the claim.
(B) In the case of any action brought under
this section by a United States national whose claim
in the action was timely filed with the Foreign
Claims Settlement Commission under title V of the
International Claims Settlement Act of 1949 but
was denied by the Commission, the court may assess
the basis for the denial and may accept the findings
of the Commission on the claim as conclusive in the
action under this section unless good cause justifies
another result.
(6) INAPPLICABILITY OF ACT OF STATE DOC-
TRINE.—No court of the United States shall decline,
based upon the act of state doctrine, to make a de-
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lands under the selection entitlement in section 6 of
the Alaska Statehood Act (Public Law 85–508; 72
Stat. 339).
(3) EFFECT ON STATE SELECTIONS.—Notwith-
standing the expiration of the right of the State of
Alaska to make selections under section 6 of the
Alaska Statehood Act (Public Law 85–508; 72 Stat.
339), the State of Alaska may select lands author-
ized for selection under this section or any Purchase
Agreement incorporated into or ratified by this sec-
tion. The State shall complete such selections within
one year after the date of the enactment of this sec-
tion. The Secretary of the Interior shall convey lands
selected by the State under this section notwith-
standing the limitation contained in section 6(b) of
the Alaska Statehood Act (Public Law 85–508; 72
Stat. 339) regarding the occupancy, appropriation,
or reservation of selected lands. Nothing in this sub-
section shall be construed to authorize the Secretary
of the Interior to convey to the State of Alaska a
total acreage of selected lands in excess of the total
acreage which could be transferred to the State of
Alaska pursuant to the Alaska Statehood Act (Pub-
lic Law 85–508; 72 Stat. 339), and other applicable
law.