I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3129
To permit States to require insurance companies to disclose Holocaust-era 
insurance information. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 17, 2003
Mr. SCHIFF introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To permit States to require insurance companies to disclose 
Holocaust-era insurance information.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Holocaust Victims In-
surance Fairness Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Holocaust occurred between 1933 and 
1945 and involved the systematic, bureaucratic, and 
State-sponsored persecution and murder of approxi-
mately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its 
collaborators. 
(2) Before and during this period of time, mil-
lions of European Jews purchased life insurance 
policies from certain European insurance companies 
as a form of savings and investment. 
(3) After World War II, insurance companies 
rejected many claims presented by Holocaust sur-
vivors or heirs of Holocaust victims because the 
claimants lacked the requisite documentation, such 
as death certificates, that had been confiscated by 
the Nazi regime. 
(4) Since the end of the war several years ago, 
only a small fraction of Holocaust victims and their 
families have been able to collect on their policies. 
(5) In 1998, the International Commission on 
Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) was es-
tablished to address the issue of unpaid insurance 
policies and to expedite payouts to Holocaust vic-
tims. 
(6) To date, companies holding Holocaust-era 
insurance policies continue to withhold names on 
thousands of policies and more than 80 percent of 
claims applications filed with the ICHEIC remain
unresolved due to the inability of claimants to iden-
tify the company holding the policy. 
(7) States should be allowed to collect Holo-
caust-era insurance information from foreign-based 
insurance companies that want to do business in the 
State. 
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR STATES TO REQUIRE DISCLO-
SURE OF HOLOCAUST-ERA INSURANCE IN-
FORMATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Any State may implement a law 
that—
(1) requires insurance companies conducting 
business in the State to disclose (and to make pub-
licly available) details regarding some or all covered 
policies described in subsection (b)(1) that were 
issued by that company or by any related company; 
and 
(2) provides for appropriate penalties and sanc-
tions for noncompliance. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
(1) COVERED
POLICY.—A covered policy de-
scribed in this paragraph is a property, liability, 
health, annuity, dowry, educational, or casualty in-
surance policy that was issued to a policyholder 
domiciled in the area of the European Continent
that was occupied or controlled by Nazi Germany or 
by any ally or sympathizer of Nazi Germany and 
that was in effect at any time during the period be-
tween 1933 and 1945. 
(2) RELATED
COMPANY.—The term ‘‘related 
company’’ includes, with respect to an insurance 
company, any parent, subsidiary, reinsurer, suc-
cessor in interest, managing general agent, or affil-
iate company, whether or not the company was re-
lated during the time when a covered policy was 
sold. 
(c) CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL.—Any Executive 
branch policy or agreement that preempts State efforts to 
collect Holocaust-era insurance information to resolve out-
standing claims is explicitly disapproved by the Congress.
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