I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3221
To provide for the adjudication of certain claims against the Government
of Iraq.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 6, 1993
Mr. HAMILTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs
A BILL
To provide for the adjudication of certain claims against
the Government of Iraq.
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 ‘‘Iraq Claims Act of
1993’’.
SEC. 2. ADJUDICATION OF CLAIMS.
(a) CERTAIN CLAIMS WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF
UN COMMISSION.—The United States Commission is au-
thorized to receive and determine the validity and amounts
of any claims referred to it by the Secretary of State with
respect to which the United States has received lump-sum
payments from the United Nations Commission.
(b) OTHER CLAIMS AGAINST IRAQ.—The United
States Commission is authorized to receive and determine
the validity and amounts of any claims by nationals of the
United States against the Government of Iraq that are
determined by the Secretary of State to be outside the
jurisdiction of the United Nations Commission.
(c) DECISION RULES.—In deciding claims under sub-
section (a) or (b), the United States Commission shall
apply, in the following order—
(1) in the case of claims under subsection (a),
relevant decisions of the United Nations Security
Council and the United Nations Commission;
(2) applicable substantive law, including inter-
national law; and
(3) applicable principles of justice and equity.
(d) PRIORITY CLAIMS.—Before deciding any other
claim against the Government of Iraq, the United States
Commission shall, to the extent practical, decide all pend-
ing noncommercial claims of members of the United
States Armed Forces and other individuals arising out of
Iraq’s invasion and occupation of Kuwait.
(e) APPLICABILITY OF INTERNATIONAL CLAIMS SET-
TLEMENT ACT.—To the extent they are not inconsistent
with the provisions of this Act, the provisions of title I
(other than section 2(c)) and title VII of the International
Claims Settlement Act of 1949 (22 U.S.C. 1621–1627 and
1645–1645o) shall apply with respect to claims under this
Act and the funds established pursuant to sections 3(a)
and 3(c).
SEC. 3. CLAIMS FUNDS.
(a) UN COMMISSION CLAIMS FUNDS.—The Sec-
retary of the Treasury is authorized to establish in the
Treasury of the United States one or more funds (herein-
after in this Act referred to as the ‘‘UN Commission
Claims Funds’’) for payment of claims under section 2(a).
The Secretary of the Treasury shall cover into the UN
Commission Claims Funds such amounts as are allocated
to such funds pursuant to subsection (b)(1).
(b) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS RECEIVED FROM UN
COMMISSION.—The Secretary of State shall allocate funds
received by the United States from the United Nations
Commission, in the manner the Secretary determines ap-
propriate, between—
(1) the UN Commission Claims Funds; and
(2) funds established under the authority of the
paragraphs under the heading ‘‘TRUST FUNDS’’
in the Act entitled ‘‘An Act making appropriations
for the diplomatic and consular service for the fiscal
Secretary of State to be outside the jurisdiction of the
United Nations Commission.
SEC. 5. PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION SELF-SUFFICIENCY.
(a) 
DEDUCTIONS
FOR
ADMINISTRATIVE
EX-
PENSES.—In order to reimburse Executive agencies for
their expenses in administering the Iraq claims program
and this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall deduct
an amount equal to 11⁄2 percent—
(1) from any amount covered into the claims
funds established under section 3(a) or 3(c); and
(2) from any amounts the Secretary of State
receives from the United Nations Commission which
are not covered into a claims fund established under
section 3(a) and which are not in payment of a
claim of the United States Government.
(b) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary of the Treas-
ury—
(1) shall determine, in consultation with the
Chairman of the United States Commission and the
Secretary of State, the proportional distribution of
the reimbursement set-aside provided for in sub-
section (a); and
(2) shall make an advance for credit, or reim-
burse, an Executive agency for its expenses in ad-
ministering the Iraq claims program and this Act.
Amounts received by an Executive agency pursuant to
paragraph (2) shall be credited or reimbursed to the ap-
propriation account then current and shall remain avail-
able for expenditure without fiscal year limitation.
SEC. 6. PAYMENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The United States Commission
shall certify to the Secretary of the Treasury each award
made pursuant to section 2. The Secretary of the Treas-
ury shall make payment, out of the appropriate fund es-
tablished pursuant to section 3(a) or 3(c), in the following
order of priority to the extent funds are available in such
fund:
(1) Payment of $10,000 or the principal
amount of the award, whichever is less.
(2) For each claim that has priority under sec-
tion 2(d), payment of a further $90,000 toward the
unpaid balance of the principal amount of the
award.
(3) Payments from time to time in ratable pro-
portions on account of the unpaid balance of the
principal amounts of all awards according to the
proportions which the unpaid balance of such
awards bear to the total amount in the appropriate
claims fund that is available for distribution at the
time such payments are made.
(4) After payment has been made of the prin-
cipal amounts of all such awards, pro rata payments
on account of accrued interest on such awards as
bear interest.
(5) After payment has been made in full of all
the awards payable out of a fund established pursu-
ant to section 3(a) or 3(c), any funds remaining in
that fund shall be transferred to the other claims
fund created pursuant to section 3(a) or 3(c), except
that any funds received by the United States from
the United Nations Commission shall be so trans-
ferred only to the extent not inconsistent with re-
quirements of the United Nations Commission.
(b) UNSATISFIED CLAIMS.—Payment of any award
made pursuant to this Act shall not extinguish any
unsatisfied claim, or be construed to have divested any
claimant, or the United States on his or her behalf, of
any rights against the Government of Iraq with respect
to any unsatisfied claim.
SEC. 7. RECORDS.
(a) TRANSFER TO COMMISSION.—The head of any
Executive agency may transfer or otherwise make avail-
able to the United States Commission such records and
documents relating to claims authorized to be adjudicated
by this Act as may be required by the United States Com-
mission in carrying out its functions under this Act.
(b) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.—Section 552 of title 5 of
the United States Code (commonly referred to as the
‘‘Freedom of Information Act’’) shall not apply with re-
spect to records that, as determined by the Secretary of
State, are required under the rules and decisions of the
United Nations Commission to be withheld from public
disclosure.
SEC. 8. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS; DISPOSITION OF UN-
PAID CERTIFIED CLAIMS.
(a) STATUTE
OF LIMITATIONS.—Any demand or
claim for payment on account of an award that is certified
under the Iraq claims program shall be barred one year
after the publication date of the notice required by sub-
section (b).
(b) PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.—Nine years after the
latter of—
(1) the last date on which the Secretary of the
Treasury covers into any of the UN Commission
Claims Funds, or into any fund described in section
3(b)(2), amounts allocated to that fund pursuant to
section 3(b), or
(2) the last date on which the Secretary of the
Treasury covers into the Iraq Claims Fund amounts
allocated to that fund pursuant to section 3(d),
the Secretary shall publish a notice in the Federal Reg-
ister detailing the statute of limitations provided for in
subsection (a) and identifying the claim numbers and
awardee names of unpaid certified claims.
(c) DISPOSITION OF UNPAID CERTIFIED CLAIMS.—
Two years after the publication date of the notice required
by subsection (b), any unpaid certified claim amount
under the Iraq claims program, and any remaining bal-
ance in any of the UN Commission Claims Funds, in the
Iraq Claims Fund, or in any fund referred to in section
3(b)(2) to the extent such balance reflects amounts depos-
ited pursuant to that section, shall be deposited to the mis-
cellaneous receipts of the Treasury.
SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act—
(1) the term ‘‘Government of Iraq’’ includes
agencies, instrumentalities, and controlled entities
(including public sector enterprises) of that govern-
ment;
(2) the term ‘‘Executive agency’’ has the mean-
ing given that term by section 105 of title 5, United
States Code;
(3) the term ‘‘Iraq claims program’’ means the
claims whose adjudication is provided for in this Act
and any other claims that are within the jurisdiction
of the United Nations Commission;
(4) the term ‘‘United Nations Commission’’
means the United Nations Compensation Commis-
sion established pursuant to United Nations Secu-
rity Council Resolution 687 (1991); and
(5) the term ‘‘United States Commission’’
means the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission
of the United States.
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