I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1210
To provide for the establishment of the Holocaust Insurance Registry by 
the Archivist of the United States and to require certain disclosures 
by insurers to the Secretary of Commerce. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 11, 2003
Mr. WAXMAN (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. 
ISRAEL, Mr. DICKS, Ms. WATSON, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. HASTINGS of 
Florida, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. OWENS, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. 
SHERMAN, Mr. WEINER, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. FROST, 
Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. VIS-
CLOSKY, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. NADLER, Ms. 
MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. CASE, Mr. MCNULTY, 
Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. SCHIFF, 
Mr. FARR, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. FRANK of Massachu-
setts, and Mrs. LOWEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee 
on Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide for the establishment of the Holocaust Insurance 
Registry by the Archivist of the United States and to 
require certain disclosures by insurers to the Secretary 
of Commerce.
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 Relief Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Holocaust, including the murder of 
6,000,000 European Jews, the systematic destruc-
tion of families and communities, and the wholesale 
theft of their assets, was one of the most tragic 
crimes in modern history. 
(2) When Holocaust survivors or heirs of Holo-
caust victims presented claims to insurance compa-
nies after World War II, many were rejected because 
the claimants did not have death certificates or 
physical possession of policy documents that had 
been confiscated by the Nazis. 
(3) In many instances, insurance company 
records are the only proof of the existence of insur-
ance policies belonging to Holocaust victims. 
(4) Holocaust survivors and their descendants 
have been fighting for decades to persuade insurance 
companies to settle unpaid insurance claims. 
(5) In 1998, the International Commission on 
Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (in this section re-
ferred to as the ‘‘ICHEIC’’) was established by the 
National Association of Insurance Commissioners in
(10) Insurance companies doing business in the 
United States have a responsibility to ensure the 
disclosure of insurance policies of Holocaust victims 
that they or their related companies may have 
issued, to facilitate the rapid resolution of questions 
concerning these policies, and to eliminate the fur-
ther victimization of policyholders and their families. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 
information about Holocaust-era insurance policies to Hol-
ocaust victims and their heirs and beneficiaries to enable 
them to expeditiously file their rightful claims under the 
policies. 
SEC. 3. HOLOCAUST INSURANCE REGISTRY. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND MAINTENANCE.—Chapter 
21 of title 44, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘§ 2119. Holocaust Insurance Registry 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Archivist shall establish 
and maintain a collection of records that shall—
‘‘(1) be known as the Holocaust Insurance Reg-
istry; and 
‘‘(2) consist of the information provided to the 
Archivist under section 5 of the Holocaust Victims 
Insurance Relief Act of 2003.
‘‘(b) PUBLIC ACCESSIBILITY.—The Archivist shall 
make all such information publicly accessible and search-
able by means of the Internet and by any other means 
the Archivist deems appropriate.’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of chapter 21 of title 44, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘2119. Holocaust Insurance Registry.’’.
SEC. 4. FULL DISCLOSURE OF HOLOCAUST-ERA POLICIES 
BY INSURERS. 
(a) REQUIREMENT.—An insurer shall cause to be 
filed with the Secretary of Commerce in accordance with 
subsection (b) the following information: 
(1) The first name, last name, date of birth, 
and domicile of the policyholder of each covered pol-
icy issued by the insurer or a related company of the 
insurer. 
(2) The name of the entity that issued the cov-
ered policy. 
(3) The name of the entity that is responsible 
for the liabilities of the entity that issued the cov-
ered policy. 
(b) PROPER FILING.—A filing under subsection (a) 
shall be made not later than the earlier of 90 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act in an electronic for-
mat approved jointly by the Archivist of the United States 
and the Secretary of Commerce.
SEC. 5. PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO ARCHIVIST. 
The Secretary of Commerce shall provide to the Ar-
chivist of the United States any information filed with the 
Secretary under section 4(a) promptly after the filing of 
such information. 
SEC. 6. PENALTY. 
The Secretary of Commerce shall assess a civil pen-
alty of not less than $5,000 for each day that an insurer 
fails to comply with the requirements of section 4, as de-
termined by the Secretary. 
SEC. 7. USE OF AMOUNTS RECEIVED AS CIVIL PENALTIES. 
To the extent or in the amounts provided in advance 
in appropriation Acts, the Archivist of the United States 
may use amounts received by the Government as civil pen-
alties under section 6 to maintain the Holocaust Insurance 
Registry. 
SEC. 8. NOTIFICATION. 
(a) INITIAL NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act and periodically 
afterward, the Secretary of Commerce shall notify each 
State’s commissioner of insurance of the identity of each 
insurer that has failed to comply with the requirements
of section 4 or has not satisfied any civil penalty for which 
the insurer is liable under section 6. 
(b) REQUESTS BY STATES.—On request by the com-
missioner of insurance of a State concerning an insurer 
operating in that State, the Secretary of Commerce shall 
inform the commissioner of insurance whether the insurer 
has failed to comply with the requirements of section 4 
or has not satisfied any civil penalty for which the insurer 
is liable under section 6. 
SEC. 9. STATE HOLOCAUST CLAIMS REPORTING STATUTES. 
(a) PREEMPTION.—Nothing in this Act preempts the 
right of any State to adopt or enforce any State law re-
quiring an insurer to disclose information regarding insur-
ance policies that may have been confiscated or stolen 
from victims of Nazi persecution. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the 
Congress that if any litigation challenging any State law 
described in subsection (a) is dismissed because the 
State’s commissioner of insurance chooses to rely on this 
Act and therefore no longer seeks to enforce the State law, 
each party should bear its own legal fees and costs. 
SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) COMMISSIONER OF INSURANCE.—The term 
‘‘commissioner of insurance’’ means the highest
ranking officer of a State responsible for regulating 
insurance. 
(2) COVERED POLICY.—The term ‘‘covered pol-
icy’’ means any life, dowry, education, or property 
insurance policy that was—
(A) in effect at any time after January 30, 
1933, and before December 31, 1945; and 
(B) issued to a policyholder domiciled in 
any area of the European Continent that was 
occupied or controlled by Nazi Germany or by 
any ally or sympathizer of Nazi Germany at 
any time during the period described in sub-
paragraph (A). 
(3) INSURER.—The term ‘‘insurer’’ means any 
person engaged in the business of insurance in 
United States interstate or foreign commerce, if the 
person or a related company of the person issued a 
covered policy, regardless of when the related com-
pany became a related company of the insurer. 
(4) RELATED
COMPANY.—The term ‘‘related 
company’’ means an affiliate, as that term is defined 
in section 104(g) of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
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