I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2241 
To provide for the settlement of certain claims against Iraq by victims 
of torture and terrorism. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 4, 2009 
Mr. SESTAK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To provide for the settlement of certain claims against Iraq 
by victims of torture and terrorism. 
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 ‘‘Equitable Compensa-
tion for American Victims of Torture Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE AND TER-
RORISM. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
(1) During the Gulf War against Iraq in 1991, 
Americans serving in the United States Armed 
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Forces were captured, became Prisoners of War 
(POWs), and were subsequently tortured, beaten, 
starved, hooked to electrical shock devices, and sub-
jected to other horrendous acts by Saddam Hus-
sein’s regime. 
(2) CBS News reporter Bob Simon and cam-
eraman Roberto Alvarez were kidnapped while on 
assignment during the 1991 Gulf War and were held 
and tortured, along with the American POWs. 
(3) Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 
August 1990, many United States citizens were de-
tained by Iraq, beaten, subjected to cruel, inhumane 
and degrading treatment, confined under deplorable 
conditions, and used as ‘‘human shields’’ for the 
avowed purpose of preventing the United States and 
its coalition allies from using military force to lib-
erate Kuwait. 
(4) At the time these acts occurred, the Depart-
ment of State had classified Iraq as a state sponsor 
of terrorism. 
(5) The brave American POWs and American 
civilian hostages have suffered long-term physical, 
emotional, and mental damage as a result of this 
brutal, state-sponsored torture and terrorism. 
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(6) When the American POWs returned home 
after the Gulf War ended, they were given a hero’s 
welcome by then Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, 
who told them, ‘‘Your country is opening its arms to 
greet you’’. 
(7) During the 1991 Gulf War, the Congress 
unanimously passed resolutions condemning the bru-
tal treatment by the Government of Iraq of captured 
United States service members, demanding that the 
Government of Iraq abide by the Geneva Convention 
regarding the treatment of prisoners of war, and 
stating an intention to hold Iraq accountable for the 
torture of American POWs. 
(8) In 1996, Congress passed an amendment to 
the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) provi-
sions of title 28, United States Code, so that torture 
victims like the American POWs and the American 
‘‘human shield’’ victims from the Gulf War could 
seek compensation for their injuries from terrorist 
countries, including Iraq. 
(9) On April 4, 2002, 17 Gulf War POWs and 
their families filed claims in the United States Dis-
trict Court for the District of Columbia seeking com-
pensation for damages related to their torture and 
abuse by the Government of Iraq. The POWs in-
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cluded Colonel Clifford Acree, USMC (Ret.); Lieu-
tenant Colonel Craig Berryman, USMC (Ret.); 
Former Staff Sergeant Troy Dunlap, U.S. Army; 
Colonel David Eberly, USAF (Ret.); Lieutenant 
Colonel Jeffrey D. Fox, USAF (Ret.); Chief War-
rant Officer 5 Guy Hunter, USMC (Ret.); Sergeant 
David Lockett, U.S. Army; Colonel H. Michael Rob-
erts, USAF; Colonel Russell Sanborn, USMC; Cap-
tain Lawrence Randolph Slade, USN (Ret.); Major 
Joseph Small, USMC (Ret.); Staff Sergeant Daniel 
Stamaris, U.S. Army (Ret.); Lieutenant Colonel 
Richard Dale Storr, Air National Guard; Lieutenant 
Colonel Robert Sweet, USAF; Lieutenant Colonel 
Jeffrey Tice, USAF (Ret.); Former Lieutenant Rob-
ert Wetzel, USN; and Former Commander Jeffrey 
Zaun, USN. 
(10) In 2003, after the Government of Iraq re-
peatedly refused to participate in arbitration on the 
damage claims, and after hearing evidence of how 
the former POWs had been repeatedly tortured, a 
judge awarded them a judgment for damages, stat-
ing that ‘‘deterring torture of POWs should be of 
the highest priority’’. 
(11) Despite this ruling, the POWs and their 
families have not received payment, and are unable 
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to further pursue their claims in United States 
courts because of the waiver that was granted for 
Iraq by the President under authority established in 
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2008. 
(12) In December 2001, after conducting an 
evidentiary hearing, the United States district court 
held, in Hill v. Republic of Iraq, that Iraq was liable 
for having taken United States citizens hostage fol-
lowing the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and subse-
quently awarded 180 of those former hostages and 
their spouses a judgment for damages. 
(13) On March 20, 2003, on the eve of Oper-
ation Iraqi Freedom, the President of the United 
States directed that all of the judgments that had 
been awarded in Hill v. Republic of Iraq be paid 
from moneys held in blocked Iraqi accounts. 
(14) On that same date, the President issued 
an Executive order confiscating all remaining 
blocked assets of Iraq and ordering them to be de-
posited into the United States Treasury to be used 
for Iraq reconstruction. 
(15) The claims of more than 200 United 
States citizens who, at the same time and in the 
same manner as the Hill plaintiffs, were held hos-
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tage in territory occupied by Iraq are currently 
pending in a United States district court in the case 
of Vine v. Republic of Iraq. 
(16) The plaintiffs in Vine v. Republic of Iraq 
have not been compensated and are unable to en-
force any judgment they may obtain in United 
States courts because of the waiver that was granted 
for Iraq by the President under authority established 
in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2008. 
(17) Article 131 of the Third Geneva Conven-
tion relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War 
(August 12, 1949) prohibits the United States as a 
party to that treaty from absolving the Government 
of Iraq of any liability incurred due to the torture 
of prisoners of war, such as the American POWs re-
ferred to in this section. 
(18) The United States has a moral obligation 
to protect its past, present, and future members of 
its Armed Forces, and all United States citizens, 
from torture and hostage-taking, and the Congress 
is committed to holding state sponsors of terrorism 
accountable for such horrendous acts. 
(b) RESOLUTION
OF CERTAIN CLAIMS AGAINST 
IRAQ.— 
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(1) ADEQUATE
SETTLEMENT
OF
CERTAIN 
CASES.—Unless the claims in the cases referred to 
in paragraph (2) have been adequately settled before 
the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date 
of the enactment of this Act, then, upon the expira-
tion of that 30-day period, the waiver authority 
granted to the President in section 1083(d) of the 
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
2008 (Public Law 110–181; 122 Stat. 343), and 
any waiver granted before the end of that 30-day pe-
riod under such authority, shall terminate. 
(2) CASES.—The cases referred to in paragraph 
(1) are cases numbered 99:00CV03346 (TPJ), 
1:01CV02674 (HHK), CIV.A. 02–632 (RWR) (July 
7, 2003), 1:03CV00691 (HHK), 1:03CV00888 
(HHK), and No. 03–0215 (JDB), in the United 
States District Court for the District of Columbia. 
(3) ADEQUATE SETTLEMENT.—For purposes of 
paragraph (1), adequate settlement means payment 
by the Government of Iraq, or payment by a United 
States depository institution pursuant to an unquali-
fied and unconditional guarantee made by such de-
pository institution, of at least the following 
amounts to the following persons: 
(A) To any person— 
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(i) whose claim in the applicable case 
referred to in paragraph (2) arose from an 
act of hostage taking or from being held in 
hostage status, and 
(ii) who has not obtained a judgment 
on the claim before the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, 
$150,000, plus $6,000 for each day the person 
was held as a hostage, but in no event more 
than $900,000. 
(B) To any person— 
(i) whose claim in the applicable case 
referred to in paragraph (2) arose from an 
act of hostage taking or from being held in 
hostage status, 
(ii) who, while a hostage, was sub-
jected to torture, and 
(iii) who has not obtained a judgment 
on the claim before the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, 
$2,500,000, plus $6,000 for each day the per-
son was held as a hostage. 
(C) To a plaintiff in the applicable case re-
ferred to in paragraph (2) who is the spouse or 
was at the time the claims arose, or child of 
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any person who qualifies for receipt of payment 
under paragraph (1) or (2), one-third of the 
amount that such person qualifies for receipt 
under such paragraph. 
(D) To any person who, before the date of 
the enactment of this Act, obtained a judgment 
for compensatory damages in a case referred to 
in paragraph (2) (regardless of whether such 
judgment was subsequently vacated)— 
(i) payment of the unsatisfied amount 
of such judgment, in an amount that is the 
lesser of $1,000,000 or the unsatisfied 
amount of the award; and 
(ii) if the amount of the judgment ex-
ceeds 
$1,000,000, 
one-third 
of 
the 
unsatisfied amount of such excess. 
(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(A) 
HOSTAGE.—The 
term 
‘‘hostage’’ 
means an individual in hostage status or an in-
dividual seized or detained in the commission of 
an act of hostage taking. 
(B) HOSTAGE
STATUS.—The term ‘‘hos-
tage status’’ has the meaning given that term 
in section 599C(d)(1) of the Foreign Oper-
ations, Export Financing, and Related Pro-
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grams Appropriations Act, 1991 (Public Law 
101–513). 
(C) HOSTAGE
TAKING.—The term ‘‘hos-
tage taking’’ has the meaning given that term 
in section 1605A(h)(2) of title 28, United 
States Code. 
(D) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ includes 
the legal representative of a claimant’s estate. 
(E) TORTURE.—The term ‘‘torture’’ has 
the meaning given that term in section 3 of the 
Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 (28 
U.S.C. 1350 note). 
(F) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United 
States’’ means the several States, the District 
of Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, 
or possession of the United States. 
(G) UNITED STATES DEPOSITORY INSTITU-
TION.—The term ‘‘United States depository in-
stitution’’ means a depository institution orga-
nized under the laws of any State, the District 
of Columbia, or the United States, including a 
branch or agency of a foreign depository insti-
tution. 
(c) ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS.— 
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(1) CONSTRUCTION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS
ACT 
PROVISION.—Section 1503 of the Emergency War-
time Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2003 (Public 
Law 108–11; 117 Stat. 579), and any exercise of 
authority by the President pursuant to such section 
1503, was never intended to and did not provide for 
the removal of jurisdiction over cases brought under 
section 1605(a)(7) of title 28, United States Code. 
(2) CONSTRUCTION OF NDAA PROVISION.—Sec-
tion 1083(d) of the National Defense Authorization 
Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110–181; 122 
Stat. 343), and any waiver exercised by the Presi-
dent pursuant to such section 1083(d), was never in-
tended to and did not provide for the removal of ju-
risdiction 
over 
cases 
brought 
under 
section 
1605(a)(7) of title 28, United States Code. 
(3) APPLICABILITY OF NDAA PROVISION.—Not-
withstanding any other provision of law, section 
1083(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act 
for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110–181; 122 
Stat. 342) shall apply, beginning on the date of the 
enactment of this Act, to the cases referred to in 
subsection (b)(2) of this section, notwithstanding 
any waiver of that provision with respect to Iraq. 
Æ 
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