I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2493 
To provide for the restoration of legal rights for claimants under holocaust- 
era insurance policies. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 13, 2021 
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (for herself, Mr. ZELDIN, Mr. GARAMENDI, and 
Mr. KUSTOFF) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the 
Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide for the restoration of legal rights for claimants 
under holocaust-era insurance policies. 
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 Insurance 
Accountability Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are to— 
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(1) allow for the enforcement of State laws re-
quiring the disclosure of information about Holo-
caust-era insurance policies, notwithstanding the 
holding of the Supreme Court of the United States 
in American Insurance Association v. Garamendi, 
539 U.S. 396 (2003) that such laws are preempted 
by the foreign policy espoused by the executive 
branch of the Federal Government addressed in that 
case; 
(2) facilitate the disclosure of information about 
Holocaust-era insurance policies under applicable 
State laws so that citizens of the United States (and 
other persons on whose behalf such laws were en-
acted) may know whether they hold any rights under 
the policies; 
(3) create a new Federal private cause of action 
and subject matter jurisdiction to allow the bene-
ficiaries of Holocaust-era insurance policies, many of 
whom are citizens of the United States, to bring 
suits in the courts of the United States to recover 
any proceeds under the policies to which they may 
be entitled, notwithstanding the defense that such 
suits are preempted by the executive branch foreign 
policy addressed in Garamendi, with the State law of 
the forum or Federal common law providing the rule 
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of decision governing the right of a beneficiary to re-
cover under such policies; 
(4) foreclose defenses to claims brought under 
section 4 of this Act arising from any prior judg-
ments or settlement agreements (including the class 
action judgment and settlement agreement (M21– 
89, United States District Court for the Southern 
District of New York) in In re: Assicurazioni Gen-
eral S.p.A. Holocaust Insurance Litigation) that 
were entered and approved based on the erroneous 
conclusion that State law claims to recover under 
Holocaust-era insurance claims are preempted by 
the executive branch foreign policy addressed in 
Garamendi; 
(5) provide for a uniform statute of limitations 
of 10 years after the date of enactment of this Act 
in any action to recover under Holocaust-era insur-
ance policies under this Act or State law; and 
(6) in carrying out the purposes described in 
paragraphs (1) through (5), preserve the lawmaking 
powers of Congress under article I of the Constitu-
tion of the United States, with which the judicial de-
cisions cited in this section are inconsistent. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) BENEFICIARY.—The term ‘‘beneficiary’’ in-
cludes— 
(A) a named insured or named beneficiary 
under a covered policy; and 
(B) an heir, assignee, or legal representa-
tive of a named insured or named beneficiary 
described in subparagraph (A). 
(2) COVERED POLICY.—The term ‘‘covered pol-
icy’’ means any life, dowry, education, annuity, prop-
erty, or other insurance policy that was— 
(A) in effect at any time during the period 
beginning on January 31, 1933, and ending on 
December 31, 1945; and 
(B) issued to a policyholder domiciled in— 
(i) any area that was occupied or con-
trolled by Nazi Germany; or 
(ii) the territorial jurisdiction of Swit-
zerland. 
(3) INSURER.—The term ‘‘insurer’’— 
(A) means any person engaged in the busi-
ness of insurance (including reinsurance) in 
interstate or foreign commerce that issued a 
covered policy; and 
(B) includes any successor in interest to a 
person described in subparagraph (A). 
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