IB 
Union Calendar No. 545 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5167 
[Report No. 110–844] 
To amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 
to remove the authority of the President to waive certain provisions. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 29, 2008 
Mr. BRALEY of Iowa (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. FRANK of Massachu-
setts, Mr. SESTAK, Mr. HARE, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. KAGEN, 
Ms. HIRONO, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. HALL of New York, Mr. WELCH of 
Vermont, 
Ms. 
SHEA-PORTER, 
Mr. 
WALZ
of 
Minnesota, 
Mr. 
PERLMUTTER, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. CARNAHAN, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. 
GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. MURPHY of Con-
necticut, Ms. LEE, Ms. CASTOR, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. 
ELLISON, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. MORAN of Vir-
ginia, and Ms. HOOLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary 
SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 
Additional sponsors: Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. WASSERMAN 
SCHULTZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. DAVIS of 
Illinois, Mr. ISSA, and Mr. GOODE 
SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 
Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 
on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
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[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 29, 2008] 
A BILL 
To amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2008 to remove the authority of the President 
to waive certain provisions. 
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 ‘‘Justice for Victims of 
Torture and Terrorism Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) During the Gulf War against Iraq in 1991, 
Americans serving in the United States Armed Forces 
were captured, became Prisoners of War (POWs), and 
were subsequently tortured, beaten, starved, hooked to 
electrical shock devices, and subjected to other horren-
dous acts by Saddam Hussein’s regime. 
(2) CBS News reporter Bob Simon and camera-
man Roberto Alvarez were kidnapped while on as-
signment during the 1991 Gulf War and were held 
and tortured, along with the American POWs. 
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(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 ci-
vilian hostages have suffered long-term physical, emo-
tional, and mental damage as a result of this brutal, 
state-sponsored torture and terrorism. 
(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 Gulf War, the Congress unani-
mously passed resolutions condemning the brutal 
treatment by the Government of Iraq of captured 
United States service members, demanding that the 
Government of Iraq abide by the Geneva Convention 
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regarding the treatment of prisoners of war, and stat-
ing an intention to hold Iraq accountable for the tor-
ture 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 coun-
tries, 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 included 
Colonel Clifford Acree, USMC (Ret.); Lieutenant 
Colonel Craig Berryman, USMC (Ret.); Former Staff 
Sergeant Troy Dunlap, US Army; Colonel David 
Eberly, USAF (Ret.); Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey D. 
Fox, USAF (Ret.); Chief Warrant Officer 5 Guy 
Hunter, USMC (Ret.); Sergeant David Lockett, US 
Army; Colonel H. Michael Roberts, USAF; Colonel 
Russell Sanborn, USMC; Captain Lawrence Ran-
dolph Slade, USN (Ret.); Major Joseph Small, USMC 
(Ret.); Staff Sergeant Daniel Stamaris, US Army 
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(Ret.); Lieutenant Colonel Richard Dale Storr, Air 
National Guard; Lieutenant Colonel Robert Sweet, 
USAF; Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Tice, USAF (Ret.); 
Former Lieutenant Robert 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, stating 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 
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 evi-
dentiary 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 subsequently 
awarded 180 of those former hostages and their 
spouses a judgment for damages. 
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(13) On March 20, 2003, on the eve of Operation 
Iraqi Freedom, the President of the United States di-
rected that all of the judgments that had been award-
ed 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 as-
sets of Iraq and ordering them to be deposited into the 
United States Treasury to be used for Iraq recon-
struction. 
(15) The claims of more than 200 United States 
citizens who, at the same time and in the same man-
ner as the Hill plaintiffs, were held hostage in terri-
tory occupied by Iraq are currently pending in a 
United States district court in the case of Vine v. Re-
public of Iraq. 
(16) The plaintiffs in Vine v. Republic of Iraq 
have not been compensated and are unable to enforce 
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 Convention 
relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (August 
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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 referred 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 com-
mitted to holding state sponsors of terrorism account-
able for such horrendous acts. 
SEC. 3. RESOLUTION OF CERTAIN CLAIMS AGAINST IRAQ. 
(a) RESOLUTION BY IRAQ OF CERTAIN CLAIMS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Unless the President, before 
the end of the 90-day period beginning on the date de-
scribed in paragraph (2)(A), certifies to the Congress 
that the Government of Iraq has adequately settled the 
claims in the cases referred to in subsection (b), then, 
upon the expiration of that 90-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 90-day pe-
riod under such authority, shall terminate. 
(2) DATE DESCRIBED.— 
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(A) IN
GENERAL.—The date described in 
this paragraph is— 
(i) 30 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, unless the President has 
certified to the Congress, before the end of 
that 30-day period, that— 
(I) the Government of Iraq has 
not, before, on, or after the enactment 
of this Act, compensated any foreign 
persons or entities for claims or liabil-
ities incurred by or under the control 
of the Saddam Hussein regime, includ-
ing, but not limited to, commercial or 
financial claims, and claims for acts 
against individuals similar to those de-
scribed in section 1605A(a)(1) of title 
28, United States Code; or 
(II) negotiations are ongoing with 
the Government of Iraq to settle the 
claims in the cases referred to in sub-
section (b), and the President believes 
that those negotiations are being con-
ducted in good faith and could lead to 
a 
satisfactory 
settlement 
of 
those 
claims; or 
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(ii) if a certification is made under 
clause (i), the day after the date on which 
that certification terminates or, if a subse-
quent certification is in effect under sub-
paragraph (B), the day after the date on 
which the last such certification terminates. 
(B) DURATION OF CERTIFICATIONS.—A cer-
tification under subclause (I) or (II) of subpara-
graph (A)(i) terminates 180 days after it is 
made. The President may make subsequent cer-
tifications under subclause (I) or (II) of sub-
paragraph (A)(i) for periods of not more than 
180 days each. 
(b) CASES.—The cases referred to in subsection (a)(1) 
are cases numbered 99:00CV03346 (TPJ), 1:01CV02674 
(HHK), 
CIV.A. 
02–632 
(RWR) 
(July 
7, 
2003), 
1:03CV00691 (HHK), and 1:03CV00888 (HHK), in the 
United States District Court for the District of Columbia. 
(c) ADEQUATE SETTLEMENT.—For purposes of sub-
section (a)(1), adequate settlement means payment by the 
Government of Iraq of, or an unqualified and unconditional 
guarantee made by a United States depository institution 
to pay within 30 days after the end of the 90-day period 
described in subsection (a)(1), at least the following 
amounts to the following persons: 
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(1) To any person— 
(A) whose claim in the applicable case re-
ferred to in subsection (b) arose from an act of 
hostage taking or from being held in hostage sta-
tus, and 
(B) who has not obtained a judgment on the 
claim before the date of the enactment 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. 
(2) To any person— 
(A) whose claim in the applicable case re-
ferred to in subsection (b) arose from an act of 
hostage taking or from being held in hostage sta-
tus, 
(B) who, while a hostage, was subjected to 
torture, and 
(C) who has not obtained a judgment on the 
claim before the date of the enactment of this 
Act, 
$2,500,000, plus $6,000 for each day the person was 
held as a hostage. 
(3) To a plaintiff in the applicable case referred 
to in subsection (b) who is the spouse or child of any 
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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 para-
graph. 
(4) To any person who, before the date of the en-
actment of this Act, obtained a judgment for compen-
satory damages in a case referred to in subsection (b) 
(regardless of whether such judgment was subse-
quently vacated)— 
(A) 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 
(B) if the amount of the judgment exceeds 
$1,000,000, one third of the unsatisfied amount 
of such excess. 
(d) ADDITIONAL CONDITION IN CASE OF GUARANTEE 
OF PAYMENT.—If the claims in the cases referred to in sub-
section (b) are adequately settled for purposes of subsection 
(a)(1) because of a guarantee of payment by a depository 
institution within the 30-day period specified in subsection 
(c), and such payment is not made within that 30-day pe-
riod, then upon the expiration of that 30-day period, the 
waiver authority described in subsection (a)(1), and any 
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waiver granted before the end of that 30-day period under 
such authority, shall terminate. 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) FOREIGN
PERSON
OR
ENTITY.—The term 
‘‘foreign person or entity’’ means— 
(A) an individual other than a national of 
the United States; and 
(B) a person or entity, other than an indi-
vidual, that is organized under the laws of a 
country other than the United States. 
(2) HOSTAGE.—The term ‘‘hostage’’ means an 
individual in hostage status or an individual seized 
or detained in the commission of an act of hostage 
taking. 
(3) HOSTAGE STATUS.—The term ‘‘hostage sta-
tus’’ has the meaning given that term in section 
599C(d)(1) of the Foreign Operations, Export Fi-
nancing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 
1991 (Public Law 101–513). 
(4) HOSTAGE TAKING.—The term ‘‘hostage tak-
ing’’ has the meaning given that term in section 
1605A(h)(2) of title 28, United States Code. 
(5) NATIONAL
OF
THE
UNITED
STATES.—The 
term ‘‘national of the United States’’ has the meaning 
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