(11) State legislatures in California, Florida,
New York, Minnesota, Washington, and elsewhere
have been challenged in efforts to implement laws
that restrict the ability of insurers to engage in busi-
ness transactions in those States until the insurers
publish the names of Holocaust-era policyholders.
(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 2001.
‘‘(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 or January 31, 2002,
in an electronic format 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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