I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1877
To amend title 28, United States Code, to allow suits against foreign states
for damages caused by torture, extrajudicial killing, and other terrorist acts.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 16, 1995
Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. BAKER of Louisi-
ana, Mr. SCHUMER, Ms. MCKINNEY, and Mr. LATOURETTE) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To amend title 28, United States Code, to allow suits against
foreign 
states 
for 
damages 
caused 
by 
torture,
extrajudicial killing, and other terrorist acts.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. JURISDICTION FOR LAWSUITS AGAINST FOR-
EIGN STATES FOR ACTS OF TERRORISM.
(a) EXCEPTION TO FOREIGN SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY
FOR CERTAIN CASES.—Section 1605 of title 28, United
States Code, is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of para-
graph (5);
(B) by striking the period at the end of
paragraph (6) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(7) not otherwise covered by paragraph (2), in
which money damages are sought against a foreign
state for personal injury or death, or economic
harm, that was caused by an act of torture,
extrajudicial killing, aircraft sabotage, hostage tak-
ing, or the provision of material support or resources
(as defined in section 2339A of title 18) for a person
carrying out such an act, by a foreign state or by
any official, employee, or agent or such foreign state
while acting within the scope of his or her office,
employment, or agency, except that an action under
this paragraph shall not be maintained unless—
‘‘(A) the claimant first affords the foreign
state a reasonable opportunity to arbitrate the
claim in accordance with accepted international
rules of arbitration; and
‘‘(B) the act upon which the claim is
based—
‘‘(i) occurred while the individual
bringing the claim was a national of the
United States (as that term is defined in
section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act); and
‘‘(ii) occurred while a determination
was in effect under section 6(j) of the Ex-
port Administration Act of 1979 (50 App.
U.S.C. 2405(j)) or section 620A of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.
2371), that the government of that foreign
state repeatedly provided support for acts
of international terrorism.’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(e) For purposes of paragraph (7) of subsection
(a)—
‘‘(1) the terms ‘torture’ and ‘extrajudicial kill-
ing’ have the meaning given those terms in section
3 of the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991;
‘‘(2) the term ‘hostage taking’ has the meaning
given such term in Article 1 of the International
Convention Against the Taking of Hostages; and
‘‘(3) the term ‘aircraft sabotage’ has the mean-
ing given such term in Article 1 of the Convention
for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the
Safety of Civil Aviation.’’.
(b) EXCEPTION
TO
IMMUNITY
FROM
ATTACH-
MENT.—
(1) FOREIGN STATE.—Section 1610(a) of title
28, United States Code, is amended—
(A) by striking the period at the end of
paragraph (6) and inserting ‘‘, or’’; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(7) the judgment relates to a claim for which
the foreign state is not immune under section
1605(a)(7), regardless of whether the property is or
was involved with the act upon which the claim is
based.’’.
(2) AGENCY
OR
INSTRUMENTALITY.—Section
1610(b)(2) of such title is amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘or (5)’’ and inserting
‘‘(5), or (7)’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘used for the activity’’ and
inserting ‘‘involved in the act’’.
(c) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this
title shall apply to any cause of action arising before, on,
or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Æ