I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5904 
To deter terrorism, provide justice for victims, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 6, 2012 
Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California (for himself and Mr. NADLER) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary 
A BILL 
To deter terrorism, provide justice for victims, and for other 
purposes. 
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 Against Spon-
sors of Terrorism Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) International terrorism is a serious and 
deadly problem that threatens the vital interests of 
the United States. 
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(2) The Constitution confers upon Congress the 
power to punish crimes against the law of nations 
and to carry out the treaty obligations of the United 
States, and therefore Congress may by law impose 
penalties relating to the provision of material sup-
port to foreign organizations engaged in terrorist ac-
tivity, and allow for victims of international ter-
rorism to recover damages from those who have 
harmed them. 
(3) International terrorism affects the inter-
state and foreign commerce of the United States by 
harming international trade and market stability, 
and limiting international travel by United States 
citizens as well as foreign visitors to the United 
States. 
(4) Some foreign terrorist organizations, acting 
through affiliated groups or individuals, raise signifi-
cant funds outside the United States for conduct di-
rected and targeted at the United States. 
(5) Foreign organizations that engage in ter-
rorist activity are so tainted by their criminal con-
duct that any contribution to such an organization 
facilitates that conduct. 
(6) The imposition of civil liability at every 
point along the causal chain of terrorism is nec-
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essary to deter the flow of terrorism’s lifeblood, 
money. As recognized by Judge Richard Posner in 
Boim v. Holy Land Foundation for Relief and De-
velopment, Nos. 05–1815, 05–1816, 05–1821, 05– 
1822, l F.3d l (7th Cir. 2008) (en banc), ‘‘Dam-
ages are a less effective remedy against terrorists 
and their organizations than against their financial 
angels . . . suits against financiers of terrorism can 
cut the terrorists’ lifeline.’’ Moreover, the statute of 
limitations for such claims must be extensive, for as 
the Seventh Circuit notes, ‘‘Seed money for ter-
rorism can sprout acts of violence long after the in-
vestment’’. 
(7) The reasoning like that of the United States 
Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in In Re: 
Terrorists Attacks on September 11, 2001, 538 
F.3d 71 (2d Cir. 2008) undermine important 
counter-terrorism policies of the United States, by 
affording undue protection from civil liability to per-
sons, entities and states that provide material sup-
port or resources to foreign terrorist organizations, 
and by depriving victims of international terrorism 
of meaningful access to court to seek redress for 
their injuries. 
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(8) The United Nations Security Council de-
clared in Resolution 1373, adopted on September 
28, 2001, that all states have an affirmative obliga-
tion to ‘‘refrain from providing any form of support, 
active or passive, to entities or persons involved in 
terrorist acts,’’ and to ‘‘ensure that any person who 
participates in the financing, planning, preparation 
or perpetration of terrorist acts or in supporting ter-
rorist acts is brought to justice’’. 
(9) Consistent with these declarations, no state 
possesses the discretion to engage knowingly in the 
financing or sponsorship of terrorism, whether di-
rectly or indirectly. 
(10) Persons, entities or states that knowingly 
or recklessly contribute material support or re-
sources, directly or indirectly, to persons or organi-
zations that pose a significant risk of committing 
acts of terrorism that threaten the security of 
United States nationals or the national security, for-
eign policy, or economy of the United States, nec-
essarily direct their conduct at the United States, 
and should reasonably anticipate being haled into 
court in the United States to answer for such activi-
ties. 
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(11) The United States has a vital interest in 
providing persons and entities injured as a result of 
terrorist attacks committed within the United States 
with full access to court to pursue civil claims 
against persons, entities, or states that have know-
ingly or recklessly provided material support or re-
sources, directly or indirectly, to the persons or or-
ganizations responsible for their injuries. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 
civil litigants with the fullest possible basis, consistent 
with the Constitution, to seek relief against persons, enti-
ties and foreign states, wherever acting and wherever they 
may be found, which have provided material support or 
resources, directly or indirectly, to foreign organizations 
that engage in terrorist activities against the United 
States. 
SEC. 3. FOREIGN SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY. 
(a) EXCEPTIONS.—Section 1605(a) of title 28, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by amending paragraph (5) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(5) not otherwise encompassed in paragraph 
(2), in which money damages are sought against a 
foreign state arising out of physical injury or death, 
or damage to or loss of property, occurring in the 
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United States and caused by the tortious act or 
omission of that foreign state or of any official or 
employee of that foreign state while acting within 
the scope of his office or employment (regardless of 
where the underlying tortious act or omission oc-
curs), including any statutory or common law tort 
claim arising out of an act of extrajudicial killing, 
aircraft sabotage, hostage taking, terrorism, or the 
provision of material support or resources for such 
an act, or any claim for contribution or indemnity 
relating to a claim arising out of such an act, except 
this paragraph shall not apply to— 
‘‘(A) any claim based upon the exercise or 
performance or the failure to exercise or per-
form a discretionary function, regardless of 
whether the discretion is abused; or 
‘‘(B) any claim arising out of malicious 
prosecution, abuse of process, libel, slander, 
misrepresentation, deceit, interference with con-
tract rights, or any claim for emotional distress 
or derivative injury suffered as a result of an 
event or injury to another person that occurs 
outside of the United States; or’’; and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of subsection 
(a)(5)— 
‘‘(1) the terms ‘aircraft sabotage’, ‘hostage tak-
ing’, and ‘material support or resources’ have the 
meanings given those terms in section 1605A(h); 
and 
‘‘(2) the term ‘terrorism’ means international 
terrorism, and domestic terrorism, as those terms 
are defined in section 2331 of title 18.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a) shall apply to all proceedings pending in 
any form on the date of the enactment of this Act and 
to all proceedings commenced on or after such date of en-
actment. 
SEC. 4. AIDING AND ABETTING LIABILITY FOR CIVIL AC-
TIONS REGARDING TERRORIST ACTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2333 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(d) LIABILITY.—In an action arising under sub-
section (a), liability may be asserted as to the person or 
persons who committed such act of international terrorism 
or any person or entity that aided, abetted, provided mate-
rial support or resources (as defined in section 
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2339A(b)(1)) to, or conspired with the person or persons 
who committed such an act of international terrorism. 
‘‘(e) 
NON-APPLICABILITY
OF
LAW
OF
PRE-
CLUSION.—Any civil action or claim that seeks recovery 
under this chapter for conduct that was the basis of a 
civil action or claim previously dismissed for lack of sub-
ject matter jurisdiction for failure to meet the require-
ments for an exception under section 1605(a) of title 28 
is not subject to dismissal under the law of preclusion.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply to all proceedings pending in 
any form on the date of the enactment of this Act and 
to all proceedings commenced on or after such date of en-
actment. 
(c) EFFECT ON FOREIGN SOVEREIGN IMMUNITIES 
ACT.—Nothing in the amendments made by this section 
affects a foreign state’s immunity from jurisdiction under 
other law. 
SEC. 5. JURISDICTION FOR CIVIL ACTIONS REGARDING 
TERRORIST ACTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2334 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(e) JURISDICTION.—The district courts shall have 
personal jurisdiction, to the maximum extent permissible 
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under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Con-
stitution, over any person who aids and abets an act of 
international terrorism or who provides material support 
or resources as set forth in sections 2339A, 2339B, or 
2339C of this title, for acts of international terrorism in 
which any national of the United States suffers injury in 
his or her person, property or business by reason of such 
an act in violation of section 2333 of this title.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply to all proceedings pending in any 
form on the date of the enactment of this Act and to all 
proceedings commenced on or after such the date of enact-
ment. 
SEC. 6. LIABILITY FOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS IN CIVIL 
ACTIONS REGARDING TERRORIST ACTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2337 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘§ 2337. Suits against Government officials 
‘‘No action shall be maintained under section 2333 
of this title against the United States, an agency of the 
United States, or an officer or employee of the United 
States or any agency thereof acting within his or her offi-
cial capacity or under color of legal authority.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply to all proceedings pending in any 
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form on the date of the enactment of this Act and to all 
proceedings commenced on or after such date of enact-
ment. 
SEC. 7. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR CIVIL ACTIONS RE-
GARDING TERRORIST ACTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2335 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘four years’’ 
and inserting ‘‘15 years’’; and 
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘four years’’ 
and inserting ‘‘15 years’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to all proceedings pending in any 
form on the date of the enactment of this Act and to all 
proceedings commenced on or after such date of enact-
ment. 
(c) EFFECT ON DISMISSED CAUSES OF ACTION.— 
Any private civil action under section 2333 of title 18, 
United States Code— 
(1) that was dismissed as time barred prior to 
the date of enactment of this Act, and 
(2) that would have been timely filed pursuant 
to section 2335 of title 18, United States Code, as 
amended by this section, 
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may be refiled not later than 90 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 8. SEVERABILITY. 
If any provision of this Act or the amendments made 
by this Act or the application thereof to any person or 
circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this Act, 
the amendments made by this Act, or the application 
thereof to other persons not similarly situated or to other 
circumstances shall not be affected by such invalidation. 
Æ 
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