Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.2493 | Sponsor: Rep. Wasserman Schultz, Debbie (D-FL)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act of 2021
This bill allows a beneficiary (or an heir of a beneficiary) of certain insurance policies in effect during the Holocaust to sue in U.S. district court to enforce rights under such policies.
An insurance policy covered under this bill must have been (1) in effect at any time between January 31, 1933, and December 31, 1945, and (2) issued to a policyholder domiciled in Nazi-controlled territory or Switzerland.
A court shall award to a prevailing beneficiary (1) the amount due under a policy, (2) prejudgment interest of 6% a year, (3) attorney's fees and costs, and (4) treble damages if the insurer acted in bad faith.
An action under this bill or state law related to a covered insurance policy shall be considered timely if filed within 10 years of this bill's enactment.
Judgments and agreements entered before this bill's enactment shall not preclude a claim brought under the bill, with certain exceptions. Neither executive agreements between the United States and a foreign government nor U.S. executive foreign policies shall (1) affect or preclude claims brought under this bill, or (2) supersede or preempt any state laws relating to insurance policies covered by this 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 Representatives 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--
            (1) allow for the enforcement of State laws requiring the 
        disclosure of information about Holocaust-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 enacted) 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 beneficiaries 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 of decision governing the right of a 
        beneficiary to recover under such policies;
            (4) foreclose defenses to claims brought under section 4 of 
        this Act arising from any prior judgments 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 General 
        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 insurance 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 Constitution of the United States, with 
        which the judicial decisions cited in this section are 
        inconsistent.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Beneficiary.--The term ``beneficiary'' includes--
                    (A) a named insured or named beneficiary under a 
                covered policy; and
                    (B) an heir, assignee, or legal representative of a 
                named insured or named beneficiary described in 
                subparagraph (A).
            (2) Covered policy.--The term ``covered policy'' means any 
        life, dowry, education, annuity, property, 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 
                        controlled by Nazi Germany; or
                            (ii) the territorial jurisdiction of 
                        Switzerland.
            (3) Insurer.--The term ``insurer''--
                    (A) means any person engaged in the business 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).
            (4) Nazi germany.--The term ``Nazi Germany'' means--
                    (A) the Nazi government of Germany; and
                    (B) any government that--
                            (i) had friendly relations with the Nazi 
                        government of Germany;
                            (ii) was allied with or controlled by the 
                        Nazi government of Germany; or
                            (iii) exercised or claimed sovereignty over 
                        any area occupied by the military forces of the 
                        Nazi government of Germany.
            (5) Related company.--The term ``related company'' means an 
        affiliate, as that term is defined in section 104(g) of the 
        Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6701(g)).

SEC. 4. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION; CIVIL ACTIONS.

    (a) Civil Actions To Recover Under Covered Policies.--This Act 
creates a new Federal private cause of action and Federal subject 
matter jurisdiction for a beneficiary of a covered policy to bring a 
civil action against the insurer for the covered policy or a related 
company of the insurer to recover proceeds due under the covered policy 
or otherwise to enforce any rights under the covered policy. The rule 
of decision governing the right of a beneficiary to recover under a 
covered policy shall be the law of the forum State in which the civil 
action is filed, or Federal common law, at the option of the 
beneficiary.
    (b) Nationwide Service of Process.--For a civil action brought 
under subsection (a) in a district court of the United States, process 
may be served in the judicial district where the case is brought or any 
other judicial district of the United States where the defendant may be 
found, resides, has an agent, or transacts business.
    (c) Remedies.--
            (1) Damages.--
                    (A) In general.--A court shall award to a 
                prevailing beneficiary in a civil action brought under 
                subsection (a)--
                            (i) the amount of the proceeds due under 
                        the covered policy;
                            (ii) prejudgment interest on the amount 
                        described in clause (i) from the date the 
                        amount was due until the date of judgment, 
                        calculated at a rate of 6 percent per year, 
                        compounded annually; and
                            (iii) any other appropriate relief 
                        necessary to enforce rights under the covered 
                        policy.
                    (B) Treble damages.--If a court finds that an 
                insurer or related company of the insurer acted in bad 
                faith, the court shall award damages in an amount equal 
                to 3 times the amount otherwise to be awarded under 
                subparagraph (A).
            (2) Attorney's fees and costs.--A court shall award 
        reasonable attorney's fees and costs to a prevailing 
        beneficiary in a civil action brought under subsection (a).
    (d) Limitation.--A civil action may not be brought under this 
section on or after the date that is 10 years after the date of 
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. EFFECT OF PRIOR JUDGMENTS AND RELEASES.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Effect.--Subject to subsection (b)(1), a judgment or 
        release described in paragraph (2) shall not preclude, 
        foreclose, bar, release, waive, acquit, discharge, or otherwise 
        impair any claim brought under section 4 by any person.
            (2) Judgments and releases.--A judgment or release 
        described in this paragraph is--
                    (A) a judgment entered before the date of enactment 
                of this Act for any claim arising under a covered 
                policy in any civil action in a Federal or State court; 
                or
                    (B) an agreement entered into before the date of 
                enactment of this Act under which any person (on behalf 
                of the person, any other person, or a class of persons) 
                agrees not to assert or agrees to waive or release any 
                claim described in subparagraph (A), regardless of 
                whether the agreement is--
                            (i) denominated as a release, discharge, 
                        covenant not to sue, or otherwise; or
                            (ii) approved by a court.
    (b) Rules of Construction.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), 
        nothing in this section shall affect the validity or 
        enforceability of any agreement entered into between any 
        claimant under a covered policy and the International 
        Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims or an insurer 
        under which the claimant has agreed to release or waive any 
        claim in consideration for payment under a covered policy.
            (2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any 
        agreement for which the payment is denominated as humanitarian 
        by the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance 
        Claims.

SEC. 6. EFFECT OF EXECUTIVE AGREEMENTS AND EXECUTIVE FOREIGN POLICY.

    (a) Effect of Executive Agreements and Executive Foreign Policy on 
State Laws.--An executive agreement described in subsection (c)(1) and 
an executive foreign policy described in subsection (c)(2) shall not 
supercede or preempt the law of any State--
            (1) relating to a claim under or relating to a covered 
        policy against the insurer for the covered policy or a related 
        company of the insurer; or
            (2) that requires an insurer doing business in the State or 
        any related company of the insurer to disclose information 
        regarding a covered policy issued by the insurer.
    (b) Effect of Executive Agreements and Executive Foreign Policy on 
Claims Brought Under This Act.--An executive agreement described in 
subsection (c)(1) and an executive foreign policy described in 
subsection (c)(2) shall not compromise, settle, extinguish, waive, 
preclude, bar, or foreclose a claim brought under section 4.
    (c) Executive Agreements and Executive Foreign Policy Covered.--
            (1) Executive agreements.--An executive agreement described 
        in this paragraph is an executive agreement between the United 
        States and a foreign government entered into before, on, or 
        after the date of enactment of this Act.
            (2) Executive foreign policy.--An executive foreign policy 
        described in this paragraph is a foreign policy of the 
        executive branch of the Federal Government established before, 
        on, or after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 7. EFFECT ON STATE LAWS.

    Nothing in this Act shall supersede or preempt any State law except 
to the extent the law of the State conflicts with this Act.

SEC. 8. TIMELINESS OF ACTIONS BROUGHT UNDER STATE LAW.

    A claim brought under any State law described in section 6(a) shall 
not be deemed untimely on the basis of any State or Federal statute of 
limitations or on the basis of any other legal or equitable rule or 
doctrine (including laches) governing the timeliness of claims if the 
claim is filed not later than 10 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 9. SEVERABILITY.

    If any provision of this Act or the application of such provision 
to any person or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the 
remainder of this Act and the application of such provision to any 
other person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.

SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY.

    This Act shall--
            (1) take effect on the date of enactment of this Act; and
            (2) apply to any claim relating to a covered policy that is 
        brought before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act.
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