§20106 Compensation to victims of international terrorism

Summary

Creates a program that can pay people who were physically or emotionally injured, or killed, by international terrorism that happened on or after October 23, 1983, when the attack was being investigated or prosecuted after April 24, 1996. To qualify, the victim must have been a national of the United States (see 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) or a U.S. Government officer or employee at the time of the attack, and “international terrorism” is defined in 18 U.S.C. 2331. If the victim is less than 18 years of age, incompetent, incapacitated, or deceased, a family member or legal guardian can get the payment for them. Anyone who is criminally responsible for the terrorist act or mass violence cannot receive payments, either personally or for a victim. The Director may use the emergency reserve in section 20101(d)(5)(A) to pay expenses for victims of attacks that occur outside the United States, but any award must be reduced by money the victim already got under title VIII of the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act of 1986. The Director must give Congress an annual report describing how to apply, outreach steps, statistics on applications (numbers submitted, approved with amounts, denied with reasons, processing time, pending cases and estimated future costs), and suggested program needs and improvements.