§20144 Justice for United States victims of state sponsored terrorism

Summary

Creates a special fund and a process to pay U.S. victims of state-sponsored terrorism from money and property the government recovers. The Attorney General must pick a Special Master within 60 days after December 18, 2015 to run the program. The first term is 18 months. The Special Master can be reappointed when the Fund has more than $100,000,000 or when the Attorney General decides there is enough money to pay people, for terms up to one year. The Special Master can use up to 5 full-time Justice Department staff, with two temporary 1-year exceptions allowing 5 more staff each starting November 21, 2019 and December 29, 2022. The Special Master’s pay cannot exceed the Executive Schedule level IV rate. The Special Master must publish application rules in the Federal Register and on the Department of Justice website within 60 days of the first appointment and update those rules after related laws change. Applicants must tell the Special Master about any payments they already got from other sources for the same injury. The Special Master will decide who gets money and how much. Decisions must be written and given to claimants and the Attorney General. Those decisions are final and cannot be reviewed in court, except that a claimant denied in whole or in part can ask for a hearing within 30 days and the Special Master must issue a final written decision within 90 days after that hearing. Eligible claims are: final U.S. court judgments for compensatory damages against a foreign state that was a designated state sponsor of terrorism when the acts happened; a fixed $10,000-per-day payment for U.S. persons held hostage at the U.S. embassy in Tehran from November 4, 1979 through January 20, 1981; and $600,000 lump sums for each spouse or each child in a specific class action tied to those hostages. To apply, most people must file within 90 days after the Special Master’s procedures are published. There are special 90-day or 180-day deadlines for certain 9/11, 1983 Beirut, and 1996 Khobar Towers claims tied to later laws and dates; the Special Master may extend deadlines for good cause. Payments come from the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund. The Fund gets criminal penalties and sale proceeds from property seized after December 18, 2015 tied to violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act or the Trading with the Enemy Act, 75% of civil penalties of that kind, certain court-awarded property sale proceeds from two named court cases subject to elections by creditors, and a fiscal year 2017 appropriation of $1,025,000,000. The Fund will be managed like a trust fund. The Special Master must make initial payments within one year after December 18, 2015 if money is available. Generally the Special Master splits available money 50/50 between 9/11-related victims and non-9/11 victims, then pays each side pro rata based on unpaid eligible claims until paid or funds are gone. Limits include treating any single claim over $20,000,000 as $20,000,000 for distribution and capping certain family aggregates at $35,000,000 or $20,000,000 as specified. If a claimant already received 30% or more of their compensatory damages from other sources, they must wait until other eligible claimants have received 30% before getting money from this Fund; claimants who received less than 30% can ask the Special Master for the difference. Special lump-sum “catch-up” payments for 9/11 victims were set in motion with an audit and public comment process to be completed after December 27, 2020, and a similar catch-up process with a $3,000,000,000 reserve applies to 1983 Beirut and 1996 Khobar victims with timelines tied to December 29, 2022. The U.S. government is entitled to recover (is subrogated to) the rights of anyone who gets paid from the Fund, up to the amount the Fund paid. Anyone who committed acts of international terrorism cannot get payments. Attorneys’ fees are limited: for non-9/11 claims no more than 25% of a payment, and for 9/11 claims no more than 15% of a payment after November 21, 2019; violating this can lead to fines or up to 1 year in prison. The Fund’s money may not be obligated after January 2, 2039; unused balances after that will be moved to certain forfeiture funds. Key defined terms (one line each): “act of international terrorism” – things like torture, killing without legal process, aircraft sabotage, or hostage-taking and support for those acts; “compensatory damages” – money for actual losses (not interest or punitive damages); “final judgment” – an enforceable U.S. district court judgment on liability and damages not subject to more appeals; “Fund” – the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund; “source other than this Fund” – other payments such as insurance, pensions, government benefits, or other court awards for the same injury; “state sponsor of terrorism” – a country officially designated for repeatedly supporting terrorism; “United States person” – a U.S. person who has the eligible judgment or hostage claim described above; “non-9/11 victim” – eligible claimant whose claim is unrelated to September 11, 2001; “9/11 related victim” – claimant who is a 9/11 victim, spouse, dependent, or family member as defined in related 9/11 law. The rest of the section’s rules are severable, so if part is found invalid, other parts still stand.