§4215 — Title 50 War and National Defense | U.S. Code

Summary

The Attorney General must pay $20,000 from a special Fund to each eligible individual unless that person files a written refusal. The Attorney General will find eligible people without making them apply, using government records and a public notice campaign. The goal was to finish locating people within 12 months after August 10, 1988, but if more money was needed the government could provide it and then finish within 12 months after that money was approved. If evidence about eligibility is evenly balanced, the person gets the benefit of the doubt. When money is available, the Attorney General will send written notice saying that accepting the payment settles all claims against the United States for the acts listed in another part of the law. If the person does not refuse in writing within 18 months after that notice, they are treated as having accepted the payment. If someone refuses in writing, they get nothing and the money stays in the Fund. No one who already accepted a final judgment or settlement against the United States for those same acts after September 1, 1987, may get this payment, and some of that person’s survivors may also be excluded. If the eligible person is dead when payment is made, it goes to a living spouse first, if none then equally to living children, and if none then equally to living parents. “Spouse” means married at least one year before death; “child” includes natural, certain stepchildren, and adopted children; “parent” includes adoptive parents. Payments are made oldest-first by birth date on August 10, 1988, until the Fund is used up. The Attorney General may use public or nonprofit resources to help, but Fund money cannot pay the Attorney General’s costs or be reduced to cover them. Payments count as damages for human suffering for tax purposes and do not count as income or resources for certain federal or VA benefits. Payments can come only from the Fund. If the Fund runs short, people are paid in the birth-date order until the Fund is gone. Denials can be reviewed only in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims for claims filed in court on or after September 27, 1992.

Title 50, §4215

War and National Defense — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)Subject to paragraph (7), the Attorney General shall, subject to the availability of funds appropriated to the Fund for such purpose, pay out of the Fund to each eligible individual the sum of $20,000, unless such individual refuses, in the manner described in paragraph (5), to accept the payment.

(2)The Attorney General shall identify and locate, without requiring any application for payment and using records already in the possession of the United States Government, each eligible individual. The Attorney General should use funds and resources available to the Attorney General, including those described in subsection (c), to attempt to complete such identification and location within 12 months after August 10, 1988. Any eligible individual may notify the Attorney General that such individual is an eligible individual, and may provide documentation therefor. The Attorney General shall designate an officer or employee to whom such notification and documentation may be sent, shall maintain a list of all individuals who submit such notification and documentation, and shall, subject to the availability of funds appropriated for such purpose, encourage, through a public awareness campaign, each eligible individual to submit his or her current address to such officer or employee. To the extent that resources referred to in the second sentence of this paragraph are not sufficient to complete the identification and location of all eligible individuals, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for such purpose. In any case, the identification and location of all eligible individuals shall be completed within 12 months after the appropriation of funds under the preceding sentence. Failure to be identified and located by the end of the 12-month period specified in the preceding sentence shall not preclude an eligible individual from receiving payment under this section.

(3)When, after consideration of all evidence and relevant material for determining whether an individual is an eligible individual, there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding the merits of an issue material to the determination of eligibility, the benefit of the doubt in resolving each such issue shall be given to such individual.

(4)The Attorney General shall, when funds are appropriated to the Fund for payments to an eligible individual under this section, notify that eligible individual in writing of his or her eligibility for payment under this section. Such notice shall inform the eligible individual that—

(A)acceptance of payment under this section shall be in full satisfaction of all claims against the United States arising out of acts described in section 4218(2)(B) of this title, and

(B)each eligible individual who does not refuse, in the manner described in paragraph (5), to accept payment under this section within 18 months after receiving such written notice shall be deemed to have accepted payment for purposes of paragraph (6).

(5)If an eligible individual refuses, in a written document filed with the Attorney General, to accept any payment under this section, the amount of such payment shall remain in the Fund and no payment may be made under this section to such individual at any time after such refusal.

(6)The acceptance of payment by an eligible individual under this section shall be in full satisfaction of all claims against the United States arising out of acts described in section 4218(2)(B) of this title. This paragraph shall apply to any eligible individual who does not refuse, in the manner described in paragraph (5), to accept payment under this section within 18 months after receiving the notification from the Attorney General referred to in paragraph (4).

(7)No payment may be made under this section to any individual who, after September 1, 1987, accepts payment pursuant to an award of a final judgment or a settlement on a claim against the United States for acts described in section 4218(2)(B) of this title, or to any surviving spouse, child, or parent of such individual to whom paragraph (8) applies.

(8)(A)In the case of an eligible individual who is deceased at the time of payment under this section, such payment shall be made only as follows:

(i)If the eligible individual is survived by a spouse who is living at the time of payment, such payment shall be made to such surviving spouse.

(ii)If there is no surviving spouse described in clause (i), such payment shall be made in equal shares to all children of the eligible individual who are living at the time of payment.

(iii)If there is no surviving spouse described in clause (i) and if there are no children described in clause (ii), such payment shall be made in equal shares to the parents of the eligible individual who are living at the time of payment.

(B)After the death of an eligible individual, this subsection and subsections (c) and (f) shall apply to the individual or individuals specified in subparagraph (A) to whom payment under this section will be made, to the same extent as such subsections apply to the eligible individual.

(C)For purposes of this paragraph—

(i)the “spouse” of an eligible individual means a wife or husband of an eligible individual who was married to that eligible individual for at least 1 year immediately before the death of the eligible individual;

(ii)a “child” of an eligible individual includes a recognized natural child, a stepchild who lived with the eligible individual in a regular parent-child relationship, and an adopted child; and

(iii)a “parent” of an eligible individual includes fathers and mothers through adoption.

(b)The Attorney General shall endeavor to make payments under this section to eligible individuals in the order of date of birth (with the oldest individual on August 10, 1988 (or, if applicable, that individual’s survivors under paragraph (8)) receiving full payment first), until all eligible individuals have received payment in full.

(c)In attempting to locate any eligible individual, the Attorney General may use any facility or resource of any public or nonprofit organization or any other record, document, or information that may be made available to the Attorney General.

(d)No costs incurred by the Attorney General in carrying out this section shall be paid from the Fund or set off against, or otherwise deducted from, any payment under this section to any eligible individual.

(e)The duties of the Attorney General under this section shall cease 180 days after the Fund terminates.

(f)Amounts paid to an eligible individual under this section—

(1)shall be treated for purposes of the internal revenue laws of the United States as damages for human suffering; and

(2)shall not be included as income or resources for purposes of determining eligibility to receive benefits described in section 3803(c)(2)(C) of title 31 or available under any other law administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or for purposes of determining the amount of such benefits.

(g)(1)An eligible individual may be paid under this section only from amounts in the Fund.

(2)Nothing in this subchapter shall authorize the payment to an eligible individual by the United States Government of any amount authorized by this section from any source other than the Fund.

(3)If at any time the Fund has insufficient funds to pay all eligible individuals at such time, such eligible individuals shall, to the extent permitted under paragraph (1), be paid in full in the order specified in subsection (b).

(h)(1)A claimant may seek judicial review of a denial of compensation under this section solely in the United States Court of Federal Claims, which shall review the denial upon the administrative record and shall hold unlawful and set aside the denial if it is found to be arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.

(2)This subsection shall apply only to any claim filed in court on or after September 27, 1992.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was formerly classified to section 1989b–4 of the former Appendix to this title prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Amendments

1992—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 102–371, § 4(c)(1)(A), substituted “(7)” for “(6)” and “(5)” for “(4)”. Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 102–371, § 4(a)(2), added par. (3). Former par. (3) redesignated (4). Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 102–371, § 4(a)(1), (c)(1)(B), redesignated par. (3) as (4) and in subpar. (B) substituted “(5)” for “(4)” and “(6)” for “(5)”. Former par. (4) redesignated (5). Subsec. (a)(5). Pub. L. 102–371, § 4(a)(1), redesignated par. (4) as (5). Former par. (5) redesignated (6). Subsec. (a)(6). Pub. L. 102–371, § 4(a)(1), (c)(1)(C), redesignated par. (5) as (6) and substituted “(5)” for “(4)” and “(4)” for “(3)”. Former par. (6) redesignated (7). Subsec. (a)(7). Pub. L. 102–371, § 4(a)(1), (c)(1)(D), redesignated par. (6) as (7) and substituted “(8)” for “(6)”. Former par. (7) redesignated (8). Subsec. (a)(8). Pub. L. 102–371, § 4(a)(1), redesignated par. (7) as (8). Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 102–371, § 4(c)(2), substituted “(8)” for “(6)”. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 102–371, § 5, substituted “180 days after the Fund terminates” for “when the Fund terminates”. Subsec. (f)(2). Pub. L. 102–371, § 6(a), substituted “or available under any other law administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or for purposes of determining the” for “, or the”. Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 102–572 substituted “United States Court of Federal Claims” for “United States Claims Court” in par. (1). Pub. L. 102–371, § 4(b), added subsec. (h). 1989—Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 101–162 added subsec. (g).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1992 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 102–572 effective Oct. 29, 1992, see section 911 of Pub. L. 102–572, set out as a note under section 171 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure. Pub. L. 102–371, § 6(b), Sept. 27, 1992, 106 Stat. 1168, provided that: “The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall be effective as of August 10, 1988.”

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