[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3221 Engrossed in House (EH)]
103d CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 3221
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To provide for the adjudication of certain claims against the
Government of Iraq.
103d CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 3221
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To provide for the adjudication of certain claims against the
Government of Iraq.
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 ``Iraq Claims Act of 1994''.
SEC. 2. ADJUDICATION OF CLAIMS.
(a) Certain Claims Within the Jurisdiction of UN Commission.--The
United States Commission is authorized to receive and determine the
validity and amounts of any claims referred to it by the Secretary of
State with respect to which the United States has received lump-sum
payments from the United Nations Commission.
(b) Other Claims Against Iraq.--The United States Commission is
authorized to receive and determine the validity and amounts of any
claims by nationals of the United States against the Government of Iraq
that are determined by the Secretary of State to be outside the
jurisdiction of the United Nations Commission.
(c) Decision Rules.--In deciding claims under subsection (a) or
(b), the United States Commission shall apply, in the following order--
(1) in the case of claims under subsection (a), relevant
decisions of the United Nations Security Council and the United
Nations Commission;
(2) applicable substantive law, including international
law; and
(3) applicable principles of justice and equity.
(d) Priority Claims.--Before deciding any other claim against the
Government of Iraq, the United States Commission shall, to the extent
practical, decide all pending non-commercial claims of members of the
United States Armed Forces and other individuals arising out of Iraq's
invasion and occupation of Kuwait or out of the 1987 attack on the USS
Stark.
(e) Applicability of International Claims Settlement Act.--To the
extent they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, the
provisions of title I (other than section 2(c)) and title VII of the
International Claims Settlement Act of 1949 (22 U.S.C. 1621-1627 and
1645-1645o) shall apply with respect to claims under this Act and the
funds established pursuant to sections 3(a) and 3(c).
SEC. 3. CLAIMS FUNDS.
(a) UN Commission Claims Funds.--The Secretary of the Treasury is
authorized to establish in the Treasury of the United States one or
more funds (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the ``UN Commission
Claims Funds'') for payment of claims under section 2(a). The Secretary
of the Treasury shall cover into the UN Commission Claims Funds such
amounts as are allocated to such funds pursuant to subsection (b)(1).
(b) Allocation of Funds Received From UN Commission.--The Secretary
of State shall allocate funds received by the United States from the
United Nations Commission, in the manner the Secretary determines
appropriate, between--
(1) the UN Commission Claims Funds; and
(2) funds established under the authority of the paragraphs
under the heading ``TRUST FUNDS'' in the Act entitled ``An Act
making appropriations for the diplomatic and consular service
for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and
ninety-seven'', approved February 26, 1896 (22 U.S.C. 2668a).
(c) Iraq Claims Fund.--The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized
to establish in the Treasury of the United States a fund (hereinafter
in this Act referred to as the ``Iraq Claims Fund'') for payment of
claims under section 2(b). The Secretary of the Treasury shall cover
into the Iraq Claims Fund such amounts as are allocated to such fund
pursuant to subsection (d).
(d) Allocation of Proceeds From Iraqi Asset Liquidatation.--
(1) In general.--The President shall allocate funds
resulting from the liquidation of assets pursuant to section 4
in the manner the President determines appropriate between the
Iraq Claims Fund and such other accounts as are appropriate for
the payment of claims of the United States Government, subject
to the limitation in paragraph (2).
(2) Limitation.--The amount allocated pursuant to this
subsection for payment of claims of the United States
Government may not exceed the amount which bears the same
relation to the amount allocated to the Iraq Claims Fund
pursuant to this subsection as the sum of all certified claims
of the United States Government bears to the sum of all claims
certified under section 2(b). As used in this paragraph, the
term ``certified claims of the United States Government'' means
those claims of the United States Government which are
determined by the Secretary of State to be outside the
jurisdiction of the United Nations Commission and which are
determined to be valid, and whose amount has been certified,
under such procedures as the President may establish.
SEC. 4. AUTHORITY TO VEST IRAQI ASSETS.
The President is authorized to vest and liquidate as much of the
assets of the Government of Iraq in the United States that have been
blocked pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) as may be necessary to satisfy claims under
section 2(b), as well as claims of the United States Government against
Iraq which are determined by the Secretary of State to be outside the
jurisdiction of the United Nations Commission.
SEC. 5. REIMBURSEMENT FOR EXPENSES OF PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION.
(a) Deduction.--In order to reimburse the United States Government
for its expenses in administering the Iraq claims program and this Act,
the Secretary of the Treasury shall deduct--
(1) 1.5 percent of any amount covered into the UN
Commission Claims Funds or the Iraq Claims Fund; and
(2) 1.5 percent of any amount the Secretary of State
receives from the United Nations Commission that is not covered
into the UN Commission Claims Funds and that is not in payment
of a claim of the United States Government.
(b) Deductions Treated as Miscellaneous Receipts.--Amounts deducted
pursuant to subsection (a) shall be deposited in the Treasury of the
United States as miscellaneous receipts.
SEC. 6. PAYMENTS.
(a) In General.--The United States Commission shall certify to the
Secretary of the Treasury each award made pursuant to section 2. The
Secretary of the Treasury shall make payment, out of the appropriate
fund established pursuant to section 3(a) or 3(c), in the following
order of priority to the extent funds are available in such fund:
(1) Payment of $10,000 or the principal amount of the
award, whichever is less.
(2) For each claim that has priority under section 2(d),
payment of a further $90,000 toward the unpaid balance of the
principal amount of the award.
(3) Payments from time to time in ratable proportions on
account of the unpaid balance of the principal amounts of all
awards according to the proportions which the unpaid balance of
such awards bear to the total amount in the appropriate claims
fund that is available for distribution at the time such
payments are made.
(4) After payment has been made of the principal amounts of
all such awards, pro rata payments on account of accrued
interest on such awards as bear interest.
(5) After payment has been made in full of all the awards
payable out of a fund established pursuant to section 3(a) or
3(c), any funds remaining in that fund shall be transferred to
the other claims fund established pursuant to section 3(a) or
3(c), except that any funds received by the United States from
the United Nations Commission shall be so transferred only to
the extent not inconsistent with requirements of the United
Nations Commission.
(b) Unsatisfied Claims.--Payment of any award made pursuant to this
Act shall not extinguish any unsatisfied claim, or be construed to have
divested any claimant, or the United States on his or her behalf, of
any rights against the Government of Iraq with respect to any
unsatisfied claim.
SEC. 7. RECORDS.
(a) Transfer to Commission.--The head of any Executive agency may
transfer or otherwise make available to the United States Commission
such records and documents relating to claims authorized to be
adjudicated by this Act as may be required by the United States
Commission in carrying out its functions under this Act.
(b) Public Disclosure.--Section 552 of title 5 of the United States
Code (commonly referred to as the ``Freedom of Information Act'') shall
not apply with respect to records that, as determined by the Secretary
of State, are required under the rules and decisions of the United
Nations Commission to be withheld from public disclosure.
SEC. 8. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS; DISPOSITION OF UNUSED FUNDS.
(a) Statute of Limitations.--Any demand or claim for payment on
account of an award that is certified under the Iraq claims program
shall be barred one year after the publication date of the notice
required by subsection (b).
(b) Publication of Notice.--
(1) In general.--At the end of the 9-year period specified
in paragraph (2), the Secretary of the Treasury shall publish a
notice in the Federal Register detailing the statute of
limitations provided for in subsection (a) and identifying the
claim numbers and awardee names of unpaid certified claims.
(2) Publication date.--The notice required by paragraph (1)
shall be published 9 years after the latter of--
(A) the last date on which the Secretary of the
Treasury covers into any of the UN Commission Claims
Funds, or into any fund described in section 3(b)(2),
amounts allocated to that fund pursuant to section
3(b); or
(B) the last date on which the Secretary of the
Treasury covers into the Iraq Claims Fund amounts
allocated to that fund pursuant to section 3(d).
(c) Disposition of Unused Funds.--
(1) Disposition.--At the end of the 2-year period beginning
on the publication date of the notice required by subsection
(b), the Secretary of the Treasury shall dispose of all unused
funds described in paragraph (2) as follows:
(A) By making additional payments pursuant to the
Iraq claims program.
(B) By depositing in the Treasury of the United
States as miscellaneous receipts any such funds that
are not used for such additional payments.
(2) Unused funds.--The unused funds referred to in
paragraph (1) are--
(A) any remaining balance in the UN Commission
Claims Funds or in the Iraq Claims Fund, including the
amount of any unpaid certified claim under the Iraq
claims program; and
(B) any remaining balance in any fund referred to
in section 3(b)(2) to the extent such balance reflects
amounts deposited pursuant to that section.
SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act--
(1) the term ``Government of Iraq'' includes agencies,
instrumentalities, and controlled entities (including public
sector enterprises) of that government;
(2) the term ``Executive agency'' has the meaning given
that term by section 105 of title 5, United States Code;
(3) the term ``Iraq claims program'' means the claims whose
adjudication is provided for in this Act and any other claims
that are within the jurisdiction of the United Nations
Commission;
(4) the term ``United Nations Commission'' means the United
Nations Compensation Commission established pursuant to United
Nations Security Council Resolution 687 (1991); and
(5) the term ``United States Commission'' means the Foreign
Claims Settlement Commission of the United States.
SEC. 10. ADMISSION TO THE UNITED STATES AS REFUGEES OF INDIVIDUALS WHO
SERVED IN THE ARMED FORCES OF IRAQ DURING THE PERSIAN
GULF CONFLICT.
(a) Statement of Policy.--It is the sense of the Congress that
individuals who have served in the armed forces of Iraq during the
Persian Gulf conflict should not be admitted to the United States as
refugees under the Immigration and Nationality Act except in
exceptional circumstances.
(b) Persian Gulf Conflict Defined.--For purposes of this section,
the term ``Persian Gulf conflict'' means the period beginning on August
2, 1990, and ending on February 27, 1991.
SEC. 11. HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
(1) Saddam Hussein has been condemned by the international
community for his unwillingness to take the steps necessary to
provide for the basic humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people;
(2) dire shortages of food, medicine, and basic medical
supplies (including insulin, anesthetics, and antibiotics) have
resulted in a continuing humanitarian disaster in Iraq,
including massive human suffering and the death of hundreds of
thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians during the past 4 years;
(3) this humanitarian tragedy is occurring throughout Iraq;
(4) the United States has a long history of providing
humanitarian assistance to alleviate human suffering in many
parts of the world; and
(5) the United States Agency for International Development
has the authority under chapter 9 of part I of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961 (relating to international disaster
assistance) and other provisions of law to provide assistance
to address humanitarian needs throughout Iraq.
(b) Statement of Congressional Policy.--It is the sense of the
Congress that--
(1) the United States should immediately provide additional
humanitarian assistance, particularly medicine and medical
supplies, to alleviate the humanitarian disaster throughout
Iraq;
(2) such assistance should be provided through independent
nongovernmental organizations and through international
organizations so that this desperately need assistance can
reach all areas of need, in particular those outside the United
Nations protected areas; and
(3) the costs of such assistance should be reimbursed from
any available Iraqi resources, including the Iraqi assets that
have been blocked pursuant the International Emergency Economic
Powers Act so long as such reimbursement does not reduce the
amount paid on those priority claims of members of the United
States Armed Forces and others described in section 2(d) of
this Act and does not delay payment on those claims.
SEC. 12. PROSECUTION OF SADDAM HUSSEIN AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE IRAQI
GOVERNMENT FOR WAR CRIMES.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
(1) as ordered by Saddam Hussein, Iraq engaged in
unprovoked aggression in its conquest and occupation of Kuwait;
(2) the Iraqi occupation force treated Kuwaiti citizens
barbarously;
(3) Saddam Hussein used American and European civilians as
``human shields'' in an attempt to protect strategic facilities
throughout Iraq and directed that captured American and allied
prisoners of war be used for the same purposes;
(4) Saddam Hussein ordered his military to launch missile
attacks against innocent civilians in Israel and Saudi Arabia;
and
(5) former President Bush and President Clinton rightly
warned Saddam Hussein and Iraqi Government officials that they
would be held responsible for any abuses they have caused.
(b) Establishment of Tribunal.--The Congress urges the President to
request the United Nations to establish a tribunal to charge Saddam
Hussein and other responsible Iraqi Government officials for war
crimes, acts of aggression, and crimes against humanity they have
committed.
Passed the House of Representatives April 28, 1994.
Attest:
Clerk.