SIL19207 S.L.C.

AMENDMENT NO.llll Calendar No.lll

Purpose: To provide justice for United States victims of
Palestinian terrorism.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES—116th Cong., 1st Sess.

(no.) lllllll

(title) llllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

Referred to the Committee on llllllllll and

ordered to be printed
Ordered to lie on the table and to be printed
AMENDMENT intended to be proposed by
llllllllll
Viz:
1 At the appropriate place, insert the following:
2 TITLE lll—JUSTICE FOR
3 UNITED STATES VICTIMS OF
4 PALESTINIAN TERRORISM
5 SEC. ll01. SHORT TITLE.

6 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Justice for United

7 States Victims of Palestinian Terrorism Act’’.
8 SEC. ll02. FACILITATION OF THE SETTLEMENT OF TER-

9 RORISM-RELATED CLAIMS OF NATIONALS OF

10 THE UNITED STATES.

11 (a) COMPREHENSIVE PROCESS TO FACILITATE THE

12 RESOLUTION OF ANTI-TERRORISM ACT CLAIMS.—The

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1 Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney Gen-
2 eral, shall, not later than 30 days after the date of enact-
3 ment of this Act, develop and initiate a comprehensive
4 process for the Department of State to facilitate the reso-
5 lution and settlement of covered claims.
6 (b) ELEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE PROCESS.—The
7 comprehensive process developed under subsection (a)
8 shall include, at a minimum, the following:
9 (1) Not later than 45 days after the date of en-
10 actment of this Act, the Department of State shall
11 publish a notice in the Federal Register identifying
12 the method by which a national of the United
13 States, or a representative of a national of the
14 United States, who has a covered claim, may contact
15 the Department of State to give notice of the cov-
16 ered claim.
17 (2) Not later than 120 days after the date of
18 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, or a
19 designee of the Secretary, shall meet (and make
20 every effort to continue to meet on a regular basis
21 thereafter) with any national of the United States,
22 or a representative of a national of the United
23 States, who has a covered claim and has informed
24 the Department of State of the covered claim using
25 the method established pursuant to paragraph (1) to
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1 discuss the status of the covered claim, including the
2 status of any settlement discussions with the Pales-
3 tinian Authority or the Palestine Liberation Organi-
4 zation.
5 (3) Not later than 180 days after the date of
6 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, or a
7 designee of the Secretary, shall make every effort to
8 meet (and make every effort to continue to meet on
9 a regular basis thereafter) with representatives of
10 the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Libera-
11 tion Organization to discuss the covered claims iden-
12 tified pursuant to paragraph (1) and potential settle-
13 ment of the covered claims.
14 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary of State
15 shall, not later than 240 days after the date of enactment
16 of this Act, and annually thereafter for 5 years, submit
17 to the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on
18 Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on
19 the Judiciary and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of
20 the House of Representatives a report describing activities
21 that the Department of State has undertaken to comply
22 with this section, including specific updates regarding
23 paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (b).
24 (d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
25 gress that—
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1 (1) covered claims should be resolved in a man-
2 ner that provides just compensation to the victims;
3 (2) any final judgment awarded to any national
4 of the United States under section 2333 of title 18,
5 United States Code, against the Palestinian Author-
6 ity or the Palestine Liberation Organization should
7 be resolved and settled in favor of the victim to the
8 fullest extent possible;
9 (3) the United States Government should take
10 all practicable steps to facilitate the resolution and
11 settlement of all covered claims, including engaging
12 directly with the victims or their representatives and
13 the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Libera-
14 tion Organization; and
15 (4) the United States Government should
16 strongly urge the Palestinian Authority and the Pal-
17 estine Liberation Organization to commit to good-
18 faith negotiations to resolve and settle all covered
19 claims.
20 (e) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘covered
21 claim’’ means any pending action by, or final judgment
22 in favor of, a national of the United States, or any action
23 by a national of the United States dismissed for lack of
24 personal jurisdiction, under section 2333 of title 18,
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1 United States Code, against the Palestinian Authority or
2 the Palestine Liberation Organization.
3 SEC. ll03. JURISDICTIONAL AMENDMENTS TO FACILI-

4 TATE RESOLUTION OF TERRORISM-RELATED

5 CLAIMS OF NATIONALS OF THE UNITED

6 STATES.

7 Section 2334(e) of title 18, United States Code, is

8 amended—
9 (1) in paragraph (1)—
10 (A) in subparagraph (A)—
11 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i),
12 by striking ‘‘after the date that is 120
13 days after the date of enactment of this
14 subsection, accepts’’ and inserting ‘‘after
15 January 31, 2019, and except as provided
16 in paragraph (3), enters into a new con-
17 tract, grant, or other agreement, or ex-
18 pands the scope of or extends in any way
19 an existing contract, grant, or other agree-
20 ment, with the United States Government
21 that obligates’’;
22 (ii) in clause (i), by adding ‘‘or’’ at
23 the end;
24 (iii) by striking clause (ii); and
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1 (iv) by redesignating clause (iii) as
2 clause (ii); and
3 (B) in subparagraph (B), in the matter
4 preceding clause (i)—
5 (i) by striking ‘‘benefiting from a
6 waiver or suspension of section 1003 of the
7 Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 (22 U.S.C.
8 5202)’’ and inserting ‘‘benefiting from or
9 identified in any waiver or suspension of
10 any provision of section 1003 of the Anti-
11 Terrorism Act of 1987 (22 U.S.C. 5202)
12 or of any sanction under section 604 of the
13 Middle East Peace Commitments Act of
14 2002 (subtitle A of title VI of division A
15 of Public Law 107–228; 116 Stat. 1395)’’;
16 and
17 (ii) by striking ‘‘the date that is 120
18 days after the date of enactment of this
19 subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘January, 31,
20 2019’’; and
21 (2) by adding at the end the following:
22 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN PAYMENTS AND

23 ASSISTANCE.—In determining whether a defendant

24 shall be deemed to have consented to personal juris-
25 diction under paragraph (1)(A), no court may con-
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1 sider any payment or assistance described in section
2 1004(b)(1) of the Taylor Force Act (22 U.S.C.
3 2378c–1(b)(1)).’’.