Stop COVID Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2006 To amend the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to establish an exception to jurisdictional immunity for a foreign state that discharges a biological weapon, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 10, 2021 Mrs. BLACKBURN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to establish an exception to jurisdictional immunity for a foreign state that discharges a biological weapon, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop China-Originated 4 Viral Infectious Diseases Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘Stop 5 COVID Act of 2021’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2006.IS S2006 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2006 IS SEC. 2. EXCEPTION TO JURISDICTIONAL IMMUNITY OF A 1 FOREIGN STATE. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1605 of title 28, United 3 States Code, is amended— 4 (1) by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as 5 subsections (h) and (i), respectively; and 6 (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘(g)(1) A foreign state shall not be immune from the 9 jurisdiction of the courts of the United States in any case 10 where such foreign state is alleged, whether intentionally 11 or unintentionally, to have discharged a biological agent, 12 as defined in section 178 of title 18, and such discharge 13 results in the bodily injury, death, or damage to property 14 of a national of the United States. 15 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding section 2337(2) of title 18, a 16 national of the United States may bring a claim for money 17 damages against a foreign state in accordance with section 18 2333 of title 18 if the foreign state would not be immune 19 under this subsection.’’. 20 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub- 21 section (a) shall apply to the discharge of a biological 22 agent that occurred before, on, or after the date of enact- 23 ment of this Act. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2006.IS S2006 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS