Justice for the Living Victims of Lockerbie Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4554 To provide compensation for United States victims of Libyan state-sponsored terrorism, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 9, 2020 Ms. COLLINS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide compensation for United States victims of Libyan state-sponsored terrorism, 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 ‘‘Justice for the Living 4 Victims of Lockerbie Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINED TERM. 6 In this Act, the term ‘‘compensable living victim of 7 Libyan state-sponsored terrorism’’ means an individual 8 who— 9 (1) is a United States person; 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:03 Sep 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4554.IS S4554 2 •S 4554 IS (2) was employed by Pan American Airlines on 1 December 3, 1991; 2 (3) was a named claimant in the case referred 3 to in section 3(b)(2); and 4 (4) was alive on August 14, 2008. 5 SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF CAUSE. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 7 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Trans- 8 portation shall direct the Assistant Secretary for Aviation 9 and International Affairs to review and make a determina- 10 tion as to whether it is more probable than not that the 11 bombing of Pan American Flight 103 over Lockerbie, 12 Scotland on December 21, 1988, was a proximate cause 13 of the subsequent bankruptcy of Pan American World Air- 14 lines. 15 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In making the determination 16 required under subsection (a), the Assistant Secretary for 17 Aviation and International Affairs shall— 18 (1) apply legal standards and principles gen- 19 erally followed by State and Federal courts in the 20 United States; 21 (2) allow former Pan American employees who 22 were named claimants in Abbott et al. v. Socialist 23 People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (case number 24 1:94–cv–02444–SS) in the United States District 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4554.IS S4554 3 •S 4554 IS Court for the District of Columbia to submit written 1 documents and legal arguments on the issue of cau- 2 sation described in subsection (a); and 3 (3) except as provided elsewhere in this section, 4 limit the review to the evidentiary record of the For- 5 eign Claims Settlement Commission provided to the 6 Assistant Secretary pursuant to subsection (c) (ex- 7 cluding prior decisions of the Commission). 8 (c) SUBMISSION OF RECORDS.—The Foreign Claims 9 Settlement Commission shall provide the Assistant Sec- 10 retary for Aviation and International Affairs with copies 11 of the evidentiary record, including documents submitted 12 by claimants, statements and affidavits of witnesses, hear- 13 ing transcripts, and post-hearing submissions, associated 14 with Category F claims referred to the Commission by the 15 Department of State on November 27, 2013, involving 16 claims of the United States nationals against the Govern- 17 ment of Libya that were settled under the ‘‘Claims Settle- 18 ment Agreement Between the United States of America 19 and the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab 20 Jamahiriya’’, dated August 14, 2008. 21 (d) WRITTEN DETERMINATION.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 23 the date on which the Secretary of Transportation 24 directs the Assistant Secretary for Aviation and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4554.IS S4554 4 •S 4554 IS International Affairs to review the issue described in 1 subsection (a), the Assistant Secretary shall submit 2 a written determination to the Secretary. 3 (2) SUBMISSION TO THE FOREIGN CLAIMS SET- 4 TLEMENT COMMISSION.—If the Assistant Secretary 5 determines that the Lockerbie bombing was a proxi- 6 mate cause of the bankruptcy of Pan American 7 World Airlines, the Secretary of Transportation, not 8 later than 10 days after the date on which the Sec- 9 retary received such written determination, shall de- 10 liver a copy of such determination to the Secretary 11 of the Treasury and the Foreign Claims Settlement 12 Commission. 13 SEC. 4. LIVING VICTIMS OF LOCKERBIE CLAIMS FUND. 14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—If the Assistant Secretary for 15 Aviation and International Affairs makes the determina- 16 tion of cause described in section 3, the Secretary of the 17 Treasury shall establish, in the Treasury of the United 18 States, a trust fund (referred to in this Act as the 19 ‘‘Fund’’) for the payment of claims submitted by compen- 20 sable living victims of Libyan state-sponsored terrorism. 21 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Once the 22 Fund is established pursuant to subsection (a), there shall 23 be appropriated to the Fund, out of any money in the 24 Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4554.IS S4554 5 •S 4554 IS $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, which shall be made 1 available to provide compensation to compensable living 2 victims of Libyan state-sponsored terrorism. 3 SEC. 5. COMPENSATION FOR LIVING VICTIMS OF LIBYAN 4 STATE-SPONSORED TERRORISM. 5 (a) CERTIFICATION BY THE FOREIGN CLAIMS SET- 6 TLEMENT COMMISSION.—Not later than 30 days after re- 7 ceiving a copy of the determination from the Secretary of 8 Transportation under section 3(c)(2), the Foreign Claims 9 Settlement Commission— 10 (1) shall publish, in the Federal Register, a 11 process for filing applications on behalf of compen- 12 sable living victims of Libyan state-sponsored ter- 13 rorism; 14 (2) shall determine if individuals who have sub- 15 mitted claims for payments under subsection (b) are 16 compensable living victims of Libyan state-sponsored 17 terrorism; and 18 (3) upon the approval of each claim pursuant to 19 paragraph (1), shall certify such determination to 20 the Secretary of the Treasury for authorization of 21 payment under subsection (b). 22 (b) PAYMENTS AUTHORIZED.—Upon receiving a cer- 23 tification from the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission 24 under subsection (a)(3), the Secretary of the Treasury 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4554.IS S4554 6 •S 4554 IS shall make payments from the Fund to compensable living 1 victims of Libyan state-sponsored terrorism in accordance 2 with subsection (c). 3 (c) COMPENSATION.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon a certification by the 5 Foreign Claims Settlement Commission of a claim 6 by a compensable living victim of Libyan state-spon- 7 sored terrorism, such claimant (or, in the case of a 8 deceased claimant, the personal representative of the 9 claimant’s estate) shall be entitled to an award of 10 $400,000. 11 (2) REPRESENTATIVE.—If a putative claimant 12 that otherwise qualifies for compensation under this 13 section is deceased, a personal representative may 14 bring a claim on behalf of the estate of the claimant. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Sep 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4554.IS S4554