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Lautenberg/Specter Bill To Provide Justice For Victims Of State-Sponsored Terrorism Signed Into Law
Washington, D.C.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 -
Landmark bipartisan legislation authored by Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) to provide justice for victims of state-sponsored terrorism was signed into law yesterday by President Bush. The law will give victims their day in court and help them pursue the assets of countries that support terrorism. The measure was included in the final conference version of the FY 2008 Department of Defense Authorization bill.
“This new law achieves my goal of providing justice for American victims of terrorism at the hands of terrorist states like Iran and Libya. I will not rest until all American victims of terrorism get the justice they deserve,” said Sen. Lautenberg.
“I am pleased we were able to work with the administration on this legislation which gives the victims of terrorism and their families the ability to seek legal redress,” said Sen. Specter. “This bill reaffirms that the United States will not tolerate state sponsored terrorism.”
President Bush vetoed the Defense Authorization bill in December, arguing the measure would hinder Iraqi reconstruction by exposing the current Iraqi government to liability for terrorist acts committed by Saddam Hussein’s government. Sen. Lautenberg worked with Senate and House leadership to ensure his provision remained in the bill, while giving the Administration authority to waive the provision in cases related to Iraq.
The new law amends the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act by allowing victims of state-sponsored terror to sue countries that support and promote terrorism. The measure also allows these victims to seize hidden commercial assets for compensation if they win judgments in court.
“It’s taken a long time to get to this day—24 painful, grief-filled years—but now the victims and the families of the Beirut Marine Corps Barracks Bombing, and victims of terrorism everywhere, can begin to heal, because we can once again have hope for the future. Before yesterday, state-sponsors of terrorism could avoid being held accountable for their actions. That is no longer the case. Our focus now turns back to the court system, where we intend to move vigorously and rapidly to identify and attach the $2.6 billion in Iranian assets awarded by a Federal Court on September 7, 2007 to the victims and their families of the Iranian sponsored terrorism,” said Lynn Derbyshire, who serves as the national spokesperson for The Beirut Families.
The new law was based on legislation introduced in 2007 -- the Justice for Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Act (S.1944) – and is based on a 1996 amendment to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act known as the Flatow Amendment, which enabled American victims of terrorism to pursue state sponsors of terrorism in court. The new law will:
reaffirm the rights of plaintiffs to sue state sponsors of terrorism;
allow the seizure of hidden commercial assets belonging to terrorist states so victims of terrorism can be justly compensated;
limit the number of appeals that a terrorist state can pursue in U.S. courts; and
provide foreign nationals working for the U.S. government these same benefits if they are victimized in a terrorist attack during their official duties.
U.S. District Court ruled in September 2007 that Iran owed the families of the 1983 bombing of the Beirut Marine Barracks, which killed 241 servicemen, $2.656 billion in damages for this attack. This new law will help these victims of terrorism receive justice and obtain these damages.
The law also allows victims of the 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis to have access to the U.S. Courts so they may prosecute their claims against Iran.
The original bill (S.1944) has an impressive bipartisan list of 30 cosponsors, including Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Trent Lott (R-MS), Joseph Biden (D-DE), John Cornyn (R-TX ), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Robert Casey (D-PA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Ted Stevens (R-AK), Max Baucus (D-MT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Richard Burr (R-NC), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), James Inhoffe (R-OK), Carl Levin (D-MI), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Thomas Carper (D-DE), Jim DeMint (R-SC), John Ensign (R-NV), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Mel Martinez (R-FL), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).
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