S 1401

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IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

August 6 (legislative day, June 30), 1993

Mr. Pell (by request) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

A BILL

To provide for the adjudication of certain claims against Iraq, and for other purposes.

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 1993”.

SEC. 2. ADJUDICATION OF CLAIMS.

(a) The Foreign Claims Settlement Commission of the United States (“the 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 Compensation Commission (“the UNCC”).

(b) The Commission is further authorized to receive and determine the validity and amounts of any claims by nationals of the United States against Iraq that are determined by the Secretary of State to be outside the jurisdiction of the UNCC.

(c) In deciding such claims, the Commission shall apply, in the following order—

(1) relevant decisions of the United Nations Security Council and the UNCC (in the case of claims under subsection

(a));

(2) applicable substantive law, including international law; and

(3) applicable principles of justice and equity.

(d) The Commission shall, to the extent practical, decide all pending non-commercial claims of members of the armed forces and other individuals arising out of Iraq’s invasion and occupation of Kuwait before deciding any other claim.

(e) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the provisions of titles I and VII of the International Claims Settlement Act of 1949 (22 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.) shall apply with respect to claims under this Act. Any reference in such provisions to “this title” shall be deemed to refer to those provisions and to this Act. Any reference in such provisions to “section 703” shall be deemed to refer to section 2(b) of this Act.

(f) In determining the amount of any claim adjudicated under this Act, the Commission shall deduct all amounts the claimant has received from any source on account of the same loss or losses.

SEC. 3. CLAIMS FUNDS.

(a) The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to establish in the Treasury of the United States one or more funds (“the UNCC Claims Funds”) for payment of claims under section 2(a). The Secretary of the Treasury shall cover into the UNCC Claims Funds such amounts as are transferred to him by the Secretary of State pursuant to subsection

(e).

(b) The Secretary of the Treasury is further authorized to establish in the Treasury of the United States a fund (“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 by the President from assets of the Government of Iraq liquidated pursuant to subsection (d).

(c) In accordance with section 8(g) of the International Claims Settlement Act of 1949 (22 U.S.C. 1627(g)), the funds established pursuant to sections 3(a) and 3(b) shall be invested in public debt securities and shall bear interest at rates determined by the Secretary of the Treasury taking into consideration the current average market yield on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States of comparable maturity.

(d) 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 UNCC. The President shall allocate these funds in the manner he determines appropriate between the Iraq Claims Fund and such other accounts as are appropriate for the payment of claims of the United States Government.

(e) The Secretary of State shall allocate funds received by the United States from the UNCC in the manner he determines appropriate between the UNCC Claims Funds and funds established under the authority of section 2668a of title 22 of the United States Code.

SEC. 4. PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION SELF-SUFFICIENCY.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of the Treasury shall deduct an amount equal to 1\1/2\ per centum from any amount covered into the claims funds established under section 3, and from any amounts the Secretary of State receives from the UNCC which are not covered into a claims fund established under section 3 and not in payment of a claim of the United States Government, to reimburse the agencies of the Government of the United States for their expenses in administering the Iraq claims program and this Act. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Chairman of the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission and the Secretary of State, shall determine the proportional distribution of the reimbursement set-aside, and shall advance for credit or reimburse a department, agency, or instrumentality of the Federal Government for its respective expenses in administering the Iraq claims program and this Act. Amounts received by such department, agency or instrumentality shall be credited or reimbursed to the appropriation account then current and shall remain available for expenditure without fiscal year limitation.

SEC. 5. PAYMENTS.

(a) The Commission shall certify to the Secretary of the Treasury each award made pursuant to section 2. The Secretary of the Treasury shall make payment in the following order of priority out of the appropriate fund provided for in section 3—

(1) payment in the amount of $10,000 or the principal amount of the award, whichever is less;

(2) when the Secretary of the Treasury has determined that funds are available to pay each claim having priority under section 2(d) an additional $90,000, payment of a further $90,000 of the principal of the awards that have priority under section 2(d);

(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; and

(5) after payment has been made in full of all the awards payable out of any of the claims funds established by section 3, any funds remaining in that claims fund shall be transferred to the other claims fund created by that section, except any funds received by the United States from the UNCC shall be so transferred to the extent not inconsistent with UNCC requirements.

(b) 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. 6. RECORDS.

(a) The Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury may transfer or otherwise make available to the Commission such records and documents relating to claims authorized by this Act as may be required by the Commission in carrying out its functions under this Act.

(b) Notwithstanding section 552 of title 5 of the United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act), records pertaining to claims before the Commission and the UNCC may not be disclosed to the general public, except that—

(1) decisions of the UNCC and filings of the United States on its own behalf of the UNCC shall be made available to the public, unless the Secretary of State determines that public disclosure would be prejudicial to the interests of the United States or United States claimants, or that public disclosure would be inconsistent with the procedures of the UNCC;

(2) with respect to records of the Department of State, the Secretary of State may determine on a case-by-case basis to make such information available when in the judgment of the Secretary the interests of justice so require;

(3) with respect to records of the Department of the Treasury, the Secretary of the Treasury may determine on a case-by-case basis to make such information available when in the judgment of the Secretary the interests of justice so require; and

(4) with respect to records of the Commission, the Chairman of the Commission may determine on a case-by-case basis to make such information available when in the judgment of the Chairman the interests of justice so require. Before releasing records that originated with another Executive Branch agency (as defined in section 105 of title 5 of the United States Code), the Commission shall obtain the concurrence of the originating agency.

SEC. 7. SEVERABILITY.

If any provision of this Act or the application thereof to any person or circumstances shall be held invalid, the remainder of the Act or the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected.

SEC. 8. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS; DISPOSITION OF UNPAID CERTIFIED CLAIMS.

(a) Nine years after the Secretary of the Treasury last covers funds into the UNCC Claims Fund(s) or the Iraq Claims Fund established under section 3 of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall publish a notice in the Federal Register detailing this statute of limitations and identifying the claim numbers and awardee names of unpaid certified claims. Any demand or claim for payment on account of an award certified under the Iraq claims program shall be barred one year after the publication date of the notice required by this subsection.

(b) Two years after the publication date of the notice required by subsection (a), any unpaid certified claim amount and any remaining balance in the UNCC Claims Fund(s) or the Iraq Claims Fund established under section 3 of this Act shall be deposited to the miscellaneous receipts of the Treasury.

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