Cornyn, Blumenthal Introduce Bill to Ensure U.S. Victims of Terrorism Receive Compensation

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today introduced the American Victims of Terrorism Compensation Act, which would strengthen the Justice for United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism (USVSST) Act to provide financial compensation to Americans injured in acts of international state-sponsored terrorism and their families:

“It’s unacceptable that many victims and their families are still without justice for the tremendous trauma they have experienced at the hands of terrorists,” said Sen. Cornyn. “This bipartisan legislation would help ensure these brave Americans receive compensation when terrorist defendants refuse to pay for their heinous acts, and I’m glad to lead my colleagues in introducing it to show each and every American victim of terrorism they are not alone.”

“This measure will help ensure victims of state-sponsored terrorism are justly compensated,” said Sen. Blumenthal. “The existing law is in dire need of an update, as the fund intended for the victims has not achieved its goals. This bill will start to correct course, providing victims of terror with the compensation they deserve and setting up a mechanism to help new victims.”

 The legislation is cosponsored by Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) and led by Congressmen Mike Lawler (NY-17) and Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05) in the House of Representatives.

Background:

Enacted in 2015, the Justice for United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism (USVSST) Act provided American victims who hold court judgments against state sponsors of terrorism a mechanism to recover on those judgments given the terrorist defendants’ refusal to pay. However, the fund created by the Justice for USVSST Act has made few distributions since its inception.

The USVSST fund depends almost exclusively on fines and penalties collected by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) against wrongdoers who have violated U.S. sanctions by doing business with state sponsors of terrorism. Due to the DOJ’s decreased enforcement actions, narrow interpretation of the statute, and diversion of funds to other buckets, the USVSST fund has left victims without meaningful distributions for many years.

The American Victims of Terrorism Compensation Act would ensure there is a clear path to help compensate victims for the losses and harms they’ve suffered by:

• Providing an immediate distribution in 2025 and providing a mechanism to ensure that the USVSST fund has a backstop for regular, consistent, and predictable distributions in the future;
• Establishing a sustainable mechanism to help new victims seek and receive judgments against state sponsors of terrorism;
• And ensuring that existing uses and pending claims for asset forfeiture are covered before any funds can be transferred to the USVSST fund. 

The legislation is endorsed by American victims of the October 7^th terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel, IED attacks on U.S. military in Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq, the 2016 Bastille Day attack in Nice, France, the September 11^th terrorist attacks, the 2000 U.S.S. Cole attack, the 1998 East African Embassy bombings, the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing, the passengers of TWA Flight 847 hijacked in 1985 by Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists while on route to the United States, the 1983 and 1984 U.S. Embassy and Embassy Annex bombings in Beirut, the 1983 Beirut Marine Barracks bombing, the 1979 hostage taking of Americans at the diplomatic compound in Tehran, and the 1968 U.S.S. Pueblo attack.