The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“UNANIMOUS-CONSENT AGREEMENT--S. 1796” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S7729-S7730 on July 27, 2000.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
UNANIMOUS-CONSENT AGREEMENT--S. 1796
Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I have a unanimous consent request for the leader.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that it be in order for the majority leader, after consultation with the minority leader, to proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 460, S. 1796, under the following limitations: 2 hours for debate equally divided between the chairman and ranking members, or their designees.
I further ask unanimous consent that the only amendment in order be a Mack, Lautenberg, Leahy, and Feinstein substitute amendment No. 4021.
Finally, I ask unanimous consent that following the use or yielding back of time, and the disposition of the above-listed amendment, the bill be read the third time, and the Senate proceed to a vote on passage of the bill as amended, if amended.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased that we have reached a time agreement to take up and consider S.1796, the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act. However, it is regrettable that we could not pass this important legislation by unanimous consent this week, as I had hoped.
The Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act addresses an issue that should deeply concern all of us: the enforcement of court-ordered judgments that compensate the victims of state-sponsored terrorism. This legislation has the strong support of American families who have lost loved ones due to the callous indifference to life of international terrorist organizations and their client states, and it deserves our support as well.
One such family is the family of Alisa Flatow, an American student killed in Gaza in a 1995 bus bombing. The Flatow family obtained a $247 million judgment in Federal court against the Iranian-sponsored Islamic Jihad, which proudly claimed responsibility for the bombing that took her life. But the family has been unable to enforce this judgment because Iranian assets in the United States remain frozen.
This bill would provide an avenue for the Flatow family and others in their position to recover the damages due them under American law. It would permit successful plaintiffs to attach certain foreign assets to satisfy judgments against foreign states for personal injury or death caused by an act of torture, extrajudicial killing, aircraft sabotage, hostage taking, or the provision of material support or resources for such an act. Meanwhile, it allows the President to waive the bill's provisions if that is necessary for the national security interest.
Some have raised concerns that the legislation could cause the United States to violate its treaty obligations to protect the diplomatic property of other nations, and thus provoke retaliation against our diplomatic property in other nations. I believe that this bill can and should be construed as being consistent with our international obligations, and I trust the State Department to ensure that it does not compromise the integrity of our diplomatic property abroad. I want to commend Senator Biden for working with the sponsors and the State Department to help fashion the changes to S.1796 that help accomplish that goal.
I am also pleased that the time agreement will allow the Senate to consider a Mack-Lautenberg-Leahy-Feinstein amendment dealing with support for victims of international terrorism. This amendment will enable the Office for Victims of Crime to provide more immediate and effective assistance to Americans who are victims of terrorism abroad--
Americans like those killed or injured in the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, and in the Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. These victims deserve help, but according to OVC, existing programs are failing to meet their needs. Working with OVC, we have crafted legislation to correct this problem.
Our amendment will permit the Office for Victims of Crime to serve these victims better by expanding the types of assistance for which the VOCA emergency reserve fund may be used, and the range of organizations to which such funds may be provided. These changes will not require new or appropriated funds: They simply allow OVC greater flexibility in using existing reserve funds to assist victims of terrorism abroad, including the victims of the Lockerbie and embassy bombings.
Our amendment will also authorize OVC to raise the cap on the VOCA emergency reserve fund from $50 million to $100 million, so that the fund is large enough to cover the extraordinary costs that would be incurred if a terrorist act caused massive casualties, and to replenish the reserve fund with unobligated funds from its other grant programs.
At the same time, the amendment will simplify the presently-
authorized system of using VOCA funds to provide victim compensation to American victims of terrorism abroad, by permitting OVC to establish and operate an international crime victim compensation program. This program will, in addition, cover foreign nationals who are employees of any American government institution targeted for terrorist attack. The source of funding is the VOCA emergency reserve fund, which we authorized in an amendment I offered to the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act.
Finally, our amendment clarifies that deposits into the Crime Victims Fund remain available for intended uses under VOCA when not expended immediately. This should quell concerns raised regarding the effect of spending caps included in appropriations bills last year and this. I understand the appropriations' actions to have deferred spending but not to have removed deposits from the Fund. This provision makes that explicit.
I want to thank Senator Feinstein for her support and assistance on this initiative. Senator Feinstein cares deeply about the rights of victims, and I am pleased that we could work together on some practical, pragmatic improvements to our federal crime victims' laws. We would have liked to do more. In particular, we would have liked to allow OVC to deliver timely and critically needed emergency assistance to all victims of terrorism and mass violence occurring outside the United States and targeted at the United States or United States nationals.
Unfortunately, to achieve bipartisan consensus on our amendment, we were compelled to restrict OVC's authority, so that it may provide emergency assistance only to United States nationals and employees. It seems more than a little bizarre to me that the richest country in the world would reserve emergency aid for victims of terrorism who can produce a passport or W-2. I will continue to work with OVC and victims' organization to remedy this anomaly.
I regret that we have not done more for victims this year, or during the last few years. I have on several occasions noted my concern that we not dissipate the progress we could be making by focusing exclusively on efforts to amend the Constitution. Regretfully, I must note that the pace of victims legislation has slowed noticeably and many opportunities for progress have been squandered.
I am hopeful that we can make some progress this year by passing our amendment to S.1796, and I look forward to continuing to work with the Administration, victims groups, prosecutors, judges and other interested parties on how we can most effectively assist victims and provide them the greater voice and rights that they deserve.
I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________
