Justice for Uncompensated Survivors Today (JUST) Act of 2016

Justice for Uncompensated Survivors Today (JUST) Act of 2016

This bill directs the Department of State, with respect to covered countries, to annually include within either the relevant Annual Country Report on Human Rights, the International Religious Freedom Report, or other appropriate report an assessment of the nature and extent of national laws or enforceable policies regarding the identification, return, or restitution of wrongfully seized or transferred Holocaust era assets and compliance with the goals of the Terezin Declaration on Holocaust Era Assets and Related Issues, including:

• the return to the rightful owner of wrongfully seized or transferred property, including religious or communal property, or the provision of comparable substitute property or the payment of equitable compensation to the rightful owner;
• the use of the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art and the Terezin Declaration in settling claims involving publicly and privately held movable property;
• the restitution of heirless property to assist needy Holocaust survivors; and
• progress on the resolution of claims for U.S. citizen Holocaust survivors and family members.

"Covered countries" means signatories to the Terezin Declaration that are determined by the Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues to be countries of particular concern with respect to such restitution.

[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5653 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5653

To require reporting on acts of certain foreign countries on Holocaust 
                     era assets and related issues.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 7, 2016

 Mr. Crowley (for himself and Mr. Smith of New Jersey) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require reporting on acts of certain foreign countries on Holocaust 
                     era assets and related issues.

    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 ``Justice for Uncompensated Survivors 
Today (JUST) Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORTING ON HOLOCAUST ERA ASSETS AND RELATED ISSUES.

    (a) In General.--For covered countries, the Secretary of State 
shall annually include within either the relevant Annual Country Report 
on Human Rights, the International Religious Freedom Report, or other 
appropriate report as determined by the Secretary, an assessment and 
description of the nature and extent of national laws or enforceable 
policies regarding the identification and the return of or restitution 
for wrongfully seized or transferred Holocaust era assets and 
compliance with or progress toward the goals and objectives of the 2009 
Terezin Declaration on Holocaust Era Assets and Related Issues, 
including--
            (1) the return to the rightful owner of any property, 
        including religious or communal property, that was wrongfully 
        seized or transferred;
            (2) if return of such property is no longer possible, the 
        provision of comparable substitute property or the payment of 
        equitable compensation to the rightful owner in accordance with 
        principles of justice and through an expeditious claims-driven 
        administrative process that is just, transparent, and fair;
            (3) the use of the Washington Conference Principles on 
        Nazi-Confiscated Art, agreed to December 3, 1998, and the 
        Terezin Declaration on Holocaust Assets and Related Issues, 
        agreed to June 30, 2009, in settling all claims involving 
        publically and privately held movable property;
            (4) the restitution of heirless property to assist needy 
        Holocaust survivors, and for other purposes;
            (5) the extent to which such laws and policies are 
        implemented and enforced in practice, including through any 
        applicable administrative or judicial processes; and
            (6) the mechanism for and demonstrable progress on the 
        resolution of claims for United States citizen Holocaust 
        survivors and United States citizen family members of Holocaust 
        victims.
    (b) Effective Date of Inclusion.--
            (1) Inclusion in annual country report on human rights or 
        international religious freedom report.--If the Secretary of 
        State includes the information required under subsection (a) in 
        the report required under section 116(d) of the Foreign 
        Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d)) or the report 
        required under section 102(b) of the International Religious 
        Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6412(b)), the requirement to 
        include such information shall apply beginning with the first 
        report submitted later than 180 days after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
            (2) Inclusion in other department of state report.--If the 
        Secretary of State includes the information required under 
        subsection (a) in an existing report of the Department of State 
        other than a report described in paragraph (1), the requirement 
        to include such information shall apply beginning with the 
        first report submitted later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act.
            (3) Inclusion in new report.--If the Secretary of State 
        includes the information required under subsection (a) in a new 
        report, the Secretary shall submit such report not later than 
        one year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (c) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 
                Committees on Appropriations of the House of 
                Representatives.
            (2) Covered countries.--The term ``covered countries'' 
        means signatories to the 2009 Terezin Declaration on Holocaust 
        Era Assets and Related Issues that are determined by the 
        Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, in consultation with expert 
        nongovernmental organizations, to be countries of particular 
        concern relative to the issues listed in subsection (a).
            (3) Wrongfully seized or transferred.--The term 
        ``wrongfully seized or transferred'' includes confiscations, 
        expropriations, nationalizations, forced sales or transfers, 
        and sales or transfers under duress during the Holocaust era or 
        the period of Communist rule of the country in question.
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