United States · Bill · S
S. 1257 (109th)
A bill to amend title 28, United States Code, to clarify that persons may bring private rights of actions against foreign states for certain terrorist acts, and for other purposes.
Introduced
16 June 2005
Last action
16 June 2005 · Introduced
Status
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S6747)
Sponsors
Sen. Specter, Arlen [R-PA], Sen. Lautenberg, Frank R. [D-NJ], Sen. DeWine, Mike [R-OH]
Subjects
Discovery layer
Source updated
10 August 2026
Summary
Amends the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA) to require that a foreign state designated as a state sponsor of terrorism under specified laws, or an official, employee, or agent of such a foreign state, shall be liable to a U.S. national for the national's personal injury or death caused by acts of that state or official, employee, or agent acting within the scope of his or her duties. Provides that the removal of a foreign state from designation as a state sponsor of terrorism shall not terminate such a cause of action arising during the period of designation. Authorizes U.S. courts to exercise jurisdiction over such actions for money damages under an FSIA provision concerning acts of torture, extrajudicial killing, aircraft sabotage, hostage taking, and material support for such acts. Mandates that property interests of foreign states, or agencies or instrumentalities of foreign states, against which judgment is entered pursuant to such provision are subject to attachment execution. Requires foreign states to be held vicariously liable for the actions of their officials, employees, or agents. Amends the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (VCA) to modify the definition of "victim" for purposes of compensation under that Act. Requires the transfer of VCA funds to carry out an order appointing Special Masters in the matter of Peterson, et al. v. The Islamic Republic of Iran. Revives previously dismissed causes of action that would be cognizable under this Act by retroactively tolling the applicable statute of limitations from the date of initial filing to 60 days after enactment of this Act.
This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.
Timeline
16 June 2005
Introduced
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S6747)
Source: IntroReferral
16 June 2005
Introduced
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6746-6747)
Source: IntroReferral
16 June 2005
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
Source: IntroReferral
Votes
No vote records are attached yet.
Versions
- Introduced in Senate · 16 June 2005 · Download file
Documents
3 official files
Introduced in Senate (text)
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Introduced in Senate (text)
Introduced in Senate · EN · 16 June 2005
Introduced in Senate (PDF)
Introduced in Senate · EN · 16 June 2005
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Introduced in Senate
summary · EN · 16 June 2005
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Sponsors
- Sen. Specter, Arlen [R-PA] · R · Sponsor
- Sen. Lautenberg, Frank R. [D-NJ] · D · Sponsor
- Sen. DeWine, Mike [R-OH] · R · Cosponsor
- · ssju00 · Standing
Related records
Sources
PoliticalRepo is an index and interpretation layer, not the authoritative legal source.
- Official source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/109th-congress/senate-bill/1257
- Open data entity: https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/109/s/1257
- us · 109-s-1257 · source updated 10 August 2026