H.R. 3008 — Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act of 2025

This section declares the purposes of the Act, which are (1) to authorize enforcement of state laws requiring disclosure of information about Holocaust-era insurance policies notwithstanding the Supreme Court's holding in *American Insurance Association v. Garamendi*, 539 U.S. 396 (2003), that such laws are preempted by executive branch foreign policy; (2) to facilitate such disclosures under state laws so that U.S. citizens and others may ascertain rights under the policies; (3) to establish a federal private right of action and subject matter jurisdiction allowing beneficiaries—many of whom are U.S. citizens—to sue in U.S. courts for policy proceeds notwithstanding *Garamendi* preemption defenses, with state forum law or federal common law as the rule of decision; (4) to bar defenses based on prior judgments or settlements (including the class action settlement in *In re: Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. Holocaust Insurance Litigation*, M21-89, S.D.N.Y.) that relied on *Garamendi* preemption; (5) to impose a uniform 10-year statute of limitations from enactment for actions to recover under such policies under this Act or state law; and (6) to preserve Congress's Article I lawmaking authority inconsistent with the cited judicial decisions.

This section defines terms used in the Act, including (1) beneficiary (i.e., a named insured or beneficiary under a covered policy, or an heir, assignee, or legal representative thereof); (2) covered policy (i.e., any life, dowry, education, annuity, property, or other insurance policy in effect at any time from January 31, 1933, to December 31, 1945, and issued to a policyholder domiciled in an area occupied or controlled by Nazi Germany or in the territorial jurisdiction of Switzerland); (3) insurer (i.e., any person engaged in the business of insurance, including reinsurance, in interstate or foreign commerce that issued a covered policy, including successors in interest); (4) Nazi Germany (i.e., the Nazi Government of Germany and any government with friendly relations therewith, allied or controlled thereby, or exercising sovereignty over areas occupied by its military forces); and (5) related company (i.e., an affiliate, as defined in 15 U.S.C. 6701(g)).

This section establishes a federal private right of action and subject matter jurisdiction for beneficiaries of covered policies to sue the insurer or a related company in U.S. district court to recover proceeds due or enforce rights under the policy, with the rule of decision governed by the forum state's law or federal common law at the beneficiary's option. It authorizes nationwide service of process and requires courts to award prevailing beneficiaries (1) policy proceeds due, (2) prejudgment interest at 6% per year compounded annually from the due date, (3) treble damages if the insurer or related company acted in bad faith, and (4) reasonable attorney's fees and costs. Civil actions under this section must be brought within 10 years after the date of enactment.

This section provides that a judgment entered before the date of enactment of this Act for any claim arising under a covered policy in federal or state court, or any pre-enactment agreement waiving such a claim, does not bar any claim brought under section 4. It further provides an exception preserving the validity and enforceability of pre-enactment release agreements between a claimant and the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) or an insurer made in consideration for payment under a covered policy, unless the payment is denominated as humanitarian by ICHEIC. (Thus, most prior judgments and releases are ineffective against section 4 claims, but ICHEIC settlements generally remain binding except for humanitarian payments.)

This section prohibits executive agreements between the United States and foreign governments—entered into before, on, or after enactment—and executive branch foreign policies—established before, on, or after enactment—from (1) superseding or preempting state laws relating to claims under covered policies against insurers or related companies, or requiring insurers or related companies doing business in the state to disclose information on covered policies; or (2) compromising, settling, extinguishing, waiving, precluding, barring, or foreclosing claims brought under section 4 of this Act.

This section establishes a 10-year period following enactment during which claims under any state law described in section 6(a) are deemed timely, notwithstanding any state or federal statute of limitations or other legal or equitable timeliness doctrine (including laches).

This section provides a severability clause stating that if any provision of the Act, or its application to any person or circumstance, is held unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances remains unaffected.