S. 1884 — Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2025

This section amends the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2016 (HEAR Act), which provides a uniform six-year federal statute of limitations for civil claims to recover Nazi-confiscated art and other property discovered after January 1, 2010 (overriding shorter state limitations periods), as follows: (1) in section 2, adds findings (new pars. (8)-(9)) declaring the Act's intent to permit claims notwithstanding passage of time or victim nationality and to preclude defenses such as laches, adverse possession, act of state doctrine, forum non conveniens, and international comity; and revises former par. (8) (redesignated as par. (10)) to state that alternative dispute resolution "may, in some circumstances, yield just and fair resolutions as well" (from "will yield just and fair resolutions in a more efficient and predictable manner"); (2) in section 3(2), expands exemption from "statutes of limitation" to include "and other non-merits defenses"; (3) in section 5, inserts new subsection (b) deeming covered claims as involving "rights in violation of international law" under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act's expropriation exception (28 U.S.C. 1605(a)(3)) regardless of victim nationality; adds new subsection (f) explicitly precluding time-based defenses (laches, adverse possession, etc.) and non-merits defenses (act of state doctrine, etc.) for otherwise timely claims; adds new subsection (g) authorizing nationwide service of process; strikes former subsection (g); and makes conforming redesignations and cross-reference updates; and (4) adds new section 6 establishing severability. The amendments apply to civil claims pending on the date of enactment (including on appeal or where appeal time remains) and those filed on or after such date.