Justice for the Living Victims of Lockerbie Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Justice for the Living Victims of Lockerbie Act creates a targeted compensation process for a narrow class of Pan American World Airways workers who were United States persons, at least 45 years old on December 3, 1991, named claimants in Abbott v. Socialist Peoples Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, and alive on August 14, 2008. Within 30 days, the Department of the Treasury must establish the Living Victims of Lockerbie Claims Trust Fund. The bill appropriates $42,066,338 to the fund until expended. The Foreign Claims Settlement Commission must publish a Federal Register claims process within 30 days, set a claims deadline no later than 60 days after notice publication, determine eligible claims within 60 days after the filing period closes, approve eligible claims, and certify approvals to Treasury. Treasury then pays approved Pan Am workers, affected families acting through estates, or personal representatives in equal shares of the $42,066,338 fund.
Who Benefits and How
Pan American World Airways workers benefit because the bill creates a dedicated fund and administrative path for compensation tied to the Lockerbie terrorism litigation. Families of eligible deceased Pan Am workers benefit because an estate may use a personal representative to file. Approved payment recipients benefit from equal-share Treasury payments rather than needing a new lawsuit. Federal court claimants from Abbott v. Socialist Peoples Libyan Arab Jamahiriya benefit from statutory eligibility criteria linked to the prior case.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Department of the Treasury must establish and pay from the trust fund, and federal taxpayers bear the $42,066,338 appropriation. Foreign Claims Settlement Commission staff must publish the Federal Register notice, process claims, determine eligibility, approve claims, and certify payments on short deadlines. Personal representatives for estates must file within the deadline and document eligibility under the narrow statutory definition.
Key Provisions
- Defines compensable living victims by Pan Am employment, United States person status, age, court-claimant status, and survival date.
- Establishes the Living Victims of Lockerbie Claims Trust Fund in Treasury within 30 days.
- Appropriates $42,066,338 to remain available until expended for approved claims.
- Requires the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission to publish a claims process and approve eligible claims on fixed deadlines.
- Directs Treasury to pay approved workers, families using estates, or personal representatives in equal shares of the fund.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates a $42,066,338 Treasury trust fund and claims process to compensate surviving Pan Am Lockerbie workers, affected families, and eligible estates that meet the bill definition of compensable living victims of Libyan State-sponsored terrorism.
Key Policy Areas
Foreign Claims, Appropriations, Terrorism Victims
Primary Purpose
Creates a $42,066,338 Treasury trust fund and claims process to compensate surviving Pan Am Lockerbie workers, affected families, and eligible estates that meet the bill definition of compensable living victims of Libyan State-sponsored terrorism.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Pan American World Airways workers
- Families of eligible deceased Pan Am workers
- Estates of eligible Pan Am workers
- Federal court claimants
- Approved payment recipients
Identified Costs
- Department of the Treasury
- Foreign Claims Settlement Commission staff
- Federal taxpayers
- Federal Register notice staff
- Personal representatives for estates
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMrs. Kim (for herself and Ms. Lofgren) introduced the following …
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Approved Lockerbie claimants, Eligible Pan Am Lockerbie claimants, Estates of eligible claimants
Positive-direction: Approved Lockerbie claimants, Eligible Pan Am Lockerbie claimants, Estates of eligible claimants
Negative-direction: Ineligible Pan Am claimants, Personal representatives filing claims
Department of the Treasury, Foreign Claims Settlement Commission
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "agencies"
- → ['Department of the Treasury', 'Foreign Claims Settlement Commission']
- "affected_groups"
- → ['Pan American World Airways workers', 'Families of eligible deceased Pan Am workers', 'Federal court claimants']
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology