In a recent push for justice and support for terrorism victims, Representatives Josh Gottheimer (NJ), Dan Goldman (NY), Nicole Malliotakis (NY), and Mike Lawler (NY) introduced the bipartisan American Victims of Terrorism Compensation Act (H.R. 8419). This legislation aims to strengthen the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund (USVSST), ensuring it can provide timely and consistent compensation to over 18,000 victims of state-sponsored terrorism, including 9/11 families and survivors of other terror attacks such as the TWA Flight 847 and the recent Hamas attack on Israel.
The fund, created in 2015, has faced challenges in maintaining sufficient resources, which led to sporadic and inadequate payouts. The proposed bill seeks to rectify this by ensuring that criminal penalties and fines collected by the U.S. Department of Justice are properly allocated to the fund. It would also require annual payments to eligible victims and establish increased Congressional oversight.
This legislation has garnered support across the political spectrum and from numerous advocacy groups, including 9/11 Families United, who stress the importance of providing justice and financial relief to victims and their families without burdening taxpayers.
Watch the press conference here:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?538288-1/reps-gottheimer-goldman-september-11-victims-support
