WASHINGTON, DC - Following his testimony before the House Government Reform Committee yesterday on the importance of helping Holocaust survivors collect on insurance claims, U.S. Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced legislation today called the Holocaust Victims Insurance Fairness Act, which will provide states with the authority to assist survivors of the Holocaust in making insurance claims.
While in the California State Senate, Rep. Schiff was one of the principal co-authors of the California law allowing Holocaust survivors the right to sue to recover Holocaust-era insurance claims. He also supported the Holocaust Victim Insurance Relief Act (HVIRA), a bill which sought to force European companies with American subsidiaries to open their records or lose their license to do business in the state. Holocaust survivors and their heirs contend that the failure of European insurance companies to open their archives makes it impossible for them to collect on policies upon which they or their relatives faithfully paid premiums before falling victim to the Nazis. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down HVIRA on the grounds that California was preempted from acting in this area of U.S. foreign policy.
Schiff’s bill allows states, like California, to require insurance companies conducting business in the state to disclose Holocaust-era insurance information. His bill also includes a section expressing "Congressional Disapproval" of any executive branch effort to preempt state laws (like the California law) to resolve Holocaust-era insurance claims. This section directly responds to the U.S. Supreme Court’s language saying that "Congress has done nothing to express disapproval of the President's policy. Given the President's considerable independent authority in this area, Congress's silence cannot be equated with disapproval."
Rep. Schiff is also a cosponsor of a similar bill, introduced by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), called the Holocaust Victims Insurance Relief Act of 2003. Rep. Waxman's bill would create a national registry of European policyholders from 1920 to 1945 and subject companies to a $5,000-a-day fine for non-compliance.
Schiff issued the following statement today in support of his bill, Holocaust Victims Insurance Fairness Act:
"Before and during the Holocaust, millions of European Jews purchased life insurance policies with certain European insurance companies as a form of savings and investment for the future. After World War II, however, insurance companies rejected many claims presented by Holocaust survivors or heirs of Holocaust victims because the claimants lacked the requisite documentation such as death certificates that had been confiscated by the Nazi regime.
Some families have tried for years to obtain promised benefits, but insurance companies continue to demand that the survivors produce non-existent documents. In 1998, the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) was established to address the issue of unpaid insurance policies and to expedite payouts to Holocaust victims.
ICHEIC has received over 90,000 claims, but has only made a few thousand settlement offers. This shortfall has forced disillusioned claimants to turn to the states for assistance in obtaining the swift justice they deserve. To continue to deny these claims would be a further injustice to these survivors and would only serve to perpetuate the horrible acts that occurred years ago.
In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court in AIA v. Garamendi recently struck down a California law aimed at assisting thousands of Holocaust survivors and their families in collecting on millions of dollars of outstanding Holocaust-era insurance policies. The Court narrowly rejected the right of states to require insurance companies doing business in their state to disclose information about Holocaust survivor insurance policies.
The Court in Garamendi maintained that the president's preference is for Holocaust-era insurance claims to be handled by the International Commission of Holocaust-Era Insurance Claims - an approach that has wholly failed Holocaust victims.
I believe that states should have the authority to assist survivors of the Holocaust to recover benefits from policies lost or stolen before and during these tragic events. Therefore, I am introducing legislation to specifically allow states to collect insurance information for victims of the Holocaust. Introduced in response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision, the "Holocaust Victims Insurance Fairness Act" explicitly expresses Congressional disapproval of any Executive branch policy or agreement that preempts State efforts to collect insurance information for victims of the Holocaust to resolve outstanding claims."
Rep. Schiff represents California’s 29th Congressional District, including the communities of Alhambra, Altadena, Burbank, East Pasadena, East San Gabriel, Glendale, Monterey Park, Pasadena, San Gabriel, South Pasadena and Temple City.