Description:
Under current law, U.S. citizens who are victims of terrorism abroad can sue in a U.S. district court to obtain compensatory and punitive damages from those who commit, aid, or abet terrorist activity. S. 2946 would prohibit the use of an “act of war” defense by a respondent that the federal government has designated as a terrorist organization. In addition, the bill would make available assets blocked under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act to satisfy certain judgments, and it would clarify that entities that accept U.S. foreign assistance are deemed to have consented to jurisdiction in U.S. courts. CBO expects that implementing S. 2946 could lead to a small increase in the number of such civil actions filed. However, because the changes under S. 2946 would apply to civil actions between a private party and a foreign organization, CBO estimates that enacting the bill would have no significant cost to the federal government. Enacting S. 2946 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO estimates that enacting S. 2946 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029. S. 2946 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. On August 3, 2018, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 5954, the Anti-terrorism Clarification Act of 2018, as passed by the House of Representatives on July 23, 2018. The two pieces of legislation are similar, and CBO’s estimates of their budgetary effects are the same.
