,,ii  #aadth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,h4 ,r4 #facj  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of 
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,december #h1  
#bjaf,received  ,,an ,,act  ,to provide 
the victims of ,holocaust-era           
persecution and their heirs a fair      
opportunity to recover works of art     
confiscated or misappropriated by the   
,nazis4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may
 be cited as the ,holocaust             
,expropriated ,art ,recovery ,act of    
#bjaf4  #b4 ,findings ,congress finds   
the following3  7#a7 ,it is estimated   
that the ,nazis confiscated or otherwise
 misappropriated hundreds of thousands  
of works of art and other property      
throughout ,europe as part of their     
genocidal campaign against the ,jewish  
people and other persecuted groups4     
,this has been described as the greatest
 displacement of art in human history4  
7#b7 ,following ,world ,war ,,ii1 the   
,united ,states and its allies attempted
 to return the stolen artworks to their 
countries of origin4 ,despite these     

efforts1 many works of art were never   
reunited with their owners4 ,some of the
 art has since been discovered in the   
,united ,states4  7#c7 ,in #aiih1 the   
,united ,states convened a conference   
with #dc other nations in ,washington1  
,,dc1 known as the ,washington          
,conference1 which produced ,principles 
on ,nazi-,confiscated ,art4 ,one of     
these principles is that steps should be
 taken expeditiously to achieve a just  
and fair solution to claims involving   
such art that has not been restituted if
 the owners or their heirs can be       
identified4  7#d7 ,the same year1       
,congress enacted the ,holocaust        
,victims ,redress ,act 7,public ,law    
#aje-aeh1 #aab ,stat4 #ae71 which       
expressed the sense of ,congress that   
all governments should undertake good   
faith efforts to facilitate the return  
of private and public property1 such as 
works of art1 to the rightful owners in 
cases where assets were confiscated from
 the claimant during the period of ,nazi

 rule and there is reasonable proof that
 the claimant is the rightful owner44   
7#e7 ,in #bjji1 the ,united ,states     
participated in a ,holocaust ,era       
,assets ,conference in ,prague1 ,czech  
,republic1 with #de other nations4 ,at  
the conclusion of this conference1 the  
participating nations issued the        
,terezin ,declaration1 which reaffirmed 
the #aiih ,washington ,conference       
,principles on ,nazi-,confiscated ,art  
and urged all participants to ensure    
that their legal systems or alternative 
processes1 while taking into account the
 different legal traditions1 facilitate 
just and fair solutions with regard to  
,nazi-confiscated and looted art1 and to
 make certain that claims to recover    
such art are resolved expeditiously and 
based on the facts and merits of the    
claims and all the relevant documents   
submitted by all parties44 ,the         
,declaration also urged participants to 
consider all relevant issues when       
applying various legal provisions that  

may impede the restitution of art and   
cultural property1 in order to achieve  
just and fair solutions1 as well as     
alternative dispute resolution1 where   
appropriate under law44  7#f7 ,victims  
of ,nazi persecution and their heirs    
have taken legal action in the ,united  
,states to recover ,nazi-confiscated    
art4 ,these lawsuits face significant   
procedural obstacles partly due to      
,state statutes of limitations1 which   
typically bar claims within some limited
 number of years from either the date of
 the loss or the date that the claim    
should have been discovered4 ,in some   
cases1 this means that the claims       
expired before ,world ,war ,,ii even    
ended4 7,see1 e4g41 ,detroit ,institute 
of ,arts v4 ,ullin1 ,no4 #jf-ajccc1     
#bjjg ,,wl #ajafiif 7,e4,d4 ,mich4 ,mar4
 #ca1 #bjjg747 ,the unique and horrific 
circumstances of ,world ,war ,,ii and   
the ,holocaust make statutes of         
limitations especially burdensome to the
 victims and their heirs4 ,those seeking

 recovery of ,nazi-confiscated art must 
painstakingly piece together their cases
 from a fragmentary historical record   
ravaged by persecution1 war1 and        
genocide4 ,this costly process often    
cannot be done within the time          
constraints imposed by existing law4    
7#g7 ,federal legislation is needed     
because the only court that has         
considered the question held that the   
,constitution prohibits ,states from    
making exceptions to their statutes of  
limitations to accommodate claims       
involving the recovery of               
,nazi-confiscated art4 ,in ,von ,saher  
v4 ,norton ,simon ,museum of ,art1 #eib 
,f4#c;d #ied 7#ith ,cir4 #bjji71 the    
,united ,states ,court of ,appeals for  
the ,ninth ,circuit invalidated a       
,california law that extended the ,state
 statute of limitations for claims      
seeking recovery of ,holocaust-era      
artwork4 ,the ,court held that the law  
was an unconstitutional infringement of 
the ,federal ,government's exclusive    

authority over foreign affairs1 which   
includes the resolution of war-related  
disputes4 ,in light of this precedent1  
the enactment of a ,federal law is      
necessary to ensure that claims to      
,nazi-confiscated art are adjudicated in
 accordance with ,united ,states policy 
as expressed in the ,washington         
,conference ,principles on              
,nazi-,confiscated ,art1 the ,holocaust 
,victims ,redress ,act1 and the ,terezin
 ,declaration4  7#h7 ,while litigation  
may be used to resolve claims to recover
 ,nazi-confiscated art1 it is the sense 
of ,congress that the private resolution
 of claims by parties involved1 on the  
merits and through the use of           
alternative dispute resolution such as  
mediation panels established for this   
purpose with the aid of experts in      
provenance research and history1 will   
yield just and fair resolutions in a    
more efficient and predictable manner4  
#c4 ,purposes ,the purposes of this ,act
 are the following3 7#a7 ,to ensure that

 laws governing claims to               
,nazi-confiscated art and other property
 further ,united ,states policy as set  
forth in the ,washington ,conference    
,principles on ,nazi-,confiscated ,art1 
the ,holocaust ,victims ,redress ,act1  
and the ,terezin ,declaration4  7#b7 ,to
 ensure that claims to artwork and other
 property stolen or misappropriated by  
the ,nazis are not unfairly barred by   
statutes of limitations but are resolved
 in a just and fair manner4  #d4        
,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7 ,actual
 discovery ,the term actual discovery   
means knowledge4  7#b7 ,artwork or other
 property ,the term artwork or other    
property means-- 7,a7 pictures1         
paintings1 and drawings2  7,b7 statuary 
art and sculpture2  7,c7 engravings1    
prints1 lithographs1 and works of       
graphic art2  7,d7 applied art and      
original artistic assemblages and       
montages2  7,e7 books1 archives1 musical
 objects and manuscripts 7including     
musical manuscripts and sheets71 and    

sound1 photographic1 and cinematographic
 archives and mediums2 and  7,f7 sacred 
and ceremonial objects and ,judaica4    
7#c7 ,covered period ,the term covered  
period means the period beginning on    
,january #a1 #aicc1 and ending on       
,december #ca1 #aide4  7#d7 ,knowledge  
,the term knowledge means having actual 
knowledge of a fact or circumstance or  
sufficient information with regard to a 
relevant fact or circumstance to amount 
to actual knowledge thereof4  7#e7 ,nazi
 persecution ,the term ,nazi persecution
 means any persecution of a specific    
group of individuals based on ,nazi     
ideology by the ,government of ,germany1
 its allies or agents1 members of the   
,nazi ,party1 or their agents or        
associates1 during the covered period4  
#e4 ,statute of limitations  7a7 ,in    
general ,notwithstanding any other      
provision of ,federal or ,state law or  
any defense at law relating to the      
passage of time1 and except as otherwise
 provided in this section1 a civil claim

 or cause of action against a defendant 
to recover any artwork or other property
 that was lost during the covered period
 because of ,nazi persecution may be    
commenced not later than #f years after 
the actual discovery by the claimant or 
the agent of the claimant of--  7#a7 the
 identity and location of the artwork or
 other property2 and  7#b7 a possessory 
interest of the claimant in the artwork 
or other property4  7b7 ,possible       
misidentification ,for purposes of      
subsection 7a77#a71 in a case in which  
the artwork or other property is one of 
a group of substantially similar        
multiple artworks or other property1    
actual discovery of the identity and    
location of the artwork or other        
property shall be deemed to occur on the
 date on which there are facts          
sufficient to form a substantial basis  
to believe that the artwork or other    
property is the artwork or other        
property that was lost4  7c7            
,preexisting claims ,except as provided 

in subsection 7e71 a civil claim or     
cause of action described in subsection 
7a7 shall be deemed to have been        
actually discovered on the date of      
enactment of this ,act if--  7#a7 before
 the date of enactment of this ,act--   
7,a7 a claimant had knowledge of the    
elements set forth in subsection 7a72   
and  7,b7 the civil claim or cause of   
action was barred by a ,federal or      
,state statute of limitations2 or  7#b7 
7,a7 before the date of enactment of    
this ,act1 a claimant had knowledge of  
the elements set forth in subsection    
7a72 and  7,b7 on the date of enactment 
of this ,act1 the civil claim or cause  
of action was not barred by a ,federal  
or ,state statute of limitations4  7d7  
,applicability ,subsection 7a7 shall    
apply to any civil claim or cause of    
action that is-- 7#a7 pending in any    
court on the date of enactment of this  
,act1 including any civil claim or cause
 of action that is pending on appeal or 
for which the time to file an appeal has

 not expired2 or  7#b7 filed during the 
period beginning on the date of         
enactment of this ,act and ending on    
,december #ca1 #bjbf4  7e7 ,exception   
,subsection 7a7 shall not apply to any  
civil claim or cause of action barred on
 the day before the date of enactment of
 this ,act by a ,federal or ,state      
statute of limitations if--  7#a7 the   
claimant or a predecessor-in-interest of
 the claimant had knowledge of the      
elements set forth in subsection 7a7 on 
or after ,january #a1 #aiii2 and  7#b7  
not less than #f years have passed from 
the date such claimant or               
predecessor-in-interest acquired such   
knowledge and during which time the     
civil claim or cause of action was not  
barred by a ,federal or ,state statute  
of limitations4  7f7 ,rule of           
construction ,nothing in this ,act shall
 be construed to create a civil claim or
 cause of action under ,federal or      
,state law4  7g7 ,sunset ,this ,act     
shall cease to have effect on ,january  

#a1 #bjbg1 except that this ,act shall  
continue to apply to any civil claim or 
cause of action described in subsection 
7a7 that is pending on ,january #a1     
#bjbg4 ,any civil claim or cause of     
action commenced on or after that date  
to recover artwork or other property    
described in this ,act shall be subject 
to any applicable ,federal or ,state    
statute of limitations or any other     
,federal or ,state defense at law       
relating to the passage of time4        
,passed the ,house of ,representatives  
,december #g1 #bjaf4,karen ,l4          
,haas1,clerk