Jones Leads Fight To Make Sure Iran Pays U.S. Terror Victims

Press Release

Today, Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC-3) introduced H. Res. 748 to express the sense of the Congress that U.S. law firms should not be helping Iran avoid paying compensation to American victims of Iran-sponsored terrorism. Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that Iranian terror victims and their families are eligible to collect nearly $2 billion in frozen Iranian money. Lawyers at Chaffetz Lindsey LLP and MoloLamken LLP have represented Iran in a legal effort to absolve Iran from paying court-ordered compensation to American victims of Iran sponsored terror.

"Many American citizens have been victims of terror by the Iranian government, including many people in the Third District who lost family members and friends in the 1983 Beirut bombing. The Marines who died in the Beirut bombing were from Camp Lejeune, and they have never been forgotten," said Congressman Jones. "The victims' families have fought for over 30 years to hold the Iranian government liable for its key role in the terror attacks that killed their loved ones. It's disgraceful that some fat-cat American attorneys are getting paid big bucks to keep fellow Americans from getting the just compensation they deserve."

Congressman Jones is a long-time supporter of legislation to hold Iran and other state sponsors of terrorism financially accountable for their acts of terror. In addition to cosponsoring many bills on the matter, he has voted for: The Justice for Victims of Iranian Terrorism Act, which would prohibit President Obama from relieving sanctions on Iran through the adoption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action until the Iranian government pays court-ordered damages to the victims of Iranian state-sponsored terrorism; The Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012, which allowed victims of Iranian terrorism to be compensated with almost $2 billion of Iranian assets; The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, which allowed victims of terrorism to request a reward of terrorist assets blocked by the Department of Treasury; and The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, which enabled terrorism victims, for the first time, to be rewarded Iranian assets in court.

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