Legislation brought forth in the U.S. Congress on Tuesday would allow insurance beneficiaries to recover billions in unclaimed payments from World War II.
The Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act of 2021 was re-introduced by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), along with its original co-sponsors, who include Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Reps. John Garamendi (Calif.), David Kustoff (Tenn.) and Lee Zeldin (N.Y.).
The proposed legislation would “validate state laws requiring insurers to publish policy-holder information; establish a federal cause of action in U.S. courts to ensure that Holocaust survivors and heirs have access to U.S. courts”; and “provide a 10-year period of time for cases to be brought after the date of enactment.”
She added, “Preventing Holocaust survivors and their families from collecting on documented policies is truly tragic, but allowing these global insurance corporations to hold onto this unjust enrichment is an offensive re-victimization that cannot stand.”