H.R. 4863 Introduced Crime and Law Enforcement

Fairness for Khobar Act of 2025

To amend the Justice for United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Act to provide for lump sum catch-up payments for certain 1983 Beirut barracks bombing victims and 1996 Khobar Towers bombing victims.

  1. Introduced
  2. Committee
  3. Passed House
  4. Passed Senate
  5. To President
  6. Became law
Sponsor Rep. Sessions, Pete [R-TX-17] Introduced August 1, 2025 Cosponsors 46 (22 D, 24 R) Latest action August 1, 2025

Summary

Fairness for Khobar Act of 2025
This bill authorizes lump sum catch-up payments from the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism (USVSST) Fund to certain victims of the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing or the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing who did not apply for catch-up payments during the application period. The USVSST Fund is administered by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and provides compensation to certain U.S. persons injured in acts of international state sponsored terrorism and their immediate family members.
The Fairness for 9/11 Families Act, enacted in 2022, authorized and provided funding for lump sum catch-up payments from the USVSST Fund to victims of the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing or the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing. Claimants who were previously found eligible for regular payment distributions from the USVSST Fund were also eligible for lump sum payments, but the act required them to apply from December 29, 2022, to June 27, 2023. In a 2024 report, the Government Accountability Office found that up to 274 eligible victims did not apply for lump sum catch-up payments because of DOJ guidance that stated, in part, that claimants who were previously found eligible for regular payment distributions are not eligible for the lump sum catch-up payments.

Summary by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.

Congress.gov

Actions

  1. Aug 1, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
  2. Aug 1, 2025 Introduced in House

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