Congress Must Deliver Justice to All American Victims of Terrorism
Even in a deeply polarized political climate, some American ideals transcend ideology and bond us all together. “Justice for All” is one such ideal. It is both the last three words of our nation’s pledge of allegiance and a foundation of American identity. When it involves American victims of terrorism and their families, the principle should be even more ironclad.
Unfortunately, if the political gamesmanship and partisan bickering that defines Washington these days soils this basic truth, it will be the many thousands of terrorism victims over the last 40 years that will pay the price. It is time for elected officials on both sides of the aisle to step up and remind the public that they can indeed work together in service of the greater good.
That starts with a fundamental recognition that all victims of terrorism, regardless of the attack that victimized them, deserve basic dignity. Many have lived with their trauma and pain for generations; all have fought for justice.
It is hard to imagine that this is controversial, but it runs counter to the long and painful journey that has faced victimized families. For decades, those families who had suffered in attacks in the 1980s and 1990s had no avenue to pursue justice – instead, they were forced to fight tooth and nail for the legislative changes and legal options they long deserved.
But after 9/11, that picture appeared to become a bit more promising.
Following that horrific attack, Congress moved swiftly and correctly to appropriate billions of taxpayer dollars to compensate victims and their families. But in their haste, and in the fog of the worst attack on the United States since Pearl Harbor, Congress forgot to deliver justice to the remaining victim community. Those families, many of whom had suffered in silence, were denied the relief and recognition they deserved.
Again, though, there was potential. And in 2015, Congress finally rectified this mistake with the bipartisan creation of the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund (USVSST Fund), which provided non-taxpayer assets taken from malicious actors and state sponsors of terrorism to equitably support non-9/11 victims for their losses.
The creation of the USVSST Fund was a significant milestone in the battle for justice for all. And Congress furthered that purpose when it subsequently amended the USVSST Fund to equitably compensate both 9/11 and non-9/11 victims. Unfortunately, despite certain early distributions, the USVSST Fund has not made any distributions at all for the past three years, and projects in 2023 to make only a small distribution that is a small fraction of any prior distribution.
Fortunately, Congress appears to be moving in the right direction on this issue. When the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill (H.R.8987) to compensate one group of 9/11 victims using unspent COVID-19 relief funds through the USVSST Fund, lawmakers showed they are willing to consider new avenues, beyond exclusively allocating resources seized from state sponsors of terror, to provide much-needed relief to terrorism victims for their suffering.
Though this marks yet another important development in the advancement of justice for U.S. victims of terror, Congress risks repeating past mistakes by awarding billions of dollars in compensation to a single sub-group of 9/11 without consideration for the thousands of other victims who have received little – if any – support for their losses. Meanwhile, the very existence of the USVSST Fund, which Congress intended to act as the primary mechanism to support U.S. terrorism victims, is threatened as its financial resources dwindle.
Lawmakers must act swiftly in the spirit of fairness and equity to prevent tragedy from striking twice. Congress should harness the bipartisan energy supporting H.R.8987 to appropriate additional unspent COVID-19 funds to be distributed to U.S. terror victims through the USVSST Fund. This would benefit all eligible 9/11and non-9/11 victims of state-sponsored terrorism and allow the USVSST Fund to operate as Congress intended.
Congress has an incredible opportunity to support and defend all those who have suffered the unimaginable tragedy of a terrorist attack. They must seize this moment to ensure that every American victim of terrorism for whom Congress created the USVSST Fund receives the equitable compensation he or she deserves. Basic fairness, justice, and patriotism demand no less.
Senator Mark Begich is a former Democratic United States Senator from Alaska. Chairman Ed Royce is a former Republican U.S. Representative from California who served as chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee from 2013-2019. Together, they represent those killed or injured in the 1983 and 1984 Beirut Embassy bombings, the 1998 East African Embassy bombings, and other incidents.
