Gwen Graham: “I join Senator Reid today in offering an amendment that would allow a group of 17 prisoners of war from the first war in…”

“I join Senator Reid today in offering an amendment that would allow a group of 17 prisoners of war from the first war in Iraq and their families, to collect the damages that have been awarded to them in a court of law, that are being blocked by the Bush administration. Historically, foreign nations and their diplomats have been protected from lawsuits in the United States, for their actions. However, that historical protection has been limited in certain instances. In 1996, Congress amended the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to allow American citizens and families of American citizens to sue nations that have been found to be 'terrorist states,' for acts of terrorism such as torture or taking of hostages. Congress went on to enact the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, which included a provision to allow frozen assets of terrorist states in U.S. banks to be used to pay court-awarded damages. Relying upon this legal framework, 17 of 21 prisoners of war of the 1991 Persian Gulf War and 37 members of their immediate families filed suit against Iraq.”