The victims of the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut are one step closer to receiving compensation from Iran after the House passed legislation on Wednesday.
The Our Obligation to Recognize American Heroes Act amends existing law to allow victims and their families the opportunity to collect on previous court judgments from $1.7 billion of Iranian funds based in Luxembourg. The act passed the House with strong bipartisan support, 397 to 31.
“Terrorists, and those who support them financially, must be held accountable for the 1983 Marine Barracks attack that took the lives of 241 American service members, including 220 Marines,” Rep. Greg Pence, R-Indiana, said in a statement. “This legislation will help victims and their families obtain just a small amount of justice.”
On Oct. 23, 1983, a truck bomb exploded outside the Marine barracks in the Lebanon city, killing 241 U.S. troops — 220 of them Marines. The U.S. forces were in Beirut as part of an international peacekeeping mission during the middle of the country’s civil war. A U.S. investigation concluded elements of what would later become the terrorist group Hezbollah, who were supported by Iran, were behind the attack.
The victims of the attack and their families have won several lawsuits since the attack authorizing the seizure of funds as restitution. The OORAH Act would allow them an opportunity to collect on those rulings via Iranian funds held by Clearstream, a Luxembourg-based financial firm.
The issue is personal for Pence, who was stationed in Beirut as a Marine in 1983.
“As families gathered here remember, in those times, we waited,” Vice President Mike Pence, Greg’s brother, said recalled during a memorial service in 2017. “It was a different time; we didn’t have emails and text messages and 24-hour news.”
It was two days before the family found out the now-congressman had shipped out with his battalion only days before the bombing.
The bill’s passage comes at a time when U.S. tensions with Iran remain high. The U.S. has drastically increased its military presence in the Persian Gulf as a response to Iranian threats. Iran shot down a U.S. drone earlier this month, nearly prompting U.S. retaliation. Iran has also made threats against shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and reportedly seized an oil tanker on Wednesday.
The act’s sister legislation has already passed in the Senate and will now head to conference before being sent to President Trump for his signature.
