House lawmakers filed a bipartisan amicus brief Wednesday in a pending Supreme Court case aimed at helping victims of Iranian terrorism win $1.75 billion in court-ordered damages from the Central Bank of Iran.
The high court in October announced it would take up an appeal from Iran’s Central Bank that contests a lower court ruling ordering the bank to surrender $2 billion to terrorism victims, including family members of the U.S. servicemen killed in the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut.
The Central Bank argued in the appeal that Congress did not have the power in 2012 to pass legislation ordering Iran to surrender the money.
Obama in 2012 used his executive authority to freeze the Iranian assets, which are held in several New York City banks.
“The House has taken action to help more than 1,300 Americans — victims of Iranian-sponsored terrorism and their families — recover the damages they deserve from the Central Bank of Iran,” House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Wednesday. “If the Supreme Court sides with the Central Bank of Iran in Markazi v. Iran, the victims of the 1983 Beirut Marine barracks bombing, the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, and the victims of many other bombings and kidnappings will be left unaided.”
The brief was filed by the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, which is made up of the House speaker and other leaders in both parties, as well as the House office of the General Counsel.
According to Ryan, the amicus brief has the backing of majorities in both parties.
