Before you vote › Federal bills

H.R. 4235: To clarify the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2016, to appropriately limit the application of defenses based on the passage of time and other non-merits defenses to claims under that Act.

119th Congress · introduced 2025-06-27 · Law · Latest: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

federal

Save to my notebook What does this mean? Print

Official title

To clarify the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2016, to appropriately limit the application of defenses based on the passage of time and other non-merits defenses to claims under that Act.

Plain summary

This bill permanently extends and expands judicial authority under the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2016. The law allows and establishes procedures for civil claims and causes of action to recover artwork and other property lost between 1933 and 1945 because of Nazi persecution. Among the changes, the bill removes the deadline for filing civil claims or causes of action. Currently, the filing deadline is December 31, 2026. (Claims must still be filed within six years of the claimant's discovery of the property in question.) The bill permits courts to exercise jurisdiction over civil claims or causes of action against a foreign state without regard to the nationality or citizenship of the alleged victim. The art or property at issue must still have a connection to the foreign state's commercial activities in the United States. Additionally, the bill authorizes nationwide service of process, which allows courts to exercise personal jurisdiction over defendants in any judicial district where they may be found, reside, have an agent, or transact business. Finally, the bill limits the defenses that may be asserted against civil claims or causes of action, including by prohibiting defenses based on the passage of time, including equitable defenses such as laches (i.e., unreasonable delays); and discretionary bases for dismissal that are unrelated to the merits of the claim, including international comity (i.e., deference to the laws of other countries). These changes apply to pending and future civil claims or causes of action.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

The strongest published arguments

Alternatives

Needs sources: no published alternatives yet (for example a different bill, a law instead of an amendment, or keeping current law). We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Lee, Laurel M. [R-FL-15] · 29 cosponsors

Money: No cost estimate published yet. No linked contracts or vendors yet.

Sources

• Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
• Congress.gov
• Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-119hr4235.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/119/hr>

Record fed-us-cong119-hr4235 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong119 · updated 2026-11-03 by psicol fed-bills