Congress: 108 · Status: active · Israel/Palestine classification: pro-Israel
Data (JSON) — machine-readable record of this bill (identifiers, sponsor, classification, actions, and the member-by-member vote breakdown).
Official record on Congress.gov — full text, actions, and cosponsor history for S 684.
Sponsor: Smith, Gordon H. (R-OR)
Koby Mandell Act of 2003 - Establishes within the Department of Justice an Office of Justice for Victims of Overseas Terrorism. Requires the Office to: (1) assume responsibility for administration of the Rewards for Justice program and its website; (2) ensure that rewards are offered to capture all terrorists involved in harming American citizens overseas; (3) establish and administer a program comparable to the VINE system for notification of crime victims to notify or update American victims of overseas terrorism or their families on the status of efforts to capture the terrorists; (4) send an official U.S. Government representative to attend the funeral of every American victim of terrorism overseas; (5) work to expand restrictions on the ability of murderers to reap profits from books or movies concerning their crimes; (6) determine if terrorists who have harmed Americans overseas are serving in their local police or security forces and alert U.S. agencies that provide assistance to those forces; (7) undertake a comprehensive assessment to determine the reasons for the absence of indictments of terrorists residing in some regions; (8) monitor public actions pertaining to terrorists by governments and regimes overseas, such as naming streets or public institutions after terrorists; (9) initiate negotiations to secure financial compensation for American citizens who were harmed by an organization that claims responsibility for terrorist acts against Americans overseas and that subsequently become part of a governing regime with which the U.S. Government maintains diplomatic or official contacts; (10) monitor the incarceration abroad of terrorists who harmed Americans overseas; and (11) ensure that all terrorists who have harmed Americans overseas are treated by the Government as persona non grata.
Creates a new Office of Justice for Victims of Overseas Terrorism within the Department of Justice. The office administers the Rewards for Justice program, notifies American victims' families of terrorism investigations, sends government representatives to funerals of Americans killed abroad, and monitors whether terrorist suspects serve in foreign security forces that receive US aid. It also tracks governments that honor terrorists through street names or public memorials, and negotiates compensation for Americans harmed by groups that later join foreign governments.
The bill's findings and operative provisions specifically target Palestinian Authority-controlled areas, requiring US agencies to halt assistance to PA security forces if they harbor terrorists and to pursue compensation from PA-linked organizations. This codifies conditions on US aid tied to Palestinian institutional practices, establishing an administrative structure to track and restrict engagement with Palestinian security personnel.
Data last synced: 2026-10-15.