Congress locks $2.8B in forfeited assets into terrorism victim compensation
S. 706 — American Victims of Terrorism Compensation Act · Filed by John Cornyn (R-TX) · 6 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 25, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends the Justice for United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Act to create new and reliable funding sources for compensating U.S. citizens harmed by state-sponsored terrorism. It directs specific forfeited assets from the Binance criminal case ($2.8 billion total), 50% of excess balances from the DOJ and Treasury forfeiture funds, and all future forfeitures related to terrorism or sanctions violations into a dedicated compensation fund. It also mandates annual payments to eligible victims starting in 2026 and requires detailed public reporting on fund activity.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is establishing and expanding dedicated funding sources for state-sponsored terrorism victims through forfeited assets and mandatory transfers from federal forfeiture accounts. This is a victim-compensation measure, not a deregulation, tax cut, or commemorative act.
What the text implies
- Binance forfeiture proceeds ($2.8B) are now locked into victim compensation rather than available for DOJ discretionary use or other law enforcement priorities, potentially affecting federal law enforcement budget flexibility.
- 50% annual transfer of DOJ and Treasury forfeiture fund surpluses creates a permanent structural drain on those accounts, reducing their availability for asset-forfeiture-related law enforcement operations and investigations.
- Mandatory annual distributions may create pressure to accelerate victim claim processing and adjudication, potentially affecting quality of claim review or creating backlogs if funding grows faster than administrative capacity.
- Broad definition of 'terrorism-related forfeitures' (including any violation of sanctions or IEEPA, with state-sponsor designation at any point in proceedings) may capture proceeds from cases not primarily terrorism-focused, expanding the fund's scope beyond original intent.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
U.S. citizens harmed by state-sponsored terrorism gain a dedicated, predictable funding stream with mandatory annual distributions and transparent accounting. The bill prioritizes victim compensation over competing uses of forfeited assets, directly benefiting a defined class of injured citizens without restricting their rights or remedies.
Who stands to gain
- U.S. citizens with eligible state-sponsored terrorism victim claims
Named in the bill
Justice for United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Act, Special Master, Binance Holdings Limited, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund, Department of the Treasury Forfeiture Fund, Crime Victims Fund, Comptroller General of the United States, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, House Committee on the Judiciary
Where it stands
6 cosponsors: 3 Democrats, 3 Republicans.
- Feb 25, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Feb 25, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
4 lobbying clients named this bill on 5 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,397,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 13 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 72% of bills with at least one filing.
John Cornyn, the sponsor, reported $2,017,484 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Chubb Ina Holdings Inc. — $750,000 on 1 filing
- Anti-defamation League — $590,000 on 2 filings
- Sparacino Pllc — $30,000 on 1 filing
- Epplin Strategic Planning, on Behalf of Kreindler & Kreindler — $27,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (16,234 characters) on Oct 26, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,580 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-26.
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