* This text was reproduced and reformatted from the text available at the U.S. State Department website (visited March 24, 2016), http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/251005.pdf.

1 Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the French Republic on Compensation for Certain Victims of Holocaust-Related Deportation from France Who Are not Covered by French Programs, U.S.-Fr., Dec. 8, 2014, T.I.A.S. No. 15-1101, [hereinafter SNCF Agreement], available at http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/251005.pdf. The SNCF Agreement is a sole executive agreement under U.S. law but was subject to approval by legislation under French law. The French law approving the Agreement is Loi n° 2015-892 du 23 juillet 2015 autorisant l’approbation de l’accord entre le Gouvernement de la République française et le Gouvernement des Etats-Unis d’Amérique sur l’indemnisation de certaines victimes de la Shoah déportées depuis la France, non couvertes par des programmes français [Law 2015-892 of July 23, 2015 Authorizing the Approval of the Agreement between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of the United States of America on the Compensation of Some Holocaust Victims Deported from France Not Covered by French Programs] J.O., July 24, 2015, p. 12585, available at http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/eli/loi/2015/7/23/MAEJ1503437L/jo/texte. In November 2015, the State Department released the English version of text of the Agreement as signed on December 8, 2014. In June 2015, the U.S. and French governments agreed in an exchange of diplomatic notes to make a few non-substantive changes to the text. In March 2016, the State Department posted both the English and French versions of the unrevised text plus the exchange of diplomatic notes. In October 2015, however, the French government published only the revised version of the French text of the Agreement, Decree no. 2015-1321 (Oct. 21, 2015), available at https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jo_pdf.do?id_JORFTEXT000031353839.

2 The Agreement, a fact sheet, the claim form (DS-7713 dated July 2015), and frequently asked questions are available at Commencement of Holocaust Deportation Claims Program Under U.S.-France Agreement, U.S. Dep’t of State, http://www.state.gov/p/eur/rt/hlcst/deportationclaims/index.htm (last visited Apr. 14, 2016).

3 See French National Assembly Report No. 2875, 7-14 (June 17, 2015), [hereinafter French National Assembly Report], available at www.assemblee-nationale.fr/14/rapports/r2875.asp; French Senate Report No. 584, 9-14 (July 1,2015), [hereinafter French Senate Report], available at www.senat.fr/rap/l14-584/l14-584.html.

4 Abrams v. Société Nationale des Chemis de Fer Français, 175 F. Supp. 2d 423 (E.D.N.Y. 2001), aff’d, 389 F.3d 61 (2d Cir. 2002), cert. denied, 544 U.S. 975 (2005); Freund v. Republic of France, 592 F. Supp. 2d 540 (S.D.N.Y. 2008), aff’d, 391 Fed. Appx. 939 (2d Cir. 2010), cert. denied, 132 S. Ct. 96 (2011). A class action lawsuit challenging the SNCF Agreement that is now pending in federal court in Illinois alleging that the majority of class members would not benefit under the SNCF Agreement. Scalin v. SNCF, Case 1:15-cv-03362 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 16, 2015).

5 Société Nationale des Chemis de Fer Français v. Georges Lipietz, Administrative Court of Appeal of Bordeaux, Judgment of March 27, 2007 (Case No. 06BX01570) (reversing Lipietz et al v. Prefect of Haute-Garonne and the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français, Second Chamber, Administrative Tribunal for Toulouse, Judgment of June 6, 2006, Case No. 0104248), aff’d, Conseil d’Etat, Judgment of Dec. 21, 2007 (Case No. 305966). See Vivian Grosswald Curran, Recent French Legal Developments Concerning a War-Time Arrest and Imprisonment Case, 25 Maryland J. Int’l L. 264 (2010); Vivian Grosswald Curran, Globalization, Legal Transnationalization and Crimes Against Humanity: The Lipietz Case, 56 Am. J. Comp. L. 353 (2008).

6 H.R. 2954, 108th Cong. (2003); H.R. 474, 109th Cong. (2005); H.R. 3713, 110th Cong. (2007); S. 3462, 110th Cong. (2008); H.R. 4237, 111th Cong. (2009); S. 28, 111th Cong. (2009); H.R. 1193, 112th Cong. (2011); S. 634, 112th Cong. (2011); H.R. 1505, 113th Cong. (2013); S. 1393, 113th Cong. (2013). A hearing on the 2011 bill was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 20, 2012. See Holocaust-Era Claims in the 21st Century: Hearing on H.R. 1193 Before the S. Comm. on the Judiciary, 112th Cong. (2011), available at www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/locationchange__holocaust-era-claims-in-the-21st-century.

7 French Senate Report, supra note 3, at 16; French National Assembly Report, supra note 3, at 18–19. According to the reports, a 2010 bill in California seeking to require SNFC to disclose its archives was vetoed by the Governor; a similar bill was introduced in Florida but not pursued; and in 2014 a bill was to be introduced in New York.

8 French National Assembly Report, supra note 3, at 17–19; French Senate Report, supra note 3, at 15.

9 French Senate Report, supra note 3, at 16.

10 Id. at 17.

11 Commencement of Holocaust Deportation Claims Program Under U.S.-France Agreement, U.S. Dep’t of State, http://www.state.gov/p/eur/rt/hlcst/deportationclaims/index.htm (last visited Apr. 14 2016).

12 Statement of Claim, Form DS-7713 dated July 2015, U.S. Dep’t of State, available at http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/249134.pdf. The Federal Register notices under the Paperwork Reduction Act for the information collection in the form are at 80 FR 22604 (Apr. 15, 2015) and 80 FR 37352 (June 30, 2015).

13 See R. Bettauer, The Role of the United States Government in Recent Holocaust Claims Resolution, 20 Berkeley J. Int’l L. 1 (2002).