Congress unanimously passed bipartisan legislation on Monday seeking to strengthen and permanently extend the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act, advancing efforts to help Holocaust survivors and their heirs recover artwork looted by the Nazis.
The bill, S. 1884, would eliminate the original law’s sunset provision, which is set to expire at the end of 2026, and clarify that restitution claims should be decided on their merits rather than dismissed on procedural grounds such as the passage of time. The measure also seeks to limit courts’ use of timing-related and other non-merit defenses in such cases.
“This legislation is a matter of moral clarity. Survivors and their descendants have waited long enough for what is rightfully theirs,” stated Rabbi A.D. Motzen, national director of government affairs for Agudath Israel of America.
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), the lead Democratic sponsor in the House, said the legislation addresses longstanding injustices.
“More than 100,000 works of art that were looted by the Nazis from Jewish families during the Holocaust remain unrecovered,” he said. “We must confront this unacceptable and repugnant reality, which continues to allow entities and individuals to profit off the Jewish people’s pain.”
He added that, while the atrocities of the Holocaust cannot be undone, the updated law would help ensure that “the truth of a family’s legacy carries more weight than a legal loophole” in U.S. courts.
“Justice must no longer be denied due to procedural technicalities and legislative sunset provisions,” Nadler said.
The legislation now heads to the desk of U.S. President Donald Trump for his signature.
The Republican Jewish Coalition welcomed congressional approval of the bill, saying it expects Trump, “the greatest friend to American Jews to serve in the White House,” to sign the measure into law promptly.
