Mohamad v. Palestinian Authority

449

Syllabus MOHAMAD, individually and for ESTATE OF RAHIM, DECEASED, et al. v. PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY

et al.

certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the district of columbia circuit

No. 11–88. Argued February 28, 2012—Decided April 18, 2012

While visiting the West Bank, Azzam Rahim, a naturalized United States citizen, allegedly was arrested by Palestinian Authority intelligence of­ ficers, imprisoned, tortured, and ultimately killed. Rahim’s relatives, petitioners here, sued the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Lib­ eration Organization under the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 (TVPA or Act), which authorizes a cause of action against “[a]n individ­ ual” for acts of torture and extrajudicial killing committed under author­ ity or color of law of any foreign nation. 106 Stat. 73, note following 28

U. S. C. § 1350. The District Court dismissed the suit, concluding, as

relevant here, that the TVPA’s authorization of suit against “[a]n indi­ vidual” extended liability only to natural persons. The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed.

Held: As used in the TVPA, the term “individual” encompasses only natu­ ral persons. Consequently, the Act does not impose liability against organizations. Pp. 453–461.

(a) The ordinary, everyday meaning of “individual” refers to a human being, not an organization, and Congress in the normal course does not employ the word any differently. The Dictionary Act defines “person” to include certain artificial entities “as well as individuals,” 1 U. S. C. § 1, thereby marking “individual” as distinct from artificial entities.

Federal statutes routinely distinguish between an “individual” and an organizational entity. See, e. g., 7 U. S. C. §§ 92(k), 511. And the very Congress that passed the TVPA defined “person” in a separate Act to include “any individual or entity.” 18 U. S. C. § 2331(3). Pp. 453–455. (b) Before a word will be assumed to have a meaning broader than or different from its ordinary meaning, Congress must give some indica­ tion that it intended such a result. There are no such indications in the TVPA. To the contrary, the statutory context confirms that Congress in the Act created a cause of action against natural persons alone. The Act’s liability provision uses the word “individual” five times in the same sentence: once to refer to the perpetrator and four times to refer to the victim. See TVPA § 2(a). Since only a natural person can be a victim of torture or extrajudicial killing, it is difficult to conclude that Congress used “individual” four times in the same sentence to refer to

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Syllabus

a natural person and once to refer to a natural person and any nonsover­ eign organization. In addition, the TVPA holds perpetrators liable for extrajudicial killing to “any person who may be a claimant in an action for wrongful death.” See TVPA § 2(a)(2). “Persons” often has a broader meaning in the law than “individual,” and frequently includes nonnatural persons. Construing “individual” in the Act to encom­ pass solely natural persons credits Congress’ use of disparate terms.

Pp. 455–456.

(c) Petitioners’ counterarguments are unpersuasive. Pp. 456–461.

(1) Petitioners dispute that the plain text of the TVPA requires this

Court’s result. First, they rely on definitions that frame “individual” in nonhuman terms, emphasizing the idea of “oneness,” but these defi­ nitions make for an awkward fit in the context of the TVPA. Next they claim that federal tort statutes uniformly provide for liability against organizations, a convention they maintain is common to the legal sys­ tems of other nations. But while “Congress is understood to legislate against a background of common-law adjudicatory principles,” Astoria Fed. Sav. & Loan Assn. v. Solimino, 501 U. S. 104, 108, Congress plainly evinced its intent in the TVPA not to subject organizations to liability.

Petitioners next argue that the TVPA’s scope of liability should be con­ strued to conform with other federal statutes they claim provide civil remedies to victims of torture or extrajudicial killing. But none of the statutes petitioners cite employs the term “individual,” as the TVPA, to describe the covered defendant. Finally, although petitioners rightly note that the TVPA contemplates liability against officers who do not personally execute the torture or extrajudicial killing, it does not fol­ low that the Act embraces liability against nonsovereign organizations.

Pp. 457–458.

(2) Petitioners also contend that legislative history supports their

broad reading of “individual,” but “reliance on legislative history is un­ necessary in light of the statute’s unambiguous language.” Milavetz, Gallop & Milavetz, P. A. v. United States, 559 U. S. 229, 236, n. 3. In any event, the history supports this Court’s interpretation. Pp. 458–460.

(3) Finally, petitioners argue that precluding organizational liabil­

ity may foreclose effective remedies for victims and their relatives.

This purposive argument simply cannot overcome the force of the plain text. Moreover, Congress appeared well aware of the limited nature of the cause of action it established in the TVPA. Pp. 460–461.

634 F. 3d 604, affirmed.

Sotomayor, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts,

JJ., joined, and in which Scalia, J., joined except as to Part III–B.

Breyer, J., filed a concurring opinion, post, p. 461.

Cite as: 566 U. S. 449 (2012)

451

Opinion of the Court

Jeffrey L. Fisher argued the cause for petitioners. With him on the briefs were Robert J. Tolchin, Thomas C. Gold­ stein, Kevin K. Russell, Pamela S. Karlan, and Nathaniel

A. Tarnor.

Laura G. Ferguson argued the cause for respondents.

With her on the brief were Richard A. Hibey, Mark J. Ro­ chon, Dawn E. Murphy-Johnson, Jeffrey A. Lamken, Robert

K. Kry, and Martin V. Totaro.

Curtis E. Gannon argued the cause for the United States as amicus curiae supporting affirmance. With him on the brief were Solicitor General Verrilli, Assistant Attorney General West, Deputy Solicitor General Kneedler, Douglas

N. Letter, Robert M. Loeb, Lewis S. Yelin, Harold Hongju

Koh, and Cameron F. Kerry.* Justice Sotomayor delivered the opinion of the Court.†

The Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 (TVPA or Act), 106 Stat. 73, note following 28 U. S. C. § 1350, authorizes a cause of action against “[a]n individual” for acts of torture and extrajudicial killing committed under authority or color of law of any foreign nation. We hold that the term “in­ dividual” as used in the Act encompasses only natural per­

*Briefs of amici curiae urging reversal were filed for Law Professors of Civil Liberties and 42 U. S. C. § 1983 by Penny M. Venetis; for the Yale Law School Center for Global Legal Challenges by Oona A. Hathaway and Jeffrey A. Meyer; for Juan Méndez by Deena R. Hurwitz; for Former

U. S. Senator Arlen Specter et al. by William J. Aceves and Anthony

DiCaprio; and for Joseph E. Stiglitz by Michael D. Hausfeld.

Briefs of amici curiae were filed for the American Petroleum Institute et al. by Peter B. Rutledge; for KBR, Inc., by David B. Rivkin, Jr., and Lee A. Casey; for Omer Bartov et al. by Jennifer Green, Judith Brown Chomsky, and Beth Stephens; for Juan Romagoza Arce et al. by Andrea

Roberts; and for Larry Bowoto et al. by Marco Simons, Richard Herz, Theresa Traber, Bert Voorhees, Lauren Teukolsky, Dan Stormer, Cindy

A. Cohn, Mr. DiCaprio, Michael S. Sorgen, Ms. Chomsky, and Richard

R. Wiebe.

†Justice Scalia joins this opinion except as to Part III–B.

452 MOHAMAD v. PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY

Opinion of the Court

sons. Consequently, the Act does not impose liability against organizations.

Because this case arises from a motion to dismiss, we ac­ cept as true the allegations of the complaint. Ashcroft v. al-Kidd, 563 U. S. 731, 734 (2011). Petitioners are the rela­ tives of Azzam Rahim, who immigrated to the United States in the 1970’s and became a naturalized citizen. In 1995, while on a visit to the West Bank, Rahim was arrested by Palestinian Authority intelligence officers. He was taken to a prison in Jericho, where he was imprisoned, tortured, and ultimately killed. The following year, the U. S. Department of State issued a report concluding that Rahim “died in the custody of [Palestinian Authority] intelligence officers in Jer­ icho.” Dept. of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1995, Submitted to the House Committee on International Relations and the Senate Committee on For­ eign Relations, 104th Cong., 2d Sess., 1183 (Joint Committee Print 1996).

In 2005, petitioners filed this action against respondents, the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Orga­ nization, asserting, inter alia, claims of torture and extraju­ dicial killing under the TVPA. The District Court granted respondents’ motion to dismiss, concluding, as relevant, that the Act’s authorization of suit against “[a]n individual” ex­ tended liability only to natural persons. Mohamad v. Ra­ joub, 664 F. Supp. 2d 20, 22 (DC 2009). The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit af­ firmed on the same ground. See Mohamad v. Rajoub, 634

F. 3d 604, 608 (2011) (“Congress used the word ‘individual’

to denote only natural persons”).1 We granted certiorari, 565 U. S. 962 (2011), to resolve a split among the Circuits

1 Respondents also argued before the District Court that the TVPA’s requirement that acts be committed under authority or color of law of a foreign nation was not met. Neither the District Court nor Court of Ap­ peals addressed the argument, and we offer no opinion on its merits.

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453

Opinion of the Court

with respect to whether the TVPA authorizes actions against defendants that are not natural persons,2 and now affirm.

The TVPA imposes liability on individuals for certain acts

“An individual who, under actual or apparent authority, or color of law, of any foreign nation—

“(1) subjects an individual to torture shall, in a civil action, be liable for damages to that individual; or

“(2) subjects an individual to extrajudicial killing shall, in a civil action, be liable for damages to the indi­ vidual’s legal representative, or to any person who may be a claimant in an action for wrongful death.” § 2(a).

The Act defines “torture” and “extrajudicial killing,” § 3, and imposes a statute of limitations and an exhaustion require­ ment, §§ 2(b), (c). It does not define “individual.”

Petitioners concede that foreign states may not be sued under the Act—namely, that the Act does not create an ex­ ception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976, 28

U. S. C. § 1602 et seq., which renders foreign sovereigns

largely immune from suits in U. S. courts. They argue, how­ ever, that the TVPA does not similarly restrict liability against other juridical entities. In petitioners’ view, by per­ mitting suit against “[a]n individual,” the TVPA contem­ plates liability against natural persons and nonsovereign organizations (a category that, petitioners assert, includes respondents). We decline to read “individual” so unnatu­ rally. The ordinary meaning of the word, fortified by its

2 Compare Aziz v. Alcolac, Inc., 658 F. 3d 388 (CA4 2011) (TVPA ex­ cludes corporate defendants from liability); Mohamad v. Rajoub, 634 F. 3d 604 (CADC 2011) (TVPA liability limited to natural persons); Bowoto v.

Chevron Corp., 621 F. 3d 1116 (CA9 2010) (same as Aziz), with Sinaltrai­ nal v. Coca-Cola Co., 578 F. 3d 1252, 1264, n. 13 (CA11 2009) (TVPA liabil­ ity extends to corporate defendants).

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Opinion of the Court

statutory context, persuades us that the Act authorizes suit against natural persons alone.

Because the TVPA does not define the term “individual,” we look first to the word’s ordinary meaning. See FCC v.

AT&T Inc., 562 U. S. 397, 403 (2011) (“When a statute does not define a term, we typically give the phrase its ordinary meaning” (internal quotation marks omitted)). As a noun, “individual” ordinarily means “[a] human being, a person.” 7 Oxford English Dictionary 880 (2d ed. 1989); see also, e. g., Random House Dictionary of the English Language 974 (2d ed. 1987) (“a person”); Webster’s Third New International Dictionary 1152 (1986) (hereinafter Webster’s) (“a particular person”). After all, that is how we use the word in every­ day parlance. We say “the individual went to the store,” “the individual left the room,” and “the individual took the car,” each time referring unmistakably to a natural person.

And no one, we hazard to guess, refers in normal parlance to an organization as an “individual.” Evidencing that com­ mon usage, this Court routinely uses “individual” to denote a natural person, and in particular to distinguish between a natural person and a corporation. See, e. g., Goodyear Dun- lop Tires Operations, S. A. v. Brown, 564 U. S. 915, 924 (2011) (“For an individual, the paradigm forum for the exer­ cise of general jurisdiction is the individual’s domicile; for a corporation, it is an equivalent place, one in which the corpo­ ration is fairly regarded as at home”).

Congress does not, in the ordinary course, employ the word any differently. The Dictionary Act instructs that “[i]n determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, unless the context indicates otherwise . . . the wor[d] ‘person’ . . . include[s] corporations, companies, associations, firms, part­ nerships, societies, and joint stock companies, as well as indi­ viduals.” 1 U. S. C. § 1 (emphasis added). With the phrase “as well as,” the definition marks “individual” as distinct from the list of artificial entities that precedes it.

Cite as: 566 U. S. 449 (2012)

455

Opinion of the Court

In a like manner, federal statutes routinely distinguish be­ tween an “individual” and an organizational entity of some kind. See, e. g., 7 U. S. C. § 92(k) (“ ‘Person’ includes part­ nerships, associations, and corporations, as well as individu­ als”); § 511 (same); 15 U. S. C. § 717a (“ ‘Person’ includes an individual or a corporation”); 16 U. S. C. § 796(4) (“ ‘[P]erson’ means an individual or a corporation”); 8 U. S. C. § 1101(b)(3) (“ ‘[P]erson’ means an individual or an organization”). In­ deed, the very same Congress that enacted the TVPA also established a cause of action for U. S. nationals injured “by reason of an act of international terrorism” and defined “per­ son” as it appears in the statute to include “any individual or entity capable of holding a legal or beneficial interest in property.” Federal Courts Administration Act of 1992, 18

U. S. C. §§ 2333(a), 2331(3) (emphasis added).

This is not to say that the word “individual” invariably means “natural person” when used in a statute. Congress remains free, as always, to give the word a broader or differ­ ent meaning. But before we will assume it has done so, there must be some indication Congress intended such a re­ sult. Perhaps it is the rare statute (petitioners point to only one such example, located in the Internal Revenue Code) in which Congress expressly defines “individual” to include corporate entities. See 26 U. S. C. § 542(a)(2). Or perhaps, as was the case in Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U. S.

417, 429 (1998), the statutory context makes that intention clear, because any other reading of “individual” would lead to an “ ‘absurd’ ” result Congress could not plausibly have intended.

There are no such indications in the TVPA. As noted, the Act does not define “individual,” much less do so in a manner that extends the term beyond its ordinary usage. And the statutory context strengthens—not undermines—the conclu­ sion that Congress intended to create a cause of action against natural persons alone. The Act’s liability provision

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Opinion of the Court

once to refer to the perpetrator (i. e., the defendant) and four times to refer to the victim. See § 2(a). Only a natural per­ son can be a victim of torture or extrajudicial killing.

“Since there is a presumption that a given term is used to mean the same thing throughout a statute, a presumption surely at its most vigorous when a term is repeated within a given sentence,” Brown v. Gardner, 513 U. S. 115, 118 (1994) (citation omitted), it is difficult indeed to conclude that Con­ gress employed the term “individual” four times in one sen­ tence to refer to a natural person and once to refer to a natu­ ral person and any nonsovereign organization. See also § 3(b)(1) (using term “individual” six times in referring to victims of torture).

It is also revealing that the Act holds perpetrators liable for extrajudicial killing to “any person who may be a claim­ ant in an action for wrongful death.” § 2(a)(2) (emphasis added). “Person,” we have recognized, often has a broader meaning in the law than “individual,” see Clinton, 524 U. S., at 428, n. 13, and frequently includes nonnatural persons, see,

e. g., 1 U. S. C. § 1. We generally seek to respect Congress’

decision to use different terms to describe different catego­ ries of people or things. See Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, 542

U. S. 692, 711, n. 9 (2004). Our construction of “individual”

to encompass solely natural persons credits Congress’ use of the disparate terms; petitioners’ construction does not.3

In sum, the text of the statute persuades us that the Act authorizes liability solely against natural persons.

Petitioners’ counterarguments are unpersuasive.

3 The parties debate whether estates, or other nonnatural persons, in fact may be claimants in a wrongful-death action. We think the debate largely immaterial. Regardless of whether jurisdictions today allow for such actions, Congress’ use of the broader term evidences an intent to accommodate that possibility.

Cite as: 566 U. S. 449 (2012)

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Opinion of the Court

Petitioners first dispute that the plain text of the TVPA requires today’s result. Although they concede that an ordi­ nary meaning of “individual” is “human being,” petitioners point to definitions of “individual” that “frame the term . . . in distinctly non-human terms, instead placing their empha­ ses on the oneness of something.” Brief for Petitioners 18 (citing, e. g., Webster’s 1152 (defining “individual” as “a single or particular being or thing or group of being or things”)).

Those definitions, however, do not account even for petition­ ers’ preferred interpretation of “individual” in the Act, for foreign states—which petitioners concede are not liable under the Act—do not differ from nonsovereign organiza­ tions in their degree of “oneness.” Moreover, “[w]ords that can have more than one meaning are given content . . . by their surroundings,” Whitman v. American Trucking Assns., Inc., 531 U. S. 457, 466 (2001), and for the reasons explained supra, petitioners’ definition makes for an awk­ ward fit in the context of the TVPA.

Petitioners next claim that federal tort statutes uniformly provide for liability against organizations, a convention they maintain is common to the legal systems of other nations.

We are not convinced, however, that any such “domestic and international presumption of organizational liability” in tort actions overcomes the ordinary meaning of “individual.” Brief for Petitioners 16. It is true that “Congress is under­ stood to legislate against a background of common-law adju­ dicatory principles.” Astoria Fed. Sav. & Loan Assn. v.

Solimino, 501 U. S. 104, 108 (1991). But Congress plainly can override those principles, see, e. g., id., at 108–109, and, as explained supra, the TVPA’s text evinces a clear intent not to subject nonsovereign organizations to liability.4

4 Petitioners’ separate contention that the TVPA must be construed in light of international agreements prohibiting torture and extrajudicial kill­ ing fails for similar reasons. Whatever the scope of those agreements, the TVPA does not define “individual” by reference to them, and principles

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Opinion of the Court

We also decline petitioners’ suggestion to construe the TVPA’s scope of liability to conform with other federal stat­ utes that petitioners contend provide civil remedies to vic­ tims of torture or extrajudicial killing. None of the three statutes petitioners identify employs the term “individual” to describe the covered defendant, and so none assists in the interpretive task we face today. See 42 U. S. C. § 1983; 28

U. S. C. § 1603(a) (2006 ed.), § 1605A(c) (2006 ed., Supp. IV);

18 U. S. C. §§ 2333, 2334(a)–(b), 2337. The same is true of the Alien Tort Statute, 28 U. S. C. § 1350, so it offers no com­ parative value here regardless of whether corporate entities can be held liable in a federal common-law action brought under that statute. Compare Doe v. Exxon Mobil Corp., 654 F. 3d 11 (CADC 2011), with Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petro­ leum Co., 621 F. 3d 111 (CA2 2010), cert. granted, 565

U. S. 961 (2011). Finally, although petitioners rightly note

that the TVPA contemplates liability against officers who do not personally execute the torture or extrajudicial killing, see, e. g., Chavez v. Carranza, 559 F. 3d 486 (CA6 2009), it does not follow (as petitioners argue) that the Act embraces liability against nonsovereign organizations. An officer who gives an order to torture or kill is an “individual” in that word’s ordinary usage; an organization is not.

Petitioners also contend that legislative history supports their broad reading of “individual.” But “reliance on legis­ lative history is unnecessary in light of the statute’s unam­ biguous language.” Milavetz, Gallop & Milavetz, P. A. v.

they elucidate cannot overcome the statute’s text. The same is true of petitioners’ suggestion that Congress in the TVPA imported a “specialized usage” of the word “individual” in international law. See Brief for Peti­ tioners 6. There is no indication in the text of the statute or legislative history that Congress knew of any such specialized usage of the term, much less intended to import it into the Act.

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Opinion of the Court

United States, 559 U. S. 229, 236, n. 3 (2010). In any event, the excerpts petitioners cite do not help their cause. Peti­ tioners note that the Senate Report states that “[t]he legisla­ tion uses the term ‘individual’ to make crystal clear that for­ eign states or their entities cannot be sued under this bill under any circumstances.” S. Rep. No. 102–249, p. 7 (1991) (S. Rep.); see also H. R. Rep. No. 102–367, pt. 1, p. 4 (1991) (“Only ‘individuals,’ not foreign states, can be sued”). Yet that statement, while clarifying that the Act does not encom­ pass liability against foreign states, says nothing about liabil­ ity against nonsovereign organizations. The other excerpts petitioners cite likewise are not probative of the meaning of “individual,” for they signal only that the Act does not im­ pose liability on perpetrators who act without authority or color of law of a foreign state. See, e. g., id., at 5 (“The bill does not attempt to deal with torture or killing by purely private groups”); S. Rep., at 8 (The bill “does not cover purely private criminal acts by individuals or nongovern­ mental organizations”).

Indeed, although we need not rely on legislative history given the text’s clarity, we note that the history only sup­ ports our interpretation of “individual.” The version of the TVPA that was introduced in the 100th Congress established liability against a “person.” Hearing and Markup on H. R.

1417 before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Its Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organiza­ tions, 100th Cong., 2d Sess., 82 (1988). During the markup session of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, one of the bill’s sponsors proposed an amendment “to make it clear we are applying it to individuals and not to corporations.” Id., at 81, 87. Counsel explained that it was a “fairly simple” matter “of changing the word, ‘person’ to ‘individuals’ in sev­ eral places in the bill.” Id., at 87–88. The amendment was unanimously adopted, and the version of the bill reported out of Committee reflected the change. Id., at 88; H. R. Rep.

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Opinion of the Court

No. 100–693, pt. 1, p. 1 (1988). A materially identical ver­ sion of the bill was enacted as the TVPA by the 102d Con­ gress. Although we are cognizant of the limitations of this drafting history, cf. Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Serv­ ices, Inc., 545 U. S. 546, 568 (2005), we nevertheless find it telling that the sole explanation for substituting “individual” for “person” confirms what we have concluded from the text alone.

Petitioners’ final argument is that the Act would be ren­ dered toothless by a construction of “individual” that limits liability to natural persons. They contend that precluding organizational liability may foreclose effective remedies for victims and their relatives for any number of reasons. Vic­ tims may be unable to identify the men and women who sub­ jected them to torture, all the while knowing the organiza­ tion for whom they work. Personal jurisdiction may be more easily established over corporate than human beings.

And natural persons may be more likely than organizations to be judgment proof. Indeed, we are told that only two TVPA plaintiffs have been able to recover successfully against a natural person—one only after the defendant won the state lottery. See Jean v. Dorélien, 431 F. 3d 776, 778

We acknowledge petitioners’ concerns about the limita­ tions on recovery. But they are ones that Congress imposed and that we must respect. “[N]o legislation pursues its pur­ poses at all costs,” Rodriguez v. United States, 480 U. S. 522, 525–526 (1987) (per curiam), and petitioners’ purposive ar­ gument simply cannot overcome the force of the plain text.

We add only that Congress appeared well aware of the lim­ ited nature of the cause of action it established in the Act.

See, e. g., 138 Cong. Rec. 4177 (1992) (remarks of Sen. Simp­ son) (noting that “as a practical matter, this legislation will result in a very small number of cases”); 137 Cong. Rec. 2671 (1991) (remarks of Sen. Specter) (“Let me emphasize that

Cite as: 566 U. S. 449 (2012)

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Breyer, J., concurring

the bill is a limited measure. It is estimated that only a few of these lawsuits will ever be brought”).

* * *

The text of the TVPA convinces us that Congress did not extend liability to organizations, sovereign or not. There are no doubt valid arguments for such an extension. But Congress has seen fit to proceed in more modest steps in the Act, and it is not the province of this branch to do otherwise.

The judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is affirmed.

It is so ordered.

Justice Breyer, concurring. I join the Court’s opinion with one qualification. The word “individual” is open to multiple interpretations, per­ mitting it, linguistically speaking, to include natural persons, corporations, and other entities. Thus, I do not believe that word alone is sufficient to decide this case.

The legislative history of the statute, however, makes up for whatever interpretive inadequacies remain after consid­ ering language alone. See, e. g., ante, at 459 (describing markup session in which one of the bill’s sponsors proposed an amendment containing the word “individual” to “ ‘make it clear’ ” that the statute applied to “ ‘individuals and not to corporations’ ”); Hearing on S. 1629 et al. before the Subcom­ mittee on Immigration and Refugee Affairs of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 101st Cong., 2d Sess., 65 (1990) (witness explaining to Committee that there would be a “problem” with suing an “independent entity or a series of entities that are not governments,” such as the Palestine Liberation Organization); id., at 75 (allaying concerns that there will be a flood of lawsuits “because of the requirement [in the statute] that an individual has to identify his or her precise torture[r] and they have to be both in the United States”); see also ante, at 458–459 (making clear that peti­

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Breyer, J., concurring

tioners’ citations to the legislative history “do not help their cause”). After examining the history in detail, and consid­ ering it along with the reasons that the Court provides, I join the Court’s judgment and opinion.