The Secretary of the Treasury shall pay out of the War Claims Fund on account of awards certified by the Commission pursuant to this subchapter as follows and in the following order of priority:

(1) Payment in full of awards made pursuant to section 4132(d)(1) and (2) of this title, and thereafter of any award made pursuant to section 4132(a) of this title to any claimant (A) certified to the Commission by the Small Business Administration as having been, on the date of loss, damage, or destruction, a small business concern within the meaning now set forth in the Small Business Act, as amended [15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.], or (B) determined by the Commission to have been, on the date of loss, damage, or destruction, a nonprofit organization operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare, religious, charitable, or educational purposes.

(2) Thereafter, payments from time to time on account of the other awards made pursuant to section 4132 of this title in an amount which shall be the same for each award or in the amount of the award, whichever is less. The total payment made pursuant to this paragraph on account of any award shall not exceed $10,000.

(3) Thereafter, payments from time to time on account of the other awards made to individuals and corporations pursuant to section 4132 of this title and not compensated in full under paragraph (1) or (2) of this subsection in an amount which shall be the same for each award or in the amount of the award, whichever is less. The total payment pursuant to this paragraph on account of any award shall not exceed $35,000.

(4) Thereafter, payments from time to time on account of the unpaid balance of each remaining award made pursuant to section 4132 of this title or recertified pursuant to subsection (b) of section 4139 of this title which shall bear to such unpaid balance the same proportion as the total amount in the War Claims Fund and available for distribution at the time such payments are made bears to the aggregate unpaid balances of all such awards. No payment made pursuant to this paragraph on account of any award shall exceed the unpaid balance of such award. Payments heretofore made under section 1641i of title 22, on awards made against the Government of Hungary under section 1641b(1) of title 22, and recertified under subsection (b) of section 4139 of this title, shall be considered as payments under this paragraph and no payment shall be made on any recertified award until the percentage of distribution on awards made under section 4132 of this title exceeds the corresponding percentage of distribution on such recertified award: Provided, That no payment made on awards recertified under subsection (b) of section 4139 of this title shall exceed 40 per centum of the amount of the award recertified.

Such payments, and applications for such payments, shall be made in accordance with such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe.

For the purpose of making any such payments, other than under subsection (a)(1), an “award” shall be deemed to mean the aggregate of all awards certified for payment in favor of the same claimant.

If any person to whom any payment is to be made pursuant to this subchapter is deceased or is under a legal disability, payment shall be made to his legal representative, except that if any payment to be made is not over $1,000 and there is no qualified executor or administrator, payment may be made to the person or persons found by the Secretary of the Treasury to be entitled thereto, without the necessity of compliance with the requirements of law with respect to the administration of estates.

Payment on account of any award pursuant to this subchapter shall not, unless such payment is for the full amount of the award, extinguish any rights against any foreign government for the unpaid balance of the award.

Payments made under this section on account of any award for loss, damage, or destruction occurring in the Commonwealth of the Philippines shall not exceed the amount paid on account of awards in the same amount under the Philippine Rehabilitation Act of 1946.[1]

(July 3, 1948, ch. 826, title II, § 213, as added Pub. L. 87–846, title I, § 103, Oct. 22, 1962, 76 Stat. 1111; amended Pub. L. 91–571, § 1(a), Dec. 24, 1970, 84 Stat. 1503; Pub. L. 104–316, title I, § 128(b), Oct. 19, 1996, 110 Stat. 3841.)