U.S. lawmakers are considering passing a bill to help minimize legal loopholes and statutes of limitations on art looted by Nazis over 70 years ago. A Senate judiciary subcommittee hearing included testimony about how to "provide the victims of Holocaust-era persecution and their heirs a fair opportunity to recover works of art confiscated or misappropriated by the Nazis".

The Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (Hear) Act was brought forward in a hearing on Tuesday.

Speaking in favor of the bill was Academy Award-winning actress Helen Mirren who starred in the 2015 film "Woman in Gold" which tells the story of Maria Altmann and her fight to repatriate a Gustav Klimt masterpiece looted by the Nazis.

Mirren told the Senate: "When the Jewish people were dispossessed of their art, they lost heritage. Memories were taken along with the art and to have no memories is like having no family. And that is why art restitution is so imperative."

"But a lack of transparency, a lack of access to information concerning the location of stolen art and a lack of a legal assurance that at least they can have their say in court - this discourages them from taking action," she added about victims and their survivors.