[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 918 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 918
To prohibit the importation of diamonds unless the countries exporting
the diamonds into the United States have in place a system of controls
on rough diamonds, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 7, 2001
Mr. Hall of Ohio (for himself, Mr. Wolf, Ms. McKinney, Mr. Rangel, Ms.
DeLauro, Mr. Ehlers, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Hall
of Texas, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Bentsen, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Crowley, Mr.
Evans, Mr. Frank, Mr. Hilliard, Mr. LaHood, Mr. George Miller of
California, Mr. Moakley, Mrs. Morella, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Rivers, Mr.
Sanders, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Clay, Mr. Meeks of New York, Mr. McGovern,
Mr. Filner, Mr. Udall of Colorado, Mr. Stark, Ms. Millender-McDonald,
Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Snyder, Mr. Tancredo, Mr. Coyne, Mr. Conyers, Mr.
Peterson of Pennsylvania, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. Ackerman, Mr.
Sabo, Mr. Hinchey, Ms. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Waxman, Mrs. Roukema, Mr.
Engel, Mr. Olver, Mr. Markey, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Faleomavaega, Mr.
McDermott, Mr. Andrews, Mr. Jefferson, Mrs. Christensen, Mrs. Clayton,
Mr. Baird, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Doyle, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Jackson of
Illinois, Mr. Wynn, Mr. Towns, Mr. Ford, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mrs.
Jones of Ohio, Mr. Rush, Ms. Brown of Florida, Mr. Owens, Mrs. Meek of
Florida, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Ms. Lee, Mr. Bishop, Ms. Norton, Mr.
Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Delahunt, Ms. Waters, Mr. Luther, Mr. Payne,
Mr. Clyburn, and Mr. Meehan) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the
Committees on International Relations, and Financial Services, for a
period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the importation of diamonds unless the countries exporting
the diamonds into the United States have in place a system of controls
on rough diamonds, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Clean Diamonds Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Diamonds are being used by rebels and dictators to
finance military activities, overthrow legitimate governments,
subvert international efforts to promote peace and stability,
and commit horrifying atrocities against unarmed civilians.
During the past decade, more than 6,500,000 people from Sierra
Leone, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have
been driven from their homes by wars waged in large part for
control of diamond mining areas. A million of these are
refugees eking out a miserable existence in neighboring
countries, and tens of thousands have fled to the United
States. Approximately 2,400,000 people have died in the
fighting.
(2) The countries caught in this fighting are home to
nearly 70,000,000 people whose societies have been torn apart
not only by fighting, but by the thousands of children forced
to become soldiers, by the tens of thousands of women and girls
raped and forced into sexual slavery, and by a campaign of
forced amputations that has maimed and killed even more men,
women, and children.
(3) In the past decade, the United States Government has
sent more than $2,000,000,000 in humanitarian aid to the people
caught up in the wars. Over the same period, approximately
$10,000,000,000 in diamonds were smuggled out of these same
countries. Much of this money was used to continue and spread
the wars.
(4) The United States Government and human rights advocates
recently began working to block the trade in conflict diamonds.
Their efforts have helped to build a consensus that action is
urgently needed, and they have persuaded the legitimate diamond
industry that its own interests demand a comprehensive effort
to end the diamond smuggling that fuels these conflicts.
(5) The United Nations Security Council, acting under
chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, has
prohibited all states from importing diamonds from, and
exporting weapons to, certain countries affected by diamond-
related conflicts. Unfortunately, diamond smugglers continue
funding rebel movements, and the sanctions have not been
sufficiently effective to achieve their goals. In turn, this
illicit trade has facilitated trade in narcotics, arms
proliferation, regional destabilization, money laundering, and
other criminal enterprises. This has severely hampered efforts
by the United States to safeguard its citizens from drugs,
terrorism, and other threats to the security of the American
people.
(6) Without effective action to prohibit trade in conflict
diamonds, the trade in legitimate diamonds faces the threat of
a consumer backlash that could damage the economies of
countries not involved in the trade in conflict diamonds and
penalize members of the legitimate trade and the people they
employ. To prevent that, South Africa and more than 20 other
countries are involved in working, through the ``Kimberley
Process'', toward devising a solution to this problem. As the
consumer of two-thirds of the world's supply of diamonds, the
United States has an obligation to help sever the link between
diamonds and conflict and press for implementation of an
effective solution.
SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON IMPORTATION OF DIAMONDS.
(a) Restrictions.--
(1) Requirements for imported diamonds.--Diamonds may not
be imported into the United States unless the country exporting
the diamonds to the United States is implementing a system of
controls on the export and import of rough diamonds that meets
the requirements of paragraph (2), consistent with United
Nations General Assembly Resolution 55/56 adopted on December
1, 2000, or a future international agreement which implements
such controls and to which the United States is a signatory.
(2) Requirements for system of controls.--The system of
controls referred to in paragraph (1) shall include the
following:
(A) Rough diamonds, when exported from the country
in which they were extracted, shall be sealed in a
secure, transparent container or bag by appropriate
government officials of that country.
(B) The sealed container or bag described in
subparagraph (A) shall include a fully visible document
that--
(i) certifies the country from which the
rough diamonds were extracted;
(ii) records a unique export registration
number for, and the total carat weight and
number of, the rough diamonds in the container
or bag; and
(iii) is issued by the government of that
country.
(C) The country from whose territory the rough
diamonds are exported shall establish a database
containing at least the information on exports of rough diamonds
described in subparagraph (B).
(D) Any country into whose territory the rough
diamonds are first imported prior to polishing or other
processing--
(i) shall permit importation of the rough
diamonds only in a container or bag described
in subparagraphs (A) and (B); and
(ii) can verify, on the basis of
documentation provided to it by electronic or
other reliable means, the legitimacy of the
export document included in the sealed
container or bag in which the rough diamonds
were shipped, using the database maintained in
the country of export.
(E) Appropriate government authorities shall
conduct physical inspections of the sealed containers
and bags of rough diamonds to ensure compliance with
the requirements of this paragraph.
(b) Monitoring.--The President shall ensure that the system of
controls described in subsection (a) is monitored by appropriate
agencies of the United States.
(c) Presidential Advisory Commission.--
(1) Purposes.--The President shall appoint an advisory
commission, the purposes of which shall be--
(A) to make recommendations to the President on the
effectiveness of the monitoring under subsection (b),
and on ways to improve such monitoring; and
(B) to develop a labeling system, that could be
used by diamond and jewelry vendors, that would certify
to consumers that a diamond imported into the United
States has been subject to a system of controls on
rough diamonds described in subsection (a).
(2) Membership.--The advisory commission shall be composed
of 11 members, 3 of whom shall be representatives of private
voluntary organizations, and 2 of whom shall be representatives
of the diamond industry. The remaining members may be appointed
from appropriate agencies of the United States and other
interested parties.
SEC. 4. PENALTIES.
(a) In General.--Violations of section 3 are subject to civil and
criminal penalties under the laws of the United States to the same
extent as any other violation of the customs laws of the United States.
(b) Blocking Assets and Prohibiting Transactions.--The President
may exercise the authorities he has under the International Economic
Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), without regard to section 202 of
that Act, to block, and prohibit transactions in, property owned or
controlled by any person who exports diamonds to the United States from
a country that fails to meet the requirements of section 3(a) of this
Act. The penalties provided in section 206 of the International
Economic Powers Act shall apply to violations of licenses, orders, or
regulations issued under this subsection to the same extent as such
penalties apply with respect to violations under that Act.
(c) Proceeds From Fines and Forfeited Goods.--The proceeds derived
from fines imposed for violations of section 3(a), and from the seizure
and forfeiture of goods imported in violation of section 3(a), shall,
in addition to amounts otherwise available for such purposes, be
available only for--
(1) the War Victims Fund administered by the Agency for
International Development or any successor program to assist
victims of foreign wars; and
(2) grants under section 131 of the Foreign Assistance Act
of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2152a).
SEC. 5. RESTRICTIONS ON OPIC AND EXPORT-IMPORT BANK.
(a) OPIC.--The Overseas Private Investment Corporation may not
insure, reinsure, guarantee, or finance any investment in connection
with a project involving the mining, polishing or other processing, or
sale of diamonds in a country that fails to meet the requirements of
section 3(a).
(b) Export-Import Bank.--The Export-Import Bank of the United
States may not guarantee, insure, extend credit, or participate in an
extension of credit in connection with the export of any goods to a
country for use in an enterprise involving the mining, polishing or
other processing, or sale of diamonds in a country that fails to meet
the requirements of section 3(a).
SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORT.
The President shall transmit to the Congress, not later than 6
months after the date of the enactment of this Act, and not later than
September 30 of each subsequent calendar year, a report--
(1) describing and evaluating the effectiveness of the
system of controls on trade in diamonds described in section
3(a);
(2) identifying those countries that are implementing those
controls;
(3) identifying those countries that are not implementing
those controls, and describing the effects of that failure on
the trade in diamonds used to support conflict in the country
or regions in which the diamonds are extracted; and
(4) describing in detail technological developments that
allow--
(A) the determination of where a diamond was mined;
and
(B) the marking and tracking of rough and polished
diamonds.
SEC. 7. GAO REPORT.
Not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Comptroller General of the United States shall report to the
Congress on the effectiveness of the provisions of this Act in
preventing the importation of diamonds traded in violation of the
system of controls described in section 3(a). The Comptroller General
shall include in the report any recommendations on any modifications to
this Act that may be necessary.
SEC. 8. NEGOTIATION OF INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT.
It is the sense of the Congress that the President should take the
necessary steps to negotiate an international agreement, working in
concert with the Kimberley Process referred to in section 2(6), to
eliminate the trade in diamonds used to support conflict in the country
or regions in which the diamonds are extracted. Such an agreement
should create an effective global certification system covering diamond
exporting and importing countries, and should include those elements
described in section 3(a)(2).
SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Diamonds.--The term ``diamonds'' includes any diamonds
or diamond jewelry, classified under heading 7102 or 7113 of
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, other than
diamond jewelry not exceeding $25,000 in value imported by or
on account of a person for personal use and accompanying that
person upon entry into the United States.
(2) Rough diamonds.--The term ``rough diamonds'' means
diamonds that are unworked, or simply sawn, cleaved, or bruted,
classified under heading 7102 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule
of the United States.
(3) United states.--The term ``United States'', when used
in the geographic sense, means the several States, the District
of Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or possession of
the United States.
SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE AND WAIVERS.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), this Act
shall take effect on the date that is 6 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(b) Waiver Authority.--The President may waive the applicability of
this Act with respect to a country for a period of not more than 6
months if the President, before granting the waiver--
(1) determines that the country is making significant
progress toward concluding an international agreement described
in section 8 or is implementing the system of controls on the
export and import of rough diamonds described in section 3(a);
and
(2) transmits that determination, with the reasons
therefor, to the Congress.
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