[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2270 Reported in Senate (RS)]






                                                       Calendar No. 474
108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2270

  To amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and exporting cartels 
                                illegal.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              April 1, 2004

   Mr. DeWine (for himself, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Schumer, Mr. 
 Specter, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Coleman, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Durbin, 
  Mr. Levin, and Mrs. Boxer) introduced the following bill; which was 
       read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

                             April 22, 2004

           Reported favorably by Mr. Hatch, without amendment

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and exporting cartels 
                                illegal.

    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 ``No Oil Producing and Exporting 
Cartels Act of 2004'' or ``NOPEC''.

SEC. 2. SHERMAN ACT.

    The Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 1 et seq.) is amended by adding after 
section 7 the following:

``SEC. 7A. OIL PRODUCING CARTELS.

    ``(a) In General.--It shall be illegal and a violation of this Act 
for any foreign state, or any instrumentality or agent of any foreign 
state, to act collectively or in combination with any other foreign 
state, any instrumentality or agent of any other foreign state, or any 
other person, whether by cartel or any other association or form of 
cooperation or joint action--
            ``(1) to limit the production or distribution of oil, 
        natural gas, or any other petroleum product;
            ``(2) to set or maintain the price of oil, natural gas, or 
        any petroleum product; or
            ``(3) to otherwise take any action in restraint of trade 
        for oil, natural gas, or any petroleum product;
when such action, combination, or collective action has a direct, 
substantial, and reasonably foreseeable effect on the market, supply, 
price, or distribution of oil, natural gas, or other petroleum product 
in the United States.
    ``(b) Sovereign Immunity.--A foreign state engaged in conduct in 
violation of subsection (a) shall not be immune under the doctrine of 
sovereign immunity from the jurisdiction or judgments of the courts of 
the United States in any action brought to enforce this section.
    ``(c) Inapplicability of Act of State Doctrine.--No court of the 
United States shall decline, based on the act of state doctrine, to 
make a determination on the merits in an action brought under this 
section.
    ``(d) Enforcement.--The Attorney General of the United States and 
the Federal Trade Commission may bring an action to enforce this 
section in any district court of the United States as provided under 
the antitrust laws.''.

SEC. 3. SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.

    Section 1605(a) of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ``or'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) in which the action is brought under section 7A of 
        the Sherman Act.''.




                                                       Calendar No. 474

108th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 2270

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and exporting cartels 
                                illegal.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             April 22, 2004

                       Reported without amendment