[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4514 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4514

 To authorize State and local governments to divest from entities that 
   engage in commerce or investment-related boycott, divestment, or 
     sanctions activities targeting Israel, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 10, 2016

 Mr. Dold (for himself and Mr. Vargas) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize State and local governments to divest from entities that 
   engage in commerce or investment-related boycott, divestment, or 
     sanctions activities targeting Israel, 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 ``Combating BDS Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORITY OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO DIVEST FROM 
              ENTITIES THAT ENGAGE IN COMMERCE OR INVESTMENT-RELATED 
              BOYCOTTS, DIVESTMENTS, OR SANCTIONS ACTIVITIES TARGETING 
              ISRAEL.

    (a) Authority To Divest.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, a State or local government may adopt and enforce measures that 
meet the notice requirement of subsection (b) to divest the assets of 
the State or local government from, or prohibit investment of the 
assets of the State or local government in--
            (1) an entity that the State or local government 
        determines, using credible information available to the public, 
        engages in a commerce or investment-related boycott, 
        divestment, or sanctions activity targeting Israel;
            (2) a successor entity or subunit of an entity described in 
        paragraph (1); or
            (3) an entity that owns or controls, is owned or controlled 
        by, or is under common ownership or control with, an entity 
        described in paragraph (1).
    (b) Notice Requirement.--
            (1) In general.--A State or local government shall provide 
        written notice to each entity to which a measure taken by the 
        State or local government under subsection (a) is to be 
        applied.
            (2) Rule of construction.--Nothing in paragraph (1) shall 
        be construed to prohibit a State or local government from 
        taking additional steps to provide due process with respect to 
        each entity described in paragraph (1) for purposes of carrying 
        out this section.
    (c) Nonpreemption.--A measure of a State or local government 
authorized under subsection (a) is not preempted by any Federal law or 
regulation.
    (d) Effective Date.--This section applies to measures adopted by a 
State or local government before, on, or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
    (e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to abridge the authority of a State to issue and enforce 
rules governing the safety, soundness, and solvency of a financial 
institution subject to its jurisdiction or the business of insurance 
pursuant to the Act of March 9, 1945 (59 Stat. 33, chapter 20; 15 
U.S.C. 1011 et seq.) (commonly known as the ``McCarran-Ferguson Act'').
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Assets.--
                    (A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph 
                (B), the term ``assets'' means any pension, retirement, 
                annuity, or endowment fund, or similar instrument, that 
                is controlled by a State or local government.
                    (B) Exception.--The term ``assets'' does not 
                include employee benefit plans covered by title I of 
                the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 
                U.S.C. 1001 et seq.).
            (2) Boycott, divestment, or sanctions activity targeting 
        israel.--The term ``boycott, divestment, or sanctions activity 
        targeting Israel'' means any activity that is intended to 
        penalize, inflict economic harm on, or otherwise limit 
        commercial relations with Israel or persons doing business in 
        Israel or in Israeli-controlled territories, for purposes of 
        coercing political action by, or imposing policy positions on, 
        the Government of Israel.
            (3) Entity.--The term ``entity'' includes--
                    (A) any corporation, company, business association, 
                partnership, or trust; and
                    (B) any governmental entity, or instrumentality of 
                a government, including a multilateral development 
                institution (as defined in section 1701(c)(3) of the 
                International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 
                262r(c)(3))).
            (4) Investment.--The term ``investment'' includes--
                    (A) a commitment or contribution of funds or 
                property;
                    (B) a loan or other extension of credit; and
                    (C) the entry into or renewal of a contract for 
                goods or services.
            (5) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several 
        States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
        Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 
        American Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, and any 
        other territory or possession of the United States.
            (6) State or local government.--The term ``State or local 
        government'' includes--
                    (A) any State and any agency or instrumentality 
                thereof;
                    (B) any local government within a State, and any 
                agency or instrumentality thereof; and
                    (C) any other governmental instrumentality of a 
                State or locality.

SEC. 3. SAFE HARBOR FOR CHANGES OF INVESTMENT POLICIES BY ASSET 
              MANAGERS.

    Section 13(c)(1) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 
80a-13(c)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``; or'' and inserting 
        a semicolon;
            (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) engage in boycott, divestment, or sanctions 
                activity targeting Israel described in section 2 of the 
                Combating BDS Act of 2016.''.
                                 <all>