[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1887 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
114th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1887
To protect and preserve international cultural property at risk due to
political instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 29, 2015
Mr. Casey (for himself, Mr. Grassley, and Mr. Perdue) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To protect and preserve international cultural property at risk due to
political instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters,
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 ``Protect and Preserve International
Cultural Property Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITION.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on
Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Ways and Means, the Committee
on Armed Services, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign
Relations, the Committee on Finance, the Committee on Armed
Services, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate.
(2) Cultural property.--The term ``cultural property''
includes property covered under--
(A) the Hague Convention for the Protection of
Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict,
concluded at The Hague on May 14, 1954 (Treaty Doc.
106-1(A));
(B) Article 1 of the Convention Concerning the
Protection of the World's Cultural and Natural
Heritage, adopted by UNESCO on November 23, 1972
(commonly referred to as the ``1972 Convention''); or
(C) Article 1 of the Convention on the Means of
Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export,
and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, adopted
by UNESCO on November 14, 1970 (commonly referred to as
the ``1970 UNESCO Convention'').
SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF POLICY.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Over the years, international cultural property has
been looted, trafficked, lost, damaged, or destroyed due to
political instability, armed conflict, natural disasters, and
other threats.
(2) During China's Cultural Revolution, many antiques were
destroyed, including a large portion of old Beijing, and
Chinese authorities are now attempting to rebuild portions of
China's lost architectural heritage.
(3) In 1975, the Khmer Rouge, after seizing power in
Cambodia, systematically destroyed mosques and nearly every
Catholic church in the country, along with many Buddhist
temples, statues, and Buddhist literature.
(4) In 2001, the Taliban destroyed the Bamiyan Buddhas,
ancient statues carved into a cliffside in central Afghanistan,
leading to worldwide condemnation.
(5) After the fall of Saddam Hussein, thieves looted the
Iraq Museum in Baghdad, resulting in the loss of approximately
15,000 items, including ancient amulets, sculptures, ivories,
and cylinder seals. Many of these items remain unrecovered.
(6) The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami not only
affected 11 countries, causing massive loss of life, but also
damaged or destroyed libraries, archives, and World Heritage
Sites such as the Mahabalipuram in India, the Sun Temple of
Koranak on the Bay of Bengal, and the Old Town of Galle and its
fortifications in Sri Lanka.
(7) In Haiti, the 2010 earthquake destroyed art, artifacts,
and archives, and partially destroyed the 17th century Haitian
city of Jacmel.
(8) In Mali, the Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group Ansar
Dine destroyed tombs and shrines in the ancient city of
Timbuktu--a major center for trade, scholarship, and Islam in
the 15th and 16th centuries--and threatened collections of
ancient manuscripts.
(9) In Egypt, recent political instability has led to the
ransacking of museums, resulting in the destruction of
countless ancient artifacts that will forever leave gaps in
humanity's record of the ancient Egyptian civilization.
(10) In Syria, the ongoing civil war has resulted in the
shelling of medieval cities, damage to five World Heritage
Sites, and the looting of museums containing artifacts that
date back more than six millennia and include some of the
earliest examples of writing.
(11) In Iraq and Syria, the militant group ISIL has
destroyed numerous cultural sites and artifacts, such as the
Tomb of Jonah in July 2014, in an effort to eradicate ethnic
and religious minorities from contested territories.
Concurrently, cultural antiquities that escape demolition are
looted and trafficked to help fund ISIL's militant operations.
(12) On February 12, 2015, the United Nations Security
Council unanimously adopted resolution 2199 (2015), which
``[r]eaffirms its decision in paragraph 7 of resolution 1483
(2003) and decides that all Member States shall take
appropriate steps to prevent the trade in Iraqi and Syrian
cultural property and other items of archaeological,
historical, cultural, rare scientific, and religious importance
illegally removed from Iraq since 6 August 1990 and from Syria
since 15 March 2011, including by prohibiting cross-border
trade in such items, thereby allowing for their eventual safe
return to the Iraqi and Syrian people.''.
(13) United Nations Security Council resolution 2199 (2015)
also warns that ISIL and other extremist groups are trafficking
cultural heritage items from Iraq and Syria to fund their
recruitment efforts and carry out terrorist attacks.
(14) The destruction of cultural property represents an
irreparable loss of humanity's common cultural heritage and is
therefore a loss for all Americans.
(15) Protecting international cultural property is a vital
part of United States cultural diplomacy, showing the respect
of the United States for other cultures and the common heritage
of humanity.
(16) The United States Armed Forces have played important
roles in preserving and protecting cultural property. In 1943,
President Franklin D. Roosevelt established a commission to
advise the United States military on the protection of cultural
property. The commission formed teams of individuals known as
the ``Monuments Men'' who are credited with securing,
cataloguing, and returning hundreds of thousands of works of
art stolen by the Nazis during World War II.
(17) The Department of State, in response to the Convention
on Cultural Property Implementation Act, noted that ``the
legislation is important to our foreign relations, including
our international cultural relations. The expanding worldwide
trade in objects of archaeological and ethnological interest
has led to wholesale depredations in some countries, resulting
in the mutilation of ceremonial centers and archaeological
complexes of ancient civilizations and the removal of stone
sculptures and reliefs.''. The Department further noted that
``[t]he United States considers that on grounds of principle,
good foreign relations, and concern for the preservation of the
cultural heritage of mankind, it should render assistance in
these situations.''.
(18) The U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield was founded in
2006 to support the implementation of the 1954 Hague Convention
for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed
Conflict and to coordinate with the United States military,
other branches of the United States Government, and other
cultural heritage nongovernmental organizations in preserving
international cultural property threatened by political
instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters.
(b) Statement of Policy.--It shall be the policy of the United
States to--
(1) protect and preserve international cultural property at
risk of looting, trafficking, and destruction due to political
instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters;
(2) protect international cultural property pursuant to its
obligations under international treaties to which the United
States is a party;
(3) prevent, in accordance with existing laws, importation
of cultural property pillaged, looted, stolen, or trafficked at
all times, including during political instability, armed
conflict, or natural or other disasters; and
(4) ensure that existing laws and regulations, including
import restrictions imposed through the Office of Foreign Asset
Control (OFAC) of the Department of the Treasury, are fully
implemented to prevent trafficking in stolen or looted cultural
property.
SEC. 4. UNITED STATES COORDINATOR FOR INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL PROPERTY
PROTECTION.
The Secretary of State shall designate a Department of State
employee at the Assistant Secretary level or above to serve
concurrently as the United States Coordinator for International
Cultural Property Protection. The Coordinator shall--
(1) coordinate and promote efforts to protect international
cultural property, especially activities that involve multiple
Federal agencies;
(2) act as Chair of the Coordinating Committee on
International Cultural Property Protection established under
section 5;
(3) resolve interagency differences;
(4) develop strategies to reduce illegal trade and
trafficking in international cultural property in the United
States and abroad, including by reducing consumer demand for
such trade;
(5) support activities to assist countries that are the
principle sources of trafficked cultural property to protect
cultural heritage sites and to prevent cultural property
looting and theft;
(6) work with and consult domestic and international actors
such as foreign governments, intergovernmental organizations,
nongovernmental organizations, museums, educational
institutions, and research institutions to protect
international cultural property; and
(7) submit to the appropriate congressional committees the
annual report required under section 6.
SEC. 5. COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL PROPERTY
PROTECTION.
(a) Establishment.--There is established a Coordinating Committee
on International Cultural Property Protection (in this section referred
to as the ``Committee'').
(b) Functions.--The full Committee shall meet not less often than
annually to coordinate and inform Federal efforts to protect
international cultural property and to facilitate the work of the
United States Coordinator for International Cultural Property
Protection designated under section 4.
(c) Membership.--The Committee shall be composed of the United
States Coordinator for International Cultural Property Protection, who
shall act as Chair, and representatives of the following:
(1) The Department of State.
(2) The Department of Defense.
(3) The Department of Homeland Security, including U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border
Protection.
(4) The Department of the Interior.
(5) The Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau
of Investigation.
(6) The United States Agency for International Development.
(7) The Smithsonian Institution.
(8) Such other entities as the Chair determines
appropriate.
(d) Subcommittees.--The Committee may include such subcommittees
and taskforces as the Chair determines appropriate. Such subcommittees
or taskforces may be comprised of a subset of the Committee members or
of such other members as the Chair determines appropriate. At the
discretion of the Chair, the provisions of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) and section 552b of title 5 of the United
States Code (relating to open meetings) shall not apply to activities
of such subcommittees or taskforces.
(e) Consultation.--The Committee shall consult with governmental
and nongovernmental organizations, including the U.S. Committee of the
Blue Shield, museums, educational institutions, and research
institutions on efforts to promote and protect international cultural
property.
SEC. 6. REPORTS ON ACTIVITIES TO PROTECT INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL
PROPERTY.
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act
and annually thereafter for the next 6 years, the Secretary of State,
acting through the United States Coordinator for International Cultural
Property Protection, and in consultation with the Administrator of the
United States Agency for International Development, the Secretary of
Defense, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security,
as appropriate, shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report that includes information on activities of--
(1) the United States Coordinator and the Coordinating
Committee on International Cultural Property Protection to
protect international cultural property;
(2) the Department of State to protect international
cultural property, including activities undertaken pursuant to
the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in
the Event of Armed Conflict, and other statutes, international
agreements, and policies, including--
(A) procedures the Department has instituted to
protect international cultural property at risk of
destruction due to political instability, armed
conflict, or natural or other disasters; and
(B) actions the Department has taken to protect
international cultural property in conflicts to which
the United States is a party;
(3) the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID) to protect international cultural property, including
activities and coordination with other Federal agencies,
international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations
regarding the protection of international cultural property at
risk due to political unrest, armed conflict, natural or other
disasters, and USAID development programs;
(4) the Department of Defense to protect international
cultural property, including activities undertaken pursuant to
the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in
the Event of Armed Conflict and other cultural property
protection statutes and international agreements, including--
(A) directives, policies, and regulations the
Department has instituted to protect international
cultural property at risk of destruction due to
political instability, armed conflict, or natural or
other disasters; and
(B) actions the Department has taken to avoid
damage to cultural property through construction
activities abroad; and
(5) the Department of Homeland Security and the Department
of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to
protect both international cultural property abroad and
international cultural property located in, or attempted to be
imported into, the United States, including activities
undertaken pursuant to statutes and international agreements,
including--
(A) statutes and regulations the Department has
employed in criminal, civil, and civil forfeiture
actions to prevent and interdict trafficking in stolen
and smuggled cultural property, including
investigations into transnational organized crime and
smuggling networks; and
(B) actions the Department has taken in order to
ensure the consistent and effective application of law
in cases relating to both international cultural
property abroad and international cultural property
located in, or attempted to be imported into, the
United States.
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES TO ENGAGE IN INTERNATIONAL
CULTURAL PROPERTY PROTECTION ACTIVITIES WITH THE
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any agency that is
involved in international cultural property protection activities is
authorized to enter into agreements or memoranda of understanding with
the Smithsonian Institution to temporarily engage personnel from the
Smithsonian Institution for the purposes of furthering such
international cultural property protection activities.
SEC. 8. EMERGENCY PROTECTION FOR SYRIAN CULTURAL PROPERTY.
(a) Presidential Determination.--Notwithstanding subsection (b) of
section 304 of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act
(19 U.S.C. 2603) (relating to a Presidential determination that an
emergency condition applies with respect to any archaeological or
ethnological material of any State Party to the Convention), the
President shall apply the import restrictions referred to in such
section 304 with respect to any archaeological or ethnological material
of Syria, except that subsection (c) of such section 304 shall not
apply. Such import restrictions shall take effect not later than 120
days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) Annual Determination Regarding Certification.--
(1) Determination.--
(A) In general.--The President shall, not less
often than annually, determine whether at least one of
the conditions specified in subparagraph (B) is met,
and shall notify the appropriate congressional
committees of such determination.
(B) Conditions.--The conditions referred to in
subparagraph (A) are the following:
(i) The Government of Syria is incapable,
at the time a determination under such
subparagraph is made, of fulfilling the
requirements to request an agreement under
section 303 of the Convention on Cultural
Property Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 2602).
(ii) It would be against the United States
national interest to enter into such an
agreement.
(2) Termination of restrictions.--The import restrictions
referred to in subsection (a) shall terminate on the date that
is 5 years after the date on which the President determines
that neither of the conditions specified in paragraph (1)(B)
are met, unless before such termination date Syria requests to
enter into an agreement with the United States pursuant to
section 303 of the Convention on Cultural Property
Implementation Act, in which case such import restrictions may
remain in effect until the earliest of either--
(A) the date that is 3 years after the date on
which Syria makes such a request; or
(B) the date on which the United States and Syria
enter into such an agreement.
(c) Waiver.--
(1) In general.--The President may waive the import
restrictions referred to in subsection (a) for specified
cultural property if the President certifies to the appropriate
congressional committees that the conditions described in
paragraph (2) are met.
(2) Conditions.--The conditions referred to in paragraph
(1) are the following:
(A) The foreign owner or custodian of the specified
cultural property has requested such property be
temporarily located in the United States for protection
purposes.
(B) Such property shall be returned to the foreign
owner or custodian when requested by such foreign owner
or custodian.
(C) Granting a waiver under this subsection will
not contribute to illegal trafficking in cultural
property or financing of criminal or terrorist
activities.
(3) Action.--If the President grants a waiver under this
subsection, the specified cultural property that is the subject
of such waiver shall be placed in the temporary custody of the
United States Government or in the temporary custody of a
cultural or educational institution within the United States
for the purpose of protection, restoration, conservation,
study, or exhibition, without profit.
(4) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this Act shall
prevent application of the Act to render immune from seizure
under judicial process certain objects of cultural significance
imported into the United States for temporary display or
exhibition, and for other purposes (22 U.S.C. 2459; Public Law
89-259) with respect to archaeological or ethnological material
of Syria.
(d) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the term ``archaeological or ethnological material of
Syria'' means cultural property of Syria and other items of
archaeological, historical, cultural, rare scientific, or
religious importance unlawfully removed from Syria on or after
March 15, 2011; and
(2) the term ``State Party'' has the meaning given such
term in section 302 of the Convention on Cultural Property
Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 2601).
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