[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 170 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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115th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 170
To provide for nonpreemption of measures by State and local governments
to divest from entities that engage in commerce-related or investment-
related boycott, divestment, or sanctions activities targeting Israel,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 17, 2017
Mr. Rubio (for himself, Mr. Manchin, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Cornyn,
Mr. Cardin, Mr. Graham, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Cotton,
Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Portman, Mr. Peters, Mr. Cruz, Ms. Stabenow, Ms.
Murkowski, Mr. Bennet, and Mr. Blunt) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing,
and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for nonpreemption of measures by State and local governments
to divest from entities that engage in commerce-related 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 2017''.
SEC. 2. NONPREEMPTION OF MEASURES BY STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO
DIVEST FROM ENTITIES THAT ENGAGE IN CERTAIN BOYCOTT,
DIVESTMENT, OR SANCTIONS ACTIVITIES TARGETING ISRAEL.
(a) State and Local Measures.--Notwithstanding any other provision
of law, a State or local government may adopt and enforce measures that
meet the requirements of subsection (b) to divest the assets of the
State or local government from, prohibit investment of the assets of
the State or local government in, or restrict contracting by the State
or local government for goods and services with--
(1) an entity that the State or local government
determines, using credible information available to the public,
knowingly engages in a commerce-related 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) Requirements.--A State or local government that seeks to adopt
or enforce a measure under subsection (a) shall meet the following
requirements:
(1) Notice.--The State or local government shall provide
written notice to each entity to which a measure under
subsection (a) is to be applied.
(2) Timing.--The measure shall apply to an entity not
earlier than the date that is 90 days after the date on which
written notice is provided to the entity under paragraph (1).
(3) Opportunity for comment.--The State or local government
shall provide an opportunity to comment in writing to each
entity to which a measure is to be applied. If the entity
demonstrates to the State or local government that the entity
has not engaged in a commerce-related or investment-related
boycott, divestment, or sanctions activity targeting Israel,
the measure shall not apply to the entity.
(4) Sense of congress on avoiding erroneous targeting.--It
is the sense of Congress that a State or local government
should not adopt a measure under subsection (a) with respect to
an entity unless the State or local government has made every
effort to avoid erroneously targeting the entity and has
verified that the entity engages in a commerce-related or
investment-related boycott, divestment, or sanctions activity
targeting Israel.
(c) Notice to Department of Justice.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), not
later than 30 days after adopting a measure described in
subsection (a), the State or local government that adopted the
measure shall submit written notice to the Attorney General
describing the measure.
(2) Existing measures.--With respect to measures described
in subsection (a) adopted before the date of the enactment of
this Act, the State or local government that adopted the
measure shall submit written notice to the Attorney General
describing the measure not later than 30 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act.
(d) Nonpreemption.--A measure of a State or local government that
is consistent with subsection (a) is not preempted by any Federal law.
(e) Effective Date.--This section applies to any measure adopted by
a State or local government before, on, or after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(f) Prior Enacted Measures.--
(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
this section or any other provision of law, and except as
provided in paragraph (2), a State or local government may
enforce a measure described in subsection (a) adopted by the
State or local government before the date of the enactment of
this Act without regard to the requirements of subsection (b).
(2) Application of notice and opportunity for comment.--A
measure described in paragraph (1) shall be subject to the
requirements of subsection (b) on and after the date that is 2
years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(g) Rules of Construction.--
(1) Authority of states.--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'').
(2) Policy of the united states.--Nothing in this section
shall be construed to alter the established policy of the
United States concerning final status issues associated with
the Arab-Israeli conflict, including border delineation, that
can only be resolved through direct negotiations between the
parties.
(3) Scope of nonpreemption.--Nothing in this section shall
be construed as establishing a basis for preempting or implying
preemption of State measures relating to boycott, divestment,
or sanctions activity targeting Israel that are outside the
scope of subsection (a).
(h) 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 any boycott, divestment, or
sanctions activity targeting Israel described in
section 2 of the Combating BDS Act of 2017.''.
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