[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 151 (Wednesday, November 20, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S11716]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            ENHANCED PROTECTION OF OUR CULTURAL HERITAGE ACT

  Mr. LEAHY. I am pleased that the Senate late last night passed S. 
2598, the Enhanced Protection of Our Cultural Heritage, EPOCH, Act of 
2002, which I introduced earlier this year with Senators Inouye, 
Clinton, Bingaman, and Boxer. This legislation increases the maximum 
penalties for violations of three existing statutes that protect the 
cultural and archaeological history of the American people, 
particularly Native Americans. The U.S. Sentencing Commission 
recommended the statutory changes contained in this bill, which would 
complement the Commission's strengthening of Federal sentencing 
guidelines to ensure more stringent penalties for criminals who steal 
from our public lands.
  This bill increases the maximum penalities for the Archaeological 
Resources Protection Act, ARPA, 16 U.S.C. Sec. 470ee, the Native 
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, NAGPRA, 18 U.S.C. 
Sec. 1170, and for 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1163, which prohibits theft from 
Indian tribal organizations. All three statutes currently impose a 5-
year maximum sentence, and each includes a lower maximum for a first 
offense of the statute and/or a violation of the statute involving 
property of less than a specified value. The bill would create a 10-
year maximum sentence for each statute, while eliminating the lower 
maximums under ARPA and NAGPRA for first offenses.
  Such maximum sentences would be consistent with similar Federal 
statutes. For example, the 1994 law proscribing museum theft carriers a 
10-year maximum sentence, as do the general statutes punishing theft 
and the destruction of Government property. Moreover, increasing the 
maximum sentences will give judges and the Sentencing Commission 
greater discretion to impose punishments appropriate to the amount of 
destruction a defendant has done.
  Making these changes will also enable the Sentencing Commission's 
recent sentencing guidelines to be fully implemented. The Commission 
has increased sentencing guidelines for cultural heritage crimes, but 
the statutory maximum penalties contained in current law will prevent 
judges from issuing sentences in the upper range of the new guidelines. 
Those new guidelines have the enthusiastic support of the Justice and 
Interior Departments, the Society for American Archaeology, the 
National Trust for Historic Preservation, numerous Native American 
nations, and many others.
  Two of the three laws this legislation amends protect Native American 
lands and property. The third, ARPA, protects both public and Indian 
lands, and provides significant protection to my State of Vermont. For 
example, ARPA can be used to prosecute those who would steal artifacts 
from the wrecked military vessels at the bottom of Lake Champlain that 
date to the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. U.S. attorneys can 
also use ARPA to prosecute criminals who take items that are at least 
100 years old from a protected site on Vermont State property without a 
permit, and then transport those goods into another State. In addition, 
ARPA protects artifacts found on the approximately 5 percent of Vermont 
land that is Federal property, land that includes many ``ghost towns'' 
that have long been abandoned but are an important part of our history.
  Those who would pillage the rich cultural heritage of this Nation and 
its people are committing serious crimes. These artifacts are the 
legacy of all Americans and should not be degraded as garage sale 
commodities or as fodder for private enrichment.

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