[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 91 (Thursday, June 19, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8236-S8237]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself and Mr. Baucus):
  S. 1291. A bill to authorize the President to impose emergency import 
restrictions on archaeological or ethnological materials of Iraq until 
normalization of relations between the United States and the Government 
of Iraq has been established; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today I rise to introduce the Emergency 
Protection for Iraqi Cultural Antiquities Act of 2003, the EPIC 
Antiquities Act of 2003. I am pleased that Senator Baucus joins me as 
an original cosponsor of this important legislation. The EPIC 
Antiquities Act of 2003 authorizes the President to impose immediate 
emergency import restrictions on the archaeological and ethnological 
materials of Iraq. The purpose of this bill is simple--to close a legal 
loophole which could allow looted Iraqi antiquities to be brought into 
the United States. Allow me to explain how this might happen.
  When Iraq invaded Kuwait in August of 1990, former President Bush 
issued Executive Orders 12722 and 12744, which declared a national 
emergency with respect to Iraq. Those orders imposed economic sanctions 
against Iraq, including a complete trade embargo which automatically 
prohibited trade in Iraqi antiquities as of that time. The United 
Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 661 on August 6, 1990, 
which also imposed economic sanctions on Iraq. The sanctions imposed 
under the Executive Orders are spelled out in the Iraqi Sanctions 
Regulations. These regulations are administered by the Treasury 
Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC.
  Now until recently, the Iraqi Sanctions Regulations continued to 
restrict trade with Iraq, including trade in Iraqi antiquities. 
However, on May 22, 2003, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 
1483, which lifted most sanctions on Iraq. Resolution 1483 also 
provided that Member States should establish a prohibition on trade in 
archaeological, cultural, historical, religious, and rare scientific 
items of Iraq, that may have been illegally removed from the country 
since the adoption of Resolution 661 back in 1990. On May 23, 2003, 
OFAC implemented UN Resolution 1483 and issued a General License which 
lifted most of our trade sanctions with respect to Iraq. Importantly, 
OFAC's general license continues to ban trade in looted Iraqi 
antiquities. However, this legal structure that is currently in place 
is vulnerable to a potential loophole.
  It is important to recognize that the legal authority for OFAC's 
continuing restrictions on trade in Iraqi antiquities derives from the 
Executive Orders issued in 1990, which are themselves premised upon the 
existence of emergency conditions with respect to Iraq. It is possible 
that once an interim government is in place, the President may 
determine that emergency conditions no longer exist with respect to 
Iraq and relations between the United States and Iraq will be 
normalized. At that point, the legal authority for the OFAC 
restrictions will be terminated. This bill is designed to bridge a 
potential gap in the protections afforded Iraqi antiquities by allowing 
the President to impose emergency import restrictions without delay. 
These emergency restrictions would be authorized for an interim period 
to extend beyond any termination of the OFAC restrictions, and would 
remain in place until such time as other, more lengthy, legal 
mechanisms for the protection of cultural antiquities can be completed. 
I will elaborate on these other legal mechanisms in a moment.
  If Congress does not act to provide the means for establishing the 
interim ban on trade contained in this bill, the door may be opened to 
imports of looted Iraqi antiquities into the United States. Already the 
press has reported allegations that European auction houses have traded 
in looted Iraqi antiquities. The last thing that we in Congress want to 
do is to fail to act to prevent trade in looted Iraqi artifacts here in 
the United States.
  The stopgap authority in this bill derives from legislation 
implementing the U.N. Convention on the protection of cultural 
property. This bill amends the Convention on Cultural Property 
Implementation Act, Implementation Act, to allow the President to 
impose immediate emergency import restrictions with respect to Iraqi 
antiquities. The Implementation Act already authorizes the President to 
restrict imports of cultural antiquities, but there is a somewhat 
lengthy process called for under the Implementation Act before the 
President may impose such restrictions. Since we passed the 
Implementation Act in 1983, we have imposed import restrictions on 
archaeological

[[Page S8237]]

or ethnological materials from ten countries to assist in the 
protection of their cultural property.
  Unfortunately, the Implementation Act does not address the unique 
conditions that prevail in Iraq today. Normally, under the 
Implementation Act a country formally requests that the United States 
prohibit stolen or illegally exported cultural antiquities from 
entering into the United States. The State Department will then publish 
a Federal Register notice announcing the request. Following 
publication, a Cultural Property Advisory Committee will investigate 
and review the request and report its recommendation to the President. 
With the benefit of the Committee's report, the President can then 
proceed to negotiate a bilateral agreement with the foreign country. In 
the past, this entire process has taken at least a year before import 
restrictions are put in place.
  There are two major deficiencies with the current process which 
necessitate the bill we are introducing today. First, the 
Implementation Act requires a foreign government to make a formal 
request to the United States. Right now, there is no Government of Iraq 
to request such a bilateral agreement with the United States. The 
second problem is that, even if there were an Iraqi Government in place 
to make such a request, the administrative process called for under the 
Implementation Act just takes too long given the present 
circumstances--although the extent of looting of museums, libraries, 
and archaeological sites in Iraq may not be as great as was first 
feared, the fact remains that such looting has occurred and that 
illicit trade in such antiquities could spread if there is even a 
temporary lifting of import restrictions.
  Now granted, the Implementation Act does authorize the President to 
impose emergency import restrictions even before a bilateral agreement 
is finalized. However, before the President can do so, all of the other 
administrative processes under the Implementation Act must be 
completed; this includes a three month period for the preparation of a 
report to the President by the Cultural Property Advisory Committee. 
Again, the problem here is that the normal process for imposing even 
emergency import restrictions could take too long.
  If the Administration were to normalize relations between the United 
States and the next Government of Iraq, thereby terminating the OFAC 
import restrictions, it is possible that looted Iraqi antiquities could 
begin entering the United States while we sit and wait for a possible 
bilateral agreement to be finalized. The EPIC Antiquities Act of 2003 
solves this problem. This legislation provides a uniquely and narrowly 
tailored amendment to the Implementation Act which closes the potential 
legal loophole between the time when relations are normalized and the 
time when we can undertake and complete the normal processes for the 
protection of cultural antiquities contained in the Implementation Act.
  By extending the President's authority under the Implementation Act 
for an interim period, this bill is narrowly designed to meet the 
unique circumstances in Iraq today. The EPIC Antiquities Act of 2003 
provides that this extension of the President's authority will 
terminate one year after relations are normalized, or by September 30, 
2004, so that the next Iraqi Government can determine for itself 
whether to seek a bilateral agreement with the United States, and if 
so, the President can negotiate such an agreement with the benefit of 
input from the Cultural Property Advisory Committee--as envisioned by 
the Implementation Act. In short, our bill does not seek to supplant 
the established process for protecting cultural antiquities under the 
Implementation Act; instead, it permits an extra guarantee of 
protection for Iraq's cultural antiquities in the short term while Iraq 
completes its transition back into the community of nations.
  I thank Senator Baucus for his support, and I hope our colleagues can 
also support this important and timely bill. I hope we are able to move 
this legislation quickly, perhaps as part of the Miscellaneous Trade 
and Technical Corrections Act of 2003, which is waiting for full Senate 
approval.
  As we work to reestablish the free flow of trade with a liberated 
Iraq, I believe it is very important that we in Congress remain mindful 
of the need to take steps to protect Iraq's cultural heritage. Our bill 
will ensure that going forward we continue to adhere to the full spirit 
of Resolution 1483 and avoid any break in the protections afforded to 
Iraqi antiquities. Our bill also provides an important signal of our 
commitment to preserving Iraq's resources for the benefit of the Iraqi 
people. It is time to close the potential gap in protections, and pass 
the EPIC Antiquities Act of 2003.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 1291

       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 ``Emergency Protection for 
     Iraqi Cultural Antiquities Act of 2003''.

     SEC. 2. EMERGENCY IMPLEMENTATION OF IMPORT RESTRICTIONS.

       (a) Authority.--The President may exercise the authority of 
     the President under section 304 of the Convention on Cultural 
     Property Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 2603) with respect to 
     any archaeological or ethnological material of Iraq as if 
     Iraq were a State Party under that Act, except that, in 
     exercising such authority, subsection (c) of such section 
     shall not apply.
       (b) Definition.--In this section, the term ``archaeological 
     or ethnological material of Iraq'' means cultural property of 
     Iraq and other items of archaeological, historical, cultural, 
     rare scientific, or religious importance illegally removed 
     from the Iraq National Museum, the National Library of Iraq, 
     and other locations in Iraq, since the adoption of United 
     Nations Security Council Resolution 661 of 1990.

     SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.

       The authority of the President under section 2 shall 
     terminate upon the earlier of--
       (1) the date that is 12 months after the date on which the 
     President certifies to Congress that normalization of 
     relations between the United States and the Government of 
     Iraq has been established; or
       (2) September 30, 2004.
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