I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2009

To provide for the recovery, restitution, and protection of the cultural heritage 

of Iraq. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 7, 2003

Mr. ENGLISH (for himself and Mr. LEACH) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL

To provide for the recovery, restitution, and protection of 

the cultural heritage of Iraq.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Iraq Cultural Heritage 

5 Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act—

8 (1) the term ‘‘archaeological material of 

9 Iraq’’—
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1 (A) means any object or fragment or part 

2 of an object, including human and animal skel3 etal remains and plant and floral remains, that 

4 was first found within the borders of Iraq as 

5 such borders existed on August 2, 1990, and 

6 that—

7 (i) was built, manufactured, sculpted, 

8 produced, or written by humans; 

9 (ii) is at least 100 years old; and 

10 (iii) was discovered as a result of sci11 entific excavation, illegal or clandestine 

12 digging, accidental discovery, or explo13 ration on land or under water; and 

14 (B) includes all human and animal skeletal 

15 remains, as well as floral and botanical remains, 

16 that are found in association with archae17 ological material described in subparagraph (A); 

18 and 

19 (2) the term ‘‘cultural material of Iraq’’ means 

20 any object, regardless of age, including manuscripts, 

21 and materials used for traditional or religious cere22 monial purposes, or a fragment or part of an object, 

23 that was, on or after August 2, 1990, in the care 

24 of Iraq’s cultural or religious institutions and is of 
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1 historic, artistic, religious, scientific, or cultural in2 terest. 

3 SEC. 3. IMPORT RESTRICTION. 

4 (a) IMPORT PROHIBITION.—No archaeological mate5 rial of Iraq or cultural material of Iraq that was removed 

6 from Iraq after Executive Order 12722 of August 2, 1990, 

7 was issued may be imported into the United States, unless 

8 the Government of Iraq issues a certification or other doc9 umentation certifying that the exportation of the material 

10 from Iraq was not in violation of the laws of Iraq. 

11 (b) CUSTOMS ACTION IN ABSENCE OF DOCUMENTA12 TION.—If the consignee of any archaeological material of 

13 Iraq or cultural material of Iraq is unable to present to 

14 the appropriate customs officer at the time of making 

15 entry of such material the certification or other docu16 mentation by the Government of Iraq required under sub17 section (a), the customs officer shall refuse to release the 

18 material from customs custody, and shall send it to a 

19 bonded warehouse or store to be held at the risk and ex20 pense of the consignee, notwithstanding any other provi21 sion of law, until such certification or other documentation 

22 is filed with such officer. If such certification or other doc23 umentation is not presented within 90 days after the date 

24 on which such material is refused release from customs 

25 custody, or such longer period as may be allowed by the 
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1 Secretary of the Treasury for good cause shown, the mate2 rial shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture. 

3 SEC. 4. FORFEITURE OF UNLAWFUL IMPORTS. 

4 (a) SEIZURE.—Archaeological material of Iraq or cul5 tural material of Iraq that is imported into the United 

6 States in violation of this Act shall be seized and subject 

7 to forfeiture under the customs laws of the United States. 

8 All provisions of law relating to seizure, forfeiture, and 

9 condemnation for violation of the customs laws shall apply 

10 to seizures and forfeitures under this Act, insofar as those 

11 provisions of law are applicable to, and not inconsistent 

12 with, the provisions of this Act. 

13 (b) DISPOSITION OF ARTICLES.—Any archaeological 

14 material of Iraq or cultural material of Iraq that is for15 feited to the United States under this Act shall be re16 turned to the country of Iraq. 

17 SEC. 5. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN. 

18 In applying the Tariff Act of 1930 or any other provi19 sion of the customs laws of the United States to an article 

20 that is an object, or fragment of an object, discovered as 

21 a result of scientific excavation, illegal or clandestine 

22 digging, accidental discovery, or exploration on land or 

23 under water, the country of origin of the object or frag24 ment is the country within whose borders, as they exist

25 at the time the object or fragment is imported, or at-
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1 tempted to be imported, into the United States, the object 

2 or fragment was first discovered or excavated. 

3 SEC. 6. AMENDMENTS TO CONVENTION ON CULTURAL 

4 PROPERTY IMPLEMENTATION ACT. 

5 (a) DEFINITION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL OR ETHNO6 LOGICAL MATERIAL.—Section 302(2)(i)(II) of the Con7 vention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (19 

8 U.S.C. 2601(2)(i)(II)) is amended by striking ‘‘two hun9 dred and fifty years’’ and inserting ‘‘100’’. 

10 (b) EMERGENCY IMPLEMENTATION OF IMPORT RE11 STRICTIONS.—Section 304 of the Convention on Cultural 

12 Property Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 2603) is amend13 ed—

14 (1) by striking ‘‘State Party’’ each place it ap15 pears and inserting ‘‘country’’; and 

16 (2) in subsection (c)—

17 (A) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2); 

18 (B) by striking paragraph (3) and insert19 ing the following: 

20 ‘‘(1) No import restrictions under section 307 

21 may be applied under this section to the archae22 ological or ethnological materials of any country for 

23 more than 10 years after the date on which the no24 tice in the Federal Register imposing such restric25 tions is published. Such 10-year period may be ex-
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1 tended by the President if the President determines 

2 that the emergency condition continues to apply with 

3 respect to the archaeological or ethnological mate4 rial.’’; and 

5 (C) in paragraph (4)—

6 (i) by redesignating such paragraph 

7 as paragraph (2); and 

8 (ii) by striking ‘‘paragraph (3)’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)’’. 

10 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Convention 

11 on Cultural Property Implementation Act is amended—

12 (1) in section 302 (19 U.S.C. 2601)—

13 (A) in paragraph (2)—

14 (i) by amending the matter preceding 

15 subparagraph (A) to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(2) The term ‘archaeological or ethnological 

17 material’ of a State Party or othercountry means—

18 ’’; and 

19 (ii) in the matter following subpara20 graph (C), by inserting ‘‘or other country’’ 

21 after ‘‘State Party’’; and 

22 (B) in paragraph (7), by inserting ‘‘or an23 other country’’ after ‘‘State Party’’; 
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1 (2) in section 305 (19 U.S.C. 2604) in the first 

2 sentence, by striking ‘‘by such action’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘the country covered by such action’’; 

4 (3) in section 307 (19 U.S.C. 2606)—

5 (A) in subsection (a)—

6 (i) by striking ‘‘State Party’’ the first 

7 place it appears and inserting ‘‘the country 

8 concerned’’; and 

9 (ii) by striking ‘‘the State Party’’ each 

10 subsequent place it appears and inserting 

11 ‘‘that country’’; and 

12 (B) in subsections (b) and (c), by striking 

13 ‘‘the State Party’’ each place it appears and in14 serting ‘‘the country concerned’’; and 

15 (4) in section 310(b) (19 U.S.C. 2609(b)) by 

16 striking ‘‘State Party’’ each place it appears and in17 serting ‘‘country concerned’’. 

18 (d) EXTENSION OF AGREEMENTS.—Section 303(e) of 

19 the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act 

20 (19 U.S.C. 2602(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘five years’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘10 years’’.

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