IIB 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4086 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 20, 2012 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

AN ACT 

To amend chapter 97 of title 28, United States Code, to 

clarify the exception to foreign sovereign immunity set 

forth in section 1605(a)(3) of such title. 

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


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HR 4086 RFS 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign Cultural Ex3 change Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF JURISDICTIONAL IMMUNITY OF 

5 FOREIGN STATES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1605 of title 28, United 

7 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(h) JURISDICTIONAL IMMUNITY FOR CERTAIN ART

10 EXHIBITION ACTIVITIES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If— 

12 ‘‘(A) a work is imported into the United 

13 States from any foreign country pursuant to an 

14 agreement that provides for the temporary exhi15 bition or display of such work entered into be16 tween a foreign state that is the owner or cus17 todian of such work and the United States or 

18 one or more cultural or educational institutions 

19 within the United States, 

20 ‘‘(B) the President, or the President’s des21 ignee, has determined, in accordance with Pub22 lic Law 89–259 (22 U.S.C. 2459), that such 

23 work is of cultural significance and the tem24 porary exhibition or display of such work is in 

25 the national interest, and 


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1 ‘‘(C) the notice thereof has been published 

2 in accordance with subsection (a) of Public Law 

3 89–259, 

4 any activity in the United States of such foreign 

5 state, or of any carrier, that is associated with the 

6 temporary exhibition or display of such work shall 

7 not be considered to be commercial activity by such 

8 foreign state for purposes of subsection (a)(3) of 

9 this section. 

10 ‘‘(2) NAZI-ERA CLAIMS.—Paragraph (1) shall 

11 not apply in any case in which— 

12 ‘‘(A) the action is based upon a claim that 

13 the work was taken in Europe in violation of 

14 international law by a covered government dur15 ing the covered period; 

16 ‘‘(B) the court determines that the activity 

17 associated with the exhibition or display is com18 mercial activity, as that term is defined in sec19 tion 1603(d) of this title; and 

20 ‘‘(C) such determination is necessary for 

21 the court to exercise jurisdiction over the for22 eign state under subsection (a)(3) of this sec23 tion. 

24 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub25 section— 


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HR 4086 RFS 

1 ‘‘(A) the term ‘work’ means a work of art 

2 or other object of cultural significance; 

3 ‘‘(B) the term ‘covered government’ 

4 means— 

5 ‘‘(i) the Nazi government of Germany; 

6 ‘‘(ii) any government in any area oc7 cupied by the military forces of the Nazi 

8 government of Germany; 

9 ‘‘(iii) any government established with 

10 the assistance or cooperation of the Nazi 

11 government of Germany; and 

12 ‘‘(iv) any government that was an ally 

13 of the Nazi government of Germany during 

14 the covered period; and 

15 ‘‘(C) the term ‘covered period’ means the 

16 period beginning on January 30, 1933, and 

17 ending on May 8, 1945.’’. 

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

19 this section shall apply to any civil action commenced on 

20 or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives March 19, 

2012. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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