I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1193

To require that the United States Government hold certain discussions and

report to the Congress with respect to the secondary boycott of Israel

by Arab countries.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 9, 1995

Mr. SCHUMER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on

Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To require that the United States Government hold certain

discussions and report to the Congress with respect to

the secondary boycott of Israel by Arab countries.

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 ‘‘Procompetitiveness

5 and Antiboycott Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the boycott of Israel by Arab countries has

2 distorted international trade and investment;

3 (2) the secondary boycott of Israel by Arab

4 countries has put at a competitive disadvantage

5 those United States business enterprises that refuse

6 to comply with the Arab boycott of Israel;

7 (3) the secondary boycott has stifled foreign in8 vestment in Israel;

9 (4) business enterprises that comply with the

10 boycott of Israel by Arab countries contribute to the

11 distortion of international commerce and investment;

12 and

13 (5) it is in the interest of all countries to have

14 free trade and a liberal climate for investment.

15 SEC. 3. OECD REPORT.

16 (a) DISCUSSIONS AT THE OECD.—The United

17 States Ambassador to the Organization for Economic Co18 operation and Development (hereafter in this Act referred

19 to as ‘‘OECD’’) shall enter into discussions with rep20 resentatives from other countries that are members of

21 OECD concerning—

22 (1) the extent to which business enterprises,

23 both public and private, comply with the boycott of

24 Israel by Arab countries;
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1 (2) the effectiveness, with respect to the second2 ary boycott, of antiboycott laws of those countries

3 that currently have or have had such laws;

4 (3) the extent to which the secondary boycott

5 has skewed global trade and investment, as well as

6 regional trade and investment in the Middle East;

7 (4) the extent to which business enterprises not

8 complying with the boycott of Israel by Arab coun9 tries are placed at a competitive disadvantage as a

10 result of the secondary boycott;

11 (5) the extent to which the secondary boycott

12 contradicts OECD trade and investment policy; and

13 (6) the development of a set of guidelines, com14 parable to the prohibitions set forth in section 8(a)

15 of the Export Administration Act of 1979 on actions

16 taken to comply with, further, or support a boycott

17 imposed by a foreign country, that countries that

18 are members of OECD can agree on as a way to

19 eliminate compliance with the boycott of Israel by

20 Arab countries.

21 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The United States Am22 bassador to the OECD shall submit to the Congress, not

23 later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of

24 this Act, a report on the progress of the discussions de25 scribed in subsection (a).
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1 SEC. 4. WTO REPORT.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The United States Trade Rep3 resentative shall enter into discussions with representa4 tives from countries that are members and prospective

5 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to de6 termine the extent to which—

7 (1) the secondary boycott has distorted trade;

8 (2) members and prospective members of the

9 WTO encourage actions, including the furnishing of

10 information or entering into implementing agree11 ments, which have the effect of furthering or sup12 porting the boycott of Israel by Arab countries;

13 (3) the WTO can and should work to eliminate

14 the secondary boycott; and

15 (4) provisions of the multilateral trade agree16 ments, specifically Articles I and XI of the GATT

17 1994, can be used to eliminate compliance with the

18 boycott of Israel by Arab countries and what addi19 tional measures, including penalties, can be applied

20 to countries imposing and complying with the boy21 cott of Israel by Arab countries.

22 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The United States

23 Trade Representative shall submit to the Congress, not

24 later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of

25 this Act, a report on the discussions described in sub26 section (a).
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1 (c) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the terms

2 ‘‘multilateral trade agreements’’ and ‘‘GATT 1994’’ have

3 the meanings given those terms in section 2 of the Uru4 guay Round Agreements Act (Public Law 103–465).

5 SEC. 5. PRESIDENTIAL REPORT.

6 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact7 ment of this Act, the President shall submit a report to

8 the Congress on—

9 (1) what progress has been made in terminating

10 the secondary boycott, and

11 (2) what progress has been made in terminating

12 the compliance by countries other than Arab coun13 tries with the boycott of Israel by Arab countries.

14 SEC. 6. BOYCOTT REPORT.

15 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact16 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce, in consulta17 tion with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the

18 Treasury, shall submit to the Congress a report on those

19 OECD member countries that encourage or fail to discour20 age compliance with the boycott of Israel by Arab coun21 tries. Such report shall include—

22 (1) a list of those OECD member countries

23 which encourage or fail to discourage compliance

24 with the boycott of Israel by Arab countries; and
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1 (2) for each country included in the list under

2 paragraph (1), a description of the policies, regula3 tions, practices, and laws of the government of that

4 country which encourage or fail to discourage com5 pliance with the boycott of Israel by Arab countries.

6 SEC. 7. OFFICE OF ANTIBOYCOTT COMPLIANCE.

7 It is the sense of the Congress that the Office of

8 Antiboycott Compliance of the Department of Commerce

9 should continue exercising its functions for at least 2 years

10 after the Arab League formally renounces—

11 (1) the boycott of Israel by Arab countries,

12 (2) the secondary boycott, and

13 (3) any requirement that a business enterprise

14 comply with the boycott of Israel by Arab countries,

15 in order to ensure that the countries of the Arab League

16 are complying with such renunciations.

17 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

18 For purposes of this Act—

19 (1) the term ‘‘secondary boycott’’ means the

20 boycott by the governments of Arab countries of—

21 (A) business enterprises which—

22 (i) provide goods or services to Israeli

23 nationals or business enterprises organized

24 under the laws of Israel or owned or con25 trolled by Israeli nationals, or
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1 (ii) invest in Israel or business enter2 prises described in clause (i);

3 (B) ships that call at Israeli ports; or

4 (C) goods and services of people or entities

5 which support the State of Israel; and

6 (2) a business enterprise complies with the boy7 cott of Israel by Arab countries when, as a condition

8 of doing business directly or indirectly within a

9 country or with the government of, a national of, or

10 a business enterprise organized under the laws of, a

11 country, that business enterprise—

12 (A) agrees to refrain from doing business

13 with or in Israel or with the government or na14 tionals of Israel or business enterprises orga15 nized under the laws of Israel or owned or con16 trolled by Israeli nationals; or

17 (B) agrees to furnish information about its

18 past, present, or future business relationships

19 with Israel or with the government or nationals

20 of Israel or business enterprises described in

21 subparagraph (A).

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