II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2212 

To clarify the exception to foreign sovereign immunity set forth in section 

1605(a)(3) title 28, United States Code. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 20, 2012 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Mr. HATCH) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To clarify the exception to foreign sovereign immunity set 

forth in section 1605(a)(3) title 28, United States Code. 

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 ‘‘Foreign Cultural Ex5 change Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF JURISDICTIONAL IMMUNITY OF 

7 FOREIGN STATES. 

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

9 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(h) JURISDICTIONAL IMMUNITY FOR CERTAIN ART

2 EXHIBITION ACTIVITIES.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If— 

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

5 States from any foreign country pursuant to an 

6 agreement providing for the temporary exhi7 bition or display of such work entered into be8 tween a foreign state that is the owner or cus9 todian of such work and the United States or 

10 1 or more cultural or educational institutions 

11 within the United States; 

12 ‘‘(B) the President, or the President’s des13 ignee, has determined, in accordance with Pub14 lic Law 89–259 (79 Stat. 985; 22 U.S.C. 

15 2459), that such work is of cultural significance 

16 and the temporary exhibition or display of such 

17 work is in the national interest; and 

18 ‘‘(C) notice has been published in the Fed19 eral Register in accordance with Public Law 

20 89–259, 

21 any activity in the United States of such foreign 

22 state or any carrier associated with the temporary 

23 exhibit or display of such work shall not be consid24 ered to be commercial activity for purposes of sub25 section (a)(3). 


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

2 not apply in any case in which— 

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

4 the work was taken in Europe in violation of 

5 international law by a covered government dur6 ing the covered period; 

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

8 associated with the exhibition or display is com9 mercial activity; and 

10 ‘‘(C) a determination under subparagraph 

11 (B) is necessary for the court to exercise juris12 diction over the foreign state under subsection 

13 (a)(3). 

14 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub15 section— 

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

17 or other object of cultural significance; and 

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

19 means— 

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

21 ‘‘(ii) any government in any area oc22 cupied by the military forces of the Nazi 

23 government of Germany; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) any government established with 

2 the assistance or cooperation of the Nazi 

3 government; and 

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

5 of the Nazi government of Germany; and 

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

7 period beginning on January 30, 1933, and 

8 ending on May 8, 1945.’’. 

9 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub10 section (a) shall apply to cases commenced after the date 

11 of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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