I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 889 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2015 

Mr. CHABOT (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Mr. GOODLATTE, and Mr. CONYERS) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign Cultural Ex5 change Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF JURISDICTIONAL IMMUNITY OF 

2 FOREIGN STATES. 

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

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(h) JURISDICTIONAL IMMUNITY FOR CERTAIN ART

7 EXHIBITION ACTIVITIES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If— 

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

10 States from any foreign country pursuant to an 

11 agreement that provides for the temporary exhi12 bition or display of such work entered into be13 tween a foreign state that is the owner or cus14 todian of such work and the United States or 

15 one or more cultural or educational institutions 

16 within the United States, 

17 ‘‘(B) the President, or the President’s des18 ignee, has determined, in accordance with sub19 section (a) of Public Law 89–259 (22 U.S.C. 

20 2459(a)), that such work is of cultural signifi21 cance and the temporary exhibition or display 

22 of such work is in the national interest, and 

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

24 in accordance with subsection (a) of Public Law 

25 89–259 (22 U.S.C. 2459(a)), 


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1 any activity in the United States of such foreign 

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

3 temporary exhibition or display of such work shall 

4 not be considered to be commercial activity by such 

5 foreign state for purposes of subsection (a)(3). 

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

7 not apply in any case asserting jurisdiction under 

8 subsection (a)(3) in which rights in property taken 

9 in violation of international law are in issue within 

10 the meaning of that subsection and— 

11 ‘‘(A) the property at issue is the work de12 scribed in paragraph (1); 

13 ‘‘(B) the action is based upon a claim that 

14 such work was taken in connection with the 

15 acts of a covered government during the cov16 ered period; 

17 ‘‘(C) the court determines that the activity 

18 associated with the exhibition or display is com19 mercial activity, as that term is defined in sec20 tion 1603(d); and 

21 ‘‘(D) a determination under subparagraph 

22 (C) is necessary for the court to exercise juris23 diction over the foreign state under subsection 

24 (a)(3). 


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1 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub2 section— 

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

4 or other object of cultural significance; 

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

6 means— 

7 ‘‘(i) the Government of Germany dur8 ing the covered period; 

9 ‘‘(ii) any government in any area in 

10 Europe that was occupied by the military 

11 forces of the Government of Germany dur12 ing the covered period; 

13 ‘‘(iii) any government in Europe that 

14 was established with the assistance or co15 operation of the Government of Germany 

16 during the covered period; and 

17 ‘‘(iv) any government in Europe that 

18 was an ally of the Government of Germany 

19 during the covered period; and 

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

21 period beginning on January 30, 1933, and 

22 ending on May 8, 1945.’’. 


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

2 this section shall apply to any civil action commenced on 

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

Æ 


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