II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 889 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 10, 2015 

Received 

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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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 sub22 section (a) of Public Law 89–259 (22 U.S.C. 

23 2459(a)), that such work is of cultural signifi24 cance and the temporary exhibition or display 

25 of such work is in 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 (22 U.S.C. 2459(a)), 

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). 

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

10 not apply in any case asserting jurisdiction under 

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

12 in violation of international law are in issue within 

13 the meaning of that subsection and— 

14 ‘‘(A) the property at issue is the work de15 scribed in paragraph (1); 

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

17 such work was taken in connection with the 

18 acts of a covered government during the cov19 ered period; 

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

21 associated with the exhibition or display is com22 mercial activity, as that term is defined in sec23 tion 1603(d); and 

24 ‘‘(D) a determination under subparagraph 

25 (C) is necessary for the court to exercise jurisVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Jun 12, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H889.RDS H889

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1 diction over the foreign state under subsection 

2 (a)(3). 

3 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub4 section— 

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

6 or other object of cultural significance; 

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

8 means— 

9 ‘‘(i) the Government of Germany dur10 ing the covered period; 

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

12 Europe that was occupied by the military 

13 forces of the Government of Germany dur14 ing the covered period; 

15 ‘‘(iii) any government in Europe that 

16 was established with the assistance or co17 operation of the Government of Germany 

18 during the covered period; and 

19 ‘‘(iv) any government in Europe that 

20 was an ally of the Government of Germany 

21 during the covered period; and 

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

23 period beginning on January 30, 1933, and 

24 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. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 9, 2015. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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