I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 825 

To promote trade and commercial enhancement between the United States 

and Israel, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2015 

Mr. ROSKAM (for himself and Mr. VARGAS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Foreign Affairs, Financial Services, and the 

Judiciary, 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 promote trade and commercial enhancement between the 

United States and Israel, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘United States-Israel 

5 Trade and Commercial Enhancement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Israel is America’s dependable, democratic 

2 ally in the Middle East—an area of paramount stra3 tegic importance to the United States. 

4 (2) The United States-Israel Free Trade Agree5 ment formed the modern foundation of the bilateral 

6 commercial relationship between the two countries 

7 and was the first such agreement signed by the 

8 United States with a foreign country. 

9 (3) The United States-Israel Free Trade Agree10 ment has been instrumental in expanding commerce 

11 and the strategic relationship between the United 

12 States and Israel. 

13 (4) More than $45 billion in goods and services 

14 is traded annually between the two countries in ad15 dition to roughly $10 billion in United States foreign 

16 direct investment in Israel. 

17 (5) The United States continues to look for and 

18 find new opportunities to enhance cooperation with 

19 Israel, including through the enactment of the 

20 United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation 

21 Act of 2012 (Public Law 112–150) and the United 

22 States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2014 

23 (Public Law 113–296). 


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1 (6) It has been the policy of the United States 

2 Government to combat all elements of the Arab 

3 League Boycott of Israel by— 

4 (A) public statements of Administration of5 ficials; 

6 (B) enactment of relevant sections of the 

7 Export Administration Act of 1979 (as contin8 ued in effect pursuant to the International 

9 Emergency Economic Powers Act), including 

10 sections to ensure foreign persons comply with 

11 applicable reporting requirements relating to 

12 the boycott; 

13 (C) enactment of the 1976 Tax Reform 

14 Act (Public Law 94–455) that denies certain 

15 tax benefits to entities abiding by the boycott; 

16 (D) ensuring through free trade agree17 ments with Bahrain and Oman that such coun18 tries no longer participate in the boycott; and 

19 (E) ensuring as a condition of membership 

20 in the World Trade Organization that Saudi 

21 Arabia no longer enforces the secondary or ter22 tiary elements of the boycott. 

23 SEC. 3. STATEMENTS OF POLICY. 

24 Congress— 


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1 (1) supports the strengthening of United 

2 States-Israel economic cooperation and recognizes 

3 the tremendous strategic, economic, and techno4 logical value of cooperation with Israel; 

5 (2) recognizes the benefit of cooperation with 

6 Israel to United States companies, including by im7 proving American competitiveness in global markets; 

8 (3) recognizes the importance of trade and com9 mercial relations to the pursuit and sustainability of 

10 peace, and supports efforts to bring together the 

11 United States, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and 

12 others in enhanced commerce; 

13 (4) opposes politically motivated actions that 

14 penalize or otherwise limit commercial relations spe15 cifically with Israel such as boycotts, divestment or 

16 sanctions; 

17 (5) notes that the boycott, divestment, and 

18 sanctioning of Israel by governments, governmental 

19 bodies, quasi-governmental bodies, international or20 ganizations, and other such entities is contrary to 

21 the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 

22 (GATT) principle of non-discrimination; 

23 (6) encourages the inclusion of politically moti24 vated actions that penalize or otherwise limit com25 mercial relations specifically with Israel such as boyVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Feb 17, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H825.IH H825

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1 cotts, divestment from, or sanctions against Israel as 

2 a topic of discussion at the U.S.-Israel Joint Eco3 nomic Development Group (JEDG) and other areas 

4 to support the strengthening of the United States5 Israel commercial relationship and combat any com6 mercial discrimination against Israel; 

7 (7) supports efforts to prevent investigations or 

8 prosecutions by governments or international organi9 zations of United States persons on the sole basis of 

10 such persons doing business with Israel, with Israeli 

11 entities, or in Israeli-controlled territories; and 

12 (8) supports American States examining a com13 pany’s promotion or compliance with unsanctioned 

14 boycotts, divestment from, or sanctions against 

15 Israel as part of its consideration in awarding grants 

16 and contracts and supports the divestment of State 

17 assets from companies that support or promote ac18 tions to boycott, divest from, or sanction Israel. 

19 SEC. 4. PRINCIPAL TRADE NEGOTIATING OBJECTIVES OF 

20 THE UNITED STATES. 

21 (a) COMMERCIAL PARTNERSHIPS.—Among the prin22 cipal trade negotiating objectives of the United States for 

23 proposed trade agreements with foreign countries regard24 ing commercial partnerships are the following: 


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1 (1) To discourage actions by potential trading 

2 partners that directly or indirectly prejudice or oth3 erwise discourage commercial activity solely between 

4 the United States and Israel. 

5 (2) To discourage politically motivated actions 

6 to boycott, divest from, or sanction Israel and to 

7 seek the elimination of politically motivated non-tar8 iff barriers on Israeli goods, services, or other com9 merce imposed on the State of Israel. 

10 (3) To seek the elimination of state-sponsored 

11 unsanctioned foreign boycotts against Israel or com12 pliance with the Arab League Boycott of Israel by 

13 prospective trading partners. 

14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section takes effect on 

15 the date of the enactment of this Act and applies with 

16 respect to negotiations commenced before, on, or after the 

17 date of the enactment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 5. REPORT ON POLITICALLY MOTIVATED ACTS OF 

19 BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT FROM, AND SANC20 TIONS AGAINST ISRAEL. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

23 the President shall submit to Congress a report on politi24 cally motivated acts of boycott, divestment from, and sanc25 tions against Israel. 


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1 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re2 quired by subsection (a) shall include the following: 

3 (1) A description of the establishment of bar4 riers to trade, including non-tariff barriers, invest5 ment, or commerce by foreign countries or inter6 national organizations against United States persons 

7 operating or doing business in Israel, with Israeli en8 tities, or in Israeli-controlled territories. 

9 (2) A description of specific steps being taken 

10 by the United States to encourage foreign countries 

11 and international organizations to cease creating 

12 such barriers and to dismantle measures already in 

13 place and an assessment of the effectiveness of such 

14 steps. 

15 (3) A description of specific steps being taken 

16 by the United States to prevent investigations or 

17 prosecutions by governments or international organi18 zations of United States persons on the sole basis of 

19 such persons doing business with Israel, with Israeli 

20 entities, or in Israeli-controlled territories. 

21 (4) Decisions by foreign persons, including cor22 porate entities and state-affiliated financial institu23 tions, that limit or prohibit economic relations with 

24 Israel or persons doing business in Israel or in 

25 Israeli controlled territories. 


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1 SEC. 6. ISRAEL TRADE AND COMMERCE BOYCOTT REPORT2 ING. 

3 Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

4 (15 U.S.C. 78m) is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(s) ISRAEL TRADE AND COMMERCE BOYCOTT RE7 PORTING.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each foreign issuer re9 quired to file an annual or quarterly report under 

10 subsection (a) shall disclose in that report— 

11 ‘‘(A) whether the issuer has discriminated 

12 against doing business with Israel in the last 

13 calendar year and in such cases an issuer shall 

14 provide a description of the discrimination. 

15 ‘‘(B) whether the issuer has been advised 

16 by a foreign government or a non-member state 

17 of the United Nations to discriminate against 

18 doing business with Israel, entities owned or 

19 controlled by the government of Israel, or enti20 ties operating in Israel or Israeli-controlled ter21 ritory; and 

22 ‘‘(C) any instances where the issuer has 

23 learned that a person, foreign government, or a 

24 non-member state of the United Nations is boy25 cotting the issuer, divesting themselves of an 

26 ownership interest in the issuer, or placing 


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1 sanctions on the issuer because of the issuer’s 

2 relationship with Israel, entities owned or con3 trolled by the government of Israel, or entities 

4 operating in Israel or Israeli-controlled terri5 tory. 

6 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub7 section: 

8 ‘‘(A) FOREIGN ISSUER.—The term ‘foreign 

9 issuer’ means an issuer that is not incorporated 

10 in the United States. 

11 ‘‘(B) NON-MEMBER STATES OF THE

12 UNITED NATIONS.—The term ‘non-member 

13 states of the United Nations’ has the meaning 

14 given such term by the United Nations.’’. 

15 SEC. 7. FOREIGN JUDGMENTS AGAINST UNITED STATES 

16 PERSONS. 

17 No court in the United States may recognize or en18 force any judgment which is entered by a foreign court 

19 against a United States person carrying out business oper20 ations in Israel or in any territory controlled by Israel and 

21 on which is based a determination by the foreign court 

22 that the location in Israel, or in any territory controlled 

23 by Israel, of the facilities at which the business operations 

24 are carried out is sufficient to constitute a violation of law. 


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1 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT FROM, AND SANC4 TIONS AGAINST ISRAEL.—The term ‘‘boycott, divest5 ment from, and sanctions against Israel’’ means ac6 tions by states, non-member states of the United 

7 Nations, international organizations, or affiliated 

8 agencies of international organizations that are po9 litically motivated and are intended to penalize or 

10 otherwise limit commercial relations specifically with 

11 Israel or persons doing business in Israel or in 

12 Israeli-controlled territories. 

13 (2) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per14 son’’ means— 

15 (A) any natural person who is not lawfully 

16 admitted for permanent residence (as defined in 

17 section 101(a)(20) of the Immigration and Na18 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20)) or who is 

19 not a protected individual (as defined in section 

20 274B(a)(3) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)); 

21 and 

22 (B) any foreign corporation, business asso23 ciation, partnership, trust, society or any other 

24 entity or group that is not incorporated or orga25 nized to do business in the United States, as 

26 well as any international organization, foreign 


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1 government and any agency or subdivision of 

2 foreign government, including a diplomatic mis3 sion. 

4 (3) PERSON.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘person’’ 

6 means— 

7 (i) a natural person; 

8 (ii) a corporation, business associa9 tion, partnership, society, trust, financial 

10 institution, insurer, underwriter, guar11 antor, and any other business organization, 

12 any other nongovernmental entity, organi13 zation, or group, and any governmental en14 tity operating as a business enterprise; and 

15 (iii) any successor to any entity de16 scribed in clause (ii). 

17 (B) APPLICATION TO GOVERNMENTAL EN18 TITIES.—The term ‘‘person’’ does not include a 

19 government or governmental entity that is not 

20 operating as a business enterprise. 

21 (4) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

22 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

23 (A) a natural person who is a national of 

24 the United States (as defined in section 


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1 101(a)(22) of the Immigration and Nationality 

2 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22)); and 

3 (B) a corporation or other legal entity 

4 which is organized under the laws of the United 

5 States, any State or territory thereof, or the 

6 District of Columbia, if natural persons de7 scribed in subparagraph (A) own, directly or in8 directly, more than 50 percent of the out9 standing capital stock or other beneficial inter10 est in such legal entity. 

Æ 


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