II 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3449 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop a program for 

labeling cultural property of Iraq or Syria legally entering the United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 

Mr. KIRK (for himself, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. SESSIONS, Ms. AYOTTE, 

and Mr. GRASSLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop 

a program for labeling cultural property of Iraq or Syria 

legally entering the United States. 

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 ‘‘Terrorism Art and An5 tiquity Revenue Prevention Act of 2016’’ or the ‘‘TAAR 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. STOLEN CULTURAL PROPERTY. 

8 Chapter 113 of title 18, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 

mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS

2 

•S 3449 IS

1 (1) in section 2314— 

2 (A) in the first undesignated paragraph, by 

3 inserting ‘‘, or cultural property of the value of 

4 $50 or more’’ after ‘‘$5,000 or more’’; 

5 (B) in the second undesignated paragraph, 

6 by inserting ‘‘, or cultural property of the value 

7 of $50 or more’’ after ‘‘$5,000 or more’’; 

8 (C) in the ninth undesignated paragraph— 

9 (i) by striking ‘‘section the term’’ and 

10 inserting the following: ‘‘section— 

11 ‘‘(A) the term ‘cultural property’ has the mean12 ing given that term in section 302 of the Convention 

13 on Cultural Property Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 

14 2601); and 

15 ‘‘(B) the term’’; and 

16 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘For purposes of an offense under this section, cul18 tural property that has been removed or excavated in vio19 lation of local law shall be considered to be stolen.’’; and 

20 (2) in section 2315— 

21 (A) in the first undesignated paragraph, by 

22 inserting ‘‘, or cultural property of the value of 

23 $50 or more’’ after ‘‘$500 or more’’; 

24 (B) by striking the seventh undesignated 

25 paragraph and inserting the following: 

mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS

3 

•S 3449 IS

1 ‘‘For purposes of this section— 

2 ‘‘(A) the term ‘cultural property’ has the mean3 ing given that term in section 302 of the Convention 

4 on Cultural Property Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 

5 2601); 

6 ‘‘(B) the term ‘State’ includes a State of the 

7 United States, the District of Columbia, and any 

8 commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United 

9 States; and 

10 ‘‘(C) the term ‘veterans’ memorial object’ 

11 means a grave marker, headstone, monument, or 

12 other object, intended to permanently honor a vet13 eran or mark a veteran’s grave, or any monument 

14 that signifies an event of national military historical 

15 significance.’’; and 

16 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘For purposes of an offense under this section, cul18 tural property that has been removed or excavated in vio19 lation of local law shall be considered to be stolen.’’. 

20 SEC. 3. INVENTORY DATABASE SYSTEM FOR CULTURAL 

21 PROPERTY OF IRAQ OR SYRIA LEGALLY EN22 TERING THE UNITED STATES. 

23 (a) WORKING GROUP.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce, 

25 working through the Under Secretary for Standards 

mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS

4 

•S 3449 IS

1 and Technology and in consultation with the heads 

2 of the agencies specified in paragraph (2) and ex3 perts with respect to cultural property from aca4 demia, industry, and nongovernmental organizations, 

5 shall establish a scientific working group— 

6 (A) to identify the data elements necessary 

7 to accurately characterize and identify cultural 

8 property of Iraq or Syria legally entering the 

9 United States, for the purpose of establishing 

10 an inventory database system for such cultural 

11 property; and 

12 (B) to evaluate options for cost-effective, 

13 physical or virtual labeling of such cultural 

14 property. 

15 (2) AGENCIES SPECIFIED.—The agencies speci16 fied in this paragraph are the following: 

17 (A) The Department of Justice. 

18 (B) The Department of the Treasury. 

19 (C) The Department of Homeland Secu20 rity. 

21 (D) Such other Federal agencies as the 

22 Secretary of Commerce considers appropriate. 

23 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF INVENTORY DATABASE SYS24 TEM.— 

mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS

5 

•S 3449 IS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

2 Security, in consultation with the heads of the agen3 cies specified in paragraph (2) and experts with re4 spect to cultural property from academia, industry, 

5 and nongovernmental organizations, shall develop 

6 and implement the inventory database system de7 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(A). 

8 (2) AGENCIES SPECIFIED.—The agencies speci9 fied in this paragraph are the following: 

10 (A) The Department of Justice. 

11 (B) The Department of the Treasury. 

12 (C) The Department of Commerce, work13 ing through the Under Secretary for Standards 

14 and Technology. 

15 (D) Such other Federal agencies as the 

16 Secretary of Commerce considers appropriate. 

17 (3) REQUIREMENTS.—The inventory database 

18 system established under paragraph (1) shall require 

19 that any person that seeks to import cultural prop20 erty of Syria or Iraq into the United States, or to 

21 sell such property or provide such property as a gift 

22 in the United States, provide to the Secretary of 

23 Homeland Security information, with supporting 

24 documentation, on the provenance of the property 

25 that includes, at a minimum, when and where the 

mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS

6 

•S 3449 IS

1 property was obtained and such other information as 

2 the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of 

3 Homeland Security consider appropriate. 

4 (c) DOCUMENTING CULTURAL PROPERTY TRANS5 ACTIONS.—The Secretary of Homeland Security, in con6 sultation with the heads of the agencies specified in sub7 section (b)(2), shall— 

8 (1) develop regulations to require dealers of cul9 tural property to document and report information 

10 on transactions in cultural property of Iraq or Syria, 

11 such as the chain of custody; 

12 (2) work with participants in international art 

13 and cultural property markets to develop a Federal 

14 Government database with information on cultural 

15 property that includes— 

16 (A) information on provenance and prior 

17 ownership; and 

18 (B) warnings for specific cultural property, 

19 buyers, sellers, appraisers, or other actors with 

20 a history of conducting illegal trade in cultural 

21 property; and 

22 (3) consider providing participants in inter23 national art and cultural property markets with ac24 cess to the database developed under paragraph (2). 

mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS

7 

•S 3449 IS

1 (d) CULTURAL PROPERTY DEFINED.—In this sec2 tion, the term ‘‘cultural property’’ has the meaning given 

3 that term in section 302 of the Convention on Cultural 

4 Property Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 2601). 

Æ 

mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS