I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 915
To authorize the President to take certain actions to protect archaeological 
or ethnological materials of Afghanistan. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 17, 2005
Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania (for himself, Ms. HART, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 
MCDERMOTT, Mr. HOLDEN, and Mr. PAYNE) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To authorize the President to take certain actions to protect 
archaeological or ethnological materials of Afghanistan.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cultural Conservation 
of the Crossroads of Civilization Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) Afghanistan enjoys a geographical position 
that made it a crossroads of civilizations. Its tumul-
tuous history can be traced back as early as the 4th
millennium B.C. and, as a result, it is a living tap-
estry of ethnic and linguistic cultures. Historically as 
well as artistically, it is a major contributor to the 
world community. 
(2) Afghanistan, flanked by Central, West, and 
South Asia, has seen waves of migrating peoples 
pass through what has been referred to as the 
roundabout of the ancient world. 
(3) Archaeologists have identified evidence of 
Stone Age technology and a 20,000-year-old sculp-
ture head in Aq Kupruk. 
(4) The earliest settlers in Afghanistan, who 
migrated from northern territories approximately 
50,000 years ago, lived as individual hunters in the 
caves of the northern Hindu Kush mountains. 
(5) Evidence has been uncovered at the foothills 
of the Hindu Kush Mountains and Darra-e Dadil 
(near Darra-e Suf), Hazara Sum (near Aibak), and 
Qara Kamar (near Khulm) indicating that North 
Afghanistan was home to the earliest domestic 
plants and animals. 
(6) The Khyber Pass, a 33-mile passage 
through the Hindu Kush mountain range and dating 
back to 326 B.C., connects the northern frontier of 
Pakistan with Afghanistan.
(7) During the 4th century B.C., Alexander the 
Great defeated Darius III. Later on, the last 
Achaemenid ruler took control of Afghanistan and 
introduced to the region Hellenistic civilizations as 
well as new coins and artistic styles. 
(8) Alexander the Great and his army marched 
through the Kunar Valley to reach the plains of 
India. The Aryan, Persian, and Greek armies and 
the Scythian, White Huns, Seljuk, Tartar, Mongol, 
Turk, Moghol, and Durrani armies made successful 
inroads into territories beyond the Peshawar Valley 
and Hindukosh Valleys. 
(9) 
Graeco-Buddhist 
Gandharan 
culture 
reached its height during the Kushan Empire of Af-
ghanistan. 
(10) During the Kushan Empire, under King 
Kanishka, Buddha was for the first time represented 
with a human face. Centuries later, the world’s larg-
est standing Buddha statues, between 120–175 feet 
tall, were carved into the Great Cliff of Bamiyan. 
(11) The Silk Road passed through Afghani-
stan, bringing Roman glass and Chinese lacquer 
ware. 
(12) In 962, the rise of the Ghaznavid Dynasty 
ushered in the Islamic era and gave Afghanistan a
permanent political and cultural role in Islamic civ-
ilization. 
(13) In 1219, Changiz (Genghis) Khan invaded 
Bukhara to avenge the looting of his caravan. 
Changiz eventually defeated Khwarazn Shah and 
proceeded through Afghanistan in his conquest of 
Asia. 
(14) Most archaeological material excavated in 
Afghanistan during the 20th century was housed in 
the National Museum in Kabul or in regional muse-
ums. 
(15) The Archaeological Institute of America 
has published articles listing thousands of artifacts 
that are among the stolen or imperiled treasures of 
the National Museum in Kabul. 
(16) The nation of Afghanistan has endured a 
raping and pillage of its cultural property over the 
past two decades, leading Abdul Wasey Feroozi, 
former director of the National Archaeological Insti-
tute in Kabul, to state, ‘‘The catastrophe of war an-
nihilated seventy years of our hard work and accom-
plishments. In the period from 1992 to 1994 . . . 
over 70 percent of the Kabul National Museum was 
burned and damaged and 100 percent of the objects 
were stolen or vandalized. Illegal excavations and ex-
tensive clandestine digging started at most historical 
sites, and thousands of valuable objects were trans-
ported to other countries, notably through Pakistan, 
to the international markets.’’. 
(17) It should be recognized that the cultural 
heritage of Afghanistan is at extreme peril and this 
legislation is a result of a profound concern for the 
damage to Afghan antiquities, sites, monuments, 
and cultural institutions. 
SEC. 3. EMERGENCY IMPLEMENTATION OF IMPORT RE-
STRICTIONS. 
(a) AUTHORITY.—The President may exercise the au-
thority the President has under section 304 of the Conven-
tion on Cultural Property Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 
2603) with respect to any archaeological or ethnological 
material of Afghanistan as if Afghanistan were a State 
Party under that Act, except that, in exercising such au-
thority, subsection (c) of such section shall not apply. 
(b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘archae-
ological or ethnological material of Afghanistan’’ means 
cultural property of Afghanistan and other items of ar-
chaeological, historical, cultural, rare scientific, or reli-
gious importance (including coins, manuscripts, and stat-
uary artifacts) illegally removed, after the date of the en-
actment of this Act, from the National Museum in Kabul
or other locations, including archaeological sites, in Af-
ghanistan. 
SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY. 
The authority of the President under section 3 shall 
terminate upon the earlier of—
(1) the date that is 5 years after the date on 
which the President certifies to the Congress that 
normalization of relations between the United States 
and the Government of Afghanistan has been estab-
lished; or 
(2) September 30, 2010.
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