IIB 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1493 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JUNE 2, 2015 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 
AN ACT 
To protect and preserve international cultural property at 
risk due to political instability, armed conflict, or natural 
or other disasters, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect and Preserve 
International Cultural Property Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITION. 
In this Act: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 
the Committee on Ways and Means, the Committee 
on Armed Services, and the Committee on the Judi-
ciary of the House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Fi-
nance, the Committee on Armed Services, and the 
Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate. 
(2) CULTURAL PROPERTY.—The term ‘‘cultural 
property’’ includes property covered under— 
(A) the Hague Convention for the Protec-
tion of Cultural Property in the Event of 
Armed Conflict, concluded at The Hague on 
May 14, 1954 (Treaty Doc. 106–1(A)); 
(B) Article 1 of the Convention Concerning 
the Protection of the World’s Cultural and Nat-
ural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO on Novem-
ber 23, 1972 (commonly referred to as the 
‘‘1972 Convention’’); or 
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(C) Article 1 of the Convention on the 
Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit 
Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of 
Cultural Property, adopted by UNESCO on 
November 14, 1970 (commonly referred to as 
the ‘‘1970 UNESCO Convention’’). 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Over the years, international cultural prop-
erty has been looted, trafficked, lost, damaged, or 
destroyed due to political instability, armed conflict, 
natural disasters, and other threats. 
(2) During China’s Cultural Revolution, many 
antiques were destroyed, including a large portion of 
old Beijing, and Chinese authorities are now at-
tempting to rebuild portions of China’s lost architec-
tural heritage. 
(3) In 1975, the Khmer Rouge, after seizing 
power 
in 
Cambodia, 
systematically 
destroyed 
mosques and nearly every Catholic church in the 
country, along with many Buddhist temples, statues, 
and Buddhist literature. 
(4) In 2001, the Taliban destroyed the 
Bamiyan Buddhas, ancient statues carved into a 
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cliffside in central Afghanistan, leading to worldwide 
condemnation. 
(5) After the fall of Saddam Hussein, thieves 
looted the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, resulting in the 
loss of approximately 15,000 items, including an-
cient amulets, sculptures, ivories, and cylinder seals. 
Many of these items remain unrecovered. 
(6) The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and 
tsunami not only affected 11 countries, causing mas-
sive loss of life, but also damaged or destroyed li-
braries, archives, and World Heritage Sites such as 
the Mahabalipuram in India, the Sun Temple of 
Koranak on the Bay of Bengal, and the Old Town 
of Galle and its fortifications in Sri Lanka. 
(7) In Haiti, the 2010 earthquake destroyed 
art, artifacts, and archives, and partially destroyed 
the 17th century Haitian city of Jacmel. 
(8) In Mali, the Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist 
group Ansar Dine destroyed tombs and shrines in 
the ancient city of Timbuktu—a major center for 
trade, scholarship, and Islam in the 15th and 16th 
centuries—and threatened collections of ancient 
manuscripts. 
(9) In Egypt, recent political instability has led 
to the ransacking of museums, resulting in the de-
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struction of countless ancient artifacts that will for-
ever leave gaps in humanity’s record of the ancient 
Egyptian civilization. 
(10) In Syria, the ongoing civil war has resulted 
in the shelling of medieval cities, damage to five 
World Heritage Sites, and the looting of museums 
containing artifacts that date back more than six 
millennia and include some of the earliest examples 
of writing. 
(11) In Iraq and Syria, the militant group ISIL 
has destroyed numerous cultural sites and artifacts, 
such as the Tomb of Jonah in July 2014, in an ef-
fort to eradicate ethnic and religious minorities from 
contested territories. Concurrently, cultural antiq-
uities that escape demolition are looted and traf-
ficked to help fund ISIL’s militant operations. 
(12) On February 12, 2015, the United Na-
tions Security Council unanimously adopted resolu-
tion 2199 (2015), which ‘‘[r]eaffirms its decision in 
paragraph 7 of resolution 1483 (2003) and decides 
that all Member States shall take appropriate steps 
to prevent the trade in Iraqi and Syrian cultural 
property and other items of archaeological, histor-
ical, cultural, rare scientific, and religious impor-
tance illegally removed from Iraq since 6 August 
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1990 and from Syria since 15 March 2011, includ-
ing by prohibiting cross-border trade in such items, 
thereby allowing for their eventual safe return to the 
Iraqi and Syrian people.’’. 
(13) United Nations Security Council resolution 
2199 (2015) also warns that ISIL and other extrem-
ist groups are trafficking cultural heritage items 
from Iraq and Syria to fund their recruitment ef-
forts and carry out terrorist attacks. 
(14) The destruction of cultural property rep-
resents an irreparable loss of humanity’s common 
cultural heritage and is therefore a loss for all 
Americans. 
(15) Protecting international cultural property 
is a vital part of United States cultural diplomacy, 
showing the respect of the United States for other 
cultures and the common heritage of humanity. 
(16) The United States Armed Forces have 
played important roles in preserving and protecting 
cultural property. In 1943, President Franklin D. 
Roosevelt established a commission to advise the 
United States military on the protection of cultural 
property. The commission formed teams of individ-
uals known as the ‘‘Monuments Men’’ who are cred-
ited with securing, cataloguing, and returning hun-
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dreds of thousands of works of art stolen by the 
Nazis during World War II. 
(17) The Department of State, in response to 
the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation 
Act, noted that ‘‘the legislation is important to our 
foreign relations, including our international cultural 
relations. The expanding worldwide trade in objects 
of archaeological and ethnological interest has led to 
wholesale depredations in some countries, resulting 
in the mutilation of ceremonial centers and archae-
ological complexes of ancient civilizations and the re-
moval of stone sculptures and reliefs.’’. The Depart-
ment further noted that ‘‘[t]he United States con-
siders that on grounds of principle, good foreign re-
lations, and concern for the preservation of the cul-
tural heritage of mankind, it should render assist-
ance in these situations.’’. 
(18) The U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield 
was founded in 2006 to support the implementation 
of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of 
Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict 
and to coordinate with the United States military, 
other branches of the United States Government, 
and other cultural heritage nongovernmental organi-
zations in preserving international cultural property 
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threatened by political instability, armed conflict, or 
natural or other disasters. 
(b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It shall be the policy 
of the United States to— 
(1) protect and preserve international cultural 
property at risk of looting, trafficking, and destruc-
tion due to political instability, armed conflict, or 
natural or other disasters; 
(2) protect international cultural property pur-
suant to its obligations under international treaties 
to which the United States is a party; 
(3) prevent, in accordance with existing laws, 
importation of cultural property pillaged, looted, sto-
len, or trafficked at all times, including during polit-
ical instability, armed conflict, or natural or other 
disasters; and 
(4) ensure that existing laws and regulations, 
including import restrictions imposed through the 
Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) of the De-
partment of the Treasury, are fully implemented to 
prevent trafficking in stolen or looted cultural prop-
erty. 
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SEC. 
4. 
UNITED 
STATES 
COORDINATOR 
FOR 
INTER-
NATIONAL CULTURAL PROPERTY PROTEC-
TION. 
The Secretary of State shall designate a Department 
of State employee at the Assistant Secretary level or above 
to serve concurrently as the United States Coordinator for 
International Cultural Property Protection. The Coordi-
nator shall— 
(1) coordinate and promote efforts to protect 
international cultural property, especially activities 
that involve multiple Federal agencies; 
(2) act as Chair of the Coordinating Committee 
on International Cultural Property Protection estab-
lished under section 5; 
(3) resolve interagency differences; 
(4) develop strategies to reduce illegal trade 
and trafficking in international cultural property in 
the United States and abroad, including by reducing 
consumer demand for such trade; 
(5) support activities to assist countries that 
are the principle sources of trafficked cultural prop-
erty to protect cultural heritage sites and to prevent 
cultural property looting and theft; 
(6) work with and consult domestic and inter-
national actors such as foreign governments, inter-
governmental organizations, nongovernmental orga-
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nizations, museums, educational institutions, and re-
search institutions to protect international cultural 
property; and 
(7) submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees the annual report required under section 
6. 
SEC. 5. COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL 
CULTURAL PROPERTY PROTECTION. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Coordi-
nating Committee on International Cultural Property Pro-
tection (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Committee’’). 
(b) FUNCTIONS.—The full Committee shall meet not 
less often than annually to coordinate and inform Federal 
efforts to protect international cultural property and to 
facilitate the work of the United States Coordinator for 
International Cultural Property Protection designated 
under section 4. 
(c) MEMBERSHIP.—The Committee shall be com-
posed of the United States Coordinator for International 
Cultural Property Protection, who shall act as Chair, and 
representatives of the following: 
(1) The Department of State. 
(2) The Department of Defense. 
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(3) The Department of Homeland Security, in-
cluding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 
(4) The Department of the Interior. 
(5) The Department of Justice, including the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation. 
(6) The United States Agency for International 
Development. 
(7) The Smithsonian Institution. 
(8) Such other entities as the Chair determines 
appropriate. 
(d) SUBCOMMITTEES.—The Committee may include 
such subcommittees and taskforces as the Chair deter-
mines appropriate. Such subcommittees or taskforces may 
be comprised of a subset of the Committee members or 
of such other members as the Chair determines appro-
priate. At the discretion of the Chair, the provisions of 
the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) and 
section 552b of title 5 of the United States Code (relating 
to open meetings) shall not apply to activities of such sub-
committees or taskforces. 
(e) CONSULTATION.—The Committee shall consult 
with governmental and nongovernmental organizations, 
including the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield, muse-
ums, educational institutions, and research institutions on 
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(A) procedures the Department has insti-
tuted to protect international cultural property 
at risk of destruction due to political instability, 
armed conflict, or natural or other disasters; 
and 
(B) actions the Department has taken to 
protect international cultural property in con-
flicts to which the United States is a party; 
(3) the United States Agency for International 
Development (USAID) to protect international cul-
tural property, including activities and coordination 
with other Federal agencies, international organiza-
tions, and nongovernmental organizations regarding 
the protection of international cultural property at 
risk due to political unrest, armed conflict, natural 
or other disasters, and USAID development pro-
grams; 
(4) the Department of Defense to protect inter-
national cultural property, including activities under-
taken pursuant to the Hague Convention for the 
Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of 
Armed Conflict and other cultural property protec-
tion statutes and international agreements, includ-
ing— 
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national cultural property abroad and inter-
national cultural property located in, or at-
tempted to be imported into, the United States. 
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES TO EN-
GAGE IN INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL PROP-
ERTY PROTECTION ACTIVITIES WITH THE 
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any 
agency that is involved in international cultural property 
protection activities is authorized to enter into agreements 
or memoranda of understanding with the Smithsonian In-
stitution to temporarily engage personnel from the Smith-
sonian Institution for the purposes of furthering such 
international cultural property protection activities. 
SEC. 8. EMERGENCY PROTECTION FOR SYRIAN CULTURAL 
PROPERTY. 
(a) 
PRESIDENTIAL
DETERMINATION.—Notwith-
standing subsection (b) of section 304 of the Convention 
on Cultural Property Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 
2603) (relating to a Presidential determination that an 
emergency condition applies with respect to any archae-
ological or ethnological material of any State Party to the 
Convention), the President shall apply the import restric-
tions referred to in such section 304 with respect to any 
archaeological or ethnological material of Syria, except 
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that subsection (c) of such section 304 shall not apply. 
Such import restrictions shall take effect not later than 
120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(b) ANNUAL DETERMINATION REGARDING CERTIFI-
CATION.— 
(1) DETERMINATION.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The President shall, 
not less often than annually, determine whether 
at least one of the conditions specified in sub-
paragraph (B) is met, and shall notify the ap-
propriate congressional committees of such de-
termination. 
(B) CONDITIONS.—The conditions referred 
to in subparagraph (A) are the following: 
(i) The Government of Syria is in-
capable, at the time a determination under 
such subparagraph is made, of fulfilling 
the requirements to request an agreement 
under section 303 of the Convention on 
Cultural Property Implementation Act (19 
U.S.C. 2602). 
(ii) It would be against the United 
States national interest to enter into such 
an agreement. 
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(2) TERMINATION OF RESTRICTIONS.—The im-
port restrictions referred to in subsection (a) shall 
terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date 
on which the President determines that neither of 
the conditions specified in paragraph (1)(B) are 
met, unless before such termination date Syria re-
quests to enter into an agreement with the United 
States pursuant to section 303 of the Convention on 
Cultural Property Implementation Act, in which case 
such import restrictions may remain in effect until 
the earliest of either— 
(A) the date that is 3 years after the date 
on which Syria makes such a request; or 
(B) the date on which the United States 
and Syria enter into such an agreement. 
(c) WAIVER.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The President may waive 
the import restrictions referred to in subsection (a) 
for specified cultural property if the President cer-
tifies to the appropriate congressional committees 
that the conditions described in paragraph (2) are 
met. 
(2) CONDITIONS.—The conditions referred to in 
paragraph (1) are the following: 
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(A) The foreign owner or custodian of the 
specified cultural property has requested such 
property be temporarily located in the United 
States for protection purposes. 
(B) Such property shall be returned to the 
foreign owner or custodian when requested by 
such foreign owner or custodian. 
(C) Granting a waiver under this sub-
section will not contribute to illegal trafficking 
in cultural property or financing of criminal or 
terrorist activities. 
(3) ACTION.—If the President grants a waiver 
under this subsection, the specified cultural property 
that is the subject of such waiver shall be placed in 
the temporary custody of the United States Govern-
ment or in the temporary custody of a cultural or 
educational institution within the United States for 
the purpose of protection, restoration, conservation, 
study, or exhibition, without profit. 
(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 
Act shall prevent application of the Act to render 
immune from seizure under judicial process certain 
objects of cultural significance imported into the 
United States for temporary display or exhibition, 
and for other purposes (22 U.S.C. 2459; Public Law 
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89–259) with respect to archaeological or ethno-
logical material of Syria. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
(1) the term ‘‘archaeological or ethnological ma-
terial of Syria’’ means cultural property of Syria and 
other items of archaeological, historical, cultural, 
rare scientific, or religious importance unlawfully re-
moved from Syria on or after March 15, 2011; and 
(2) the term ‘‘State Party’’ has the meaning 
given such term in section 302 of the Convention on 
Cultural Property Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 
2601). 
Passed the House of Representatives June 1, 2015. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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