I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2009
To provide for the recovery, restitution, and protection of the cultural heritage 
of Iraq. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 7, 2003
Mr. ENGLISH (for himself and Mr. LEACH) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To provide for the recovery, restitution, and protection of 
the cultural heritage of Iraq.
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 ‘‘Iraq Cultural Heritage 
Protection Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act—
(1) the term ‘‘archaeological material of 
Iraq’’—
(A) means any object or fragment or part 
of an object, including human and animal skel-
etal remains and plant and floral remains, that 
was first found within the borders of Iraq as 
such borders existed on August 2, 1990, and 
that—
(i) was built, manufactured, sculpted, 
produced, or written by humans; 
(ii) is at least 100 years old; and 
(iii) was discovered as a result of sci-
entific excavation, illegal or clandestine 
digging, accidental discovery, or explo-
ration on land or under water; and 
(B) includes all human and animal skeletal 
remains, as well as floral and botanical remains, 
that are found in association with archae-
ological material described in subparagraph (A); 
and 
(2) the term ‘‘cultural material of Iraq’’ means 
any object, regardless of age, including manuscripts, 
and materials used for traditional or religious cere-
monial purposes, or a fragment or part of an object, 
that was, on or after August 2, 1990, in the care 
of Iraq’s cultural or religious institutions and is of
historic, artistic, religious, scientific, or cultural in-
terest. 
SEC. 3. IMPORT RESTRICTION. 
(a) IMPORT PROHIBITION.—No archaeological mate-
rial of Iraq or cultural material of Iraq that was removed 
from Iraq after Executive Order 12722 of August 2, 1990, 
was issued may be imported into the United States, unless 
the Government of Iraq issues a certification or other doc-
umentation certifying that the exportation of the material 
from Iraq was not in violation of the laws of Iraq. 
(b) CUSTOMS ACTION IN ABSENCE OF DOCUMENTA-
TION.—If the consignee of any archaeological material of 
Iraq or cultural material of Iraq is unable to present to 
the appropriate customs officer at the time of making 
entry of such material the certification or other docu-
mentation by the Government of Iraq required under sub-
section (a), the customs officer shall refuse to release the 
material from customs custody, and shall send it to a 
bonded warehouse or store to be held at the risk and ex-
pense of the consignee, notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, until such certification or other documentation 
is filed with such officer. If such certification or other doc-
umentation is not presented within 90 days after the date 
on which such material is refused release from customs 
custody, or such longer period as may be allowed by the
Secretary of the Treasury for good cause shown, the mate-
rial shall be subject to seizure and forfeiture. 
SEC. 4. FORFEITURE OF UNLAWFUL IMPORTS. 
(a) SEIZURE.—Archaeological material of Iraq or cul-
tural material of Iraq that is imported into the United 
States in violation of this Act shall be seized and subject 
to forfeiture under the customs laws of the United States. 
All provisions of law relating to seizure, forfeiture, and 
condemnation for violation of the customs laws shall apply 
to seizures and forfeitures under this Act, insofar as those 
provisions of law are applicable to, and not inconsistent 
with, the provisions of this Act. 
(b) DISPOSITION OF ARTICLES.—Any archaeological 
material of Iraq or cultural material of Iraq that is for-
feited to the United States under this Act shall be re-
turned to the country of Iraq. 
SEC. 5. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN. 
In applying the Tariff Act of 1930 or any other provi-
sion of the customs laws of the United States to an article 
that is an object, or fragment of an object, discovered as 
a result of scientific excavation, illegal or clandestine 
digging, accidental discovery, or exploration on land or 
under water, the country of origin of the object or frag-
ment is the country within whose borders, as they exist
at the time the object or fragment is imported, or at-
tempted to be imported, into the United States, the object 
or fragment was first discovered or excavated. 
SEC. 6. AMENDMENTS TO CONVENTION ON CULTURAL 
PROPERTY IMPLEMENTATION ACT. 
(a) DEFINITION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL OR ETHNO-
LOGICAL MATERIAL.—Section 302(2)(i)(II) of the Con-
vention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (19 
U.S.C. 2601(2)(i)(II)) is amended by striking ‘‘two hun-
dred and fifty years’’ and inserting ‘‘100’’. 
(b) EMERGENCY IMPLEMENTATION OF IMPORT RE-
STRICTIONS.—Section 304 of the Convention on Cultural 
Property Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 2603) is amend-
ed—
(1) by striking ‘‘State Party’’ each place it ap-
pears and inserting ‘‘country’’; and 
(2) in subsection (c)—
(A) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2); 
(B) by striking paragraph (3) and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(1) No import restrictions under section 307 
may be applied under this section to the archae-
ological or ethnological materials of any country for 
more than 10 years after the date on which the no-
tice in the Federal Register imposing such restric-
tions is published. Such 10-year period may be ex-
tended by the President if the President determines 
that the emergency condition continues to apply with 
respect to the archaeological or ethnological mate-
rial.’’; and 
(C) in paragraph (4)—
(i) by redesignating such paragraph 
as paragraph (2); and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘paragraph (3)’’ and 
inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)’’. 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Convention 
on Cultural Property Implementation Act is amended—
(1) in section 302 (19 U.S.C. 2601)—
(A) in paragraph (2)—
(i) by amending the matter preceding 
subparagraph (A) to read as follows: 
‘‘(2) The term ‘archaeological or ethnological 
material’ of a State Party or othercountry means—
’’; and 
(ii) in the matter following subpara-
graph (C), by inserting ‘‘or other country’’ 
after ‘‘State Party’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (7), by inserting ‘‘or an-
other country’’ after ‘‘State Party’’;
(2) in section 305 (19 U.S.C. 2604) in the first 
sentence, by striking ‘‘by such action’’ and inserting 
‘‘the country covered by such action’’; 
(3) in section 307 (19 U.S.C. 2606)—
(A) in subsection (a)—
(i) by striking ‘‘State Party’’ the first 
place it appears and inserting ‘‘the country 
concerned’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘the State Party’’ each 
subsequent place it appears and inserting 
‘‘that country’’; and 
(B) in subsections (b) and (c), by striking 
‘‘the State Party’’ each place it appears and in-
serting ‘‘the country concerned’’; and 
(4) in section 310(b) (19 U.S.C. 2609(b)) by 
striking ‘‘State Party’’ each place it appears and in-
serting ‘‘country concerned’’. 
(d) EXTENSION OF AGREEMENTS.—Section 303(e) of 
the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act 
(19 U.S.C. 2602(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘five years’’ 
and inserting ‘‘10 years’’.
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