Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act

Bill: 114-hr-1493
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Engel, Eliot L. [D-NY-16]
Introduced: 2015-03-19
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Advisory bodies

Archaeology and anthropology

Conflicts and wars

Congressional oversight

Crimes against property

Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation

Department of State

Executive agency funding and structure

Federal officials

Foreign aid and international relief

Historical and cultural resources

International law and treaties

Middle East

Organized crime

Smithsonian Institution

Smuggling and trafficking

Syria

Trade restrictions
Latest action: action_date: 2016-05-09
text: Became Public Law No: 114-151.

Summaries:
action_date: 2015-03-19
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act</strong></p> <p>Directs the Department of State to designate a Department employee at the Assistant Secretary level or above to serve concurrently as the United States Coordinator for International Cultural Property Protection to coordinate and promote federal agency efforts to address international cultural property protection activities.</p> <p> Establishes a Coordinating Committee on International Cultural Property Protection to facilitate the Coordinator's work. </p> <p>Authorizes any agency involved in international cultural property protection activities to enter into agreements with the Smithsonian Institution to engage Smithsonian personnel temporarily to assist in such activities.</p> <p>Directs the President to apply specified import restrictions with respect to any archaeological or ethnological material of Syria as if Syria were a State Party to the Convention on prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export, and transfer of ownership of cultural property.</p>

action_date: 2015-06-01
action_desc: Passed House amended
text: <p><strong>Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act</strong></p> <p>(Sec. 4) Directs the Department of State to designate a Department employee at the Assistant Secretary level or above to serve concurrently as the U.S. Coordinator for International Cultural Property Protection to: </p> <ul> <li>coordinate and promote federal agency efforts to address international cultural property protection activities; </li> <li>support activities to assist countries that are the principal sources of trafficked cultural property to protect cultural heritage sites and to prevent cultural property looting and theft; </li> <li>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; and </li> <li>Chair the Coordinating Committee on International Cultural Property Protection.</li> </ul> <p> (Sec. 5) Establishes a Coordinating Committee on International Cultural Property Protection to facilitate the Coordinator's work. </p> <p>(Sec. 6) Directs the Department, through the U.S. Coordinator for International Cultural Property Protection, to report to Congress annually for seven years regarding activities of the U.S. Coordinator and the Coordinating Committee, the Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Justice to protect international cultural property.</p> <p>(Sec. 7) Authorizes any agency involved in international cultural property protection activities to enter into agreements with the Smithsonian Institution to engage Smithsonian personnel temporarily to assist in such activities.</p> <p>(Sec. 8) Directs the President to apply specified import restrictions with respect to any archaeological or ethnological material of Syria as if Syria were a State Party to the Convention on prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export, and transfer of ownership of cultural property.</p> <p> Sets forth the conditions for termination of such restrictions. </p> <p> Authorizes the President to waive such import restrictions for specified cultural property if the President certifies to Congress that: </p> <ul> <li>the foreign owner or custodian of the specified cultural property has requested that such property be temporarily located in the United States for protection purposes, </li> <li>such property shall be returned upon request to the foreign owner or custodian, and </li> <li>the grant of a waiver will not contribute to illegal trafficking in cultural property or financing of criminal or terrorist activities.</li></ul>

action_date: 2016-02-02
action_desc: Reported to Senate with amendment(s)
text: <p><strong>Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act</strong></p> <p>(Sec. 2) This bill expresses the sense of Congress that the President should establish an interagency coordinating committee to coordinate and advance executive branch efforts to protect and preserve international cultural property at risk from political instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters. </p> <p>(Sec. 3) The President shall apply specified import restrictions with respect to any archaeological or ethnological material of Syria: </p> <ul> <li>within 90 days; </li> <li>without regard to whether Syria is a state party to the convention on the means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export, and transfer of ownership of cultural property (adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization); and </li> <li> notwithstanding the requirement that an emergency condition applies. </li> </ul> <p>The President shall at least once a year determine whether at least one of the following conditions is met: (1) Syria is incapable of fulfilling the requirements to request an agreement pursuant to the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act, and (2) it would be against the U.S. national interest to enter into such an agreement. </p> <p>The President may waive such import restrictions for specified cultural property if the President certifies to Congress that: (1) the foreign owner or custodian of the specified cultural property has requested that the property be temporarily located in the United States for protection purposes, (2) the property shall be returned upon request to the foreign owner or custodian, and (3) the grant of a waiver will not contribute to illegal trafficking in cultural property or financing of criminal or terrorist activities. </p> <p>Any archaeological or ethnological material that enters the United States pursuant to a waiver shall have immunity from seizure under P.L. 89-259 (which provides immunity from seizure for cultural items imported for temporary exhibition.)</p> <p>(Sec. 4) The President shall report annually to Congress on executive branch efforts to protect and preserve international cultural property.</p>

action_date: 2016-04-13
action_desc: Passed Senate amended
text: <p><strong>Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act</strong></p> <p>(Sec. 2) This bill expresses the sense of Congress that the President should establish an interagency coordinating committee to coordinate and advance executive branch efforts to protect and preserve international cultural property at risk from political instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters. </p> <p>(Sec. 3) The President shall apply specified import restrictions with respect to any archaeological or ethnological material of Syria: </p> <ul> <li>within 90 days; </li> <li>without regard to whether Syria is a state party to the convention on the means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export, and transfer of ownership of cultural property (adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization); and </li> <li> notwithstanding the requirement that an emergency condition applies. </li> </ul> <p>The President shall at least once a year determine whether at least one of the following conditions is met: (1) Syria is incapable of fulfilling the requirements to request an agreement pursuant to the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act, and (2) it would be against the U.S. national interest to enter into such an agreement. </p> <p>The President may waive such import restrictions for specified cultural property if the President certifies to Congress that: (1) the foreign owner or custodian of the specified cultural property has requested that the property be temporarily located in the United States for protection purposes, (2) the property shall be returned upon request to the foreign owner or custodian, and (3) the grant of a waiver will not contribute to illegal trafficking in cultural property or financing of criminal or terrorist activities. </p> <p>Any archaeological or ethnological material that enters the United States pursuant to a waiver shall have immunity from seizure under P.L. 89-259 (which provides immunity from seizure for cultural items imported for temporary exhibition.)</p> <p>(Sec. 4) The President shall report annually to Congress on executive branch efforts to protect and preserve international cultural property.</p>

action_date: 2016-05-09
action_desc: Public Law
text: <p>(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on April 13, 2016. The summary of that version is repeated here.)</p> <p><strong>Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act</strong></p> <p>(Sec. 2) This bill expresses the sense of Congress that the President should establish an interagency coordinating committee to coordinate and advance executive branch efforts to protect and preserve international cultural property at risk from political instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters. </p> <p>(Sec. 3) The President shall apply specified import restrictions with respect to any archaeological or ethnological material of Syria: </p> <ul> <li>within 90 days; </li> <li>without regard to whether Syria is a state party to the convention on the means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export, and transfer of ownership of cultural property (adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization); and </li> <li> notwithstanding the requirement that an emergency condition applies. </li> </ul> <p>The President shall at least once a year determine whether at least one of the following conditions is met: (1) Syria is incapable of fulfilling the requirements to request an agreement pursuant to the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act, and (2) it would be against the U.S. national interest to enter into such an agreement. </p> <p>The President may waive such import restrictions for specified cultural property if the President certifies to Congress that: (1) the foreign owner or custodian of the specified cultural property has requested that the property be temporarily located in the United States for protection purposes, (2) the property shall be returned upon request to the foreign owner or custodian, and (3) the grant of a waiver will not contribute to illegal trafficking in cultural property or financing of criminal or terrorist activities. </p> <p>Any archaeological or ethnological material that enters the United States pursuant to a waiver shall have immunity from seizure under P.L. 89-259 (which provides immunity from seizure for cultural items imported for temporary exhibition.)</p> <p>(Sec. 4) The President shall report annually to Congress on executive branch efforts to protect and preserve international cultural property.</p>

tv_txt: I 114th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1493 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 19, 2015 Mr. Engel (for himself, Mr. Smith of New Jersey , Mr. Royce , and Mr. Keating ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs , and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means , Armed 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 protect and preserve international cultural property at risk due to political instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act . 2. Definition In this Act: (1) Appropriate congressional committees The term appropriate congressional committees means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate. (2) Cultural property The term cultural property includes property covered under— (A) the Hague Convention for the Protection 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 Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO on November 23, 1972 (commonly referred to as the 1972 Convention ); or (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 ). 3. Findings and statement of policy (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Over the years, international cultural property 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 attempting to rebuild portions of China’s lost architectural 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 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 ancient 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 massive loss of life, but also damaged or destroyed libraries, 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 destruction of countless ancient artifacts that will forever 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 effort to eradicate ethnic and religious minorities from contested territories. Concurrently, cultural antiquities that escape demolition are looted and trafficked to help fund ISIL’s militant operations. (12) On February 12, 2015, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 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, historical, cultural, rare scientific, and religious importance illegally removed from Iraq since 6 August 1990 and from Syria since 15 March 2011, including 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 extremist groups are trafficking cultural heritage items from Iraq and Syria to fund their recruitment efforts and carry out terrorist attacks. (14) Cultural property represents 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 individuals known as the Monuments Men who are credited with securing, cataloguing, and returning hundreds 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 archaeological complexes of ancient civilizations and the removal of stone sculptures and reliefs. . The Department further noted that [t]he United States considers that on grounds of principle, good foreign relations, and concern for the preservation of the cultural heritage of mankind, it should render assistance 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 organizations in preserving international cultural property 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 destruction due to political instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters; (2) protect international cultural property pursuant 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, stolen, or trafficked at all times, including during political 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 Department of the Treasury, are fully implemented to prevent trafficking in stolen or looted cultural property. 4. United States Coordinator for International Cultural Property Protection 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 Coordinator 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 established 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 property to protect cultural heritage sites and to prevent cultural property looting and theft; (6) work with and consult domestic and international actors such as foreign governments, intergovernmental organizations, nongovernmental organizations, museums, educational institutions, and research institutions to protect international cultural property; and (7) submit to the appropriate congressional committees the annual report required under section 6. 5. Coordinating Committee on International Cultural Property Protection (a) Establishment There is established a Coordinating Committee on International Cultural Property Protection (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 composed 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. (3) The Department of Homeland Security, including 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) The U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield. (9) Such other entities as the Chair determines appropriate. (d) Subcommittees The Committee may include such subcommittees and taskforces as the Chair determines appropriate. Such subcommittees or taskforces may be comprised of a subset of the Committee members or of such other members as the Chair determines appropriate. 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 subcommittees or taskforces. (e) Consultation The Committee shall consult with governmental and nongovernmental organizations, including museums, educational institutions, and research institutions on efforts to promote and protect international cultural property. 6. Reports on activities to protect international cultural property The Secretary of State, acting through the United States Coordinator for International Cultural Property Protection, and in consultation with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, as appropriate, shall annually submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes information on activities of— (1) the United States Coordinator and the Coordinating Committee on International Cultural Property Protection to protect international cultural property; (2) the Department of State to protect international cultural property, including activities undertaken pursuant to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, and other statutes, international agreements, and policies, including— (A) procedures the Department has instituted 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 conflicts to which the United States is a party; (3) the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to protect international cultural property, including activities and coordination with other Federal agencies, international organizations, 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 programs; (4) the Department of Defense to protect international cultural property, including activities undertaken pursuant to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and other cultural property protection statutes and international agreements, including— (A) directives, policies, and regulations the Department has instituted 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 avoid damage to cultural property through construction activities abroad; and (5) the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to protect both international cultural property abroad and international cultural property located in, or attempted to be imported into, the United States, including activities undertaken pursuant to statutes and international agreements, including— (A) statutes and regulations the Department has employed in criminal, civil, and civil forfeiture actions to prevent and interdict trafficking in stolen and smuggled cultural property, including investigations into transnational organized crime and smuggling networks; and (B) actions the Department has taken in order to ensure the consistent and effective application of law in cases relating to both international cultural property abroad and international cultural property located in, or attempted to be imported into, the United States. 7. Authorization for Federal agencies to engage in international cultural property 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 Institution to temporarily engage personnel from the Smithsonian Institution for the purposes of furthering such international cultural property protection activities. 8. Emergency protection for Syrian cultural property (a) Presidential determination Notwithstanding 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 archaeological or ethnological material of any State Party to the Convention), the President shall apply the import restrictions referred to in such section 304 with respect to any archaeological or ethnological material of Syria, except 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) Definitions In this section— (1) the term archaeological or ethnological material of Syria means cultural property of Syria and other items of archaeological, historical, cultural, rare scientific, or religious importance unlawfully removed 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 ).

tv_txt: I 114th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1493 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 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.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act . 2. Definition In this Act: (1) Appropriate congressional committees The term appropriate congressional committees means the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Ways and Means, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Finance, 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 Protection 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 Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO on November 23, 1972 (commonly referred to as the 1972 Convention ); or (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 ). 3. Findings and statement of policy (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Over the years, international cultural property 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 attempting to rebuild portions of China’s lost architectural 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 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 ancient 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 massive loss of life, but also damaged or destroyed libraries, 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 destruction of countless ancient artifacts that will forever 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 effort to eradicate ethnic and religious minorities from contested territories. Concurrently, cultural antiquities that escape demolition are looted and trafficked to help fund ISIL’s militant operations. (12) On February 12, 2015, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 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, historical, cultural, rare scientific, and religious importance illegally removed from Iraq since 6 August 1990 and from Syria since 15 March 2011, including 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 extremist groups are trafficking cultural heritage items from Iraq and Syria to fund their recruitment efforts and carry out terrorist attacks. (14) The destruction of cultural property represents 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 individuals known as the Monuments Men who are credited with securing, cataloguing, and returning hundreds 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 archaeological complexes of ancient civilizations and the removal of stone sculptures and reliefs. . The Department further noted that [t]he United States considers that on grounds of principle, good foreign relations, and concern for the preservation of the cultural heritage of mankind, it should render assistance 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 organizations in preserving international cultural property 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 destruction due to political instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters; (2) protect international cultural property pursuant 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, stolen, or trafficked at all times, including during political 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 Department of the Treasury, are fully implemented to prevent trafficking in stolen or looted cultural property. 4. United States Coordinator for International Cultural Property Protection 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 Coordinator 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 established 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 property to protect cultural heritage sites and to prevent cultural property looting and theft; (6) work with and consult domestic and international actors such as foreign governments, intergovernmental organizations, nongovernmental organizations, museums, educational institutions, and research institutions to protect international cultural property; and (7) submit to the appropriate congressional committees the annual report required under section 6. 5. Coordinating Committee on International Cultural Property Protection (a) Establishment There is established a Coordinating Committee on International Cultural Property Protection (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 composed 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. (3) The Department of Homeland Security, including 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 determines appropriate. Such subcommittees or taskforces may be comprised of a subset of the Committee members or of such other members as the Chair determines appropriate. 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 subcommittees or taskforces. (e) Consultation The Committee shall consult with governmental and nongovernmental organizations, including the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield, museums, educational institutions, and research institutions on efforts to promote and protect international cultural property. 6. Reports on activities to protect international cultural property Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter for the next 6 years, the Secretary of State, acting through the United States Coordinator for International Cultural Property Protection, and in consultation with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, as appropriate, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes information on activities of— (1) the United States Coordinator and the Coordinating Committee on International Cultural Property Protection to protect international cultural property; (2) the Department of State to protect international cultural property, including activities undertaken pursuant to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, and other statutes, international agreements, and policies, including— (A) procedures the Department has instituted 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 conflicts to which the United States is a party; (3) the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to protect international cultural property, including activities and coordination with other Federal agencies, international organizations, 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 programs; (4) the Department of Defense to protect international cultural property, including activities undertaken pursuant to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and other cultural property protection statutes and international agreements, including— (A) directives, policies, and regulations the Department has instituted 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 avoid damage to cultural property through construction activities abroad; and (5) the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to protect both international cultural property abroad and international cultural property located in, or attempted to be imported into, the United States, including activities undertaken pursuant to statutes and international agreements, including— (A) statutes and regulations the Department has employed in criminal, civil, and civil forfeiture actions to prevent and interdict trafficking in stolen and smuggled cultural property, including investigations into transnational organized crime and smuggling networks; and (B) actions the Department has taken in order to ensure the consistent and effective application of law in cases relating to both international cultural property abroad and international cultural property located in, or attempted to be imported into, the United States. 7. Authorization for Federal agencies to engage in international cultural property 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 Institution to temporarily engage personnel from the Smithsonian Institution for the purposes of furthering such international cultural property protection activities. 8. Emergency protection for Syrian cultural property (a) Presidential determination Notwithstanding 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 archaeological or ethnological material of any State Party to the Convention), the President shall apply the import restrictions referred to in such section 304 with respect to any archaeological or ethnological material of Syria, except 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 certification (1) Determination (A) In general The President shall, not less often than annually, determine whether at least one of the conditions specified in subparagraph (B) is met, and shall notify the appropriate congressional committees of such determination. (B) Conditions The conditions referred to in subparagraph (A) are the following: (i) The Government of Syria is incapable, 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. (2) Termination of restrictions The import 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 requests 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 certifies 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: (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 subsection 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 Government 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 89–259 ) with respect to archaeological or ethnological material of Syria. (d) Definitions In this section— (1) the term archaeological or ethnological material of Syria means cultural property of Syria and other items of archaeological, historical, cultural, rare scientific, or religious importance unlawfully removed 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. Karen L. Haas, Clerk.

tv_txt: 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.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act . 2. Definition In this Act: (1) Appropriate congressional committees The term appropriate congressional committees means the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Ways and Means, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Finance, 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 Protection 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 Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO on November 23, 1972 (commonly referred to as the 1972 Convention ); or (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 ). 3. Findings and statement of policy (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Over the years, international cultural property 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 attempting to rebuild portions of China’s lost architectural 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 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 ancient 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 massive loss of life, but also damaged or destroyed libraries, 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 destruction of countless ancient artifacts that will forever 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 effort to eradicate ethnic and religious minorities from contested territories. Concurrently, cultural antiquities that escape demolition are looted and trafficked to help fund ISIL’s militant operations. (12) On February 12, 2015, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 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, historical, cultural, rare scientific, and religious importance illegally removed from Iraq since 6 August 1990 and from Syria since 15 March 2011, including 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 extremist groups are trafficking cultural heritage items from Iraq and Syria to fund their recruitment efforts and carry out terrorist attacks. (14) The destruction of cultural property represents 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 individuals known as the Monuments Men who are credited with securing, cataloguing, and returning hundreds 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 archaeological complexes of ancient civilizations and the removal of stone sculptures and reliefs. . The Department further noted that [t]he United States considers that on grounds of principle, good foreign relations, and concern for the preservation of the cultural heritage of mankind, it should render assistance 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 organizations in preserving international cultural property 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 destruction due to political instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters; (2) protect international cultural property pursuant 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, stolen, or trafficked at all times, including during political 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 Department of the Treasury, are fully implemented to prevent trafficking in stolen or looted cultural property. 4. United States Coordinator for International Cultural Property Protection 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 Coordinator 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 established 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 property to protect cultural heritage sites and to prevent cultural property looting and theft; (6) work with and consult domestic and international actors such as foreign governments, intergovernmental organizations, nongovernmental organizations, museums, educational institutions, and research institutions to protect international cultural property; and (7) submit to the appropriate congressional committees the annual report required under section 6. 5. Coordinating Committee on International Cultural Property Protection (a) Establishment There is established a Coordinating Committee on International Cultural Property Protection (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 composed 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. (3) The Department of Homeland Security, including 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 determines appropriate. Such subcommittees or taskforces may be comprised of a subset of the Committee members or of such other members as the Chair determines appropriate. 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 subcommittees or taskforces. (e) Consultation The Committee shall consult with governmental and nongovernmental organizations, including the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield, museums, educational institutions, and research institutions on efforts to promote and protect international cultural property. 6. Reports on activities to protect international cultural property Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter for the next 6 years, the Secretary of State, acting through the United States Coordinator for International Cultural Property Protection, and in consultation with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, as appropriate, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes information on activities of— (1) the United States Coordinator and the Coordinating Committee on International Cultural Property Protection to protect international cultural property; (2) the Department of State to protect international cultural property, including activities undertaken pursuant to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, and other statutes, international agreements, and policies, including— (A) procedures the Department has instituted 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 conflicts to which the United States is a party; (3) the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to protect international cultural property, including activities and coordination with other Federal agencies, international organizations, 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 programs; (4) the Department of Defense to protect international cultural property, including activities undertaken pursuant to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and other cultural property protection statutes and international agreements, including— (A) directives, policies, and regulations the Department has instituted 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 avoid damage to cultural property through construction activities abroad; and (5) the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to protect both international cultural property abroad and international cultural property located in, or attempted to be imported into, the United States, including activities undertaken pursuant to statutes and international agreements, including— (A) statutes and regulations the Department has employed in criminal, civil, and civil forfeiture actions to prevent and interdict trafficking in stolen and smuggled cultural property, including investigations into transnational organized crime and smuggling networks; and (B) actions the Department has taken in order to ensure the consistent and effective application of law in cases relating to both international cultural property abroad and international cultural property located in, or attempted to be imported into, the United States. 7. Authorization for Federal agencies to engage in international cultural property 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 Institution to temporarily engage personnel from the Smithsonian Institution for the purposes of furthering such international cultural property protection activities. 8. Emergency protection for Syrian cultural property (a) Presidential determination Notwithstanding 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 archaeological or ethnological material of any State Party to the Convention), the President shall apply the import restrictions referred to in such section 304 with respect to any archaeological or ethnological material of Syria, except 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 certification (1) Determination (A) In general The President shall, not less often than annually, determine whether at least one of the conditions specified in subparagraph (B) is met, and shall notify the appropriate congressional committees of such determination. (B) Conditions The conditions referred to in subparagraph (A) are the following: (i) The Government of Syria is incapable, 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. (2) Termination of restrictions The import 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 requests 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 certifies 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: (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 subsection 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 Government 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 89–259 ) with respect to archaeological or ethnological material of Syria. (d) Definitions In this section— (1) the term archaeological or ethnological material of Syria means cultural property of Syria and other items of archaeological, historical, cultural, rare scientific, or religious importance unlawfully removed 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. Karen L. Haas, Clerk

tv_txt: II Calendar No. 360 114th CONGRESS 2d 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 February 2, 2016 Reported by Mr. Corker , with an amendment Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic 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.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act . 2. Definition In this Act: (1) Appropriate congressional committees The term appropriate congressional committees means the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Ways and Means, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Finance, 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 Protection 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 Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO on November 23, 1972 (commonly referred to as the 1972 Convention ); or (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 ). 3. Findings and statement of policy (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Over the years, international cultural property 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 attempting to rebuild portions of China’s lost architectural 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 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 ancient 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 massive loss of life, but also damaged or destroyed libraries, 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 destruction of countless ancient artifacts that will forever 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 effort to eradicate ethnic and religious minorities from contested territories. Concurrently, cultural antiquities that escape demolition are looted and trafficked to help fund ISIL’s militant operations. (12) On February 12, 2015, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 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, historical, cultural, rare scientific, and religious importance illegally removed from Iraq since 6 August 1990 and from Syria since 15 March 2011, including 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 extremist groups are trafficking cultural heritage items from Iraq and Syria to fund their recruitment efforts and carry out terrorist attacks. (14) The destruction of cultural property represents 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 individuals known as the Monuments Men who are credited with securing, cataloguing, and returning hundreds 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 archaeological complexes of ancient civilizations and the removal of stone sculptures and reliefs. . The Department further noted that [t]he United States considers that on grounds of principle, good foreign relations, and concern for the preservation of the cultural heritage of mankind, it should render assistance 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 organizations in preserving international cultural property 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 destruction due to political instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters; (2) protect international cultural property pursuant 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, stolen, or trafficked at all times, including during political 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 Department of the Treasury, are fully implemented to prevent trafficking in stolen or looted cultural property. 4. United States Coordinator for International Cultural Property Protection 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 Coordinator 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 established 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 property to protect cultural heritage sites and to prevent cultural property looting and theft; (6) work with and consult domestic and international actors such as foreign governments, intergovernmental organizations, nongovernmental organizations, museums, educational institutions, and research institutions to protect international cultural property; and (7) submit to the appropriate congressional committees the annual report required under section 6. 5. Coordinating Committee on International Cultural Property Protection (a) Establishment There is established a Coordinating Committee on International Cultural Property Protection (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 composed 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. (3) The Department of Homeland Security, including 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 determines appropriate. Such subcommittees or taskforces may be comprised of a subset of the Committee members or of such other members as the Chair determines appropriate. 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 subcommittees or taskforces. (e) Consultation The Committee shall consult with governmental and nongovernmental organizations, including the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield, museums, educational institutions, and research institutions on efforts to promote and protect international cultural property. 6. Reports on activities to protect international cultural property Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter for the next 6 years, the Secretary of State, acting through the United States Coordinator for International Cultural Property Protection, and in consultation with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, as appropriate, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes information on activities of— (1) the United States Coordinator and the Coordinating Committee on International Cultural Property Protection to protect international cultural property; (2) the Department of State to protect international cultural property, including activities undertaken pursuant to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, and other statutes, international agreements, and policies, including— (A) procedures the Department has instituted 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 conflicts to which the United States is a party; (3) the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to protect international cultural property, including activities and coordination with other Federal agencies, international organizations, 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 programs; (4) the Department of Defense to protect international cultural property, including activities undertaken pursuant to the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and other cultural property protection statutes and international agreements, including— (A) directives, policies, and regulations the Department has instituted 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 avoid damage to cultural property through construction activities abroad; and (5) the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to protect both international cultural property abroad and international cultural property located in, or attempted to be imported into, the United States, including activities undertaken pursuant to statutes and international agreements, including— (A) statutes and regulations the Department has employed in criminal, civil, and civil forfeiture actions to prevent and interdict trafficking in stolen and smuggled cultural property, including investigations into transnational organized crime and smuggling networks; and (B) actions the Department has taken in order to ensure the consistent and effective application of law in cases relating to both international cultural property abroad and international cultural property located in, or attempted to be imported into, the United States. 7. Authorization for Federal agencies to engage in international cultural property 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 Institution to temporarily engage personnel from the Smithsonian Institution for the purposes of furthering such international cultural property protection activities. 8. Emergency protection for Syrian cultural property (a) Presidential determination Notwithstanding 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 archaeological or ethnological material of any State Party to the Convention), the President shall apply the import restrictions referred to in such section 304 with respect to any archaeological or ethnological material of Syria, except 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 certification (1) Determination (A) In general The President shall, not less often than annually, determine whether at least one of the conditions specified in subparagraph (B) is met, and shall notify the appropriate congressional committees of such determination. (B) Conditions The conditions referred to in subparagraph (A) are the following: (i) The Government of Syria is incapable, 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. (2) Termination of restrictions The import 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 requests 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 certifies 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: (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 subsection 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 Government 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 89–259 ) with respect to archaeological or ethnological material of Syria. (d) Definitions In this section— (1) the term archaeological or ethnological material of Syria means cultural property of Syria and other items of archaeological, historical, cultural, rare scientific, or religious importance unlawfully removed 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 ).

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act . 2. Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the President should establish an interagency coordinating committee to coordinate and advance the efforts of the executive branch to protect and preserve international cultural property at risk from political instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters. Such committee should— (1) be chaired by a Department of State employee of Assistant Secretary rank or higher, concurrent with that employee’s other duties; (2) include representatives of the Smithsonian Institution and Federal agencies with responsibility for the preservation and protection of international cultural property; (3) consult with governmental and nongovernmental organizations, including the United States Committee of the Blue Shield, museums, educational institutions, and research institutions on efforts to protect and preserve international cultural property; (4) coordinate and advance core United States interests in— (A) protecting and preserving international cultural property; (B) preventing and disrupting looting and illegal trade and trafficking in international cultural property, particularly exchanges that provide revenue to terrorist and criminal organizations; (C) protecting sites of cultural and archaeological significance; and (D) providing for the lawful exchange of international cultural property. 3. Emergency protection for Syrian cultural property (a) In general The President shall exercise the authority of the President under section 304 of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2603 ) to impose import restrictions set forth in section 307 of that Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2606 ) with respect to any archaeological or ethnological material of Syria— (1) not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act; (2) without regard to whether Syria is a State Party (as defined in section 302 of that Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2601 )); and (3) notwithstanding— (A) the requirement of subsection (b) of section 304 of that Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2603(b) ) that an emergency condition (as defined in subsection (a) of that section) applies; and (B) the limitations under subsection (c) of that section. (b) Annual Determination Regarding Certification (1) Determination (A) In general The President shall, not less often than annually, determine whether at least 1 of the conditions specified in subparagraph (B) is met, and shall notify the appropriate congressional committees of such determination. (B) Conditions The conditions referred to in subparagraph (A) are the following: (i) The Government of Syria is incapable, 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. (2) Termination of restrictions (A) In general Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the import 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. (B) Request for termination If Syria requests to enter into an agreement with the United States pursuant to section 303 of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2602 ) on or after the date on which the President determines that neither of the conditions specified in paragraph (1)(B) are met, the import restrictions referred to in subsection (a) shall terminate on the earlier of— (i) the date that is 3 years after the date on which Syria makes such a request; or (ii) 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 archaeological and ethnological material of Syria if the President certifies 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: (A) (i) The owner or lawful custodian of the specified archaeological or ethnological material of Syria has requested that such material be temporarily located in the United States for protection purposes; or (ii) if no owner or lawful custodian can reasonably be identified, the President determines that, for purposes of protecting and preserving such material, the material should be temporarily located in the United States. (B) Such material shall be returned to the owner or lawful custodian when requested by such owner or lawful custodian. (C) There is no credible evidence that granting a waiver under this subsection will contribute to illegal trafficking in archaeological or ethnological material of Syria or financing of criminal or terrorist activities. (3) Action If the President grants a waiver under this subsection, the specified archaeological or ethnological material of Syria that is the subject of such waiver shall be placed in the temporary custody of the United States Government 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) Immunity from seizure Any archaeological or ethnological material that enters the United States pursuant to a waiver granted under this section shall have immunity from seizure under Public Law 89–259 ( 22 U.S.C. 2459 ). All provisions of Public Law 89–259 shall apply to such material as if immunity from seizure had been granted under that Public Law. (d) Definitions In this section: (1) Appropriate congressional committees The term appropriate congressional committees means— (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Finance of the Senate; and (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives. (2) Archaeological or ethnological material of Syria The term archaeological or ethnological material of Syria means cultural property (as defined in section 302 of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2601 )) that is unlawfully removed from Syria on or after March 15, 2011. 4. Report Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for the next 6 years, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the efforts of the executive branch, during the 12-month period preceding the submission of the report, to protect and preserve international cultural property, including— (1) whether an interagency coordinating committee as described in section 2 has been established and, if such a committee has been established, a description of the activities undertaken by such committee, including a list of the entities participating in such activities; (2) a description of measures undertaken pursuant to relevant statutes, including— (A) actions to implement and enforce section 3 of this Act and section 3002 of the Emergency Protection for Iraqi Cultural Antiquities Act of 2004 ( Public Law 108–429 ; 118 Stat. 2599), including measures to dismantle international networks that traffic illegally in cultural property; (B) a description of any requests for a waiver under section 3(c) of this Act and, for each such request, whether a waiver was granted; (C) a list of the statutes and regulations employed in criminal, civil, and civil forfeiture actions to prevent illegal trade and trafficking in cultural property; and (D) actions undertaken to ensure the consistent and effective application of law in cases relating to illegal trade and trafficking in cultural property; and (3) actions undertaken in fulfillment of international agreements on cultural property protection, including the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, done at The Hague May 14, 1954.

February 2, 2016 Reported with an amendment

tv_txt: 114th CONGRESS 2d Session H.R. 1493 In the Senate of the United States, April 13, 2016. Amendment:

That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 1493) entitled 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. , do pass with the following Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert: 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act . 2. Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the President should establish an interagency coordinating committee to coordinate the efforts of the executive branch to protect and preserve international cultural property at risk from political instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters. Such committee should— (1) be chaired by a Department of State employee of Assistant Secretary rank or higher, concurrent with that employee’s other duties; (2) include representatives of the Smithsonian Institution and Federal agencies with responsibility for the preservation and protection of international cultural property; (3) consult with governmental and nongovernmental organizations, including the United States Committee of the Blue Shield, museums, educational institutions, and research institutions, and participants in the international art and cultural property market on efforts to protect and preserve international cultural property; (4) coordinate core United States interests in— (A) protecting and preserving international cultural property; (B) preventing and disrupting looting and illegal trade and trafficking in international cultural property, particularly exchanges that provide revenue to terrorist and criminal organizations; (C) protecting sites of cultural and archaeological significance; and (D) providing for the lawful exchange of international cultural property. 3. Emergency protection for Syrian cultural property (a) In general The President shall exercise the authority of the President under section 304 of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2603 ) to impose import restrictions set forth in section 307 of that Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2606 ) with respect to any archaeological or ethnological material of Syria— (1) not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act; (2) without regard to whether Syria is a State Party (as defined in section 302 of that Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2601 )); and (3) notwithstanding— (A) the requirement of subsection (b) of section 304 of that Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2603(b) ) that an emergency condition (as defined in subsection (a) of that section) applies; and (B) the limitations under subsection (c) of that section. (b) Annual Determination Regarding Certification (1) Determination (A) In general The President shall, not less often than annually, determine whether at least 1 of the conditions specified in subparagraph (B) is met, and shall notify the appropriate congressional committees of such determination. (B) Conditions The conditions referred to in subparagraph (A) are the following: (i) The Government of Syria is incapable, 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 ), including the requirements under subsection (a)(3) of that section. (ii) It would be against the United States national interest to enter into such an agreement. (2) Termination of restrictions (A) In general Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the import 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. (B) Request for termination If Syria requests to enter into an agreement with the United States pursuant to section 303 of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2602 ) on or after the date on which the President determines that neither of the conditions specified in paragraph (1)(B) are met, the import restrictions referred to in subsection (a) shall terminate on the earlier of— (i) the date that is 3 years after the date on which Syria makes such a request; or (ii) 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 archaeological and ethnological material of Syria if the President certifies 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: (A) (i) The owner or lawful custodian of the specified archaeological or ethnological material of Syria has requested that such material be temporarily located in the United States for protection purposes; or (ii) if no owner or lawful custodian can reasonably be identified, the President determines that, for purposes of protecting and preserving such material, the material should be temporarily located in the United States. (B) Such material shall be returned to the owner or lawful custodian when requested by such owner or lawful custodian. (C) There is no credible evidence that granting a waiver under this subsection will contribute to illegal trafficking in archaeological or ethnological material of Syria or financing of criminal or terrorist activities. (3) Action If the President grants a waiver under this subsection, the specified archaeological or ethnological material of Syria that is the subject of such waiver shall be placed in the temporary custody of the United States Government 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) Immunity from seizure Any archaeological or ethnological material that enters the United States pursuant to a waiver granted under this section shall have immunity from seizure under Public Law 89–259 ( 22 U.S.C. 2459 ). All provisions of Public Law 89–259 shall apply to such material as if immunity from seizure had been granted under that Public Law. (d) Definitions In this section: (1) Appropriate congressional committees The term appropriate congressional committees means— (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Finance of the Senate; and (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives. (2) Archaeological or ethnological material of Syria The term archaeological or ethnological material of Syria means cultural property (as defined in section 302 of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2601 )) that is unlawfully removed from Syria on or after March 15, 2011. 4. Report Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for the next 6 years, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the efforts of the executive branch, during the 12-month period preceding the submission of the report, to protect and preserve international cultural property, including— (1) whether an interagency coordinating committee as described in section 2 has been established and, if such a committee has been established, a description of the activities undertaken by such committee, including a list of the entities participating in such activities; (2) a description of measures undertaken pursuant to relevant statutes, including— (A) actions to implement and enforce section 3 of this Act and section 3002 of the Emergency Protection for Iraqi Cultural Antiquities Act of 2004 ( Public Law 108–429 ; 118 Stat. 2599), including measures to dismantle international networks that traffic illegally in cultural property; (B) a description of any requests for a waiver under section 3(c) of this Act and, for each such request, whether a waiver was granted; (C) a list of the statutes and regulations employed in criminal, civil, and civil forfeiture actions to prevent illegal trade and trafficking in cultural property; (D) actions undertaken to ensure the consistent and effective application of law in cases relating to illegal trade and trafficking in cultural property; and (E) actions undertaken to promote the legitimate commercial and non-commercial exchange and movement of cultural property; and (3) actions undertaken in fulfillment of international agreements on cultural property protection, including the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, done at The Hague May 14, 1954.

Secretary

tv_txt: I One Hundred Fourteenth Congress of the United States of America At the Second Session Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, the fourth day of January, two thousand and sixteen H. R. 1493 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.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act . 2. Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that the President should establish an interagency coordinating committee to coordinate the efforts of the executive branch to protect and preserve international cultural property at risk from political instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters. Such committee should— (1) be chaired by a Department of State employee of Assistant Secretary rank or higher, concurrent with that employee’s other duties; (2) include representatives of the Smithsonian Institution and Federal agencies with responsibility for the preservation and protection of international cultural property; (3) consult with governmental and nongovernmental organizations, including the United States Committee of the Blue Shield, museums, educational institutions, and research institutions, and participants in the international art and cultural property market on efforts to protect and preserve international cultural property; (4) coordinate core United States interests in— (A) protecting and preserving international cultural property; (B) preventing and disrupting looting and illegal trade and trafficking in international cultural property, particularly exchanges that provide revenue to terrorist and criminal organizations; (C) protecting sites of cultural and archaeological significance; and (D) providing for the lawful exchange of international cultural property. 3. Emergency protection for Syrian cultural property (a) In general The President shall exercise the authority of the President under section 304 of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2603 ) to impose import restrictions set forth in section 307 of that Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2606 ) with respect to any archaeological or ethnological material of Syria— (1) not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act; (2) without regard to whether Syria is a State Party (as defined in section 302 of that Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2601 )); and (3) notwithstanding— (A) the requirement of subsection (b) of section 304 of that Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2603(b) ) that an emergency condition (as defined in subsection (a) of that section) applies; and (B) the limitations under subsection (c) of that section. (b) Annual Determination Regarding Certification (1) Determination (A) In general The President shall, not less often than annually, determine whether at least 1 of the conditions specified in subparagraph (B) is met, and shall notify the appropriate congressional committees of such determination. (B) Conditions The conditions referred to in subparagraph (A) are the following: (i) The Government of Syria is incapable, 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 ), including the requirements under subsection (a)(3) of that section. (ii) It would be against the United States national interest to enter into such an agreement. (2) Termination of restrictions (A) In general Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the import 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. (B) Request for termination If Syria requests to enter into an agreement with the United States pursuant to section 303 of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2602 ) on or after the date on which the President determines that neither of the conditions specified in paragraph (1)(B) are met, the import restrictions referred to in subsection (a) shall terminate on the earlier of— (i) the date that is 3 years after the date on which Syria makes such a request; or (ii) 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 archaeological and ethnological material of Syria if the President certifies 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: (A) (i) The owner or lawful custodian of the specified archaeological or ethnological material of Syria has requested that such material be temporarily located in the United States for protection purposes; or (ii) if no owner or lawful custodian can reasonably be identified, the President determines that, for purposes of protecting and preserving such material, the material should be temporarily located in the United States. (B) Such material shall be returned to the owner or lawful custodian when requested by such owner or lawful custodian. (C) There is no credible evidence that granting a waiver under this subsection will contribute to illegal trafficking in archaeological or ethnological material of Syria or financing of criminal or terrorist activities. (3) Action If the President grants a waiver under this subsection, the specified archaeological or ethnological material of Syria that is the subject of such waiver shall be placed in the temporary custody of the United States Government 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) Immunity from seizure Any archaeological or ethnological material that enters the United States pursuant to a waiver granted under this section shall have immunity from seizure under Public Law 89–259 ( 22 U.S.C. 2459 ). All provisions of Public Law 89–259 shall apply to such material as if immunity from seizure had been granted under that Public Law. (d) Definitions In this section: (1) Appropriate congressional committees The term appropriate congressional committees means— (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Finance of the Senate; and (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives. (2) Archaeological or ethnological material of Syria The term archaeological or ethnological material of Syria means cultural property (as defined in section 302 of the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act ( 19 U.S.C. 2601 )) that is unlawfully removed from Syria on or after March 15, 2011. 4. Report Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for the next 6 years, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the efforts of the executive branch, during the 12-month period preceding the submission of the report, to protect and preserve international cultural property, including— (1) whether an interagency coordinating committee as described in section 2 has been established and, if such a committee has been established, a description of the activities undertaken by such committee, including a list of the entities participating in such activities; (2) a description of measures undertaken pursuant to relevant statutes, including— (A) actions to implement and enforce section 3 of this Act and section 3002 of the Emergency Protection for Iraqi Cultural Antiquities Act of 2004 ( Public Law 108–429 ; 118 Stat. 2599), including measures to dismantle international networks that traffic illegally in cultural property; (B) a description of any requests for a waiver under section 3(c) of this Act and, for each such request, whether a waiver was granted; (C) a list of the statutes and regulations employed in criminal, civil, and civil forfeiture actions to prevent illegal trade and trafficking in cultural property; (D) actions undertaken to ensure the consistent and effective application of law in cases relating to illegal trade and trafficking in cultural property; and (E) actions undertaken to promote the legitimate commercial and non-commercial exchange and movement of cultural property; and (3) actions undertaken in fulfillment of international agreements on cultural property protection, including the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, done at The Hague May 14, 1954.

Speaker of the House of Representatives. Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate.