Date: 2016-04-26
Speaker: ELIOT ENGEL (democrat)
Chamber: H

from New York. for his outstanding leadership on this legislation. With its passage today. his H.R. 1493. the Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act. will head to the Presidents desk for his signature. This is a critical measure. The Islamic State. or ISIS. continues to wreak havoc throughout Iraq and Syria. It is laying a path of death and destruction in its wake. and it has inspired deadly attacks around the world and deadly attacks here at home. No offense is more appalling than the terrorists complete disregard for human life. As this body has recognized. ISIS is waging a genocide against religious minorities in the Middle East. I recently had the opportunity to talk to some of those Yazidi girls and Christian minorities about what they had been through. as well as to talk to Sunni and Kurdish families. It has unleashed a campaign of sickening violence against Muslims who do not share its radical beliefs and against the other religious minorities across the Middle East and beyond. Besides the human toll of ISIS deplorable acts. we also mourn the tremendous loss of cultural heritage as these extremists loot and destroy their way through ancient sites in the territories that they conquer. We have seen sickening footage of ISIS drilling its way through priceless artifacts in Mosul and in its bulldozing of magnificent Mesopotamian ruins in the 3.000yearold city of Nimrud. ISIS claims the annihilation of cultural sites is meant to counter idol worship. but clearly these terrorists have another goal: to remove all traces of the regions rich and diverse religious and cultural past. It is in line with what the Nazis tried to do in burning the books across Europe in trying to burn history that predated them. By eliminating all evidence of religious pluralism and by eliminating all evidence of humanitys common heritage. it is paving the way for its own horrifying brand of radical Islamist extremism. The looting of antiquities is big business for ISIS. Experts estimate that the group has earned millions of dollars from the sale of stolen artifacts every year. which are often peddled by middlemen in oldfashioned markets or online. Unfortunately. buyers in the U.S. appear to be a primary end destination for many of these pieces. as does Europe. as does Asia. Mr. Speaker. I just returned from the Middle East. I was honored to speak at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad about the need to counter ISIS trafficking of priceless antiquities. This region is steeped in history from the rise and fall of empires to the evolution of writing and mathematics and art. Much of this heritage remains at risk due to looting by ISIS and. I should add. by other parties to the conflict in Syria. including the murderous Assad regime. That is why last year. Ranking Member ELIOT ENGEL and I introduced this legislation. which will help the U.S. do its part to counter this black market trade. Specifically. this legislation will prevent those antiquities that have been removed since the start of Syrias civil war from being sold or imported into the United States. This will reduce funding to ISIS and will disincentivize future looting. Again. I thank the ranking member. as well as Representatives Smith and Keating. for all of their work on this measure. I also acknowledge the bills Senate cosponsorsSenators Casey and Perdue and Grassley. as well as Chairman CORKER and Ranking Member CARDIN of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relationswhose leadership was instrumental to this measures passage by Mr. ENGEL in the Senate. I reserve the balance of my time.