The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“PROTECT AND PRESERVE INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL PROPERTY ACT” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H1984-H1987 on April 26, 2016.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
PROTECT AND PRESERVE INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL PROPERTY ACT
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 1493) to protect and preserve international cultural property at risk due to political instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the Senate amendment is as follows:
Senate amendment:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act''.
SEC. 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.
SEC. 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.
SEC. 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.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
General Leave
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material into the Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I acknowledge the ranking member, Mr. Eliot Engel 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 President's 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 3,000-year-old 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 region's 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 humanity's 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 old-
fashioned 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 Syria's 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 bill's Senate cosponsors--Senators Casey and Perdue and Grassley, as well as Chairman Corker and Ranking Member Cardin of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations--whose leadership was instrumental to this measure's passage by Mr. Engel in the Senate.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in strong support of this legislation.
First of all, I thank our chairman, Ed Royce, for his leadership on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and for pushing this bill ahead. I don't want to underestimate how important he has been in making sure that this bill reaches the floor. I thank Congressman Chris Smith for joining me as a lead Republican cosponsor on this measure, and I thank our Senate colleagues for their work to help get us to this point.
This legislation is another great example of the Committee on Foreign Affairs' working across the aisle to get results because we believe, again, that foreign policy should be bipartisan and that partisanship should stop at the water's edge. When the House finishes its work on this bill today, it will be on its way to the President's desk, and that is something of which we should all be proud.
Mr. Speaker, since the time ISIS emerged as a factor in Iraq and in Syria, we have read reports, have seen images, and have watched videos of ISIS terrorists in their destroying of ancient structures and artifacts in the areas they control. It is actually heartbreaking. These fanatics literally want to wipe away history. They want to destroy any trace of culture or belief system that doesn't conform to their twisted ideology and twisted way of thinking, but that is not the whole story.
ISIS has also seized on cultural artifacts as a funding source. If you look at satellite pictures of heritage sites that ISIS controls, you can pick out thousands of small holes in the desert. ISIS has looted these areas, has dug up coins and statues and anything else it can carry, and has trafficked those items on the black market. As a result, millions of dollars have flowed into ISIS' coffers.
So a few years ago I knew we needed to do more to combat this serious problem. With the help of several colleagues--and, again, I emphasize how helpful the chairman has been--I set out to help preserve this history and, at the same time, to cut off a vital revenue stream for these terrorists. I was confident we could do it because we have done it before.
During the Iraq war, we also saw the looting of antiquities. So we passed legislation then to impose import restrictions on those items coming in from Iraq.
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I decided that we needed to take similar steps with respect to items coming out of Syria. So we got to work, talking to experts and officials to find the best ways of stopping looted goods arriving on our shores and to make sure those goods aren't sold to help ISIS' campaign of violence.
It is really disgraceful that anyone in the United States would buy these things. Those proven practices and innovative approaches are at the core of this bill.
These restrictions would bring the United States in line with the U.N. Security Council resolution passed unanimously last year. That resolution called on all States to deny funding to ISIS by preventing trade in Iraqi and Syrian cultural property.
Our European partners have already stepped up and enacted similar measures. That is good news because it is going to take a wide-ranging effort to effectively crack down on this illegal marketplace.
My bill would also encourage administration agencies already working on this problem to collaborate more closely so that our efforts are more streamlined and efficient. Finally, it is important to note that the legislation would not prevent the importation of Syrian artifacts for preservation or restoration.
So this is a good bill. I have been working on it for several years. I am proud of everything that has gone into it by my colleagues and our staff members.
I am glad, once again, that we are working in a bipartisan way to pass legislation that advances our interests, and I am very grateful that we are so close to the finish line on this bill.
So I want to thank everybody. I want to especially thank Chairman Royce once again. I ask that all Members support this bill.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time to close.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, it is always a great feeling to cross the finish line on a piece of legislation. At our best, that is what the Foreign Affairs Committee does, and we are at our best here this day.
So I again want to thank Chairman Royce for his leadership and partnership. I want to thank our Senate colleagues for doing their part. I want to thank the staff that worked so hard on this bill.
We should be seizing every available opportunity to cut off resources to ISIS and other terrorist groups. This legislation goes after a practice that has put millions of dollars in ISIS' hands and has resulted in the irreversible destruction of some of history's greatest artifacts.
So it destroys these artifacts, which is bad enough, but then it puts money in ISIS' hands. They actually make money by doing it. It is aiding and abetting terrorism. So it is a double whammy.
We knew from past experience that the approach laid out in this bill works. It is long past due that we ramp up our efforts to stop the looting, stop the trafficking, and stop the destruction.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill and send it to the President. I know that the President will sign it. It is very important. I hope we will soon see this legislation enacted and on the books.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume
Again, I thank Mr. Eliot Engel of New York for this legislation.
The ancient cities now facing destruction at the hands of ISIS are considered the birthplace of modern civilization. As we stand here on the floor of the House, we see behind us the relief of the great lawgivers.
First, there is Moses. Next to him is Hammurabi for Hammurabi's Code, the great lawgivers and heroes of liberty. We think about the fact that, in this part of the world, these antiquities are now in the hands of ISIS.
As one expert told the Financial Services Committee's Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing last week, this is where the Acadian King Hammurabi ruled at the beginning of the second millennium BC and where the Hebrew prophet Jonah preached successfully repentance to the Assyrian Ninevites 1,000 years later.
Now, in 2015, ISIS has as many as 4,500 cultural sites under its control. A raid carried out last year by U.S. Special Forces revealed that ISIS has invested heavily in the looting and smuggling of antiquities in the region as they cut up antiquities and then try to trade them for hard currency.
The legislation before us today is an important step toward curbing this illicit trade and limiting funding to these terrorists. I do want to note that the bill's emergency import restrictions are not designed to continue in perpetuity and can be waived under certain conditions for the temporary safeguarding of cultural property in the United States.
The bill also presses the administration to increase accountability for U.S. efforts to protect cultural property overseas and improves congressional oversight of this work.
I appreciate the other committees of jurisdiction for working with the Foreign Affairs Committee on this measure, particularly the Committee on Ways and Means for its assistance on the cultural import restrictions in this bill.
Lastly, I want to recognize the work of the committee staff on this important legislation, particularly Jessica Kelch, who, along with Mark Iozzi on Mr. Engel's staff and Kristen Marquardt on the Foreign Affairs Committee staff, worked out all the complexities to deliver what I am confident will be effective legislation.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) that the House suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the bill, H.R. 1493.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the Senate amendment was concurred in.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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