US Congress Senate Bill 3155 (Prior Session Legislation)

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Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: Introduced on July 11 2016 - 25% progression, died in chamber
Action: 2016-09-15 - Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 632.
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act (Sec. 2) This bill amends the federal judicial code with respect to denial of a foreign state's sovereign immunity from the jurisdiction of U.S. or state courts in commercial activity cases where rights in property taken in violation of international law are in issue and that property, or any property exchanged for it, is: (1) present in the United States in connection with a commercial activity carried on by the foreign state in the United States, or (2) owned by an agency or instrumentality of the foreign state and that agency or instrumentality is engaged in a commercial activity in the United States. The bill grants a foreign state or certain carriers immunity from federal or state court jurisdiction for any activity in the United States associated with a temporary exhibition or display of a work of art or other object of cultural significance if: the work of art or other object of cultural significance is imported into the United States from any foreign country pursuant to an agreement for its temporary exhibition or display between a foreign state that is its owner or custodian and the United States or U.S. cultural or educational institutions; and the President has determined that such work is culturally significant and its temporary exhibition or display is in the national interest. The bill denies immunity, however, in cases concerning rights in property taken in violation of international law in which the action is based upon a claim that the work was taken: (1) between January 30, 1933, and May 8, 1945, by the government of Germany or any government in Europe occupied, assisted, or allied by the German government; or (2) after 1900 in connection with the acts of a foreign government against members of a targeted group as part of a similar systematic confiscation or misappropriation of works. For purposes of these denials of immunity, the court must determine that the activity associated with the exhibition or display is commercial and that determination must be necessary for the court to exercise jurisdiction over the foreign state.

Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act

Sen. Orrin Hatch [R-UT]	Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D-CA]	Sen. John Cornyn [R-TX]	Sen. Christopher Coons [D-DE]
Sen. Mike Lee [R-UT]	Sen. Charles Schumer [D-NY]	Sen. Thom Tillis [R-NC]	Sen. Richard Blumenthal [D-CT]
Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL]	Sen. Al Franken [D-MN]	Sen. Lindsey Graham [R-SC]	Sen. Tom Udall [D-NM]
Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D-MN]	Sen. Chuck Grassley [R-IA]	Sen. Patrick Leahy [D-VT]

Date	Chamber	Action
2016-09-15	Senate	Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 632.
2016-09-15	Senate	Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Grassley without amendment. Without written report.
2016-09-15	Senate	Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
2016-07-11	Senate	Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Type	Source
Summary	https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/3155/all-info
Text	https://www.congress.gov/114/bills/s3155/BILLS-114s3155is.pdf
Text	https://www.congress.gov/114/bills/s3155/BILLS-114s3155rs.pdf