I pass along the following announcement about the Iraq Cultural Heritage
Protection Act, introduced as HR 2009 in the US House of Representatives
on Wednesday, May 7.
The main clause of the bill imposes an import restriction on any
archaeological and cultural material removed from Iraq after August 2,
1990. Full text and status of the bill can be found in Thomas,
thomas.loc.gov (search by bill number HR 2009). It has been referred to
the House Ways and Means Committee. To see if your Representative is a
member of that committee, check the list at
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/members.asp.
James Mitchell
Co-Chair, ARLIS/NA Public Policy Committee
US Working Group for Iraq Cultural Heritage
<[log in to unmask]> writes:
>Colleagues,
>
>Below and attached is information about a bill that was just
>introduced to the House of Representatives and will soon go to
>the Senate. It represents a concrete way in which the U.S. can
>help to stem the flow of looted Iraqi antiquities and cultural
>material. As individuals and through our organizations we can
>do a great deal to help this process along. Please disseminate
>this information as widely as possible among your colleagues and
>on any listservs to which you subscribe, and urge people to
>contact their representatives.
>
>Thank you,
>
>Jane C. Waldbaum
>President, Archaeological Institute of America
>Department of Anthropology
>P.O. Box 413
>University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
>Milwaukee, WI 53201
>Tel: 414-229-3334
>email: [log in to unmask]
>www.archaeological.org
>
>
>
Dear ____________________:
A bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives to help stop
the flow of pillaged Iraqi antiquities into the U.S. As you may know, the
U.S. sanctions against Iraq may be lifted in the near future. Since we
don't have a bilateral agreement on import restrictions with Iraq under
the Cultural Properties Implementation Act - and there is no Iraqi
government to request one - there would be nothing to bar the import of
Iraqi antiquities into this country.
Some of these imports may have been legally exported from Iraq before the
sanctions went into effect. Some, however, could be looted material taken
out of Iraq after the sanctions were in place, including material looted
during the recent conflict - objects from the Baghdad Museum, or from one
of the thousands of archaeological sites in Iraq.
H.R. 2009 will help prevent the import of contraband antiquities into the
U.S. The bill would prohibit the import of any antiquity taken out of
Iraq after August 2, 1990, the date that the economic sanctions went into
effect. Also, the bill would amend the CPIA to allow the President to
impose emergency import restrictions without a request from the affected
nation's government. This will prevent a recurrence of what we're seeing
in Iraq. In addition, it would allow the President to impose import
restrictions on behalf of nations not party to the UNESCO Convention, the
international framework under which cultural property is protected. This
would serve to assist nations like Afghanistan, which are not party to the
Convention, nor are likely to become one anytime soon.
The authors of the bill, Reps. English and Leach, have sent the attached
letter to all House members. Call your Representative and urge him or her
to become a cosponsor of H.R. 2009. Time is of the essence. You can find
your Representative and his or her contact information by going to
www.house.gov and using the search function at the top of the page.
>
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