A bill to implement the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.
Latest action. Rereferred to Committee on Finance.
Provides for the implementation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. Provides that whenever the President determines that: (1) the cultural patrimony of a State Party to the Convention is in jeopardy from pillage of archeological or ethnological materials; (2) the State Party has taken measures for the protection of its cultural patrimony; and (3) import controls by the United States would help deter such pillage; the President may enter into an agreement with the State Party, and with other governments as appropriate, to restrict the importation of protected objects of archeological or ethnological interest. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with the Secretary of State, to promulgate a list of protected objects of archeological or ethnological interest. Requires consignees of any protected object to present appropriate certificates and evidence to customs officers at the time of making entry of such object. Provides that any protected object of archeological or ethnological interest imported into the United States in violation of this Act shall be seized and subject to forfeiture. Prescribes the procedures to be followed whenever any person is interested in any article seized, including the filing with the Secretary of the Treasury of a petititon for the remission of such forfeiture.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on November 9, 1973. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on July 8, 1974: Rereferred to Committee on Finance.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 93rd Congress (1973-74), 651 of the 23,396 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.8 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
JAMES FULBRIGHT (D-AR) introduced it on November 9, 1973. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on November 9, 1973, 19298 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 19057 days ago, on July 8, 1974.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 93rd Congress has not finished by January 3, 1975 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers