Prepared Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Executive Business Meeting
July 14, 2016
Good morning. Today we have a number of bills and judicial nominees on the agenda.
The nominees on the agenda are:
- Jennifer Puhl, Eighth Circuit
- Don Coggins, South Carolina
- David Nye, Idaho
- Kathleen Sweet, Western District of New York
There are two bipartisan bills that are on the Agenda for the first time, and will be held over. The first of these, S. 2763, the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act (HEAR Act), was introduced by Senators Cornyn, Cruz, Schumer, and Blumenthal. And it is co-sponsored by Senators Hatch and Franken as well.
It’s been said that the artwork and other cultural items the Nazi regime stole from their rightful owners represents “the greatest displacement of art in human history.” This important legislation seeks to remove some of the time-based defenses that unfairly bar the rightful owners from reclaiming their family’s artwork.
I know the Sponsors have been working in good faith with the various stakeholders, and are very close to final language that everyone can support. This is an important issue, and we need to address it.
So I thank the sponsors for their hard work on this, and I look forward to supporting it and moving it out of Committee when we return after the recess.
The other piece of legislation on the Agenda for the first time is S. 3155, the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act, introduced by Senators Hatch and Feinstein, as well as Senators Cornyn, Schumer, Lee, Coons and Tillis.
I understand Senator Hatch may wish to say a few words on this legislation, so I won’t take too much time here. But I will say this important bipartisan legislation is critical for art museums across the country, including in Iowa, to be able to bring artwork from around the world here to the United States to be displayed in art exhibits. I’d also note that this legislation has passed the House 3 different times, twice by voice vote. So, it has a lot of bipartisan support. It will be held over today, but I look forward to supporting it and moving it out of Committee at our next Committee business meeting.
With that I’ll turn to the Ranking Member, and then Senator Hatch.
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