Stopping Foreign Businesses Sanctuary Act of 2019

Stopping Foreign Businesses Sanctuary Act of 2019

This bill eliminates immunity from suit in U.S. courts for certain foreign entities, and their corporate affiliates, that are state-owned or state-controlled. Specifically, the bill provides for jurisdiction in U.S. courts over foreign entities that (1) conduct commercial activity in the United States, and (2) are incorporated in a foreign state in which state-owned or state-controlled entities commonly engage in commercial activity.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 702 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 702

To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for the jurisdiction 
 of courts of the United States and of the States over certain foreign 
                   entities, and for other purposes.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 22, 2019

 Mr. Conaway (for himself and Mr. Ryan) introduced the following bill; 
          which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

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                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for the jurisdiction 
 of courts of the United States and of the States over certain foreign 
                   entities, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Stopping Foreign Businesses 
Sanctuary Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. JURISDICTION OVER CERTAIN FOREIGN ENTITIES.

    Section 1605 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting after subsection (d) the following:
    ``(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an entity is not 
immune from the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States or of 
the States if the entity--
            ``(1) is incorporated in a foreign state in which state-
        owned or state-controlled entities commonly engage in 
        commercial activity; and
            ``(2) conducts commercial activity in the United States.''.

SEC. 3. COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY OF AFFILIATE ENTITIES.

    Section 1603(d) of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``A''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) For purposes of this chapter, a commercial activity 
        of an agency or instrumentality of a foreign state, or of an 
        entity described in section 1605(e), shall be attributable to 
        any corporate affiliate of the agency, instrumentality, or 
        entity that--
                    ``(A) directly or indirectly owns a majority of 
                shares of the agency, instrumentality, or entity; and
                    ``(B) is also an agency or instrumentality of a 
                foreign state, or an entity described in section 
                1605(e).''.
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