[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 555 Reported in Senate (RS)]
Calendar No. 73
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 555
To amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and exporting cartels
illegal.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 8, 2005
Mr. DeWine (for himself, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Grassley, Mr.
Feingold, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Levin, Mrs. Boxer,
Mr. Wyden, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Dayton, Mr. Specter, and Mr. Coburn)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
April 14, 2005
Reported by Mr. Specter, without amendment
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and exporting cartels
illegal.
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 ``No Oil Producing and Exporting
Cartels Act of 2005'' or ``NOPEC''.
SEC. 2. SHERMAN ACT.
The Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. 1 et seq.) is amended by adding after
section 7 the following:
``SEC. 7A. OIL PRODUCING CARTELS.
``(a) In General.--It shall be illegal and a violation of this Act
for any foreign state, or any instrumentality or agent of any foreign
state, to act collectively or in combination with any other foreign
state, any instrumentality or agent of any other foreign state, or any
other person, whether by cartel or any other association or form of
cooperation or joint action--
``(1) to limit the production or distribution of oil,
natural gas, or any other petroleum product;
``(2) to set or maintain the price of oil, natural gas, or
any petroleum product; or
``(3) to otherwise take any action in restraint of trade
for oil, natural gas, or any petroleum product;
when such action, combination, or collective action has a direct,
substantial, and reasonably foreseeable effect on the market, supply,
price, or distribution of oil, natural gas, or other petroleum product
in the United States.
``(b) Sovereign Immunity.--A foreign state engaged in conduct in
violation of subsection (a) shall not be immune under the doctrine of
sovereign immunity from the jurisdiction or judgments of the courts of
the United States in any action brought to enforce this section.
``(c) Inapplicability of Act of State Doctrine.--No court of the
United States shall decline, based on the act of state doctrine, to
make a determination on the merits in an action brought under this
section.
``(d) Enforcement.--The Attorney General of the United States and
the Federal Trade Commission may bring an action to enforce this
section in any district court of the United States as provided under
the antitrust laws.''.
SEC. 3. SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.
Section 1605(a) of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (6), by striking ``or'' after the
semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period and inserting
``; or''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(8) in which the action is brought under section 7A of
the Sherman Act.''.
Calendar No. 73
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 555
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and exporting cartels
illegal.
_______________________________________________________________________
April 14, 2005
Reported without amendment