Cite as: 530 U. S. 363 (2000)
Opinion of the Court
demonstrates implicit permission. The State points out that Congress has repeatedly declined to enact express preemption provisions aimed at state and local sanctions, and it calls our attention to the large number of such measures passed against South Africa in the 1980's, which various authorities cited have thought were not preempted.25 The State
stresses that Congress was aware of the state Act in 1996, but did not preempt it explicitly when it adopted its own Burma statute.26 The State would have us conclude that Congress's continuing failure to enact express preemption implies approval, particularly in light of occasional instances of express preemption of state sanctions in the past.27
The argument is unconvincing on more than one level. A failure to provide for preemption expressly may reflect noth-25 See, e. g., Board of Trustees v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, 317 Md. 72, 79-98, 562 A. 2d 720, 744-749 (1989) (holding local divestment ordinance not preempted by Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 (CAAA)), cert. denied sub nom. Lubman v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, 493 U. S 1093 (1990); Constitutionality of South African Divestment Statutes Enacted by State and Local Goverments, 10 Op. Off. Legal Counsel 49, 64-66, 1986 WL 213238 (state and local divestment and selective purchasing laws not preempted by pre-CAAA federal law); H. R. Res. Nos. 99-548, 99-549 (1986) (denying preemptive intent of CAAA); 132 Cong. Rec. 23119-23129 (1986) (House debate on resolutions); id., at 23292 (Sen. Kennedy, quoting testimony of Laurence H. Tribe). Amicus Members of Congress in support of the State also note that when Congress revoked its federal sanctions in response to the democratic transition in that country, it refused to preempt the state and local measures, merely "urg[ing]" both state and local governments and private boycott participants to rescind their sanctions. Brief for Senator Boxer et al. as Amici Curiae 9, citing South African Democratic Transition Support Act of 1993, § 4(c)(1), 107 Stat. 1503.
26 The State also finds significant the fact that Congress did not preempt state and local sanctions in a recent sanctions reform bill, even though its sponsor seemed to be aware of such measures. See H. R. Rep. No. 105-2708 (1997); 143 Cong. Rec. E2080 (Oct. 23, 1997) (Rep. Hamilton).
27 See Export Administration Act of 1979, 50 U. S. C. App. § 2407(c) (1988 ed.) (Anti-Arab boycott of Israel provisions expressly "preempt any law, rule, or regulation").
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