[House Document 104-165]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
104th Congress, 2d Session - - - - - - - - - - - - House
Document 104-165
DEVELOPMENTS CONCERNING THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO LIBYA
__________
MESSAGE
from
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
transmitting
A REPORT ON DEVELOPMENTS SINCE HIS LAST REPORT OF JULY 12, 1995,
CONCERNING THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO LIBYA, PURSUANT TO 50
U.S.C. 1641(c) AND 50 U.S.C. 1703(c)
January 22, 1996.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the
Committee on International Relations and ordered to be printed
To the Congress of the United States:
I hereby report to the Congress on the developments since
my last report of July 12, 1995, concerning the national
emergency with respect to Libya that was declared in Executive
Order No. 12543 of January 7, 1986. This report is submitted
pursuant to section 401(c) of the National Emergencies Act, 50
U.S.C. 1641(c); section 204(c) of the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 50 U.S.C. 1703(c); and section
505(c) of the International Security and Development
Cooperation Act of 1985, 22 U.S.C. 2349aa-9(c).
1. On January 3, 1996, I renewed for another year the
national emergency with respect to Libya pursuant to IEEPA.
This renewal extended the current comprehensive financial and
trade embargo against Libya in effect since 1986. Under these
sanctions, all trade with Libya is prohibited, and all assets
owned or controlled by the Libyan government in the United
States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are
blocked.
2. There has been one amendment to the Libyan Sanctions
Regulations, 31 CFR Part 550 (the ``Regulations''),
administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (FAC) of
the Department of the Treasury, since my last report on July
12, 1995. The amendment (60 Fed. Reg. 37940-37941, July 25,
1995) added three hotels in Malta to appendix A, Organizations
Determined To Be Within the Term ``Government of Libya''
(Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) of Libya). A copy of the
amendment is attached to this report.
Pursuant to section 550.304(a) of the Regulations, FAC has
determined that these entities designated as SDNs are owned or
controlled by, or acting or purporting to act directly or
indirectly on behalf of, the Government of Libya, or are
agencies, instrumentalities, or entities of that government. By
virtue of this determination, all property and interests in
property of these entities that are in the United States or in
the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked. Further,
U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions with
these entities unless the transactions are licensed by FAC. The
designations were made in consultation with the Department of
State.
3. During the current 6-month period, FAC made numerous
decisions with respect to applications for licenses to engage
in transactions under the Regulations, issuing 54 licensing
determinations--both approvals and denials. Consistent with
FAC's ongoing scrutiny of banking transactions, the largest
category of license approvals (20) concerned requests by Libyan
and non-Libyan persons or entities to unblock transfers
interdicted because of an apparent Government of Libya
interest. A license was also issued to a local taxing authority
to foreclose on a property owned by the Government of Libya for
failure to pay property tax arrearages.
4. During the current 6-month period, FAC continued to
emphasize to the international banking community in the United
States the importance of identifying and blocking payments made
on or behalf of Libya. The Office worked closely with the banks
to implement new interdiction software systems to identify such
payments. As a result, during the reporting period, more than
107 transactions potentially involving Libya, totaling more
than $26.0 million, were interdicted. As of December 4, 23 of
these transactions had been authorized for release, leaving a
net amount of more than $24.6 million blocked.
Since my last report, FAC collected 27 civil monetary
penalties totaling more than $119,500, for violations of the
U.S. sanctions against Libya. Fourteen of the violations
involved the failure of banks or credit unions to block funds
transfers to Libyan-owned or controlled banks. Two other
penalties were received from corporations for export violations
or violative payments to Libya for unlicensed trademark
transactions. Eleven additional penalties were paid by U.S.
citizens engaging in Libyan oilfield-related transactions while
another 40 cases involving similar violations are in active
penalty processing.
In November 1995, guilty verdicts were returned in two
cases involving illegal exportation of U.S. goods to Libya. A
jury in Denver, Colorado, found a Denver businessman guilty of
violating the Regulations and IEEPA when he exported 50
trailers from the United States to Libya in 1991. A Houston,
Texas, jury found three individuals and two companies guilty on
charges of conspiracy and violating the Regulations and IEEPA
for transactions relating to the 1992 shipment of oilfield
equipment from the United States to Libya. Also in November, a
Portland, Oregon, lumber company entered a two-count felony
information plea agreement for two separate shipments of U.S.-
origin lumber to Libya during 1993. These three actions were
the result of lengthy criminal investigations begun in prior
reporting periods. Several other investigations from prior
reporting periods are continuing and new reports of violations
are being pursued.
5. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the
6-month period from July 6, 1995, through January 5, 1996, that
are directly attributable to the exercise of powers and
authorities conferred by the declaration of the Libyan national
emergency are estimated at approximately $990,000. Personnel
costs were largely centered in the Department of the Treasury
(particularly in the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the
Office of the General Counsel, and the U.S. Customs Service),
the Department of State, and the Department of Commerce.
6. The policies and actions of the Government of Libya
continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the
national security and foreign policy of the United States. In
adopting UNSCR 883 in November 1993, the Security Council
determined that the continued failure of the Government of
Libya to demonstrate by concrete actions its renunciation of
terrorism, and in particular its continued failure to respond
fully and effectively to the requests and decisions of the
Security Council in Resolutions 731 and 748, concerning the
bombing of the Pan Am 103 and UTA 772 flights, constituted a
threat to international peace and security. The United States
will continue to coordinate its comprehensive sanctions
enforcement efforts with those of other U.N. member states. We
remain determined to ensure that the perpetrators of the
terrorist acts against Pan Am 103 and UTA 772 are brought to
justice. The families of the victims in the murderous Lockerbie
bombing and other acts of Libyan terrorism deserve nothing
less. I shall continue to exercise the powers at my disposal to
apply economic sanctions against Libya fully and effectively,
so long as those measures are appropriate, and will continue to
report periodically to the Congress on significant developments
as required by law.
William J. Clinton.
The White House, January 22, 1996.