[House Document 105-101]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



105th Congress, 1st Session  - - - - - - - - - - House Document 105-101


 
 DEVELOPMENTS CONCERNING THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO LIBYA

                               __________

                                MESSAGE

                                  FROM

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              TRANSMITTING

A REPORT ON THE DEVELOPMENTS SINCE HIS LAST REPORT OF JANUARY 10, 1997, 
   CONCERNING THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO LIBYA THAT WAS 
 DECLARED IN EXECUTIVE ORDER 12543 OF JANUARY 7, 1986, PURSUANT TO 50 
                            U.S.C. 1703(c).




    June 26, 1997.--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 January 10, 1997, concerning the national 
emergency with respect to Libya that was declared in Executive 
Order 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. As previously reported, on January 2, 1997, I renewed 
for another year the national emergency with respect to Libya 
pursuant to the IEEPA. This renewal extended the current 
comprehensive financial and trade embargo against Libya in 
effect since 1986. Under these sanctions, virtually 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 have been no amendments to the Libyan Sanctions 
Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 550 (the ``Regulations''), 
administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of 
the Department of the Treasury, since my last report on January 
10, 1997.
    3. During the last 6-month period, OFAC reviewed numerous 
applications for licenses to authorize transactions under the 
Regulations. Consistent with OFAC's ongoing scrutiny of banking 
transactions, the largest category of license approvals (68) 
concerned requests by non-Libyan persons or entities to unblock 
transfers interdicted because of what appeared to be Government 
of Libya interests. Two licenses authorized the provision of 
legal services to the Government of Libya in connection with 
actions in U.S. courts in which the Government of Libya was 
named as defendant. Licenses were also issued authorizing 
diplomatic and U.S. government transactions and to permit U.S. 
companies to engage in transactions with respect to 
intellectual property protection in Libya. A total of 75 
licenses were issued during the reporting period.
    4. During the current 6-month period, OFAC continued to 
emphasize to the international banking community in the United 
States the importance of identifying and blocking payments made 
by or on behalf of Libya. The office worked closely with the 
banks to assure the effectiveness in interdiction software 
systems used to identify such payments. During the reporting 
period, more than 100 transactions potentially involving Libya 
were interdicted.
    5. Since my last report, OFAC collected 13 civil monetary 
penalties totaling nearly $90,000 for violations of the U.S. 
sanctions against Libya. Ten of the violations involved the 
failure of banks to block funds transferred to Libyan-
controlled financial institutions or commercial entities in 
Libya. Three U.S. corporations paid the OFAC penalties for 
export violations as part of the global plea agreements with 
the Department of Justice. Sixty-seven other cases are in 
active penalty processing.
    6. Various enforcement actions carried over from previous 
reporting periods have continued to be aggressively pursued. 
Numerous investigations are ongoing and new reports of 
violations are being scrutinized.
    7. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 
6-month period from January 7 through July 6, 1997, that are 
directly attributable to the exercise of the powers and 
authorities conferred by the declaration of the Libyan national 
emergency are estimated at approximately $660,000.00. 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.
    8. The policies and the 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 United Nations Security Council Resolution 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, June 26, 1997.
