[House Document 105-6]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                     

105th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - -  House Document 105-6


 
    DEVELOPMENTS CONCERNING THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO 
        SIGNIFICANT NARCOTICS TRAFFICKERS CENTERED IN COLOMBIA

                               __________

                             COMMUNICATION

                                  From

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              TRANSMITTING

A REPORT ON DEVELOPMENTS CONCERNING THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT 
  TO SIGNIFICANT NARCOTICS TRAFFICKERS CENTERED IN COLOMBIA THAT WAS 
DECLARED IN EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 12978 OF OCTOBER 21, 1995--RECEIVED IN 
 THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 23, 1996, PURSUANT 
                          TO 50 U.S.C. 1703(c)

 


January 7, 1997.--Referred to the Committee on International Relations 
                       and ordered to be printed


                                           The White House,
                                  Washington, DC, October 21, 1996.
Hon. Newt Gingrich,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Speaker: I hereby report to the Congress on the 
developments since my report of April 23, 1996, concerning the 
national emergency with respect to significant narcotics 
traffickers centered in Colombia that was declared in Executive 
Order 12978 of October 21, 1995. This report is submitted 
pursuant to section 401(c) of the National Emergencies Act, 50 
U.S.C. 1641(c), and section 204(c) of the International 
Emergency Economic Powers Act IEEPA), 50 U.S.C. 1703(c).
    1. On October 21, 1995, I signed Executive Order 12978, 
``Blocking Assets and Prohibiting Transactions with Significant 
Narcotics Traffickers'' (the ``Order'') (60 Fed. Reg. 54579, 
October 24, 1995). The Order blocks all property subject to 
U.S. jurisdiction in which there is any interest of four 
significant foreign narcotics traffickers who are principals in 
the so-called Cali drug cartel centered in Colombia. They are 
listed in the Annex to the Order. The Order also blocks the 
property and interests in property of foreign persons 
determined by the Secretary of the Treasury. In consultation 
with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, (a) to 
play a significant role in international narcotics trafficking 
centered in Colombia or (b) to materially assist in or provide 
financial or technological support for, or goods or services in 
support of, the narcotics trafficking activities of persons 
designated in or pursuant to the Order. In addition the Order 
blocks all property and interests in property subject to U.S. 
jurisdiction of persons determined by the Secretary of the 
Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and the 
Secretary of State, to be owned or controlled by, or to act for 
or on behalf of, persons designated in or pursuant to the Order 
(collectively ``Specifically Designated Narcotics Traffickers'' 
or (SDNTs)).
    The Order further prohibits any transaction or dealing by a 
United States person or within the United States in property or 
interests in property of SDNTs, and any transaction that evades 
or avoids, has the purpose or evading or avoiding, or attempts 
to violate, the prohibitions contained in the Order.
    Designations of foreign persons blocked pursuant to the 
Order are effective upon the date of determination by the 
Director of the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign 
Assets Control (OFAC) acting under authority delegated by the 
Secretary of the Treasury. Public notice of blocking is 
effective upon the date of filing with the Federal Register, or 
upon prior actual notice.
    2. On October 24, 1995, the Department of the Treasury 
issued a notice containing 76 additional names of persons 
determined to meet the criteria set forth in Executive Order 
12978 (60 Fed. Reg. 54582-84, October 24, 1995).
    The Department of the Treasury issued another notice adding 
the names of one additional entity and three additional 
individuals, as well as expanded information regarding 
addresses and pseudonyms, to the List of SDNTs on November 29, 
1995 (60 Fed. Reg. 61288-89).
    3. On March 8, 1996, OFAC published a notice in the Federal 
Register adding the names of 138 additional individuals and 60 
entities designated pursuant to the Order, and revising 
information for 8 individuals on the list of blocked persons 
contained in the notices published on November 29, 1995, and 
October 24, 1995 (61 Fed. Reg. 9523-28). The OFAC, in 
coordination with the Attorney General and the Secretary of 
State, is continuing to expand the list of Specially Designated 
Narcotics Traffickers, including both organizations and 
individuals, as additional information is developed.
    4. Since my last report, OFAC has issued 498 alert letters 
to businesses in Colombia that are known to have had some form 
of pre-sanctions business or financial relationships with 
entities identified as SDNTs of the Cali drug cartel. These 
letters urge the Colombian companies to sever any business or 
financial relationships they have with the SDNTs.
    5. A task force operating under OFAC's direction and 
staffed with personnel detailed from the Department of Justice 
and other Federal agencies has been established in the U.S. 
Embassy in Bogota to enhance OFAC's enforcement capabilities 
under the SDNT program. The task force, which also has other 
personnel assigned to OFAC in Washington, is working on an 
expedited basis to escalate the attack on the drug cartels in 
Colombia as envisioned by Executive Order 12978.
    The task force mission is to identify, develop, and exploit 
all forms of information resources in Colombia in order to 
further expose and incapacitate the businesses and operatives 
of the Cali drug cartel and other significant narcotics 
traffickers in Colombia. By increasing the number of SDNT 
designations, U.S. sanctions will impact an ever-larger number 
of individuals and entities that are owned or controlled by, or 
act for or on behalf of the cartels, or which provide material 
or financial support to the activities of Significant Narcotics 
Traffickers. Personnel and related costs are being borne by the 
parent agencies of the persons detailed to the narcotics 
sanctions project in Bogota and Washington.
    6. As of August 31, 1996, OFAC had issued five specific 
licenses pursuant to Executive Order 12978. These licenses were 
issued in accordance with established Treasury policy 
authorizing the completion of pre-sanctions transactions and 
the provision of legal services to and payment of fees for 
representation of SDNTs in proceedings within the United States 
arising from the imposition of sanctions.
    7. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 
6-month period from April 21 through October 20, 1996, that are 
directly attributable to the exercise of powers and authorities 
conferred by the declaration of the national emergency with 
respect to Significant Narcotics Traffickers are estimated at 
approximately $1 million. 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 Justice, and 
the Department of State.
    8. Executive Order 12978 provides this Administration with 
a new tool for combatting the actions of significant foreign 
narcotics traffickers centered in Colombia, and the 
unparalleled violence, corruption, and harm that they cause in 
the United States and abroad. The Order is designed to deny 
these traffickers the benefit of any assets subject to the 
jurisdiction of the United States and to prevent United States 
persons from engaging in any commercial dealings with them, 
their front companies, and their agents. Executive Order 12978 
demonstrates the U.S. commitment to end the scourge that such 
traffickers have wrought upon society in the United States and 
abroad.
    The magnitude and the dimension of the problem in 
Colombia--perhaps the most pivotal country of all in terms of 
the world's cocaine trade--is extremely grave. I shall continue 
to exercise the powers at my disposal to apply economic 
sanctions against significant foreign narcotics traffickers and 
their violent and corrupting activities as long as these 
measures are appropriate, and will continue to report 
periodically to the Congress on significant developments 
pursuant to 50 U.S.C. 1703(c).
            Sincerely,
                                                William J. Clinton.

                                
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