[House Document 106-275]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                     

106th Congress, 2d Session  - - - - - - - - - -   House Document 106-275



 
   SIX MONTH PERIODIC REPORT WITH RESPECT TO THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY 
                           DECLARED IN LIBYA

                               __________

                                MESSAGE

                                  from

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              Transmitting

A REPORT ON DEVELOPMENTS CONCERNING THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT 
                TO LIBYA, PURSUANT TO 50 U.S.C. 1641(c)




  September 6, 2000.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the 
     Committee on International Relations and ordered to be printed
To the Congress of the United States:
    As required by 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), I transmit 
herewith a 6-month periodic report on the national emergency 
with respect to Libya that was declared in Executive Order 
12543 of January 7, 1986.

                                                William J. Clinton.
    The White House, July 27, 2000.
 President's Periodic Report on the National Emergency With Respect to 
                                 Libya

    I hereby report to the Congress on the developments since 
my last report of January 7, 2000, 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).
    On December 30, 1999, 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, virtually all trade with Libya is prohibited, and 
all assets owned or controlled by the Government of Libya in 
the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. 
persons are blocked.
    There have been no amendments to the Libyan Sanctions 
Regulations, 31 CFR Part 550 (the ``LSR''), since my last 
report.
    During the current reporting 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 authorizations (24) 
involved types of financial transactions that are consistent 
with U.S. policy. Most of these licenses authorized remittances 
between persons, who are not blocked parties, to flow through 
Libyan banks located outside Libya. Thirty-one applications to 
unblock funds transfers were denied due to a Government of 
Libya interest. Eight licenses were issued to authorize certain 
travel-related transactions and two authorized certain legal 
services. As of May 18, 2000 a total of 42 licenses were issued 
during the reporting period.
    OFAC continues 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. OFAC 
worked closely with the banks to assure the effectiveness of 
interdiction software systems used to identify such payments. 
During the current reporting period, 183 transactions 
potentially involving Libya, totaling nearly $60 million, were 
interdicted.
    Since my last report, OFAC has collected eight civil 
monetary penalties totaling nearly $120,000 for violations of 
the U.S. sanctions against Libya from four financial 
institutions, three U.S. companies, and one individual. The 
violations involved dealings in property in which the 
Government of Libya had an interest, including funds transfers 
and letters of credit.
    On April 26, 2000 a federal grand jury in Houston, Texas, 
returned a 23-count criminal indictment against a Houston-based 
corporation and its two principal officers. The indictment 
charges violations of IEEPA and other federal statutes 
involving the illegal exportation to Libya of pipe coating 
material for use in the Great Man Made River Project. Other 
enforcement actions carried over from previous reporting 
periods continue and new reports of alleged violations are 
being aggressively pursued.
    The expenses incurred by the federal government in the six-
month period from January 7 through July 6, 2000 that are 
directly attributable to the exercise of powers and authorities 
conferred by the declaration of the Libyan national emergency 
are estimated at approximately $630,000. 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.
    The crisis between the United States and Libya that led to 
the declaration of a national emergency on January 7, 1986 has 
not yet been resolved. Despite the UN Security Council's 
suspension of UN sanctions against Libya upon the Libyan 
government's handover of the Pan Am 103 bombing suspects in 
April 1999, Libya has not yet complied with UN Security Council 
Resolutions 731 (1992), 748 (1992), and 883 (1993). Therefore, 
Libya continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to 
the national security and vital foreign policy interests of the 
United States. U.S. unilateral sanctions will, therefore, 
remain in force, and I will continue to exercise the powers at 
my disposal to apply these sanctions fully and effectively, as 
long as they remain appropriate. I will continue to report 
periodically to the Congress on significant developments as 
required by law.

                                
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