[House Document 106-9]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]





106th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 106-9

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        A REPORT ON THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO LIBYA       

                               __________

                             COMMUNICATION

                                  from

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              transmitting

    A REPORT ON DEVELOPMENTS SINCE HIS LAST REPORT OF JULY 6, 1998, 
   CONCERNING THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO LIBYA THAT WAS 
 DECLARED IN EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 12543 OF JANUARY 7, 1986, PURSUANT TO 
                           50 U.S.C. 1703(c)




February 2, 1999.--Referred to the Committee on International Relations 
                       and ordered to be printed

                               --------

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE                    
69-011                     WASHINGTON : 1999




                                           The White House,
                                     Washington, December 30, 1998.
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 last report of July 6, 1998, 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. On December 30, 1998, 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 United 
States 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 of July 6, 
1998.
    3. During the 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 license approvals (26) 
involved types of financial transactions that are consistent 
with U.S. policy. Most of these licenses authorized personal 
remittances not involving Libya between persons who are not 
blocked parties to flow through Libyan banks located outside 
Libya. Seven licenses were issued to U.S. firms to allow them 
to protect their intellectual property rights in Libya. One 
license was issued in connection with law enforcement 
activities and one authorized certain travel-related 
transactions. A total of 35 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 of interdiction software 
systems used to identify such payments. During the reporting 
period, more than 87 transactions potentially involving Libya, 
totaling more than $7.9 million, were interdicted.
    5. Since my last report, OFAC has collected 4 civil 
monetary penalties totaling more than $15,000 for violations of 
the U.S. sanctions against Libya. Three of the violations 
involved the failure of U.S. banks to block payments or letters 
of credit transactions relating to Libyan-owned or Libyan-
controlled financial institutions. One U.S. individual paid an 
OFAC penalty for dealing in Government of Libya property.
    On October 16, 1998, two Canadian corporations entered a 
guilty plea acknowledging IEEPA violations charged in a March 
8, 1995, indictment. Pursuant to the plea agreement, the 
defendants each paid $65,000 in criminal fines and $10,000 in 
OFAC civil penalties.
    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.
    6. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 
6-month period from July 7, 1998, through January 6, 1999, that 
are directly attributable to the exercise of powers and 
authorities conferred by the declaration of the Libyan national 
emergency are estimated at approximately $500,000. 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.
    7. 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 United Nations 
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.
            Sincerely,
                                                William J. Clinton.

                                
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