[House Document 107-13]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
107th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 107-13
DEVELOPMENTS CONCERNING NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO LIBYA
__________
COMMUNICATION
from
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
transmitting
A REPORT ON DEVELOPMENTS 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)
January 6, 2001.--Referred to the Committee on International Relations
and ordered to be printed
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
89-011 WASHINGTON : 2001
The White House,
Washington, January 4, 2001.
Hon. J. Dennis Hastert,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Speaker: 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, 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.
Sincerely,
William J. Clinton.
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 July 27, 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 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 4, 2001, 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.
2. There have been no amendments to the Libyan Sanctions
Regulations, 31 CFR Part 550 (the ``Regulations''), since my
last report.
3. 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
(31) 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. Eighty-eight
applications to unblock funds transfers were denied due to a
Government of Libya interest; eight applications to engage in
certain commercial transactions were denied, as were two
applications involving travel-related transactions. Five
licenses were issued authorizing commercial sales to medicines,
three licenses authorized commercial sales of bulk agricultural
products, and two authorized certain legal services. As of
November 24, 2000, a total a 59 licenses had been issued during
the reporting period.
4. 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 banks to assure the effectiveness of
interdiction software systems used to identify such payments.
As of November 21, 2000, 165 transactions, totaling more than
$5 million, were blocked during this reporting period. Under
the Regulations (Sec. 550.205), unauthorized commercial funds
transfers involving Libya must be returned to the remitters
without further processing, rather than blocked, were there is
no blockable interest of the Government of Libya. (See 31 CFR
501.604.) During the reporting period, 156 transactions were
rejected, without further processing, by U.S. banks causing a
disruption of more than $6.8 million in financial dealings
involving Libya.
5. Since my last report, OFAC has collected four civil
monetary penalties totaling nearly $32,000 for violations of
IEEPA and the Regulations. Two banks and two corporations paid
penalties for transactions relating to the Government of Libya
or entities owned or controlled by the Government of Libya or
to exports to Libya in violation of the sanctions.
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 reports of alleged
violations are being aggressively pursued.
6. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the
6-month period from July 7, 2000 through January 6, 2001, that
are directly attributable to the exercise of powers and
authorities conferred by the declaration of the Libyan national
emergency are estimated at approximately $620,000. 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 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 hand-over 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,
I am still concerned that Libya poses a continuing 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.