[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.

                                  
