[House Document 110-134]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                     

110th Congress, 2d Session - - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 110-134


 
   CONTINUATION OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO THE FORMER 
                   LIBERIAN REGIME OF CHARLES TAYLOR

                               __________

                                MESSAGE

                                  from

                     THEPRESIDENTOFTHEUNITEDSTATES

                              transmitting

 NOTIFICATION THAT THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY DECLARED WITH RESPECT TO THE 
   FORMER LIBERIAN REGIME OF CHARLES TAYLOR IS TO CONTINUE IN EFFECT 
          BEYOND JULY 22, 2008, PURSUANT TO 50 U.S.C. 1622(d)




    July 17, 2008.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the 
         Committee on Foreign Affairs and ordered to be printed
To the Congress of the United States:
    Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 
1622(d)) provides for the automatic termination of a national 
emergency unless, prior to the anniversary date of its 
declaration, the President publishes in the Federal Register 
and transmits to the Congress a notice stating that the 
emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date. 
In accordance with this provision, I have sent the enclosed 
notice to the Federal Register for publication, stating that 
the national emergency and related measures dealing with the 
former Liberian regime of Charles Taylor are to continue in 
effect beyond July 22, 2008.
    Today, Liberia continues its peaceful transition to a 
democratic order under the administration of President Ellen 
Johnson-Sirleaf. The Government of Liberia has implemented 
reforms that have allowed for the removal of international 
sanctions on Liberian timber and diamonds, and Liberia is 
participating in the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme and 
the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative to ensure 
that its natural resources are used to benefit the people and 
country of Liberia, rather than to fuel conflict. Charles 
Taylor is standing trial in The Hague by the Special Court for 
Sierra Leone. However, stability in Liberia is still fragile.
    The regulations implementing Executive Order 13348 clarify 
that the subject of this national emergency has been and 
remains limited to the former Liberian regime of Charles Taylor 
and specified other persons and not the country, citizens, 
Government, or Central Bank of Liberia.
    The actions and policies of former Liberian President 
Charles Taylor and other persons--in particular their unlawful 
depletion of Liberian resources, their trafficking in illegal 
arms, and their formation of irregular militia--continue to 
undermine Liberia's transition to democracy and the orderly 
development of its political, administrative, and economic 
institutions and resources. These actions and policies pose an 
unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the 
United States, and for these reasons, I have determined that it 
is necessary to continue the national emergency with respect to 
the former Liberian regime of Charles Taylor.

                                                    George W. Bush.
    The White House, July 16, 2008.
                                 Notice

                              ----------                              


   Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to the Former 
                   Liberian Regime of Charles Taylor

    On July 22, 2004, by Executive Order 13348, I declared a 
national emergency and ordered related measures, including the 
blocking of the property of certain persons connected to the 
former Liberian regime of Charles Taylor, pursuant to the 
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701-
1706). I took this action to deal with the unusual and 
extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States 
constituted by the actions and policies of former Liberian 
President Charles Taylor and other persons, in particular their 
unlawful depletion of Liberian resources and their removal from 
Liberia and secreting of Liberian funds and property, which 
have undermined Liberia's transition to democracy and the 
orderly development of its political, administrative, and 
economic institutions and resources. I further noted that the 
Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed on August 18, 2003, and 
the related cease-fire had not yet been universally implemented 
throughout Liberia, and that the illicit trade in round logs 
and timber products was linked to the proliferation of and 
trafficking in illegal arms, which perpetuated the Liberian 
conflict and fueled and exacerbated other conflicts throughout 
West Africa.
    The actions and policies of Charles Taylor and others have 
left a legacy of destruction that continues to undermine 
Liberia's transformation and recovery. Because the actions and 
policies of these persons continue to pose an unusual and 
extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United 
States, the national emergency declared on July 22, 2004, and 
the measures adopted on that date to deal with that emergency, 
must continue in effect beyond July 22, 2008. Therefore, in 
accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act 
(50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national 
emergency declared in Executive Order 13348.
    This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and 
transmitted to the Congress.
                                                    George W. Bush.
    The White House, July 16, 2008.

                                  
