[House Document 112-17]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
112th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 112-17
CONTINUATION OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO SYRIA
__________
COMMUNICATION
from
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
transmitting
NOTIFICATION OF THE EXPANSION OF THE SCOPE OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY
DECLARED WITH RESPECT TO SYRIA DECLARED IN EXECUTIVE ORDER 13338 OF MAY
11, 2004, PURSUANT TO 50 U.S.C. 1622(d)
May 2, 2011.--Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and ordered
to be printed
The White House,
Washington, April 29, 2011.
Hon. John Boehner,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Speaker: Pursuant to the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), I hereby
report that I have issued an Executive Order (the ``order'')
that expands the scope of the national emergency declared in
Executive Order 13338 of May 11, 2004, and relied upon for
additional steps taken in Executive Order 13399 of April 25,
2006, and Executive Order 13460 of February 13, 2008.
In Executive Order 13338, the President found that the
actions of the Government of Syria constitute an unusual and
extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy,
and economy of the United States and declared a national
emergency to deal with that threat. To address that threat and
to implement the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty
Restoration Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-175), the President in
Executive Order 13338 blocked the property of certain persons
and imposed additional prohibitions on certain transactions
with respect to Syria.
I have determined that the Government of Syria's human
rights abuses, including those related to the repression of the
people in Syria, manifested most recently by the use of
violence and torture against, and arbitrary arrests and
detentions of, peaceful protestors by police, security forces,
and other entities that have engaged in human rights abuses,
constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national
security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, and
warrant the imposition of additional sanctions.
The order blocks the property and interests in property of
persons listed in the Annex to the order. The order also
provides criteria for designations of persons determined by the
Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary
of State:
to be responsible for or complicit in, or
responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise
directing, or to have participated in, the commission
of human rights abuses in Syria, including those
related to repression;
to be a senior official of an entity whose
property and interests in property are blocked pursuant
to the order;
to have materially assisted, sponsored, or
provided financial, material, or technological support
for, or goods or services in support of, human rights
abuses in Syria, or any person whose property and
interests in property are blocked pursuant to Executive
Order 13338, Executive Order 13460, or the order; or
to be owned or controlled by, or to have
acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly
or indirectly, any person whose property and interests
in property are blocked pursuant to Executive Order
13460 or the order.
I have delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury the
authority, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to take
such actions, including the promulgation of rules and
regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President
by IEEPA, as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of the
order. I have also delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury,
in consultation with the Secretary of State, the authority to
determine that circumstances no longer warrant the blocking of
the property and interests in property of a person listed in
the Annex to the order, and to take necessary action to give
effect to that determination.
The order was effective at 1:00 p.m. eastern daylight time
on April 29, 2011. All executive agencies of the United States
Government are directed to take all appropriate measures within
their authority to carry out the provisions of the order.
I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama.
Executive Order
----------
Blocking Property of Certain Persons With Respect to Human Rights
Abuses in Syria
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of America,
including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50
U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and section 301 of title 3, United States
Code,
I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America,
hereby expand the scope of the national emergency declared in
Executive Order 13338 of May 11, 2004, and relied upon for
additional steps taken in Executive Order 13399 of April 25,
2006, and in Executive Order 13460 of February 13, 2008,
finding that the Government of Syria's human rights abuses,
including those related to the repression of the people of
Syria, manifested most recently by the use of violence and
torture against, and arbitrary arrests and detentions of,
peaceful protestors by police, security forces, and other
entities that have engaged in human rights abuses, constitute
an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security,
foreign policy, and economy of the United States, and I hereby
order:
Section 1. All property and interests in property that are
in the United States, that hereafter come within the United
States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or
control of any United States person, including any overseas
branch, of the following persons are blocked and may not be
transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in:
(a) the persons listed in the Annex to this order;
and
(b) any person determined by the Secretary of the
Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State:
(i) to be responsible for or complicit in, or
responsible for ordering, controlling, or
otherwise directing, or to have participated
in, the commission of human rights abuses in
Syria, including those related to repression;
(ii) to be a senior official of an entity
whose property and interests in property are
blocked pursuant to this order;
(iii) to have materially assisted, sponsored,
or provided financial, material, or
technological support for, or goods or services
in support of, the activities described in
subsection (b)(i) of this section or any person
whose property and interests in property are
blocked pursuant to Executive Order 13338,
Executive Order 13460, or this order; or
(iv) to be owned or controlled by, or to have
acted or purported to act for or on behalf of,
directly or indirectly, any person whose
property and interests in property are blocked
pursuant to Executive Order 13460 or this
order.
Sec. 2. I hereby determine that the making of donations of
the type of articles specified in section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA
(50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(2)) by, to, or for the benefit of any person
whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant
to section 1 of this order would seriously impair my ability to
deal with the national emergency declared in Executive Order
13338 and expanded in this order, and I hereby prohibit such
donations as provided by section 1 of this order.
Sec. 3. The prohibitions in section 1 of this order include
but are not limited to:
(a) the making of any contribution or provision of
funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of
any person whose property and interests in property are
blocked pursuant to this order; and
(b) the receipt of any contribution or provision of
funds, goods, or services from any such person.
Sec. 4. The prohibitions in section 1 of this order apply
except to the extent provided by statutes, or in regulations,
orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to
this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or
any license or permit granted prior to the effective date of
this order.
Sec. 5. (a) Any transaction by a United States person or
within the United States that evades or avoids, has the purpose
of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to
violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is
prohibited.
(b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the
prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.
Sec. 6. For the purposes of this order:
(a) the term ``person'' means an individual or
entity;
(b) the term ``entity'' means a partnership,
association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group,
subgroup, or other organization;
(c) the term ``United States person'' means any
United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity
organized under the laws of the United States or any
jurisdiction within the United States (including
foreign branches), or any person in the United States;
and
(d) the term ``Government of Syria'' means the
Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, its agencies,
instrumentalities, and controlled entities.
Sec. 7. For those persons whose property and interests in
property are blocked pursuant to this order who might have a
constitutional presence in the United States, I find that
because of the ability to transfer funds or other assets
instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of measures to be
taken pursuant to this order would render those measures
ineffectual. I therefore determine that for these measures to
be effective in addressing the national emergency declared in
Executive Order 13338 and expanded in this order, there need be
no prior notice of a listing or determination made pursuant to
section 1 of this order.
Sec. 8. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with
the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to take such
actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations,
and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA as
may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order. The
Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate any of these functions
to other officers and agencies of the United States Government
consistent with applicable law. All agencies of the United
States Government are hereby directed to take all appropriate
measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of
this order.
Sec. 9. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with
the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to determine that
circumstances no longer warrant the blocking of the property
and interests in property of a person listed in the Annex to
this order, and to take necessary action to give effect to that
determination.
Sec. 10. This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United
States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers,
employees, or agents, or any other person.
Sec. 11. This order is effective at 1:00 p.m. eastern
daylight time on April 29, 2011.
Barack Obama.
The White House, April 29, 2011.
ANNEX
Individuals
1. Mahir AL-ASAD [Brigade Commander in the Syrian Army's Fourth
Armored Division, born 1968]
2. Ali MAMLUK [director of the Syrian General Intelligence
Directorate, born 1947]
3. Atif NAJIB [former head of the Syrian Political Security
Directorate for Dar'a Province]
Entities
1. Syrian General Intelligence Directorate
2. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps--Qods Force