[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 18 (Monday, January 30, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1756-S1757]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   REPORT RELATIVE TO THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO LIBYA--
                    MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT--PM 5

  The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message 
from the President of the United States, together with an accompanying 
report; which was referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
Urban Affairs:

To the Congress of the United States:
  I hereby report to the Congress on the developments since my last 
report of July 18, 1994, concerning the national emergency with respect 
to Libya that was declared in Executive Order No. 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 22, 1994, 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, all trade with Libya 
is prohibited, and all assets owned or controlled by the Libyan 
government in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. 
persons are blocked.
  2. There has been one amendment to the Libyan Sanctions Regulations, 
31 C.F.R. Part 550 (the ``Regulations''), administered by the Office of 
Foreign Assets Control (FAC) of the Department of the Treasury, since 
my last report on July 18, 1994. The amendment (59 Fed. Reg. 51106, 
October 7, 1994) identified Arab Hellenic Bank (AHB), an Athens-based 
financial institution, 4 other entities, and 10 individuals as 
Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) of Libya. (In addition to the 
recent SDN action against AHB, the Greek central bank has recently 
announced that AHB's banking license has been revoked.) Included among 
the individuals are three Italian shareholders in Oilinvest 
(Netherlands) B.V., who increased their positions in the Libyan 
government-controlled firm shortly before United Nations Security 
Council Resolution (UNSCR) 883 directed a freeze on certain Libyan 
assets owned or controlled by the Government or public authorities of 
Libya.
  Pursuant to section 550.304(a) of the Regulations, FAC has determined 
that these entities and individuals designated as SDNs are owned or 
controlled by, or acting or purporting to act directly or indirectly on 
behalf of, the Government of Libya, or are agencies, instrumentalities, 
or entities of that government. By virtue of this determination, all 
property and interests in property of these entities or persons that 
are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. 
persons are blocked. Further, U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging 
in transactions with these individuals or entities unless the 
transactions are licensed by FAC. The designations were made in 
consultation with the Department of State and announced by FAC in 
notices issued on June 17 and July 22 and 25, 1994. A copy of the 
amendment is attached to this report.
  3. During the current 6-month period, FAC made numerous decisions 
with respect to applications for licenses to engage in transactions 
under the Regulations, issuing 136 licensing determinations--both 
approvals and denials. Consistent with FAC's ongoing scrutiny of 
banking transactions, the largest category of license approvals (73) 
concerned requests by non-Libyan persons or entities to unblock bank 
accounts initially blocked because of an apparent Government of Libya 
interest. The largest category of denials (41) was for banking 
transactions in which FAC found a Government of Libya interest. Three 
licenses were issued authorizing intellectual property protection in 
Libya.
  In addition, FAC issued eight determinations with respect to 
applications from attorneys to receive fees and reimbursement of 
expenses for provision of legal services to the Government of Libya in 
connection with wrongful 
[[Page S1757]] death civil actions arising from the Pan Am 103 bombing. 
Civil suits have been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District 
of Columbia and in the Southern District of New York. Representation of 
the Government
 of Libya when named as a defendant in or otherwise made a party to 
domestic U.S. legal proceedings is authorized by section 550.517(b)(2) 
of the Regulations under certain conditions.

  4. During the current 6-month period, FAC 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 
FAC worked closely with the banks to implement new interdiction 
software systems to identify such payments. As a result, during the 
reporting period, more than 210 transactions involving Libya, totaling 
more than $14.8 million, were blocked. As of December 9, 1994, 13 of 
these transactions had been licensed to be released, leaving a net 
amount of more than $14.5 million blocked.
  Since my last report, FAC collected 15 civil monetary penalties 
totaling more than $76,000 for violations of the U.S. sanctions against 
Libya. Nine of the violations involved the failure of banks to block 
funds transfers to Libyan-owned or -controlled banks. Two other 
penalties were received for corporate export violations. Four 
additional penalties were paid by U.S. citizens engaging in Libyan 
oilfield-related transactions while another 76 cases of similar 
violations are in active penalty processing.
  In October 1994, two U.S. businessmen, two U.S. corporations, and 
several foreign corporations were indicted by a Federal grand jury in 
Connecticut on three counts of violating the Regulations and IEEPA for 
their roles in the illegal exportation of U.S origin fuel pumps to 
Libya. Various enforcement actions carried over from previous reporting 
periods have continued to be aggressively pursued. The FAC has 
continued its efforts under the Operation Roadblock initiative. This 
ongoing program seeks to identify U.S. persons who travel to and/or 
work in Libya in violation of U.S. law.
  Several new investigations of potentially significant violations of 
the Libyan sanctions have been initiated by FAC and cooperating U.S. 
law enforcement agencies, primarily the U.S. Customs Service. Many of 
these cases are believed to involve complex conspiracies to circumvent 
the various prohibitions of the Libyan sanctions, as well as the 
utilization of international diversionary shipping routes to and from 
Libya. The FAC has continued to work closely with the Departments of 
State and Justice to identify U.S. persons who enter into contracts or 
agreements with the Government of Libya, or other third-country 
parties, to lobby United States Government officials or to engage in 
public relations work on behalf of the Government of Libya without FAC 
authorization. In addition, during the period FAC hosted or attended 
several bilateral and multilateral meetings with foreign sanctions 
authorities, as well as with private institutions, to consult on issues 
of mutual interest and to encourage strict adherence to the U.N.-
mandated sanctions.
  5. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 6-month 
period from July 7, 1994, through January 6, 1995, that are directly 
attributable to the exercise of powers and authorities conferred by the 
declaration of the Libyan national emergency are estimated at 
approximately $1.4 million. 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.
  6. 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 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 UNSCRs 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 continues to believe that still stronger 
international measures than those mandated by UNSCR 883, possibly 
including a worldwide oil embargo, should be imposed if Libya continues 
to defy the will of the international community as expressed in UNSCR 
731. 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.
                                                  William J. Clinton.  
  The White House, January 30, 1995.
  

                          ____________________