[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 22 (Friday, February 3, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H1167-H1168]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


    REPORT ON HAITI--MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

  The Speaker pro tempore laid before the House the following message 
from the President of the United States; which was read and, together 
with the accompanying papers, without objection, referred to the 
Committee on International Relations and ordered to be printed:

To the Congress of the United States:
  1. In December 1990, the Haitian people elected Jean-Bertrand 
Aristide as their President by an overwhelming margin in a free and 
fair election. The United States praised Haiti's success in peacefully 
implementing its democratic constitutional system and provided 
significant political and economic support to the new government. The 
Haitian military abruptly interrupted the consolidation of Haiti's new 
democracy when, in September 1991, it illegally and violently ousted 
President Aristide from office and drove him into exile.
  2. The United States, on its own and with the Organization of 
American States (OAS), immediately imposed sanctions against the 
illegal regime. Upon the recommendation of the legitimate government of 
President Aristide and of the OAS, the United Nations Security Council 
imposed incrementally a universal embargo on Haiti, beginning June 16, 
1993, with trade restrictions on certain strategic commodities. The 
United States actively supported the efforts of the OAS and the United 
Nations to restore democracy to Haiti and to bring about President 
Aristide's return by facilitating negotiations between the Haitian 
parties. The United States and the international community also offered 
material assistance within the context of an eventual negotiated 
settlement of the Haitian crisis to support the return to democracy, 
build constitutional structures, and foster economic well-being.
  The continued defiance of the will of the international community by 
the illegal regime led to an intensification of bilateral and 
multilateral economic sanctions against Haiti in May 1994. The U.N. 
Security Council on May 6 adopted Resolution 917, imposing 
comprehensive trade sanctions and other measures on Haiti. This was 
followed by a succession of unilateral U.S. sanctions designed to 
isolate the illegal regime. To augment embargo enforcement, the United 
States and
 other countries entered into a cooperative endeavor with the Dominican 
Republic to monitor that country's enforcement of sanctions along its 
land border and in its coastal waters.

  Defying coordinated international efforts, the illegal military 
regime in Haiti remained intransigent for some time. Internal 
repression continued to worsen, exemplified by the expulsion in July 
1994 of the U.N./O.A.S.-sponsored International Civilian Mission (ICM) 
human rights observers. Responding to the threat to peace and security 
in the region, the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 940 on July 
31, 1994, authorizing the formation of a multinational force to use all 
necessary means to facilitate the departure from Haiti of the military 
leadership and the return of legitimate authorities including President 
Aristide.
  In the succeeding weeks, the international community under U.S. 
leadership assembled a multinational coalition force to carry out this 
mandate. At my request, former President Carter, Chairman of the Senate 
Armed Services Committee Sam Nunn, and former Chairman of the Joint 
Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell went to Haiti on September 16 to meet with 
the de facto Haitian leadership. The threat of imminent military 
intervention combined with determined diplomacy achieved agreement in 
Port-au-Prince on September 18 for the de facto leaders to relinquish 
power by October 15. United States forces in the vanguard of the 
multinational coalition force drawn from 26 countries began a peaceful 
deployment in Haiti on September 19 and the military leaders have since 
relinquished power.
  In a spirit of reconciliation and reconstruction, on September 25 
President Aristide called for the immediate easing of sanctions so that 
the work of 

[[Page H1168]]

rebuilding could begin. In response to this request, on September 26 in 
an address before the United Nations General Assembly, I announced my 
intention to suspend all unilateral sanctions against Haiti except 
those that affected the military leaders and their immediate supporters 
and families. On September 29, the U.N. Security Council adopted 
Resolution 944 terminating U.N.-imposed sanctions as of the day after 
President Aristide returned to Haiti.
  On October 15, President Aristide returned to Haiti to assume his 
official responsibilities. Effective October 16, 1994, by Executive 
Order No. 12932 (59 Fed. Reg. 52403, October 14, 1994), I terminated 
the national emergency declared on October 4, 1991, in Executive Order 
No. 12775, along with all sanctions with respect to Haiti imposed in 
that Executive order, subsequent Executive orders, and the Department 
of the Treasury regulations to deal with that emergency. This 
termination does not affect compliance and enforcement actions 
involving prior transactions or violations of the sanctions.
  3. This report is submitted to the Congress pursuant to 50 U.S.C. 
1641(c) and 1703(c). It is not a report on all U.S. activities with 
respect to Haiti, but discusses only those Administration actions and 
expenses since my last report (October 13, 1994) that are directly 
related to the national emergency with respect to Haiti declared in 
Executive Order No. 12775, as implemented pursuant to that order and 
Executive Orders Nos. 12779, 12853, 12872, 12914, 12917, 12920, and 
12922.
  4. The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control 
(FAC) amended the Haitian Transactions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 580 
(the ``HTR'') on December 27, 1994 (59 Fed. Reg. 66476, December 27, 
1994), to add section 580.524, indicating the termination of sanctions 
pursuant to Executive Order No. 12932, effective October 16, 1994. The 
effect of this amendment is to authorize all transactions previously 
prohibited by subpart B of the HTR or by the previously stated 
Executive orders. Reports due under general or specific license must 
still be filed with FAC covering activities up until the effective date 
of this termination. Enforcement actions with respect to past 
violations of the sanctions are not affected by the termination of 
sanctions. A copy of the FAC amendment is attached.
  5. The total expenses incurred by the Federal Government during the 
period of the national emergency with respect to Haiti from October 4, 
1991, through October 15, 1994, that are directly attributable to the 
authorities conferred by the declaration of a national emergency with 
respect to Haiti are estimated to be approximately $6.2 million, most 
of which represent wage and salary costs for Federal personnel. This 
estimate has been revised downward substantially from the sum of 
estimates previously reported in order to eliminate certain previously 
reported costs incurred with respect to Haiti, but not directly 
attributable to the exercise of powers and authorities conferred by the 
declaration of the terminated national emergency with respect to Haiti.
  Thus, with the termination of sanctions, this is the last periodic 
report that will be submitted pursuant to 50 U.S.C. 1703(c) and also 
constitutes the last semiannual report and final report on 
Administration expenditures required pursuant to 50 U.S.C. 1641(c).

                                                  William J. Clinton.  
  The White House, February 3, 1995.
  

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