[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 7 (Monday, January 22, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H342-H343]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 REPORT ON NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO LIBYA--MESSAGE FROM THE 
          PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (H. DOC. NO. 104-165)

  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:

To the Congress of the United States:
  I hereby report to the Congress on the developments since my last 
report of July 12, 1995, 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 

[[Page H343]]
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 3, 1996, 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 12, 1995. The amendment (60 Fed. Reg. 37940-
37941, July 25, 1995) added three hotels in Malta to appendix A, 
Organizations Determined to Be Within the Term ``Government of Libya'' 
(Specifically Designated Nationals (SDNs) of Libya). A copy of the 
amendment is attached to this report.
  Pursuant to section 550.304(a) of the Regulations, FAC has determined 
that these entities 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 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 
entities unless the transactions are licensed by FAC. The designations 
were made in consultation with the Department of State.
  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 54 licensing determinations--both 
approvals and denials. Consistent with FAC's ongoing scrutiny of 
banking transactions, the largest category of license approvals (20) 
concerned requests by Libyan and non-Libyan persons or entities to 
unblock transfers interdicted because of an apparent Government of 
Libya interest. A license was also issued to a local taxing authority 
to foreclose on a property owned by the Government of Libya for failure 
to pay property tax arrearages.
  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 on or behalf of Libya. The 
Office worked closely with the banks to implement new interdiction 
software systems to identify such payments. As a result, during the 
reporting period, more than 107 transactions potentially involving 
Libya, totaling more than $26.0 million, were interdicted. As of 
December 4, 23 of these transactions had been authorized for release, 
leaving a net amount of more than $24.6 million blocked.
  Since my last report, FAC collected 27 civil monetary penalties 
totaling more than $119,500, for violations of the U.S. sanctions 
against Libya. Fourteen of the violations involved the failure of banks 
or credit unions to block funds transfers to Libyan-owned or -
controlled banks. Two other penalties were received from corporations 
for export violations or violative payments to Libya for unlicensed 
trademark transactions. Eleven additional penalties were paid by U.S. 
citizens engaging in Libyan oilfield-related transactions while another 
40 cases involving similar violations are in active penalty processing.

  In November 1995, guilty verdicts were returned in two cases 
involving illegal exportation of U.S. goods to Libya. A jury in Denver, 
Colorado, found a Denver businessman guilty of violating the 
Regulations and IEEPA when he exported 50 trailers from the United 
States to Libya in 1991. A Houston, Texas, jury found three individuals 
and two companies guilty on charges of conspiracy and violating the 
Regulations and IEEPA for transactions relating to the 1992 shipment of 
oilfield equipment from the United States to Libya. Also in November, a 
Portland, Oregon, lumber company entered a two-count felony information 
plea agreement for two separate shipments of U.S.-origin lumber to 
Libya during 1993. These three actions were the result of lengthy 
criminal investigations begun in prior reporting periods. Several other 
investigations from prior reporting periods are continuing and new 
reports of violations are being pursued.
  5. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 6-month 
period from July 6, 1995, through January 5, 1996, that are directly 
attributable to the exercise of powers and authorities conferred by the 
declaration of the Libyan national emergency are estimated at 
approximately $990,000. 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.
  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 Resolutions 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 will continue to coordinate its 
comprehensive sanctions enforcement efforts with those of other U.N. 
member states. 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 22, 1996.

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