[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 92 (Thursday, June 26, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H4818-H4819]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1815
 REPORT ON NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO LIBYA--MESSAGE FROM THE 
          PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (H. DOC. NO. 105-101)

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood) laid before the House the 
following message from the President of the United States; which was 
read and without objection, referred to the Committee on International 
Relations and ordered printed.

To the Congress of the United States:
  I hereby report to the Congress on the developments since my last 
report of January 10, 1997, concerning the national emergency with 
respect to Libya that was declared in Executive Order 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 Power 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. As previously reported, on January 2, 1997, I renewed for another 
year the national emergency with respect to Libya pursuant to the 
IEEPA. This renewal extended the current comprehensive financial and 
trade embargo against Libya in effect since 1986. Under these 
sanctions, virtually 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 have been no amendments to the Libyan Sanctions Regulations, 
31 C.F.R. Part 550 (the ``Regulations''), administered by the Office of 
Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Department of the Treasury, since 
my last report on January 10, 1997.
  3. During the last 6-month period, OFAC reviewed numerous 
applications for licenses to authorize transactions under the 
Regulations. Consistent with OFAC's ongoing scrutiny of banking 
transactions, the largest category of license approvals (68) concerned 
requests by non-Libyan persons or entities to unblock transfers 
interdicted because of what appeared to be Government of Libya 
interests. Two licenses authorized the provision of legal services to 
the Government of Libya in connection with actions in U.S. courts in 
which the Government of Libya was named as defendant. Licenses were 
also issued authorizing diplomatic and U.S. government transactions and 
to permit U.S. companies to engage in transactions with respect to 
intellectual property protection in Libya. A total of 75 licenses were 
issued during the reporting period.

  4. During the current 6-month period, OFAC 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 
office worked closely with the banks to assure the effectiveness in 
interdiction software systems used to identify such payments. During 
the reporting period, more than 100 transactions potentially involving 
Libya were interdicted.
  5. Since my last report, OFAC collected 13 civil monetary penalties 
totaling nearly $90,000 for violations of the U.S. sanctions against 
Libya. Ten of the violations involved the failure of banks to block 
funds transferred to Libyan-controlled financial institutions or 
commercial entities in Libya. Three U.S. corporations paid the OFAC 
penalties for export violations as part of the global plea agreements 
with the Department of Justice. Sixty-seven other cases are in active 
penalty processing.
  6. Various enforcement actions carried over from previous reporting 
periods have continued to be aggressively pursued. Numerous 
investigations are ongoing and new reports of violations are being 
scrutinized.
  7. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 6-month 
period from January 7 through July 6, 1997, that are directly 
attributable to the exercise of the powers and authorities conferred by 
the declaration of the Libyan national emergency are estimated at 
approximately $660,000.00. 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.
  8. The policies and the 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 United Nations 
Security Council Resolution 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

[[Page H4819]]

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, June 26, 1997.

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