[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 62 (Monday, May 3, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H2550]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ECONOMIC SANCTIONS REGARDING REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA--MESSAGE FROM THE 
          PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (H. DOC. NO. 106-51)

  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:
  In response to the brutal ethnic cleansing campaign in Kosovo carried 
out by the military, police, and paramilitary forces of the Federal 
Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), the NATO allies have 
agreed to buttress NATO's military actions by tightening economic 
sanctions against the Milosevic regime. Pursuant to section 204(b) of 
the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) (50 U.S.C. 
1703(b)), I hereby report to the Congress that, in order to implement 
the measures called for by NATO, I have exercised my statutory 
authority to take additional steps with respect to the continuing human 
rights and humanitarian crisis in Kosovo and the national emergency 
described and declared in Executive Order 13088 of June 9, 1998.
  Pusuant to this authority, I have issued a new Executive order that:
  --expands the assets freeze previously imposed on the assets of the 
    Governments of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and 
    Montenegro), the Republic of Serbia, and the Republic of Montenegro 
    subject to U.S. jurisdiction, by removing the exemption in 
    Executive Order 13088 for financial transactions by United States 
    persons conducted exclusively through the domestic banking system 
    within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) 
    or using bank notes or barter;
  --prohibits exports or reexports, directly or indirectly, from the 
    United States or by a United States person, wherever located, of 
    goods, software, technology, or services to the Federal Republic of 
    Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) or the Governments of the 
    Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), the 
    Republic of Serbia, or the Republic of Montenegro;
  --prohibits imports, directly or indirectly, into the United States 
    of goods, software, technology, or services from the Federal 
    Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) or owned or 
    controlled by the Governments of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 
    (Serbia and Montenegro), the Republic of Serbia, or the Republic of 
    Montenegro;
  --prohibits any transaction or dealing, including approving, 
    financing, or facilitating, by a United States person, wherever 
    located, related to trade with or to the Federal Republic of 
    Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) or the Governments of the 
    Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), the 
    Republic of Serbia, or the Republic of Montenegro.
  The trade-related prohibitions apply to any goods (including 
petroleum and petroleum products), software, technology (including 
technical data), or services, except to the extent excluded by section 
203(b) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)).
  The ban on new investment by United States persons in the territory 
of Serbia--imposed by Executive Order 13088--continues in effect.
  The Executive order provides that the Secretary of the Treasury, in 
consultation with the Secretary of State, shall give special 
consideration to the circumstances of the Government of the Republic of 
Montenegro. As with Executive Order 13088, an exemption from the new 
sanctions has been granted to Montenegro. In implementing this order, 
special consideration is also to be given to the humanitarian needs of 
refugees from Kosovo and other civilians within the Federal Republic of 
Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro).
  In keeping with my Administration's new policy to exempt commercial 
sales of food and medicine from sanctions regimes, the Executive order 
directs the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the 
Secretary of State, to authorize commercial sales of agricultural 
commodities and products, medicine, and medical equipment for civilian 
end use in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro). 
Such sales are to be subject to appropriate safeguards to prevent 
diversion to military, paramilitary, or political use by the 
Governments of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and 
Montenegro), the Republic of Serbia, or the Republic of Montenegro.
                                                  William J. Clinton.  
The White House, April 30, 1999.

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