[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 117 (Wednesday, July 16, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H6649-H6650]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CONTINUATION OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO THE FORMER 
 LIBERIAN REGIME OF CHARLES TAYLOR--MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE 
                  UNITED STATES (H. DOC. NO. 110-134)

  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 Foreign Affairs and ordered to be printed:

To the Congress of the United States:
  Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)) 
provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, 
prior to the anniversary date of its declaration, the President 
publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to the Congress a 
notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the 
anniversary date. In accordance with this provision, I have sent the 
enclosed notice to the Federal Register for publication, stating that 
the national emergency and related measures dealing with the former 
Liberian regime of Charles Taylor are to continue in effect beyond July 
22, 2008.
  Today, Liberia continues its peaceful transition to a democratic 
order under the administration of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. The 
Government of Liberia has implemented reforms that have allowed for the 
removal of international sanctions on Liberian timber and diamonds, and 
Liberia is participating in the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme 
and the Extractive

[[Page H6650]]

Industries Transparency Initiative to ensure that its natural resources 
are used to benefit the people and country of Liberia, rather than to 
fuel conflict. Charles Taylor is standing trial in The Hague by the 
Special Court for Sierra Leone. However, stability in Liberia is still 
fragile.
  The regulations implementing Executive Order 13348 clarify that the 
subject of this national emergency has been and remains limited to the 
former Liberian regime of Charles Taylor and specified other persons 
and not the country, citizens, Government, or Central Bank of Liberia.
  The actions and policies of former Liberian President Charles Taylor 
and other persons--in particular their unlawful depletion of Liberian 
resources, their trafficking in illegal arms, and their formation of 
irregular militia--continue to undermine Liberia's transition to 
democracy and the orderly development of its political, administrative, 
and economic institutions and resources. These actions and policies 
pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the 
United States, and for these reasons, I have determined that it is 
necessary to continue the national emergency with respect to the former 
Liberian regime of Charles Taylor.
                                                      George W. Bush.  
The White House, July 16, 2008.

                          ____________________