[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 29, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H7275-H7276]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  BLOCKING PROPERTY OF CERTAIN PERSONS WITH RESPECT TO SERIOUS HUMAN 
 RIGHTS ABUSES BY IRANIAN GOVERNMENT AND TAKING CERTAIN OTHER ACTIONS--
 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (H. DOC. NO. 111-147)

  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, referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs and ordered to be printed:

To the Congress of the United States:
  Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), I hereby report that I have issued an 
Executive Order (the ``order'') that takes additional steps with 
respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12957 of 
March 15, 1995.
  In Executive Order 12957, the President found that the actions and 
policies of the Government of Iran threaten the national security, 
foreign policy, and economy of the United States. To deal with that 
threat, the President in Executive Order 12957 declared a national 
emergency and imposed prohibitions on certain transactions with respect 
to the development of Iranian petroleum resources. To further respond 
to that threat, Executive Order 12959 of May 6, 1995, imposed 
comprehensive trade and financial sanctions on Iran. Finally, Executive 
Order 13059 of August 19, 1997, consolidated and clarified the previous 
orders.
  I have determined that the actions and policies of the Government of 
Iran on or after its presidential election of June 12, 2009, including 
its violent response to peaceful demonstrations and its commission of 
serious human rights abuses, warrant the imposition of additional 
sanctions.
  The prohibitions contained in the new order implement section 105(a) 
of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act 
of 2010 (Public Law 111-195) (CISADA) concerning, inter alia, the 
imposition of sanctions pursuant to IEEPA with respect to each person 
on the list referred to in section 105(b). I applaud the efforts of the 
Congress to demonstrate the strong and sustained commitment of the 
United States to advancing the universal rights of all Iranians, and to 
sanction those who have abused their rights.
  The order, however, goes beyond the scope of section 105 of CISADA by 
imposing sanctions pursuant to IEEPA on persons who meet a broader set 
of criteria than those specified in section 105(b).
  The order blocks the property and interests in property of persons 
listed in the Annex to the order, who I have determined meet the first 
of the three criteria set forth below. The order also provides criteria 
for designations of persons determined by the Secretary of the 
Treasury, in consultation with or at the recommendation of the 
Secretary of State:
  To be an official of the Government of Iran or a person acting on 
behalf of the Government of Iran (including members of paramilitary 
organizations) who is responsible for or complicit in, or responsible 
for ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, the commission of 
serious human rights abuses against persons in Iran or Iranian citizens 
or residents, or the family members of the foregoing, on or after June 
12, 2009, regardless of whether such abuses occurred in Iran;
  To have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, 
material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in 
support of, the activities described in section 1(a)(ii)(A) of the 
order or any person whose property and interests in property are 
blocked pursuant to the order; or
  To be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act 
for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property 
and interests in property are blocked pursuant to the order.
  I have delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury the authority, in 
consultation with the Secretary of State, to take such actions, 
including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all 
powers granted to the President by IEEPA and the relevant provisions of 
CISADA, as may be necessary to carry out the blocking-related purposes 
of the order and to take such actions, including the promulgation of 
rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the 
President by IEEPA, as may be necessary to carry out section 104 of 
CISADA. I have delegated to the Secretary of State the functions and 
authorities related to visa sanctions conferred upon the President by 
the relevant provisions of CISADA. I have also delegated to the 
Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, 
the function of submitting to the appropriate congressional committees 
referred to in section 105(b) of CISADA the initial and updated lists 
of persons who are subject to visa sanctions and whose property and 
interests in property are blocked pursuant to the order.

[[Page H7276]]

All executive agencies of the United States Government are directed to 
take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the 
provisions of the order.
  The order, a copy of which is enclosed, became effective at 12:01 
a.m. eastern daylight time on September 29, 2010.
                                                        Barack Obama.  
The White House, September 28, 2010.

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