[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 125 (Friday, August 19, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H5921-H5922]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 BLOCKING PROPERTY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF SYRIA AND PROHIBITING CERTAIN 
 TRANSACTIONS WITH RESPECT TO SYRIA--MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE 
                   UNITED STATES (H. DOC. NO. 112-50)

  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) and in light of the Syria Accountability 
and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-175) 
(SAA), I hereby report that I have issued an Executive

[[Page H5922]]

Order (the ``order'') that takes additional steps with respect to the 
Government of Syria's continuing escalation of violence against the 
people of Syria and with respect to the national emergency declared in 
Executive Order 13338 of May 11, 2004, as modified in scope and relied 
upon for additional steps taken in Executive Order 13399 of April 25, 
2006, Executive Order 13460 of February 13, 2008, Executive Order 13572 
of April 29, 2011, and Executive Order 13573 of May 18, 2011.
  In Executive Order 13338, the President found that the actions of the 
Government of Syria constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to 
the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States 
and declared a national emergency to deal with that threat. To address 
that threat and to implement the SA, the President in Executive Order 
13338 blocked the property of certain persons and imposed additional 
prohibitions on certain transactions with respect to Syria. In 
Executive Order 13572, I expanded the scope of that national emergency 
and imposed additional sanctions.
  The order blocks the property and interests in property of the 
Government of Syria. The order also provides criteria for designations 
of persons determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation 
with the Secretary of State:
  To have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, 
material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support 
of, 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.
  The order also prohibits the following:
  New investment in Syria by a United States person, wherever located;
  The exportation, reexportation, sale, or supply, directly or 
indirectly, from the United States, or by a United States person, 
wherever located, of any services to Syria;
  The importation into the United States of petroleum or petroleum 
products of Syrian origin;
  Any transaction or dealing by a United States person, wherever 
located, including purchasing, selling, transporting, swapping, 
brokering, approving, financing, facilitating, or guaranteeing, in or 
related to petroleum or petroleum products of Syrian origin; and
  Any approval, financing, facilitation, or guarantee by a United 
States person, wherever located, of a transaction by a foreign person 
where the transaction by that foreign person would be prohibited by 
section 2 of the order if performed by a United States person or within 
the United States.
  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, as may be necessary to carry 
out the purposes of the order.
  All agencies of the United States Government are directed to take all 
appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions 
of the order.
  I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued.
                                                        Barack Obama.  
The White House, August 17, 2011.

                          ____________________