[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 19 (Monday, February 6, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H479-H480]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   BLOCKING PROPERTY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAN AND IRANIAN FINANCIAL 
INSTITUTIONS--MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (H. DOC. 
                              NO. 112-85)

  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. Executive Order 
13059 of August 19, 1997, consolidated and clarified the previous 
orders. To take additional steps with respect to the national emergency 
declared in Executive Order 12957 and to implement section 105(a) of 
the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 
2010 (Public Law 111-195) (22 U.S.C. 8501 et seq.) (CISADA), I issued 
Executive Order 13553 on September 28, 2010, to impose sanctions on 
officials of the Government of Iran and other persons acting on behalf 
of the Government of Iran determined to be responsible for or complicit 
in certain serious human rights abuses. To take further additional 
steps with respect to the threat posed by Iran and to provide 
implementing authority for a number of the sanctions set forth in the 
Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-172) (50 U.S.C. 1701 note) 
(ISA), as amended by CISADA, I issued Executive Order 13574 on May 23, 
2011, to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to implement certain 
sanctions imposed by the Secretary of State pursuant to ISA, as amended 
by CISADA. Finally, to take additional steps with respect to the threat 
posed by Iran, I issued Executive Order 13590 on November 20, 2011, to 
authorize the Secretary of State to impose sanctions on persons 
providing certain goods, services, technology, information, or support 
that contribute either to Iran's development of petroleum resources or 
to Iran's production of petrochemicals, and to authorize the Secretary 
of the Treasury to implement some of those sanctions.
  I have determined that additional sanctions are warranted, 
particularly in light of the deceptive practices of the Central Bank of 
Iran and other Iranian banks to conceal transactions of sanctioned 
parties, the deficiencies in Iran's anti-money laundering regime and 
the weaknesses in its implementation, and the continuing and 
unacceptable risk posed to the international financial system by Iran's 
activities.
  The order also implements section 1245(c) of the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Public Law 112-81) (NDAA) by 
blocking the property and interests in property of Iranian financial 
institutions pursuant to IEEPA.
  The order blocks the property and interests in property of the 
following:
  The Government of Iran, including the Central Bank of Iran;
  Any Iranian financial institution, including the Central Bank of 
Iran; and
  Persons determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation 
with the Secretary of State, 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 prohibitions of the order do not apply to property and interests 
in property of the Government of Iran that were blocked pursuant to 
Executive Order 12170 of November 14, 1979, and thereafter made subject 
to the transfer directives set forth in Executive Order 12281 of 
January 19, 1981, and implementing regulations thereunder. In addition, 
nothing in the order prohibits transactions for the conduct of the 
official business of the Federal Government by employees, grantees, or 
contractors thereof.
  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 blocking-related 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 have also delegated certain functions and authorities conferred by 
section 1245 of the NDAA to the Secretary of the Treasury and the 
Secretary of State in consultation with other appropriate agencies as 
specified in the order.
  I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued.
                                                        Barack Obama.  
                                     The White House, February 5, 2012.

[[Page H480]]



                          ____________________