[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
[July 12, 1995]
[Pages 1086-1088]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Message to the Congress on Economic Sanctions Against Libya
July 12, 1995

To the Congress of the United States:
    I hereby report to the Congress on the developments since my last 
report of January 30, 1995, concerning the national emergency with 
respect to Libya that was declared in Executive Order No. 12543 of 
January 7, 1986. This report is submitted pursuant to section 401(c) of 
the National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1641(c); section 204(c) of the 
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 50 U.S.C. 1703(c); 
and section 505(c) of the International Security and Development 
Cooperation Act of 1985, 22 U.S.C. 2349aa-9(c).
    1. On December 22, 1994, I renewed for another year the national 
emergency with respect to Libya pursuant to IEEPA. This renewal extended 
the current comprehensive financial and trade embargo against Libya in 
effect since 1986. Under these sanctions, all trade with Libya is 
prohibited, and all assets owned or controlled by the Libyan government 
in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are 
blocked.
    2. There has been one amendment to the Libyan Sanctions Regulations, 
31 C.F.R. Part 550 (the ``Regulations''), administered by the Office of 
Foreign Assets Control (FAC) of the Department of the Treasury, since my 
last report on January 30, 1995. The amendment (60 Fed. Reg. 8300, 
February 14, 1995) added 144 entities to appendix A, Organizations 
Determined to Be Within the Term ``Government of Libya'' (Specially 
Designated Nationals (``SDNs'') of Libya). The amendment also added 19 
individuals to appendix B, Individuals Determined to Be Specially 
Designated Nationals of the Government of Libya. A copy of the amendment 
is attached to this report.
    Pursuant to section 550.304(a) of the Regulations, FAC has 
determined that these entities and individuals designated as SDNs are 
owned or controlled by, or acting or purporting to act directly or 
indirectly on behalf of, the Government of Libya, or are agencies, 
instrumentalities or entities of that government. By virtue of this 
determination, all property and interests in property of these entities 
or persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control 
of U.S. persons are blocked. Further, U.S. persons are prohibited from 
engaging in transactions with these individuals or entities unless the 
transactions are licensed by FAC. The

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designations were made in consultation with the Department of State and 
announced by FAC in notices issued on January 10 and January 24, 1995.
    3. During the current 6-month period, FAC made numerous decisions 
with respect to applications for licenses to engage in transactions 
under the Regulations, issuing 119 licensing determinations--both 
approvals and denials. Consistent with FAC's ongoing scrutiny of banking 
transactions, the largest category of license approvals (83) concerned 
requests by Libyan and non-Libyan persons or entities to unblock bank 
accounts initially blocked because of an apparent Government of Libya 
interest. The largest category of denials (14) was for banking 
transactions in which FAC found a Government of Libya interest. One 
license was issued authorizing intellectual property protection in Libya 
and another for travel to Libya to visit close family members.
    In addition, FAC issued one determination with respect to 
applications from attorneys to receive fees and reimbursement of 
expenses for provision of legal services to the Government of Libya in 
connection with wrongful death civil actions arising from the Pan Am 103 
bombing. Civil suits have been filed in the U.S. District Court for the 
District of Columbia and in the Southern District of New York. 
Representation of the Government of Libya when named as a defendant in 
or otherwise made a party to domestic U.S. legal proceedings is 
authorized by section 550.517(b)(2) of the Regulations under certain 
conditions.
    4. During the current 6-month period, FAC continued to emphasize to 
the international banking community in the United States the importance 
of identifying and blocking payments made by or on behalf of Libya. The 
FAC worked closely with the banks to implement new interdiction software 
systems to identify such payments. As a result, during the reporting 
period, more than 171 transactions involving Libya, totaling more than 
$6.5 million, were blocked. As of May 25, 27 of these transactions had 
been licensed to be released, leaving a net amount of more than $5.2 
million blocked.
    Since my last report, FAC collected 37 civil monetary penalties 
totaling more than $354,700 for violations of the U.S. sanctions against 
Libya. Eleven of the violations involved the failure of banks to block 
funds transfers to Libyan-owned or -controlled banks. Two other 
penalties were received from companies for originating funds transfers 
to Libyan-owned or -controlled banks. Two corporations paid penalties 
for export violations. Twenty-two additional penalties were paid by U.S. 
citizens engaging in Libyan oilfield-related transactions while another 
54 cases of similar violations are in active penalty processing.
    Various enforcement actions carried over from previous reporting 
periods have continued to be aggressively pursued. The FAC has continued 
its efforts under the ``Operation Roadblock'' initiative. This ongoing 
program seeks to identify U.S. persons who travel to and/or work in 
Libya in violation of U.S. law.
    Several new investigations of potentially significant violations of 
the Libyan sanctions have been initiated by FAC and cooperating U.S. law 
enforcement agencies, primarily the U.S. Customs Service. Many of these 
cases are believed to involve complex conspiracies to circumvent the 
various prohibitions of the Libyan sanctions, as well as the utilization 
of international diversionary shipping routes to and from Libya. The FAC 
has continued to work closely with the Departments of State and Justice 
to identify U.S. persons who enter into contracts or agreements with the 
Government of Libya, or other third-country parties, to lobby United 
States Government officials or to engage in public relations work on 
behalf of the Government of Libya without FAC authorization. In 
addition, during the period FAC attended several bilateral and 
multilateral meetings with foreign sanctions authorities, as well as 
with private foreign institutions, to consult on issues of mutual 
interest and to encourage strict adherence to the U.N.-mandated 
sanctions.
    5. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 6-month 
period from January 7 through July 6, 1995, that are directly 
attributable to the exercise of powers and authorities conferred by the 
declaration of the Libyan national emergency are estimated at 
approximately $830,000.00. Personnel costs were largely centered in the 
Department of the Treasury (particularly in the Office of Foreign Assets 
Control, the Office of the General Counsel, and the U.S. Customs 
Service), the Department of State, and the Department of Commerce.
    6. The policies and actions of the Government of Libya continue to 
pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and 
foreign policy of the United States. In adopting UNSCR 883 in November 
1993, the Security

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Council determined that the continued failure of the Government of Libya 
to demonstrate by concrete actions its renunciation of terrorism, and in 
particular its continued failure to respond fully and effectively to the 
requests and decisions of the Security Council in UNSCRs 731 and 748, 
concerning the bombing of the Pan Am 103 and UTA 772 flights, 
constituted a threat to international peace and security. The United 
States continues to believe that still stronger international measures 
than those mandated by UNSCR 883, possibly including a worldwide oil 
embargo, should be imposed if Libya continues to defy the will of the 
international community as expressed in UNSCR 731. We remain determined 
to ensure that the perpetrators of the terrorist acts against Pan Am 103 
and UTA 772 are brought to justice. The families of the victims in the 
murderous Lockerbie bombing and other acts of Libyan terrorism deserve 
nothing less. I shall continue to exercise the powers at my disposal to 
apply economic sanctions against Libya fully and effectively, so long as 
those measures are appropriate, and will continue to report periodically 
to the Congress on significant developments as required by law.

                                                      William J. Clinton

The White House,

July 12, 1995.