    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
    [May 24, 1996]
    [Page 818]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 818]]

    Letter to Congressional Leaders on Sanctions Against the Federal
    Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)
    May 24, 1996

    Dear Mr. Speaker:  (Dear Mr. President:)
        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 emergency declared with respect to the Federal Republic of
    Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), as expanded to address the actions
    and policies of the Bosnian Serb forces and the authorities in the
    territory that they control within the Republic of Bosnia and
    Herzegovina, is to continue in effect beyond May 30, 1996.
        The circumstances that led to the declaration on May 30, 1992, of a
    national emergency and to the expansion of that emergency on October 25,
    1994, have not been resolved. On November 22, 1995, the United Nations
    Security Council adopted Resolution 1022, immediately and indefinitely
    suspending economic sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
    (Serbia and Montenegro) in view of the General Framework Agreement for
    Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (the ``Peace Agreement'') initialled by
    the Presidents of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and
    Montenegro), the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Republic of
    Croatia in Dayton, Ohio, on November 21, 1995, and signed by the parties
    in Paris on December 14, 1995. On December 27, 1995, I issued
    Presidential Determination No. 96-7, directing the Secretary of the
    Treasury to suspend the application of sanctions imposed on the Federal
    Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro). These sanctions were
    suspended on January 16, 1996. Sanctions imposed on the Bosnian Serbs
    were subsequently suspended on May 10, 1996.
        These suspended sanctions will not be terminated, however, until the
    Peace Agreement has been fully implemented through the occurrence of
    free and fair elections in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and
    provided that the Bosnian Serb forces have continued to respect the
    zones of separation as provided in the Peace Agreement. Assets blocked
    pursuant to the sanctions also remain blocked until claims and
    encumbrances involving those assets can be addressed. Until the peace
    process is fully implemented, this situation continues to pose a
    continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security,
    foreign policy interests, and the economy of the United States. For
    these reasons, I have determined that it is necessary to maintain in
    force the broad authorities necessary to reimpose economic pressure on
    the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and
    Montenegro) and the Bosnian Serb forces and the authorities in the
    territory that they control if either fail significantly to meet their
    obligations under the Peace Agreement.
            Sincerely,

                                                          William J. Clinton

    Note: Identical letters were sent to Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the House
    of Representatives, and Albert Gore, Jr., President of the Senate. The
    notice is listed in Appendix D at the end of this volume.