[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.