[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
[October 21, 1996]
[Pages 1888-1890]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Letter to Congressional Leaders Reporting on the National Emergency With 
Respect to Narcotics Traffickers Centered in Colombia
October 21, 1996

Dear Mr. Speaker:  (Dear Mr. President:)
    I hereby report to the Congress on the developments since my report 
of April 23, 1996, concerning the national emergency with respect to 
significant narcotics traffickers centered in Colombia that was declared 
in Executive Order 12978 of October 21, 1995. This report is submitted 
pursuant to section 401(c) of the National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 
1641(c), and section 204(c) of the International Emergency Economic 
Powers Act (IEEPA), 50 U.S.C. 1703(c).
    1. On October 21, 1995, I signed Executive Order 12978, ``Blocking 
Assets and Prohibiting Transactions with Significant Narcotics 
Traffickers'' (the ``Order'') (60 Fed. Reg. 54579, October 24, 1995). 
The Order blocks all property subject to U.S. jurisdiction in which 
there is any interest of four significant foreign narcotics traffickers 
who are principals in the so-called Cali drug cartel centered in 
Colombia. They are listed in the Annex to the Order. The Order also 
blocks the property and interests in property of foreign persons 
determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the 
Attorney General and the Secretary of State, (a) to play a significant 
role in international narcotics trafficking centered in Colombia or (b) 
to materially assist in or provide financial or technological support 
for, or goods or services in support of, the narcotics trafficking 
activities of persons designated in or pursuant to the Order. In 
addition the Order blocks all property and interests in property subject 
to U.S. jurisdiction of persons determined by the Secretary of the 
Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of 
State, to be owned or controlled by, or to act for or on behalf of, 
persons designated in or pursuant to the Order (collectively ``Specially 
Designated Narcotics Traffickers'' or (SDNTs)).

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    The Order further prohibits any transaction or dealing by a United 
States person or within the United States in property or interests in 
property of SDNTs, and any transaction that evades or avoids, has the 
purpose of evading or avoiding, or attempts to violate, the prohibitions 
contained in the Order.
    Designations of foreign persons blocked pursuant to the Order are 
effective upon the date of determination by the Director of the 
Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) 
acting under authority delegated by the Secretary of the Treasury. 
Public notice of blocking is effective upon the date of filing with the 
Federal Register, or upon prior actual notice.
    2. On October 24, 1995, the Department of the Treasury issued a 
notice containing 76 additional names of persons determined to meet the 
criteria set forth in Executive Order 12978 (60 Fed. Reg. 54582-84, 
October 24, 1995).
    The Department of the Treasury issued another notice adding the 
names of one additional entity and three additional individuals, as well 
as expanded information regarding addresses and pseudonyms, to the List 
of SDNTs on November 29, 1995 (60 Fed. Reg. 61288-89).
    3. On March 8, 1996, OFAC published a notice in the Federal Register 
adding the names of 138 additional individuals and 60 entities 
designated pursuant to the Order, and revising information for 8 
individuals on the list of blocked persons contained in the notices 
published on November 29, 1995, and October 24, 1995 (61 Fed. Reg. 9523-
28). The OFAC, in coordination with the Attorney General and the 
Secretary of State, is continuing to expand the list of Specially 
Designated Narcotics Traffickers, including both organizations and 
individuals, as additional information is developed.
    4. Since my last report, OFAC has issued 498 alert letters to 
businesses in Colombia that are known to have had some form of pre-
sanctions business or financial relationships with entities identified 
as SDNTs of the Cali drug cartel. These letters urge the Colombian 
companies to sever any business or financial relationships they have 
with the SDNTs.
    5. A task force operating under OFAC's direction and staffed with 
personnel detailed from the Department of Justice and other Federal 
agencies has been established in the U.S. Embassy in Bogota to enhance 
OFAC's enforcement capabilities under the SDNT program. The task force, 
which also has other personnel assigned to OFAC in Washington, is 
working on an expedited basis to escalate the attack on the drug cartels 
in Colombia as envisioned by Executive Order 12978.
    The task force mission is to identify, develop, and exploit all 
forms of information resources in Colombia in order to further expose 
and incapacitate the businesses and operatives of the Cali drug cartel 
and other significant narcotics traffickers in Colombia. By increasing 
the number of SDNT designations, U.S. sanctions will impact an ever-
larger number of individuals and entities that are owned or controlled 
by, or act for or on behalf of the cartels, or which provide material or 
financial support to the activities of Significant Narcotics 
Traffickers. Personnel and related costs are being born by the parent 
agencies of the persons detailed to the narcotics sanctions project in 
Bogota and Washington.
    6. As of August 31, 1996, OFAC had issued five specific licenses 
pursuant to Executive Order 12978. These licenses were issued in 
accordance with established Treasury policy authorizing the completion 
of pre-sanctions transactions and the provision of legal services to and 
payment of fees for representation of SDNTs in proceedings within the 
United States arising from the imposition of sanctions.
    7. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 6-month 
period from April 21 through October 20, 1996, that are directly 
attributable to the exercise of powers and authorities conferred by the 
declaration of the national emergency with respect to Significant 
Narcotics Traffickers are estimated at approximately $1 million. 
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 
Justice, and the Department of State.
    8. Executive Order 12978 provides this Administration with a new 
tool for combatting the actions of significant foreign narcotics 
traffickers centered in Colombia, and the unparalleled violence, 
corruption, and harm that they cause in the United States and abroad. 
The Order is designed to deny these traffickers the benefit of any 
assets subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and to prevent 
United States persons from engaging in any commercial dealings with 
them, their front companies, and their agents. Executive Order 12978 
demonstrates the

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U.S. commitment to end the scourge that such traffickers have wrought 
upon society in the United States and abroad.
    The magnitude and the dimension of the problem in Colombia--perhaps 
the most pivotal country of all in terms of the world's cocaine trade--
is extremely grave. I shall continue to exercise the powers at my 
disposal to apply economic sanctions against significant foreign 
narcotics traffickers and their violent and corrupting activities as 
long as these measures are appropriate, and will continue to report 
periodically to the Congress on significant developments pursuant to 50 
U.S.C. 1703(c).
        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. This 
letter was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on October 22.