[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)] [June 26, 1997] [Pages 830-831] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]Message to the Congress Reporting on Economic Sanctions Against Libya June 26, 1997 To the Congress of the United States: I hereby report to the Congress on the developments since my last report of January 10, 1997, concerning the national emergency with respect to Libya that was declared in Executive Order 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. As previously reported, on January 2, 1997, I renewed for another year the national emergency with respect to Libya pursuant to the IEEPA. This renewal extended the current comprehensive financial and trade embargo against Libya in effect since 1986. Under these sanctions, virtually 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 have been no amendments to the Libyan Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 550 (the ``Regulations''), administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Department of the Treasury, since my last report on January 10, 1997. 3. During the last 6-month period, OFAC reviewed numerous applications for licenses to authorize transactions under the Regulations. Consistent with OFAC's ongoing scrutiny of banking transactions, the largest category of license approvals (68) concerned requests by non-Libyan persons or entities to unblock transfers interdicted because of what appeared to be Government of Libya interests. Two licenses authorized the provision of legal services to the Government of Libya in connection with actions in U.S. courts in which the Government of Libya was named as defendant. Licenses were also issued authorizing diplomatic and U.S. government transactions and to permit U.S. companies to engage in transactions with respect to intellectual property protection in Libya. A total of 75 licenses were issued during the reporting period. 4. During the current 6-month period, OFAC 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 office worked closely with the banks to assure the effectiveness in interdiction software systems used to identify such payments. During the reporting period, more than 100 transactions potentially involving Libya were interdicted. 5. Since my last report, OFAC collected 13 civil monetary penalties totaling nearly $90,000 for violations of the U.S. sanctions against Libya. Ten of the violations involved the failure of banks to block funds transferred to Libyan-controlled financial institutions or commercial entities in Libya. Three U.S. corporations paid the OFAC penalties for export violations as part of the global plea agreements with the Department of Justice. Sixty-seven other cases are in active penalty processing. 6. Various enforcement actions carried over from previous reporting periods have continued [[Page 831]] to be aggressively pursued. Numerous investigations are ongoing and new reports of violations are being scrutinized. 7. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 6-month period from January 7 through July 6, 1997, that are directly attributable to the exercise of the powers and authorities conferred by the declaration of the Libyan national emergency are estimated at approximately $660,000.00. 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. 8. The policies and the 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 United Nations Security Council Resolution 883 in November 1993, the Security 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 Resolutions 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 will continue to coordinate its comprehensive sanctions enforcement efforts with those of other U.N. member states. 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, June 26, 1997. Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on June 27.