[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

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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.