Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I) - Letter to Congressional Leaders Reporting on the National Emergency With Respect to Libya

[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
[January 13, 1998]
[Pages 49-50]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 49]]


Letter to Congressional Leaders Reporting on the National Emergency With 
Respect to Libya
January 13, 1998

Dear Mr. Speaker:   (Dear Mr. President:)
    I hereby report to the Congress on the developments since my last 
report of June 26, 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. On January 2, 1998, I renewed for another year the national 
emergency with respect to Libya pursuant to 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 two amendments to the Libyan Sanctions 
Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 550 (the ``LSR'' or the ``Regulations''), 
administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the 
Department of the Treasury, since my report of June 26, 1997. The 
Regulations were amended on August 25, 1997. General reporting, record-
keeping, licensing, and other procedural regulations were moved from the 
Regulations to a separate part (31 C.F.R. Part 501) dealing solely with 
such procedural matters (62 Fed. Reg. 45098, August 25, 1997). A copy of 
the amendment is attached.
    On September 15, 1997, the Regulations were amended to add to 
appendices A and B to 31 C.F.R. chapter V the name of one entity and one 
individual who have been determined to act for or on behalf of, or to be 
owned or controlled by, the Government of Libya (62 Fed. Reg. 48177, 
September 15, 1997). A copy of the amendment is attached.
    3. During the reporting 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 (32) concerned requests by non-Libyan 
persons or entities to unblock transfers interdicted because of what 
appeared to be Government of Libya interests. Five 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 49 licenses was 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 
OFAC worked closely with the banks to assure the effectiveness of 
interdiction software systems used to identify such payments. During the 
reporting period, more than 70 transactions potentially involving Libya, 
totaling more than $4.4 million, were interdicted. As of November 10, 
1997, 8 transactions had been authorized for release, leaving a net 
amount of more than $4.3 million blocked for the period.
    5. Since my last report, OFAC collected 7 civil monetary penalties 
totaling more than $77,000 for violations of the U.S. sanctions against 
Libya. Five of the violations involved the failure of banks to block 
funds transfers or loan syndication payments to Libyan-owned or -
controlled financial institutions or commercial entities in Libya. One 
U.S. corporation and one law firm paid OFAC penalties for export and 
payment to the Government of Libya violations, respectively. Fifty-five 
other cases are in active penalty processing.
    Various enforcement actions carried over from previous reporting 
periods have continued to be aggressively pursued. On June 26, 1997, a 
Federal grand jury for the Middle District of Florida returned an 
indictment charging a St. Petersburg, Florida man with one count of 
conspiring

[[Page 50]]

to violate IEEPA and the Libyan Sanctions Regulations, two counts of 
dealing in property in which the Government of Libya has an interest, 
one count of purchasing goods (airline tickets) for export from Libya, 
and one count for transactions to evade and avoid the prohibitions of 
the LSR. The defendant remains a fugitive and warrants have been issued 
for his arrest. Numerous investigations are ongoing and new reports of 
violations are being scrutinized.
    6. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 6-month 
period from July 7, 1997, through January 6, 1998, that are directly 
attributable to the exercise of powers and authorities conferred by the 
declaration of the Libyan national emergency are estimated at 
approximately $620,000.00. 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.
    7. The policies and 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 UNSCR 883 in November 
1993, the United Nations 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.
        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 January 14.