[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
[July 19, 1999]
[Pages 1255-1256]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Message to the Congress Reporting on the National Emergency With Respect 
to Libya
July 19, 1999

To the Congress of the United States:
    I hereby report to the Congress on the developments since my last 
report of December 30, 1998, 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 December 30, 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 Government of 
Libya in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. 
persons are blocked.
    2. On April 28, 1999, I announced that the United States will exempt 
commercial sales of agricultural commodities and products, medicine, and 
medical equipment from future unilateral sanctions regimes. In addition, 
my Administration will extend this policy to existing sanctions programs 
by modifying licensing policies for currently embargoed countries to 
permit case-by-case review of specific proposals for commercial sales of 
these items. Certain restrictions apply.
    The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Department of the 
Treasury is currently drafting amendments to the Libyan Sanctions 
Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 550 (the Regulations), to implement this 
initiative. The amended Regulations will provide for the licensing of 
sales of agricultural commodities and products, medicine, and medical 
supplies to nongovernmental entities in Libya or to government 
procurement agencies and parastatals not affiliated with the coercive 
organs of that country. The amended Regulations will also provide for 
the licensing of all transactions necessary and incident to licensed 
sales transactions, such as insurance and shipping arrangements. 
Financing for the licensed sales transactions will be permitted in the 
manner described in the amended Regulations.
    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 (20) involved types of financial 
transactions that are consistent with U.S. policy. Most of these 
licenses authorized personal remittances not involving Libya between 
persons who are not blocked parties to flow through Libyan banks located 
outside Libya. Three licenses were issued authorizing certain travel-
related transactions. One license was issued to a U.S. firm to allow it 
to protect its intellectual property rights in Libya; another authorized 
receipt of payment for legal services; and a third authorized payments 
for telecommunications services. A total of 26 licenses were issued 
during the reporting period.

[[Page 1256]]

    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 of 
interdiction software systems used to identify such payments. During the 
reporting period, 87 transactions potentially involving Libya, totaling 
nearly $3.4 million, were interdicted.
    5. Since my last report, OFAC has collected 7 civil monetary 
penalties totaling $38,000 from 2 U.S. financial institutions, 3 
companies, and 2 individuals for violations of the U.S. sanctions 
against Libya. The violations involved export transactions relating to 
Libya and dealings in Government of Libya property or property in which 
the Government of Libya had an interest.
    On April 23, 1999, a foreign national permanent resident in the 
United States was sentenced by the Federal District Court for the Middle 
District of Florida to 2 years in prison and 2 years supervised release 
for criminal conspiracy to violate economic sanctions against Libya, 
Iran, and Iraq. He had previously been convicted of violation of the 
Libyan Sanctions Regulations, the Iranian Transactions Regulations, the 
Iraqi Sanctions Regulations, and the Export Administration Regulations 
for exportation of industrial equipment to the oil, gas, petrochemical, 
water, and power industries of Libya, Iran, and Iraq.
    Various enforcement actions carried over from previous reporting 
periods have continued to be aggressively pursued. 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 January 7 through July 6, 1999, that are directly 
attributable to the exercise of powers and authorities conferred by the 
declaration of the Libyan national emergency are estimated at 
approximately $4.4 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 State, and the Department of Commerce.
    7. In April 1999, Libya surrendered the 2 suspects in the Lockerbie 
bombing for trial before a Scottish court seated in the Netherlands. In 
accordance with UNSCR 748, upon the suspects' transfer, UN sanctions 
were immediately suspended. We will insist that Libya fulfill the 
remaining UNSCR requirements for lifting UN sanctions and are working 
with UN Secretary Annan and UN Security Council members to ensure that 
Libya does so promptly. U.S. unilateral sanctions remain in force, and I 
will continue to exercise the powers at my disposal to apply these 
sanctions fully and effectively, as long as they remain appropriate. I 
will continue to report periodically to the Congress on significant 
developments as required by law.

                                                      William J. Clinton

The White House,

July 19, 1999.