    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [January 15, 2002]
    [Pages 81-82]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Letter to Congressional Leaders on Continuation of the National
    Emergency With Respect to Sierra Leone and Liberia
    January 15, 2002

    Dear Mr. Speaker:  (Dear Mr. President:)
        Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d))
    provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless,
    prior to the anniversary date of its declaration, the President
    publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to the Congress a notice
    stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the
    anniversary date. In accordance with this provision, I have sent the
    enclosed notice, stating that the Sierra Leone and Liberia emergency is
    to continue in effect beyond January 18, 2002, to the Federal Register
    for publication. This is the first renewal of the Sierra Leone and
    Liberia emergency.
        The national emergency declared with respect to Sierra Leone on
    January 18, 2001, as expanded on May 22, 2001, with respect to Liberia,
    has not been resolved. The national emergency, as expanded, was declared
    to deal with the threat posed to United States foreign policy by (1) the
    insurgent Revolutionary United Front's (RUF) illicit trade in diamonds
    to fund its

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    operations and procurement of weapons in the brutal, decade-long civil
    war in Sierra Leone; (2) the RUF's flagrant violation of the Lome' Peace
    Agreement of July 7, 1999; (3) the RUF's attacks on personnel of the
    United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone; and (4) the actions of the
    Government of Liberia in support of the RUF. These actions and policies
    are hostile to U.S. interests and pose a continuing, unusual, and
    extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States. For
    these reasons, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the
    national emergency declared with respect to Sierra Leone and Liberia and
    to maintain in force the sanctions imposed in response to the threat
    posed by the actions and policies of the RUF.
             Sincerely,

                                                              George W. Bush

    Note: Identical letters were sent to J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the
    House of Representatives, and Richard B. Cheney, President of the
    Senate. This letter was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on
    January 17. The notice of January 15 is listed in Appendix D at the end
    of this volume.