[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.