[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
[April 30, 2008]
[Pages 609-610]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Message to the Congress Reporting on Blocking Property and Prohibiting 
Certain Transactions Related to Burma
April 30, 2008

To the Congress of the United States:
    Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), I hereby report that I have issued an 
Executive Order (the ``order'') that takes additional steps with respect 
to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13047 of May 20, 
1997, and expanded in Executive Order 13448 of October 18, 2007.
    In 1997, the United States put in place a prohibition on new 
investment in Burma in response to the Government of Burma's large scale 
repression of the democratic opposition in that country. On July 28, 
2003, those sanctions were expanded by steps taken in Executive Order 
13310, which contained prohibitions implementing sections 3 and 4 of the 
Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-61) (the 
``Act'') and supplemented that Act with additional restrictions. On 
October 18, 2007, I determined that the Government of Burma's continued 
repression of the democratic opposition in Burma, manifested at the time 
in the violent response to peaceful demonstrations, the commission of 
human rights abuses related to political repression, and engagement in 
public corruption, including by diverting or misusing Burmese public 
assets or by misusing public authority, warranted an expansion of the

[[Page 610]]

then-existing sanctions. Executive Order 13448, issued on that date, 
incorporated existing designation criteria set forth in Executive Order 
13310, blocked the property and interests in property of persons listed 
in the Annex to that Executive Order, and provided additional criteria 
for designations of certain other persons.
    The order supplements the existing designation criteria set forth in 
Executive Order 13310, as incorporated in and expanded by Executive 
Order 13448. The order blocks the property and interests in property in 
the United States of persons listed in the Annex to the order and 
provides additional criteria for designations of persons determined by 
the Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with the Secretary of 
State, to be owned or controlled by, directly or indirectly, the 
Government of Burma or an official or officials of the Government of 
Burma; to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, 
material, logistical, or technical support for, or goods or services in 
support of, the Government of Burma, the State Peace and Development 
Council of Burma, the Union Solidarity and Development Association of 
Burma, any successor entity to any of the foregoing, any senior official 
of any of the foregoing, or any person whose property and interests in 
property are blocked pursuant to Executive Order 13310, Executive Order 
13448, or the order; or to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted 
or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any 
person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to 
Executive Order 13310, Executive Order 13448, or the order.
    The order leaves in place the existing prohibitions on new 
investment, the exportation or reexportation to Burma of financial 
services, and the importation of any article that is a product of Burma, 
which were put into effect in Executive Order 13047 and Executive Order 
13310.
    The order authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, after 
consultation with the Secretary of State, to take such actions, 
including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all 
powers granted to the President by IEEPA and section 4 of the Burmese 
Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003 as may be necessary to carry out the 
purposes of the order.
    I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued.

                                                          George W. Bush

 The White House,

 April 30, 2008.

Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
May 1. The related Executive order is listed in Appendix D at the end of 
this volume.