[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 9 (Monday, March 4, 1996)]
[Page 395]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Congress on Cuba

March 1, 1996

To the Congress of the United States:

    Pursuant to section 1 of title II of Public Law 65-24, ch. 30, 50 
U.S.C. 191 and sections 201 and 301 of the National Emergencies Act, 50 
U.S.C. 1601 et seq., United States Code, I hereby report that I have 
exercised my statutory authority to declare a national emergency in 
response to the Government of Cuba's destruction of two unarmed U.S.-
registered civilian aircraft in international airspace north of Cuba.
    In the proclamation (copy attached), I have authorized and directed 
the Secretary of Transportation to make and issue such rules and 
regulations that the Secretary may find appropriate to prevent 
unauthorized U.S. vessels from entering Cuban territorial waters.
    I have authorized these rules and regulations as a result of the 
Government of Cuba's demonstrated willingness to use reckless force, 
including deadly force, in the ostensible enforcement of its 
sovereignty. I have determined that the unauthorized departure of 
vessels intending to enter Cuban territorial waters could jeopardize the 
safety of certain U.S. citizens and other persons residing in the United 
States and threaten a disturbance of international relations. I have, 
accordingly, declared a national emergency in response to these threats.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
March 1, 1996.