    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 53 (Monday, January 4, 1999)]
    [Pages 2538-2539]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Letter to Congressional Leaders Reporting on Economic Sanctions Against
    Libya

    December 30, 1998

    Dear Mr. Speaker:  (Dear Mr. President:)

        I hereby report to the Congress on the developments since my last
    report of July 6, 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 United
    States persons are blocked.
        2. There have been no amendments to the Libyan Sanctions
    Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 550 (the ``Regulations''), administered by
    the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Department of the
    Treasury, since my last report of July 6, 1998.
        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 (26) 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. Seven licenses were issued to U.S. firms to allow them to
    protect their intellectual property rights in Libya. One license was
    issued in connection with law enforcement

    [[Page 2539]]

    activities and one authorized certain travel-related transactions. A
    total of 35 licenses were issued during the reporting period.
        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, more than 87 transactions potentially involving Libya,
    totaling more than $7.9 million, were interdicted.
        5. Since my last report, OFAC has collected 4 civil monetary
    penalties totaling more than $15,000 for violations of the U.S.
    sanctions against Libya. Three of the violations involved the failure of
    U.S. banks to block payments or letters of credit transactions relating
    to Libyan-owned or Libyan-controlled financial institutions. One U.S.
    individual paid an OFAC penalty for dealing in Government of Libya
    property.
        On October 16, 1998, two Canadian corporations entered a guilty plea
    acknowledging IEEPA violations charged in a March 8, 1995, indictment.
    Pursuant to the plea agreement, the defendants each paid $65,000 in
    criminal fines and $10,000 in OFAC civil penalties.
        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 July 7, 1998, through January 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 $500,000. 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. The policies and actions of the Government of Libya continue to
    pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and
    foreign policy of the United States. In adopting UNSCR 883 in November
    1993, the United Nations Security Council determined that the continued
    failure of the Government of Libya to demonstrate by concrete actions
    its renunciation of terrorism, and in particular its continued failure
    to respond fully and effectively to the requests and decisions of the
    Security Council in Resolutions 731 and 748, concerning the bombing of
    the Pan Am 103 and UTA 772 flights, constituted a threat to
    international peace and security. The United States will continue to
    coordinate its comprehensive sanctions enforcement efforts with those of
    other U.N. Member States. We remain determined to ensure that the
    perpetrators of the terrorist acts against Pan Am 103 and UTA 772 are
    brought to justice. The families of the victims in the murderous
    Lockerbie bombing and other acts of Libyan terrorism deserve nothing
    less. I shall continue to exercise the powers at my disposal to apply
    economic sanctions against Libya fully and effectively, so long as those
    measures are appropriate, and will continue to report periodically to
    the Congress on significant developments as required by law.
        Sincerely,
                                                William J. Clinton

    Note: Identical letters were sent to Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the House
    of Representatives, and Albert Gore, Jr., President of the Senate. This
    letter was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on December 31.