[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 50 (Monday, December 18, 2000)]
[Pages 3097-3098]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Action Against International Crime

December 15, 2000

    The growing reach of international crime poses threats to American 
citizens and American interests, both at home and abroad. Illegal 
activity from terrorism to trafficking in arms, drugs, or humans 
violates our values and threatens our safety. Intellectual property 
theft, financial fraud, and corruption also can endanger our prosperity 
and undercut public confidence in democracy and free markets around the 
world.
    To confront these challenges, today I am pleased to announce several 
important initiatives in our ongoing efforts to combat international 
crime.
    First, we are releasing a comprehensive International Crime Threat 
Assessment, prepared at my direction, as part of our International Crime 
Control Strategy adopted in May, 1998. The new assessment highlights the 
global dimensions of international crime and the ways this pervasive 
problem threatens U.S. interests. This broader understanding is 
necessary if we, together with our international partners, are to 
strengthen our response to this global problem.
    Second, earlier this week in Palermo, Italy, the United States 
joined many other countries in signing the United Nations Convention on 
Transnational Organized Crime, along with two supplementary protocols on 
migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons. By harmonizing criminal 
laws and promoting increased cooperation, the new convention and its 
protocols will enable the international community to better combat 
international organized crime.
    Third, the Departments of State and Justice are establishing a 
Migrant Smuggling and Trafficking in Persons Coordination Center. The 
Center will integrate and improve our efforts to counter these distinct 
but related global crime problems. The Center also will promote and 
assist increased efforts by foreign governments and international 
organizations to combat these problems.

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    The United States is strongly committed to strengthening our 
international crime control programs to achieve a world of greater 
safety, prosperity, and justice. We urge the international community to 
join us in enhancing our common efforts to advance these common aims.