[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 12 (Monday, March 24, 2003)]
[Pages 344-345]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Executive Order 13290--Confiscating and Vesting Certain Iraqi Property

March 20, 2003

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and 
the laws of the United States of America, including the International 
Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the 
National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and section 301 of 
title 3, United States Code, and in order to take additional steps with 
respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12722 of 
August 2, 1990,
    I, George W. Bush, President of the United States of America, hereby 
determine that the United States and Iraq are engaged in armed 
hostilities, that it is in the interest of the United States to 
confiscate certain property of the Government of Iraq and its agencies, 
instrumentalities, or controlled entities, and that all right, title, 
and interest in any property so confiscated should vest in the 
Department of the Treasury. I intend that such vested property should be 
used to assist the Iraqi people and to assist in the reconstruction of 
Iraq, and determine that such use would be in the interest of and for 
the benefit of the United States.
    I hereby order:
    Section 1. All blocked funds held in the United States in accounts 
in the name of the Government of Iraq, the Central Bank of Iraq, 
Rafidain Bank, Rasheed Bank, or the State Organization for Marketing Oil 
are hereby confiscated and vested in the Department of the Treasury, 
except for the following:
    (a) any such funds that are subject to the Vienna Convention on 
Diplomatic Relations or the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, or 
that enjoy equivalent privileges and immunities under the laws of the 
United States, and are or have been used for diplomatic or consular 
purposes, and
    (b) any such amounts that as of the date of this order are subject 
to post-judgment writs of execution or attachment in aid of execution of 
judgments pursuant to section 201 of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 
2002 (Public Law 107-297), provided that, upon satisfaction of the 
judgments on which such writs are based, any remainder of such excepted 
amounts shall, by virtue of this order and without further action, be 
confiscated and vested.
    Sec. 2. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to perform, 
without further approval, ratification, or other action of the 
President, all functions of the President set forth in section 
203(a)(1)(C) of IEEPA with respect to any and all property of the 
Government of Iraq, including its agencies, instrumentalities, or 
controlled entities, and to take additional steps, including the 
promulgation of rules and regulations as may be necessary, to carry out 
the purposes of this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate 
such functions in accordance with applicable

[[Page 345]]

law. The Secretary of the Treasury shall consult the Attorney General as 
appropriate in the implementation of this order.
    Sec. 3. This order shall be transmitted to the Congress and 
published in the Federal Register.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 March 20, 2003.

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:06 a.m., March 21, 
2003]

Note: This Executive order was published in the Federal Register on 
March 24.