[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 9 (Monday, March 1, 2004)]
[Page 300]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Congress on Continuation and Expansion of the National 
Emergency With Respect to Cuba

February 26, 2004

To the Congress of the United States:

    Pursuant to section 1 of title I 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., I hereby report that I have exercised my statutory 
authority to continue the national emergency declared in Proclamation 
6867 of March 1, 1996, in response to the Cuban government's destruction 
of two unarmed U.S.-registered civilian aircraft in international 
airspace north of Cuba. Additionally, I have exercised my authority to 
expand the scope of the national emergency as, over the last year, the 
Cuban government, which is a designated state-sponsor of terrorism, has 
taken a series of steps to destabilize relations with the United States, 
including threatening to abrogate the Migration Accords with the United 
States and to close the U.S. Interests Section. This conduct has caused 
a sudden and worsening disturbance of U.S. international relations.
    In my proclamation (copy attached), I have authorized and directed 
the Secretary of Homeland Security 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 
Cuban government's demonstrated willingness to use reckless force, 
including deadly force, in the ostensible enforcement of its 
sovereignty. I have also authorized these rules and regulations in an 
effort to deny resources to the repressive Cuban government that may be 
used by that government to support terrorist activities and carry out 
excessive use of force against innocent victims, including U.S. citizens 
and other persons residing in the United States, and threaten a 
disturbance of international relations. Accordingly, I have continued 
and expanded the national emergency in response to these threats.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 February 26, 2004.