Clintons New Year's gift for the Libyan People
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_____________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release January 10, 1997
TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
January 10, 1997
Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)
I hereby report to the Congress on the developments since my
last report of July 22, 1996, 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 January 2, 1997, 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,
all trade with Libya is prohibited, and all assets owned or
controlled by the Libyan government in the United States or in
the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked.
2. There have been two 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 on
July 22, 1996. The Libyan Sanctions Regulations were amended
on August 22, 1996, to add the Antiterrorism and Effective Death
Penalty Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-132; 110 Stat. 1214-1319
(the "Antiterrorism Act") as an authority for the Regulations.
(61 Fed. Reg. 43460, August 23, 1996). On April 24, 1996, I
signed into law the Antiterrorism Act. Section 321 of the
Antiterrorism Act (18 U.S.C. 2332d) makes it a criminal offense
for United States persons, except as provided in regulations
issued by the Secretary of the Treasury in consultation with the
Secretary of State, to engage in financial transactions with the
governments of countries designated under section 6(j) of the
Export Administration Act (50 U.S.C. App. 2405) as supporting
international terrorism. United States persons who engage in
such transactions are subject to criminal fines under title 18,
United States Code, imprisonment for up to 10 years, or both.
Because the Regulations already prohibited such transactions,
with minor exceptions for transactions found to be in the public
interest, no substantive change to the prohibitions of the
Regulations was necessary. A copy of the amendment is attached.
The Regulations were amended on October 21, 1996 (61 Fed. Reg.
54936, October 23, 1996), to implement section 4 of the Federal
Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by
the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, by adjusting for
inflation the amount of the civil monetary penalties that may be
assessed under the Regulations. The Regulations, as amended,
increase the maximum civil monetary penalty provided by law from
$10,000 to $11,000 per violation.
The amended Regulations also reflect an amendment to 18 U.S.C.
1001 contained in section 330016(1)(L) of Public Law 103-322;
108 Stat. 2147. The amendment strikes the $10,000 maximum on
fines imposed for fraudulent dealing with Federal agencies.
Finally, the amendment notes the availability of higher criminal
fines pursuant to the formulas set forth in 18 U.S.C. 3571. A
copy of the amendment is attached.
3. During the current 6-month 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 (49)
concerned requests by non-Libyan persons or entities to unblock
transfers interdicted because of what appeared to be Government
of Libya interests. Several previously issued licenses were
amended to authorize the provision of legal services to the
Government of Libya in connection with actions in U.S. courts
in which the Government of Libya was named as defendant.
Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam applied for a
license to receive a gift of up to $1 billion from the
Government of Libya as well as for Minister Farrakhan to collect
$250,000 in prize money that accompanied the Ghadafi Prize for
Human Rights awarded to Minister Farrakhan in Tripoli. The
application was denied on Foreign policy grounds.
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 100 transactions
potentially involving Libya were interdicted.
5. Since my last report, OFAC collected 14 civil monetary
penalties totaling more than $165,000 for violations of the
U.S. sanctions against Libya. Twelve of the violations involved
the failure of banks to block funds transfers to Libyan-owned
or -controlled financial institutions. Two U.S. corporations
paid OFAC penalties totaling $105,000 for export violations as
part of global plea agreements with the Department of Justice.
Sixty-one other cases are in active penalty processing.
On August 7, 1996, a major U.S. exporter entered a guilty plea
and was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Western
District of Kentucky for Libyan sanctions violations. The
company and four co-conspirators were charged with aiding and
abetting the exportation and attempted exportation of oil well
drilling equipment to Libya through Italy in 1995 and 1996. The
company paid $3 million in criminal fines and aggregate criminal
penalties paid by individuals totaled $211,000. In addition, a
major U.S. manufacturer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin agreed to pay
$2 million in criminal fines, in addition to the civil penalty
noted above, for violation of the Libyan sanctions involving a
commercial project in Libya. Numerous investigations carried
over from prior reporting periods are continuing and new reports
of violations are being pursued.
6. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the
6-month period from July 6, 1996, through January 5, 1997,
that are directly attributable to the exercise of powers and
authorities conferred by the declaration of the Libyan national
emergency are estimated at approximately $670,000. 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 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 others 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