[Journal of the House of Representatives, 1994]
[Thursday, March 3, 1994 (17), Para 17.6 Message from the President--National Emergency with Respect]
[Pages 210-211]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]
Para. 17.6 message from the president--national emergency with respect
to iraq
The SPEAKER pro tempore, Mr. VISCLOSKY, laid before the House a
message from the President, which was read as follows:
To the Congress of the United States:
I hereby report to the Congress on the developments since my last
report of August 2, 1993, concerning the national emergency with respect
to Iraq that was declared in Executive Order No. 12722 of August 2,
1990. This report is submitted pursuant to section 401(c) of the
National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1641(c), and section 204(c) of the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 1703(c).
Executive Order No. 12722 ordered the immediate blocking of all
property and interests in property of the Government of Iraq (including
the Central Bank of Iraq), then or thereafter located in the United
States or within the possession or control of a U.S. person. That order
also prohibited the importation into the United States of goods and
services of Iraqi origin, as well as the exportation of goods, services,
and technology from the United States to Iraq. The order prohibited
travel-related transactions to or from Iraq and the performance of any
contract in support of any industrial, commercial, or governmental
project in Iraq. U.S. persons were also prohibited from granting or
extending credit or loans to the Government of Iraq.
The foregoing prohibitions (as well as the blocking of Government of
Iraq property) were continued and augmented on August 9, 1990, by
Executive Order No. 12724, which was issued in order to align the
sanctions imposed by the United States with United Nations Security
Council Resolution No. 661 of August 6, 1990.
Executive Order No. 12817 was issued on October 21, 1992, to implement
in the United States measures adopted in United Nations Security Council
Resolution No. 778 of October 2, 1992. Resolution 778 requires U.N.
member states temporarily to transfer to a U.N. escrow account up to
$200 million apiece in Iraqi oil sale proceeds paid by purchasers after
the imposition of U.N. sanctions on Iraq. These funds finance Iraq's
obligations for U.N. activities with respect to Iraq, such as expenses
to verify Iraqi weapons destruction and to provide humanitarian
assistance in Iraq on a nonpartisan basis. A portion of the escrowed
funds will also fund the activities of the U.N. Compensation Commission
in Geneva, which will handle claims from victims of the Iraqi invasion
of Kuwait. The funds placed in the escrow account are to be returned,
with interest, to the member states that transferred them to the United
Nations, as funds are received from future sales of Iraqi oil authorized
by the U.N. Security Council. No member state is required to fund more
than half of the total contributions to the escrow account.
This report discusses only matters concerning the national emergency
with respect to Iraq that was declared in Executive Order No. 12722 and
matters relating to Executive Orders Nos. 12724 and 12817. The report
covers events from August 2, 1993, through February 1, 1994.
1. During the reporting period, there were technical amendments to the
Iraqi Sanctions Regulations relating to notification of transfers into
blocked accounts and registration of persons holding blocked property,
58 Fed. Reg. 47643 (September 10, 1993). A copy of the amendments is
attached for reference.
2. Investigations of possible violations of the Iraqi sanctions
continue to be pursued and appropriate enforcement actions taken. These
are intended to deter future activities in violation of the sanctions.
Additional civil penalty notices were prepared during the reporting
period for violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act
and Iraqi Sanctions Regulations with respect to transactions involving
Iraq. Three penalties totaling nearly $54,000 were collected from
three banks for violation of the prohibitions against funds transfers
to Iraq, and noncompliance with reporting requirements and an Office of
Foreign Assets Control directive license.
3. Investigation also continues into the roles played by various
individuals and firms outside Iraq in the Iraqi government procurement
network. These investigations may lead to additions to the Office of
Foreign Assets Control's listing of individuals and organizations
determined to be Specially Designated Nationals of the Government of
Iraq.
4. Pursuant to Executive Order No. 12817 implementing United Nations
Security Council Resolution No. 778, on October 26, 1992, the Office of
Foreign Assets Control directed the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to
establish a blocked account for receipt of certain post-August 6, 1990,
Iraqi oil sales proceeds, and to hold, invest, and transfer these funds
as required by the order. On July 20, 1993, following payments by the
Governments of Saudi Arabia and Denmark of, respectively $40,589,419.00
and $674,360.00, to the special United Nations-controlled account,
entitled United Nations Security Council Resolution No. 778 Escrow
Account, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was directed to transfer
a corresponding amount of $41,263,779.00 from the blocked account it
holds to the United Nations-controlled account. Similarly, on August 2,
1993, following the payment of $1,765,138.33 by the Government of the
United Kingdom, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was directed to
transfer a corresponding amount of $1,765,138.33 to the United Nations-
controlled account; on September 11, 1993, following payments of
$1,547,054.35 by the Government of Canada, $276,000.00 by the
Government of Greece, $3,196,897.72 from the Commission of the European
Community, and $1,006,614.89 from the Government of Denmark, the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York was directed to transfer a
corresponding amount of $6,026,566.96 to the United Nations-controlled
account; and on December 15, 1993, following payments of $5,223,880.60
by the Government of the United Kingdom, $621,426.80 by the Government
of Germany, and $1,219,941.98 from the Government of the Netherlands,
the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was directed to transfer a
corresponding amount of $7,065,249.38 to the United Nations-controlled
account. Total transfers from the blocked Federal Reserve Bank of New
York account since issuance of Executive Order No. 12817 have amounted
to $107,613,270.99 of the $200 million for which the United States is
potentially obligated, on a matching basis, pursuant to United Nations
Security Council Resolution No. 778.
5. Since the last report, there have been developments in one case.
In Campia et al. v. Newcomb et al., a settlement was entered into by
the parties addressing payment of back rent to the landlord and return
to the landlord of premises leased by the Matrix Churchill Corporation.
To implement the settlement, certain blocked property owned by Matrix
Churchill was sold, with the proceeds placed in a blocked account.
Matrix Churchill's remaining property and records were placed in secure
storage.
6. The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued a total of 444
specific licenses regarding transactions pertaining to Iraq or Iraqi
assets since August 1990. Since my last report, 53 specific licenses
have been issued. Licenses were issued for transactions such as the
filing of legal actions against Iraqi governmental entities, for legal
representation of Iraq, and the exportation to Iraq of donated
medicine, medical supplies, and food intended for humanitarian relief
purposes, the execution of powers of attorney relating to the
administration of personal assets and decedents' estates in Iraq, and
the protection of pre-existent intellectual property rights in Iraq.
7. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 6 month
period from August 2, 1993, through February
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1, 1994, that are directly attributable to the exercise of powers and
authorities conferred by the declaration of a national emergency with
respect to Iraq are reported at about $3.1 million, most of which
represents wage and salary costs for Federal personnel. Personnel costs
were largely centered in the Department of the Treasury (particularly
in the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the U.S. Customs Service, the
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement, and the Office of
the General Counsel), the Department of State (particularly the Bureau
of Economic and Business Affairs, the Bureau of Near East and South
Asian Affairs, the Bureau of International Organizations, and the
Office of the Legal Adviser), and the Department of Transportation
(particularly the U.S. Coast Guard).
8. The United States imposed economic sanctions on Iraq in response
to Iraq's invasion and illegal occupation of Kuwait, a clear act of
brutal aggression. The United States, together with the international
community, is maintaining economic sanctions against Iraq because the
Iraqi regime, despite international will, has failed to comply fully
with United Nations Security Council resolutions. Security Council
resolutions on Iraq call for the elimination of Iraqi weapons of mass
destruction, the inviolability of the Iraq-Kuwait boundary, the release
of Kuwaiti and other third-country nationals, compensation for victims
of Iraqi aggression, long-term monitoring of weapons of mass
destruction capabilities, the return of Kuwaiti assets stolen during
Iraq's illegal occupation of Kuwait, renunciation of terrorism, an end
to internal Iraqi repression of its own civilian population, and the
facilitation of access of international relief organizations to all
those in need in all parts of Iraq. Nonetheless, we see a pattern of
defiance: repeated public claims to Kuwait, sponsorship of terrorism,
incomplete declarations to weapons inspectors, and ongoing widespread
human rights violations, among other things. The U.N. sanctions remain
in place; the United States will continue to enforce those sanctions
under domestic authority.
The Baghdad government continued to violate basic human rights by
repressing the Iraqi civilian population and depriving it of
humanitarian assistance. For more than 2 years, Baghdad has maintained
a complete blockade of food, fuel, and medicine on northern Iraq. The
Iraqi military routinely harasses residents of the north, and has
attempted to ``Arabize'' Kurdish, Turcoman, and Assyrian areas in the
north. Iraq continues to launch artillery attacks against civilian
population centers in the south, and its efforts to drain the southern
marshes have forced thousands to flee to neighboring States.
In 1991, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolutions 706
and 712 that permit Iraq to sell up to $1.6 billion of oil under U.N.
auspices to fund the provision of food, medicine, and other
humanitarian supplies to the people of Iraq. Under the U.N.
resolutions, the equitable distribution within Iraq of this assistance
would be supervised and monitored by the United Nations. The Iraqi
regime so far has refused to accept these resolutions and has thereby
chosen to perpetuate the suffering of its civilian population. In
October 1993, the Iraqi government informed the United Nations that it
would not implement Resolutions 706 and 712.
The policies and actions of the Saddam Hussein regime continue to
pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and
foreign policy of the United States, as well as to regional peace and
security. Because of Iraq's failure to comply fully with United Nations
Security Council resolutions, the United States will continue to apply
economic sanctions to deter Iraq from threatening peace and stability
in the region, and I will continue to report periodically to the
Congress on significant developments, pursuant to 50 U.S.C. 1703(c).
William J. Clinton.
The White House, March 3, 1994.
By unanimous consent, the message, together with the accompanying
papers, was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and ordered to
be printed (H. Doc. 103-215).