THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release July 21, 1998
TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:
I hereby report to the Congress on the developments concerning the
national emergency with respect to terrorists who threaten to disrupt the
Middle East peace process that was declared in Executive Order 12947 of
January 23, 1995. 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 (IEEPA), 50 U.S.C. 1703(c).
1. On January 23, 1995, I signed Executive Order 12947, "Prohibiting
Transactions with Terrorists Who Threaten To Disrupt the Middle East Peace
Process" (the "Order") (60 Fed. Reg. 5079, January 25, 1995). The Order
blocks all property subject to U.S. jurisdiction in which there is any
interest of 12 terrorist organizations that threaten the Middle East peace
process as identified in an Annex to the Order. The Order also blocks the
property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction of persons
designated by the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of
the Treasury and the Attorney General, who are found (1) to have committed,
or to pose a significant risk of committing, acts of violence that have the
purpose or effect of disrupting the Middle East peace process, or (2) to
assist in, sponsor, or provide financial, material, or technological
support for, or services in support of, such acts of violence. In
addition, the Order blocks all property and interests in property subject
to U.S. jurisdiction in which there is any interest of persons determined
by the Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Secretary of
State and the Attorney General, to be owned or controlled by, or to act for
or on behalf of, any other person designated pursuant to the Order
(collectively "Specially Designated Terrorists" or "SDTs").
The Order further prohibits any transaction or dealing by a United
States person or within the United States in property or interests in
property of SDTs, including the making or receiving of any contribution of
funds, goods, or services to or for the benefit of such persons. This
prohibition includes donations that are intended to relieve human
suffering.
Designations of persons blocked pursuant to the Order are effective
upon the date of determination by the Secretary of State or her delegate,
or the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) acting under
authority delegated by the Secretary of the Treasury. Public notice of
blocking is effective upon the date of filing with the Federal Register, or
upon prior actual notice.
Because terrorist activities continue to threaten the Middle East
peace process and vital interests of the United States in the Middle East,
on January 21, 1998, I continued for another year the national emergency
declared on January 23, 1995, and the measures that took effect on January
24, 1995, to deal with that emergency. This action was taken in accordance
with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)).
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2. On January 25, 1995, the Department of the Treasury issued a
notice listing persons blocked pursuant to Executive Order 12947 who have
been designated by the President as terrorist organizations threatening the
Middle East peace process or who have been found to be owned or controlled
by, or to be acting for or on behalf of, these terrorist organizations (60
Fed. Reg. 5084, January 25, 1995). The notice identified 31 entities that
act for or on behalf of the 12 Middle East terrorist organizations listed
in the Annex to Executive Order 12947, as well as 18 individuals who are
leaders or representatives of these groups. In addition, the notice
provided 9 name variations or pseudonyms used by the 18 individuals
identified. The list identifies blocked persons who have been found to
have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, acts of
violence that have the purpose or effect of disrupting the Middle East
peace process or to have assisted in, sponsored, or provided financial,
material or technological support for, or services in support of, such acts
of violence, or are owned or controlled by, or act for or on behalf of
other blocked persons. The Department of the Treasury issued three
additional notices adding the names of three individuals, as well as their
pseudonyms, to the List of SDTs (60 Fed. Reg. 41152, August 11, 1995; 60
Fed. Reg. 44932, August 29, 1995; and 60 Fed. Reg. 58435, November 27,
1995).
3. On February 2, 1996, OFAC issued the Terrorism Sanctions
Regulations (the "TSRs" or the "Regulations") (61 Fed. Reg. 3805, February
2, 1996). The TSRs implement the President's declaration of a national
emergency and imposition of sanctions against certain persons whose acts of
violence have the purpose or effect of disrupting the Middle East peace
process. There have been no amendments to the TSRs, 31 C.F.R. Part 595,
administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of
the Treasury, since my report of January 28, 1998.
4. Since January 25, 1995, OFAC has issued six licenses pursuant to
the Regulations. These licenses authorize payment of legal expenses and
the disbursement of funds for normal expenditures for the maintenance of
family members, the employment and payment of salary and educational
expenses, payment for secure storage of tangible assets, and payment of
certain administrative transactions, to or for individuals designated
pursuant to Executive Order 12947.
5. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 6-month
period from January 23 through July 22, 1998, that are directly
attributable to the exercise of powers and authorities conferred by the
declaration of the national emergency with respect to organizations that
disrupt the Middle East peace process, are estimated at approximately
$165,000. These data do not reflect certain costs of operations by the
intelligence and law enforcement communities.
6. Executive Order 12947 provides this Administration with a tool
for combating fundraising in this country on behalf of organizations that
use terror to undermine the Middle East peace process. The Order makes it
harder for such groups to finance these criminal activities by cutting off
their access to sources of support in the United States and to U.S.
financial facilities. It is also intended to reach charitable
contributions to designated organizations and individuals to preclude
diversion of such donations to terrorist activities.
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Executive Order 12947 demonstrates the determination of the United
States to confront and combat those who would seek to destroy the Middle
East peace process, and our commitment to the global fight against
terrorism. I shall continue to exercise the powers at my disposal to apply
economic sanctions against extremists seeking to destroy the hopes of
peaceful coexistence between Arabs and Israelis as long as these measures
are appropriate, and 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,
July 21, 1998.
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