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105th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 105-6
DEVELOPMENTS CONCERNING THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO
SIGNIFICANT NARCOTICS TRAFFICKERS CENTERED IN COLOMBIA
__________
COMMUNICATION
From
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
TRANSMITTING
A REPORT ON DEVELOPMENTS CONCERNING THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT
TO SIGNIFICANT NARCOTICS TRAFFICKERS CENTERED IN COLOMBIA THAT WAS
DECLARED IN EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 12978 OF OCTOBER 21, 1995--RECEIVED IN
THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 23, 1996, PURSUANT
TO 50 U.S.C. 1703(c)
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
January 7, 1997.--Referred to the Committee on International Relations
and ordered to be printed
The White House,
Washington, DC, October 21, 1996.
Hon. Newt Gingrich,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Speaker: I hereby report to the Congress on the
developments since my report of April 23, 1996, concerning the
national emergency with respect to significant narcotics
traffickers centered in Colombia that was declared in Executive
Order 12978 of October 21, 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 October 21, 1995, I signed Executive Order 12978,
``Blocking Assets and Prohibiting Transactions with Significant
Narcotics Traffickers'' (the ``Order'') (60 Fed. Reg. 54579,
October 24, 1995). The Order blocks all property subject to
U.S. jurisdiction in which there is any interest of four
significant foreign narcotics traffickers who are principals in
the so-called Cali drug cartel centered in Colombia. They are
listed in the Annex to the Order. The Order also blocks the
property and interests in property of foreign persons
determined by the Secretary of the Treasury. In consultation
with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, (a) to
play a significant role in international narcotics trafficking
centered in Colombia or (b) to materially assist in or provide
financial or technological support for, or goods or services in
support of, the narcotics trafficking activities of persons
designated in or pursuant to the Order. In addition the Order
blocks all property and interests in property subject to U.S.
jurisdiction of persons determined by the Secretary of the
Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and the
Secretary of State, to be owned or controlled by, or to act for
or on behalf of, persons designated in or pursuant to the Order
(collectively ``Specifically Designated Narcotics Traffickers''
or (SDNTs)).
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 SDNTs, and any transaction that evades
or avoids, has the purpose or evading or avoiding, or attempts
to violate, the prohibitions contained in the Order.
Designations of foreign persons blocked pursuant to the
Order are effective upon the date of determination by the
Director of the Department of the Treasury's 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.
2. On October 24, 1995, the Department of the Treasury
issued a notice containing 76 additional names of persons
determined to meet the criteria set forth in Executive Order
12978 (60 Fed. Reg. 54582-84, October 24, 1995).
The Department of the Treasury issued another notice adding
the names of one additional entity and three additional
individuals, as well as expanded information regarding
addresses and pseudonyms, to the List of SDNTs on November 29,
1995 (60 Fed. Reg. 61288-89).
3. On March 8, 1996, OFAC published a notice in the Federal
Register adding the names of 138 additional individuals and 60
entities designated pursuant to the Order, and revising
information for 8 individuals on the list of blocked persons
contained in the notices published on November 29, 1995, and
October 24, 1995 (61 Fed. Reg. 9523-28). The OFAC, in
coordination with the Attorney General and the Secretary of
State, is continuing to expand the list of Specially Designated
Narcotics Traffickers, including both organizations and
individuals, as additional information is developed.
4. Since my last report, OFAC has issued 498 alert letters
to businesses in Colombia that are known to have had some form
of pre-sanctions business or financial relationships with
entities identified as SDNTs of the Cali drug cartel. These
letters urge the Colombian companies to sever any business or
financial relationships they have with the SDNTs.
5. A task force operating under OFAC's direction and
staffed with personnel detailed from the Department of Justice
and other Federal agencies has been established in the U.S.
Embassy in Bogota to enhance OFAC's enforcement capabilities
under the SDNT program. The task force, which also has other
personnel assigned to OFAC in Washington, is working on an
expedited basis to escalate the attack on the drug cartels in
Colombia as envisioned by Executive Order 12978.
The task force mission is to identify, develop, and exploit
all forms of information resources in Colombia in order to
further expose and incapacitate the businesses and operatives
of the Cali drug cartel and other significant narcotics
traffickers in Colombia. By increasing the number of SDNT
designations, U.S. sanctions will impact an ever-larger number
of individuals and entities that are owned or controlled by, or
act for or on behalf of the cartels, or which provide material
or financial support to the activities of Significant Narcotics
Traffickers. Personnel and related costs are being borne by the
parent agencies of the persons detailed to the narcotics
sanctions project in Bogota and Washington.
6. As of August 31, 1996, OFAC had issued five specific
licenses pursuant to Executive Order 12978. These licenses were
issued in accordance with established Treasury policy
authorizing the completion of pre-sanctions transactions and
the provision of legal services to and payment of fees for
representation of SDNTs in proceedings within the United States
arising from the imposition of sanctions.
7. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the
6-month period from April 21 through October 20, 1996, that are
directly attributable to the exercise of powers and authorities
conferred by the declaration of the national emergency with
respect to Significant Narcotics Traffickers are estimated at
approximately $1 million. 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 Justice, and
the Department of State.
8. Executive Order 12978 provides this Administration with
a new tool for combatting the actions of significant foreign
narcotics traffickers centered in Colombia, and the
unparalleled violence, corruption, and harm that they cause in
the United States and abroad. The Order is designed to deny
these traffickers the benefit of any assets subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States and to prevent United States
persons from engaging in any commercial dealings with them,
their front companies, and their agents. Executive Order 12978
demonstrates the U.S. commitment to end the scourge that such
traffickers have wrought upon society in the United States and
abroad.
The magnitude and the dimension of the problem in
Colombia--perhaps the most pivotal country of all in terms of
the world's cocaine trade--is extremely grave. I shall continue
to exercise the powers at my disposal to apply economic
sanctions against significant foreign narcotics traffickers and
their violent and corrupting activities 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).
Sincerely,
William J. Clinton.
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