[House Document 112-46]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
112th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 112-46
NOTIFICATION THAT AN EXECUTIVE ORDER WAS ISSUED DECLARING A NATIONAL
EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO THE UNUSUAL AND EXTRAORDINARY THREAT THAT
SIGNIFICANT TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS POSE
__________
MESSAGE
from
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
transmitting
NOTIFICATION THAT AN EXECUTIVE ORDER WAS ISSUED DECLARING A NATIONAL
EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO THE UNUSUAL AND EXTRAORDINARY THREAT THAT
SIGNIFICANT TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS POSE TO THE NATIONAL
SECURITY, FOREIGN POLICY, AND ECONOMY OF THE UNITED STATES, PURSUANT TO
50 U.S.C. 1701 ET SEQ.
July 26, 2011.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs and ordered to be printed
To the Congress of the United States:
Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act
(50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), I hereby report that I have
issued an Executive Order (the ``order'') declaring a national
emergency with respect to the unusual and extraordinary threat
that significant transnational criminal organizations pose to
the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the
United States.
Organized crime is no longer a local or regional problem;
it has become a danger to international stability. Significant
transnational criminal organizations have become increasingly
sophisticated and dangerous to the United States, and their
activities have reached such scope and gravity that they
destabilize the international system. These groups have taken
advantage of globalization and other factors to diversify their
geographic scope and range of activities. They have increased
and deepened their ties to governments and the international
financial system, relying not only on bribery and violence, but
also more and more on the ability to exploit differences among
countries and to create and maintain legal facades to hide
illicit activities.
The specific harms that significant transnational criminal
organizations threaten today are many. They corrupt--and in
some cases co-opt--governments, thereby destabilizing them and
weakening democratic institutions and the rule of law. They
threaten U.S. economic interests by subverting, exploiting, and
distorting legitimate markets, and could gain influence in
strategic sectors of the world economy.
Significant transnational criminal organizations that
engage in cybercrime threaten sensitive public and private
computer networks, undermine the integrity of the international
financial system, and impose costs on the American consumer.
Those that engage in the theft of intellectual property not
only erode U.S. competitiveness, but also endanger the public
health and safety through the distribution of tainted and
counterfeit goods. Many of them also engage in drug
trafficking.
Finally, significant transnational criminal organizations
increasingly support the activities of other dangerous persons.
Some of these organizations are involved in arms smuggling,
which can facilitate and aggravate violent civil conflicts.
Others are involved in human smuggling, exacerbating the
problem of forced labor. There is also evidence of growing ties
between significant transnational criminal organizations and
terrorists.
The Executive Order I have issued today is one part of a
comprehensive strategy to address the growing threat of
transnational organized crime. The order targets significant
transnational criminal organizations and the networks that
support them, striking at the core of those networks--their
ability and need to move money. It does this by blocking the
property and interests in property of four transnational
criminal organizations, listed in the Annex to the order, that
currently pose significant threats to U.S. domestic and foreign
economic interests, as well as to U.S. promotion of
transparency and stability in the international political and
financial systems. The order provides criteria for the further
blocking of persons determined by the Secretary of the
Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and the
Secretary of State:
to be a foreign person that constitutes a
significant transnational criminal organization;
to have materially assisted, sponsored, or
provided financial, material, or technological support
for, or goods or services to or in support of, any
person whose property and interests in property are
blocked pursuant to the order; or
to be owned or controlled by, or to have
acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly
or indirectly, any person whose property and interests
in property are blocked pursuant to the order.
I have delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury the
authority, in consultation with the Attorney General and the
Secretary of State, to take such actions, including the
promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers
granted to the President by IEEPA as may be necessary to carry
out the purposes of the order.
The order is effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time
on July 25, 2011. All executive agencies of the United States
Government are directed to take all appropriate measures within
their authority to carry out the provisions of the order.
I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued.
Barack Obama.
The White House, July 24, 2011.
Executive Order
----------
Blocking Property of Transnational Criminal Organizations
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of America,
including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50
U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), and section 301 of title 3, United
States Code,
I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America,
find that the activities of significant transnational criminal
organizations, such as those listed in the Annex to this order,
have reached such scope and gravity that they threaten the
stability of international political and economic systems. Such
organizations are becoming increasingly sophisticated and
dangerous to the United States; they are increasingly
entrenched in the operations of foreign governments and the
international financial system, thereby weakening democratic
institutions, degrading the rule of law, and undermining
economic markets. These organizations facilitate and aggravate
violent civil conflicts and increasingly facilitate the
activities of other dangerous persons. I therefore determine
that significant transnational criminal organizations
constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national
security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, and
hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat.
Accordingly, I hereby order:
Section 1. (a) All property and interests in property that
are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United
States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or
control of any United States person, including any overseas
branch, of the following persons are blocked and may not be
transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in:
(i) the persons listed in the Annex to this order and
(ii) any person determined by the Secretary of the
Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and the
Secretary of State:
(A) to be a foreign person that constitutes a significant
transnational criminal organization;
(B) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided
financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or
services to or in support of, any person whose property and
interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; or
(C) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or
purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly,
any person whose property and interests in property are blocked
pursuant to this order.
(b) I hereby determine that the making of donations of the
types of articles specified in section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA (50
U.S.C. 1702(b)(2)) by, to, or for the benefit of any person
whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant
to this order would seriously impair my ability to deal with
the national emergency declared in this order, and I hereby
prohibit such donations as provided by subsection (a) of this
section.
(c) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section
include, but are not limited to:
(i) the making of any contribution or provision of funds,
goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any person
whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant
to this order; and
(ii) the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds,
goods, or services from any such person.
(d) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section
apply except to the extent provided by statutes, or in
regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued
pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract
entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the
effective date of this order.
Sec. 2. (a) Any transaction by a United States person or
within the United States that evades or avoids, has the purpose
of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to
violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is
prohibited.
(b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the
prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.
Sec. 3. For the purposes of this order:
(a) the term ``person'' means an individual or entity;
(b) the term ``entity'' means a partnership, association,
trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other
organization;
(c) the term ``United States person'' means any United
States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized
under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within
the United States (including foreign branches), or any person
in the United States;
(d) the term ``foreign person'' means any citizen or
national of a foreign state, or any entity organized under the
laws of a foreign state or existing in a foreign state,
including any such individual or entity who is also a United
States person; and
(e) the term ``significant transnational criminal
organization'' means a group of persons, such as those listed
in the Annex to this order, that includes one or more foreign
persons; that engages in an ongoing pattern of serious criminal
activity involving the jurisdictions of at least two foreign
states; and that threatens the national security, foreign
policy, or economy of the United States.
Sec. 4. For those persons whose property and interests in
property are blocked pursuant to this order who might have a
constitutional presence in the United States, I find that
because of the ability to transfer funds or other assets
instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of measures to be
taken pursuant to this order would render these measures
ineffectual. I therefore determine that for these measures to
be effective in addressing the national emergency declared in
this order, there need be no prior notice of a listing or
determination made pursuant to section 1(a) of this order.
Sec. 5. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with
the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, is hereby
authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of
rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the
President by IEEPA, as may be necessary to carry out the
purposes of this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may
redelegate any of these functions to other officers and
agencies of the United States Government consistent with
applicable law. All agencies of the United States Government
are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within
their authority to carry out the provisions of this order.
Sec. 6. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with
the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, is hereby
authorized to submit the recurring and final reports to the
Congress on the national emergency declared in this order,
consistent with section 401(c) of the NEA (50 U.S.C. 1641(c))
and section 204(c) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1703(c)).
Sec. 7. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with
the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, is hereby
authorized to determine that circumstances no longer warrant
the blocking of the property and interests in property of a
person listed in the Annex to this order, and to take necessary
action to give effect to that determination.
Sec. 8. This order is not intended to, and does not, create
any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at
law or in equity by any party against the United States, its
departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or
agents, or any other person.
Sec. 9. This order is effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern
daylight time on July 25, 2011.
Barack Obama.
The White House, July 24, 2011.
ANNEX
Entities
1. THE BROTHERS' CIRCLE (f.k.a. FAMILY OF ELEVEN; f.k.a.
THE TWENTY)
2. CAMORRA
3. YAKUZA (a.k.a. BORYOKUDAN; a.k.a. GOKUDO)
4. LOS ZETAS