[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 43 (Monday, October 31, 1994)]
[Pages 2156-2158]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Letter to Congressional Leaders on Additional Measures Against the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)
October 25, 1994
Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)
On May 30, 1992, pursuant to the International Emergency Economic
Powers Act (IEEPA), 50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq., and the National Emergencies
Act (NEA), 50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq., President Bush exercised his
statutory authority to issue Executive Order No. 12808, declaring a
national emergency with respect to the actions and policies of the
Governments of Serbia and Montenegro and blocking Yugoslav Government
property.
On June 5, 1992, pursuant to the above authorities, as well as
section 1114 of the Federal Aviation Act (49 U.S.C. App. 1514), and
section 5 of the United Nations Participation Act of 1945, as amended
(UNPA), (22 U.S.C. 287c), the President exercised his statutory
authority to issue Executive Order No. 12810, blocking property of, and
prohibiting transactions with, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
(Serbia and Montenegro). This latter action was taken to ensure that the
economic measures taken by the United States with respect to the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) conform to United Nations
Security Council Resolution 757 of May 30, 1992.
On January 15, 1993, President Bush exercised his statutory
authority under IEEPA, the UNPA, and the NEA to issue Executive Order
No. 12831 to impose additional economic measures with respect to the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) in accordance
with United Nations Security Council Resolutions 757 of May 30, 1992,
and 787 of November 16, 1992. Those additional measures prohibited
transactions related to transshipments through the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), as well as transactions related to
vessels owned or controlled by persons or entities in the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro).
On April 25, 1993, I exercised my statutory authority under IEEPA,
the UNPA, and the NEA to issue Executive Order No. 12846 to impose
additional economic measures with respect to the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) in accordance with United Nations
Security Council Resolutions 757 of May 30, 1992, 787 of November 16,
1992, and 820 of April 17, 1993. These additional measures blocked the
property of businesses in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; charged
owners or operators of property blocked under Executive Orders Nos.
12808,
[[Page 2157]]
12810, 12831, or 12846 all expenses incident to the blocking and
maintenance of such property; ordered the detention; pending
investigation, of all nonblocked vessels suspected of violating United
Nations Security Council Resolutions 713, 757, 787, or 820 and the
blocking of such conveyances or cargos if a violation is determined to
have been committed; prohibited any vessel registered in the United
States from entering the territorial waters of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia; and prohibited United States persons from engaging in any
dealings relating to the shipment of goods to, from, or through the
United Nations Protected Areas in the Republic of Croatia and areas in
the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the control of Bosnian Serb
forces.
On September 23, 1994, the United Nations Security Council adopted
Resolution 942, which requires the imposition of additional measures on
the areas of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the control of
the Bosnian Serb forces due to their refusal to accept the proposed
territorial settlement of the conflict in the Republic of Bosnia and
Herzegovina.
On October 25, 1994, pursuant to the above authorities, I expanded
the scope of the national emergency declared in Executive Order No.
12808 to address the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national
security, foreign policy and economy of the United States posed by the
actions of the Bosnian Serb forces and the authorities in the areas of
the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina under their control and imposed
additional measures in those areas to conform to United Nations Security
Council Resolution 942 (1994).
The new Executive order:
--blocks all property and interests in property of (and transactions
with): (1) the Bosnian Serb forces and authorities in those areas
of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the control of
those forces; (2) any entity organized or located in the Bosnian
Serb-controlled areas; (3) any entity, wherever organized or
located, which is owned or controlled directly or indirectly by
any person in, or resident in, the Bosnian Serb-controlled areas;
or (4) any person acting for or on behalf of any person mentioned
above;
--prohibits the exportation or provision of services by United
States persons to Bosnian Serb-controlled areas or to any person
for the purposes of any business carried out in those areas;
--prohibits vessels registered in the United States or owned or
controlled by United States persons from entering the riverine
ports of the Bosnian Serb-controlled areas; and
--prohibits any transaction that evades or avoids or has the purpose
of evading or avoiding, or attempts to violate, any of the
prohibitions of the order.
In addition, this order authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, in
consultation with the Secretary of State, to take such actions and to
employ all powers granted to me by the International Emergency Economic
Powers Act and the United Nations Participation Act as may be necessary
to carry out the purposes of the order, including the issuance of
licenses authorizing transactions otherwise prohibited. The sanctions
imposed in the order apply notwithstanding any preexisting contracts,
international agreements, licenses or authorizations.
The new Executive order is necessary to confirm our commitment to a
negotiated settlement of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia that
preserves the territorial integrity of all the states there within their
internationally recognized borders; to respond to the continued refusal
of the Bosnian Serb party to accept the proposed territorial settlement
accepted by the other parties; and to implement mandatory United Nations
Security Council measures imposed on the Bosnian Serbs under Chapter VII
of the Charter of the United Nations in order to urge them to accept the
proposed territorial settlement unconditionally and in full.
The declaration of the national emergency made by Executive Order
No. 12808 and the controls imposed under Executive Orders Nos. 12810,
12831, and 12846, and any other provisions of those orders, to the
extent that they are not modified by or inconsistent with this new
order, remain in full force and are unaffected by this order.
[[Page 2158]]
Sincerely,
William J. Clinton
Note: Identical letters were sent to Thomas S. Foley, Speaker of the
House of Representatives, and Albert Gore, Jr., President of the Senate.