[House Document 107-91]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
107th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - - - House Document
107-91
DECLARATION OF A NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH
RESPECT TO THE WESTERN BALKANS REGION
__________
MESSAGE
from
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
transmitting
HIS DECLARATION OF A NATIONAL EMERGENCY IN RESPONSE TO THE UNUSUAL AND
EXTRAORDINARY THREAT POSED TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY AND FOREIGN POLICY
OF THE UNITED STATES BY ACTIONS OF PERSONS ENGAGED IN OR ASSISTING,
SPONSORING, OR SUPPORTING, EXTREMIST VIOLENCE IN THE FORMER YUGOSLAV
REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA, SOUTHERN SERBIA, THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF
YUGOSLAVIA, AND ELSEWHERE IN THE WESTERN BALKANS REGION, PURSUANT TO 50
U.S.C. 1703(b)
June 28, 2001.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the
Committee on International Relations and ordered to be printed
To the Congress of the United States:
Pursuant to section 204(b) of the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 1703(b) (IEEPA), and section 301
of the National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1631, I hereby
report that I have exercised my statutory authority to declare
a national emergency in response to the unusual and
extraordinary threat posed to the national security and foreign
policy of the United States by (i) actions of persons engaged
in, or assisting, sponsoring, or supporting, extremist violence
in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, southern Serbia,
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), and elsewhere in the
Western Balkans region, and (ii) the actions of persons engaged
in, or assisting, sponsoring, or supporting acts obstructing
implementation of the Dayton Accords in Bosnia or United
Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 of June 10, 1999, in
Kosovo. The actions of these individuals and groups threaten
the peace in or diminish the security and stability of the
Western Balkans, undermine the authority, efforts, and
objectives of the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO), and other international organizations and
entities present in those areas and the wider region, and
endanger the safety of persons participating in or providing
support to the activities of those organizations and entities,
including United States military forces and Government
officials. In order to deal with this threat, I have issued an
Executive order blocking the property and interests in property
of those persons determined to have undertaken the actions
described above.
The Executive order prohibits United States persons from
transferring, paying, exporting, withdrawing, or otherwise
dealing in the property or interests in property of persons I
have identified in the Annex to the order or persons designated
pursuant to the order by the Secretary of the Treasury, in
consultation with the Secretary of State. Included among the
activities prohibited by the order are the making or receiving
by United States persons of any contribution or provision of
funds, goods, or services to or for the benefit of any person
designated in or pursuant to the order. In the Executive order,
I also have made a determination pursuant to section 203(b)(2)
of IEEPA that the operation of the IEEPA exemption for certain
humanitarian donations from the scope of the prohibitions would
seriously impair my ability to deal with the national
emergency. Absent such a determination, such donations of the
type specified in section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA could strengthen
the position of individuals and groups that endanger the safety
of persons participating in or providing support to the United
Nations, NATO, and other international organizations or
entities, including U.S. military forces and Government
officials, present in the region. The Secretary of the
Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is
authorized to issue regulations in exercise of my authorities
under IEEPA to implement the prohibitions set forth in the
Executive order. All Federal agencies are also directed to take
actions within their authority to carry out the provisions of
the order, and, where appropriate, to advise the Secretary of
the Treasury in a timely manner of the measures taken.
I am enclosing a copy of the Executive order I have issued.
The order was effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on
June 27, 2001.
I have issued the order in response to recent developments
in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, southern Serbia,
and elsewhere in the Western Balkans region where persons have
turned increasingly to the use of extremist violence, the
incitement of ethnic conflict, and other obstructionist acts to
promote irredentist or criminal agendas that have threatened
the peace in and the stability and security of the region and
placed those participating in or supporting international
organizations, including U.S. military and Government
personnel, at risk.
In both Macedonia and southern Serbia, individuals and
groups have engaged in extremist violence and other acts of
obstructionism to exploit legitimate grievances of local ethnic
Albanians. These groups include local nationals who fought with
the Kosovo Liberation Army in 1998-99 and have used their
wartime connections to obtain funding and weapons from Kosovo
and the ethnic Albanian diaspora. Guerrilla attacks by some of
these groups against police and soldiers in Macedonia threaten
to bring down the democratically elected, multi-ethnic
government of a state that has become a close friend and
invaluable partner of NATO. In March 2001, guerrillas operating
on the border between Kosovo and Macedonia attempted to fire
upon U.S. soldiers participating in the international security
presence in Kosovo known as the Kosovo Force (KFOR). Guerrilla
leaders subsequently made public threats against KFOR.
In southern Serbia, ethnic Albanian extremists have used
the Ground Safety Zone (GSZ), originally intended as a buffer
between KFOR and FRY/government of Serbia (FRY/GoS) forces, as
a safe haven for staging attacks against FRY/GoS police and
soldiers. Members of ethnic Albanian armed extremist groups in
southern Serbia have on several occasions fired on Joint U.S.-
Russian KFOR patrols in Kosovo. NATO has negotiated the return
of FRY/GoS forces to the GSZ, and facilitated negotiations
between Belgrade authorities and ethnic Albanian insurgents and
political leaders from southern Serbia. A small number of the
extremist leaders have since threatened to seek vengeance on
KFOR, including U.S. KFOR.
Individuals and groups engaged in the activities described
above have boasted falsely of having U.S. support, a claim that
is believed by many in the region. They also have aggressively
solicited funds from United States persons. These fund-raising
efforts serve to fuel extremist violence and obstructionist
activity in the region and are inimical to U.S. interests.
Consequently, the Executive order I have issued is necessary to
restrict any further financial or other support by United
States persons for the persons designated in or pursuant to the
order. The actions we are taking will demonstrate to all the
peoples of the region and to the wider international community
that the Government of the United States strongly opposes the
recent extremist violence and obstructionist activity in
Macedonia and southern Serbia and elsewhere in the Western
Balkans. The concrete steps we are undertaking to block access
by these groups and individuals to financial and material
support will assist in restoring peace and stability in the
Western Balkans region and help protect U.S. military forces
and Government officials working towards that end.
George W. Bush.
The White House, June 27, 2001.
SUSPENSION OF ENTRY AS IMMIGRANTS AND NONIMMIGRANTS OF PERSONS
RESPONSIBLE FOR ACTIONS THAT THREATEN INTERNATIONAL STABILIZATION
EFFORTS IN THE WESTERN BALKANS, AND PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR WARTIME
ATROCITIES IN THAT REGION
----------
By the President of the United States of America
a proclamation
The United States has a vital interest in assuring peace
and stability in Europe. In the Western Balkans, the United
States is engaged, together with North Atlantic Treaty
Organization Allies, the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, United Nations missions, the European
Union, and other international organizations in an effort to
achieve peace, stability, reconciliation, and democratic
development and to facilitate the region's integration into the
European mainstream. The United States views full
implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords in Bosnia and United
Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 in Kosovo as critical
to these efforts.
In furtherance of these objectives, the United States has
provided military, diplomatic, financial, and logistical
support to international institutions established in the region
and to civil and security authorities. The United States has a
direct and significant interest in the success of such
initiatives and in the safety of personnel involved in them,
including numerous United States military and Government
officials.
In light of these objectives, I have determined that it is
in the interests of the United States to restrict the entry
into the United States of persons responsible for actions that
threaten international stabilization efforts in the Western
Balkans region, and of persons responsible for wartime
atrocities committed in that region since 1991.
Now, therefore, I, George W. Bush, President of the United
States of America, by the authority vested in me by the
Constitution and laws of the United States, including section
212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, as
amended (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)), and section 301 of title 3, United
States Code, hereby find that the unrestricted immigrant and
nonimmigrant entry into the United States of persons described
in section 1 of this proclamation would, except as provided for
in sections 2 and 3 of this proclamation, be detrimental to the
interests of the United States. I therefore hereby proclaim
that:
Section 1. The immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into the
United States of the following persons is hereby suspended:
(a) Persons who, through violent or other acts: (i) seek to
obstruct the implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords (the
``Dayton Agreements'') or United Nations Security Council
Resolution 1244 of June 10, 1999; (ii) seek to undermine the
authority or security of the United Nations Interim
Administration Mission in Kosovo, the international security
presence in Kosovo known as the Kosovo Force, the Office of the
High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the
international security presence in Bosnia known as the
Stabilization Force, the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, the International Criminal Tribunal for
the former Yugoslavia, or other international organizations and
entities present in the region pursuant to the Dayton Agreement
or United Nations Security Council resolutions, including but
not limited to Resolutions 827, 1031, and 1244; (iii) seek to
intimidate or to prevent displaced persons or refugees from
returning to their places of residence in any area or state of
the Western Balkans region; or (iv) otherwise seek to undermine
peace, stability, reconciliation, or democratic development in
any area or state of the Western Balkans region.
(b) Persons who are responsible for directing, planning, or
carrying out wartime atrocities, including but not limited to
acts in furtherance of ``ethnic cleansing,'' committed in any
area or state of the Western Balkans region since 1991.
Sec. 2. Section 1 of this proclamation shall not apply with
respect to any person otherwise covered by section 1 where
entry of such person would not be contrary to the interest of
the United States.
Sec. 3. Persons covered by sections 1 and 2 of this
proclamation shall be identified by the Secretary of State or
the Secretary's designee, in his or her sole discretion,
pursuant to such procedures as the Secretary may establish
under section 5 of this proclamation.
Sec. 4. Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to
derogate from United States Government obligations under
applicable international agreements.
Sec. 5. The Secretary of State shall have responsibility
for implementing this proclamation pursuant to such procedures
as the Secretary may establish.
Sec. 6. This proclamation is effective immediately and
shall remain in effect until such time as the Secretary of
State determines that it is no longer necessary and should be
terminated, either in whole or in part. The Secretary of State
shall advise the Attorney General of such determination, which
shall become effective upon publication in the Federal
Register.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand
one, and of the Independence of the United States of America
the two hundred and twenty-fifth.
George W. Bush.
Executive Order
----------
BLOCKING PROPERTY OF PERSONS WHO THREATEN INTERNATIONAL STABILIZATION
EFFORTS IN THE WESTERN BALKANS
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.), and section 301 of title 3, United States
Code,
I, George W. Bush, President of the United States of
America, have determined that the actions of persons engaged
in, or assisting, sponsoring, or supporting, (i) extremist
violence in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, southern
Serbia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and elsewhere in
the Western Balkans region, or (ii) acts obstructing
implementation of the Dayton Accords in Bosnia or United
Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 of June 10, 1999, in
Kosovo, threaten the peace in or diminish the security and
stability of those areas and the wider region, undermine the
authority, efforts, and objectives of the United Nations, the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and other
international organizations and entities present in those areas
and the wider region, and endanger the safety of persons
participating in or providing support to the activities of
those organizations and entities, including United States
military forces and Government officials. I find that such
actions constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the
national security and foreign policy of the United States, and
hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat. I
hereby order:
Section 1. (a) Except to the extent provided in section
203(b)(1), (3), and (4) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(1), (3),
and (4)), the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act
of 2000 (title IX, Public Law 106-387), and in regulations,
orders, directives, or licenses that may hereafter be issued
pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract
entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the
effective date, all property and interests in property of:
(i) the persons listed in the Annex to this order; and
(ii) persons designated by the Secretary of the Treasury,
in consultation with the Secretary of State, because they are
found:
(A) to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of
committing, acts of violence that have the purpose or effect of
threatening the peace in or diminishing the stability or
security of any area or state in the Western Balkans region,
undermining the authority, efforts, or objections of
international organizations or entities present in the region,
or endangering the safety of persons participating in or
providing support to the activities of those international
organizations or entities, or,
(B) to have actively obstructed, or to pose a significant
risk of actively obstructing, implementation of the Dayton
Accords in Bosnia or United Nations Security Council Resolution
1244 in Kosovo, or
(C) materially to assist in, sponsor, or provide financial
or technological support for, or goods or services in support
of, such acts of violence or obstructionism, or
(D) to be owned or controlled by, or acting or purporting
to act directly or indirectly for or on behalf of, any of the
foregoing persons, that are or hereafter come within the United
States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or
control of United States persons, are blocked and may not be
transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in.
(b) I hereby determine that the making of donations of the
type specified in section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C.
1702(b)(2)) by United States persons to persons designated in
or pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section would seriously
impair my ability to deal with the national emergency declared
in this order. Accordingly, the blocking of property and
interests in property pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section
includes, but is not limited to, the prohibition of the making
by a United States person of any such donation to any such
designated person, except as otherwise authorized by the
Secretary of the Treasury.
(c) The blocking of property and interests in property
pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section includes, but is not
limited to, the prohibition of the making or receiving by a
United States person of any contribution or provision of funds,
goods, or services to or for the benefit of a person designated
in or pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section.
Sec. 2. Any transaction by a United States person that
evades or avoids, or has the purpose of evading or avoiding, or
attempts to violate, any of the prohibitions set forth in this
order is prohibited. Any conspiracy formed to violate the
prohibitions of 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; and
(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.
Sec. 4. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with
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 me 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.
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 and, where
appropriate, to advise the Secretary of the Treasury in a
timely manner of the measures taken.
Sec. 5. This order is not intended to create, nor does it
create, any right, benefit, or privilege, substantive or
procedural, enforceable at law by a party against the United
States, its agencies, officers, or any other person.
Sec. 6. (a) This order is effective at 12:01 eastern
daylight time on June 27, 2001;
(b) This order shall be transmitted to the Congress and
published in the Federal Register.
George W. Bush.
The White House, June 26, 2001.