For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 30, 2005
Text of a Letter from the President to the Congress of the United States
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 that
takes additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in
Executive Order 12938 of November 14, 1994, regarding the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and the means of delivering them, and the
measures imposed by that order, as expanded by Executive Order 13094 of
July 28, 1998.
This order is designed to combat WMD trafficking by blocking the property
of persons that engage in proliferation activities and their support
networks. It is intended to advance international cooperative efforts
against WMD financing, including with our G-8 partners and through the
Proliferation Security Initiative. This order also provides a model for
other nations to follow in adopting laws to stem the flow of financial and
other support for proliferation activities, as decided in United Nations
Security Council Resolution 1540. It further implements a key
recommendation of the Silberman-Robb WMD Commission.
Executive Order 12938, as amended, authorizes the Secretary of State to
impose certain measures against foreign persons (individuals or entities)
determined to have materially contributed to the proliferation efforts of
any foreign country, project, or entity of proliferation concern. The
measures that the Secretary of State may choose to impose under Executive
Order 12938, as amended, are a ban on U.S. Government procurement from the
designated foreign person; a ban on U.S. Government assistance to the
designated foreign person; and a ban on imports from the designated foreign
person.
Recognizing the need for additional tools to defeat the proliferation of
WMD, I have signed the new order, which
authorizes the imposition of a new measure blocking against WMD
proliferators and their support networks. This action, sometimes referred
to as freezing, will apply to property and interests in property of persons
designated under the order and will deny such persons access to the U.S.
financial and commercial systems. Modeled after Executive Order 13224 of
September 23, 2001, the new order provides broad new authorities to target
not only persons engaged in proliferation activities, but also those
providing support or services to such proliferators.
In particular, the order blocks the property and interests in property in
the United States, or in the possession or control of United States
persons, of (1) the persons listed in the Annex to the order; (2) any
foreign person determined by the Secretary of State, in consultation with
the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, and other relevant
agencies, to have engaged, or attempted to engage, in activities or
transactions that have materially contributed to, or pose a risk of
materially
contributing to, the proliferation of WMD or their means of delivery
(including missiles capable of delivering such weapons) by any person or
foreign country of proliferation concern; (3) any person determined by the
Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the
Attorney General, and other relevant agencies, to have provided, or
attempted to provide, financial, material, technological, or other support
for, or goods or services in support of, proliferation-related activities
or any person blocked pursuant to the order; and (4) any person determined
by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of
State, the Attorney General, and other relevant agencies, to be owned or
controlled by, or acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly
or indirectly, any blocked person.
In addition, the order amends section 4(a) of Executive Order 12938, as
amended, by conforming the criteria for determining that a foreign person
has engaged in activity described in that order to the criteria for
designations by the Secretary of State set forth in section 1(a)(ii) of the
new order. Executive Order 12938, as amended, will continue to be an
important tool to combat WMD proliferation.
Actions taken under the order become effective on June 29, 2005. The new
order recognizes the need for more robust tools to defeat the proliferation
of WMD around the world. The steps that we are undertaking in this new
order form yet another part of our evolving response to this challenge.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
June 28, 2005.
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