REPORT ON TERRORIST ASSETS (House of Representatives - May 03, 1993)

[Page: H2187]

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Hamilton] is recognized for 5 minutes.

Department of the Treasury,
Washington, April 19, 1993.

Hon. Lee H. Hamilton,
Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: Enclosed is the Annual Report to the Congress on Assets in the United States Belonging to Terrorist Countries or International Terrorist Organizations.

Sincerely,
GAIL E. PETERSON,

Deputy Director,
Office of Legislative Affairs.

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Annual Report to the Congress on Assets in the United States Belonging to Terrorist Countries or International Terrorist Organizations

Section 304 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993, Public Law Number 102-138, Section 304, enacted on October 28, 1991, requires the Secretary of the Treasury to provide annual reports to Congress concerning the nature and extent of assets held in the United States by terrorist countries and organizations engaged in international terrorism. This report is being submitted to the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Finance in the Senate and to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Ways and Means in the House. It was prepared by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (`FAC'), which has the responsibility for administering and enforcing economic sanctions programs mandated by the President pursuant to his declaration of a national emergency with regard to particular foreign countries.

State Sponsors of Terrorism

State sponsors of terrorism are those countries designated by the Secretary of State under Section 40(d) of the Arms Export Control Act, Title 22, United States Code, Section 2780(d). States currently listed as sponsors of terrorism are: Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, and Syria. Of those six countries, FAC currently administers a comprehensive embargo or other sanctions program against all but Syria. These existing assets freezes, trade embargoes, and travel- and transportation-related restrictions are promulgated under the authority of the Trading With the Enemy Act, Title 50, United States Code, Appendix 5 (Cuba and North Korea), the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Title 50, United States Code, Section 1701 et seq. (Iran, Iraq, and Libya), the United Nations Participation Act, Title 22, United States Code, Section 287c (Iraq and Libya), and the International Security and Development Cooperation Act, Title 22, United States Code, Section 2349aa-8 & -9 (Iran and Libya).

Information concerning the known holdings in the United States of those six state sponsors of terrorism is reported below at Exhibit A. It should be noted that, with the exception of Syria, these figures represent aggregate totals of assets blocked in the United States and that such assets are not subject to attachment by any claimant until such time as a claims settlement process has been established in conjunction with the lifting of United States sanctions against the target state.

International Terrorist Organizations

Section 304 of Public Law 102-138 also requires the Secretary of the Treasury to report to the Congress annually on the asset holdings in the United States of international terrorist organizations. For purposes of this report, Treasury has utilized as a working list of international terrorist organizations those thirty-nine (39) entities described in Appendix B of the April 1992 document `Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1991' (the `Patterns Report'). The Patterns Report is prepared annually by the Department of State's Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, in compliance with Title 22, United States Code, Section 2656f(a). It is considered to be the most authoritative reference available for the purposes of Treasury's annual report to the Congress on the nature and extent of assets held in the United States by terrorist countries and organizations engaged in international terrorism. The entire 1991 Patterns Report is attached as Exhibit B of this report.

The Treasury Department has no information to report with regard to the assets held in the United States by international terrorist organizations. Treasury does not compile information on the holdings of private individuals or organizations in the United States unless those assets are subject to sanctions imposed under one or more of the authorities discussed above.

Treasury is currently examining the list of organizations contained in Appendix B of the 1991 Patterns Report to determine whether their connections to states identified as sponsors of international terrorism may provide a basis for further action by the Office of Foreign Assets Control under existing economic sanctions programs.

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Assets in the United States Belonging to State Sponsors of Terrorism

The following list contains information on the nature and extent of assets in the United States belonging to counties identified as state sponsors of terrorism. It should be noted that assets blocked under the authority of an existing United States economic sanctions program are not subject to attachment by any claimant until such time as a claims settlement process has been established in conjunction with the lifting of sanctions against the target state.

The Treasury Department does not compile information on the holdings of private individuals or organizations in the United States, unless those holdings are subject to an assets freeze imposed under the authority of the Trading With the Enemy Act or the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.


[Amounts in millions of U.S. dollars]
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Country      Amount Explanation                                                                                                                                                                           
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Cuba         $111.2 Government of Cuba's blocked assets. Primarily bank accounts. Source: Office of Foreign Assets Control (`FAC'), Treasury.                                                             
Iran           22.3 Government of Iran's diplomatic properties remaining blocked since 1979-1981 hostage crisis. Primarily real estate. Source: FAC, Treasury.                                            
Iraq        1,108.0 Government of Iraq's frozen assets. Primarily bank deposits. Source: FAC, Treasury.                                                                                                   
Libya         903.0 Government of Libya's frozen assets. Primarily bank deposits. Source: FAC, Treasury.                                                                                                  
North Korea     2.8 North Korea's frozen bank deposits. Source: FAC, Treasury.                                                                                                                            
Syria         249.0 Total liabilities of U.S. banks ($245) to official Syrian institutions and ($4) in total liabilities of U.S. nonbanking institutions to Syria. Source: Treasury Bulletin, March 1993. 
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The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Burton] is recognized for 60 minutes.

[Mr. BURTON of Indiana addressed the House. His remarks will appear hereafter in the Extensions of Remarks.]

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Wisconsin [Mr. Obey] is recognized for 60 minutes.

[Mr. OBEY addressed the House. His remarks will appear hereafter in the Extensions of Remarks.]

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from New York [Mr. Solomon] is recognized for 60 minutes.

[Mr. SOLOMON addressed the House. His remarks will appear hereafter in the Extensions of Remarks.]

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from New York [Mr. Owens] is recognized for 60 minutes.

[Mr. OWENS addressed the House. His remarks will appear hereafter in the Extensions of Remarks.]

[Page: H2188]

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Wolf] is recognized for 60 minutes.

[Mr. WOLF addressed the House. His remarks will appear hereafter in the Extensions of Remarks.]

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Gonzalez] is recognized for 60 minutes.

[Mr. GONZALEZ addressed the House. His remarks will appear hereafter in the Extensions of Remarks.]

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