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January 2002
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 17, 2002
Sierra Leone and Liberia Emergency to Continue
Text of a Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate
January 15, 2002
Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)
Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)) provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, prior to the anniversary date of its declaration, the President publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to the Congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date. In accordance with this provision, I have sent the enclosed notice, stating that the Sierra Leone and Liberia emergency is to continue in effect beyond January 18, 2002, to the Federal Register for publication. This is the first renewal of the Sierra Leone and Liberia emergency.
The national emergency declared with respect to Sierra Leone on January 18, 2001, as expanded on May 22, 2001, with respect to Liberia, has not been resolved. The national emergency, as expanded, was declared to deal with the threat posed to United States foreign policy by (1) the insurgent Revolutionary United Front's (RUF) illicit trade in diamonds to fund its operations and procurement of weapons in the brutal, decade-long civil war in Sierra Leone; (2) the RUF's flagrant violation of the Lom? Peace Agreement of July 7, 1999; (3) the RUF's attacks on personnel of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone; and (4) the actions of the Government of Liberia in support of the RUF. These actions and policies are hostile to U.S. interests and pose a continuing, unusual, and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States. For these reasons, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared with respect to Sierra Leone and Liberia and to maintain in force the sanctions imposed in response to the threat posed by the actions and policies of the RUF.
Sincerely,
GEORGE W. BUSH
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