ACCESSION NUMBER:00000

FILE ID:95102308.LAR

DATE:10/23/95

TITLE:23-10-95  US INITIATIVES AGAINST INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME



TEXT:

TR95102308 (White House fact sheet on crime initiatives)  (800)



WASHINGTON -- Following is the text of a fact sheet released Oct. 22

by the White House:



US INITIATIVES AGAINST INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME



WHITE HOUSE FACT SHEET

Oct. 22, 1995



In his speech to the 50th UN General Assembly, the President outlined

5 new steps that the United States is taking to address international

organized crime.



1. No Trade With International Narcotics Traffickers Centered in

Colombia and Their Front Companies:



The President announced that he had signed an Executive Order

utilizing the authority of the International Emergency Economic Powers

Act (IEEPA). The order finds that the activities of significant

foreign narcotics traffickers centered in Colombia, including the

so-called Cali cartel, constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat

to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United

States. These traffickers are responsible for more than 80 percent of

the cocaine entering the United States. Moreover, they destabilize

regional economies and produce violence and corruption everywhere they

operate. The President has ordered that the leaders, cohorts, and

front companies of these traffickers be identified and their assets in

the U.S. blocked. U.S. individuals and companies will then be barred

from trading with those identified individuals and front companies.

The President has also ordered that evidence be developed against

other international criminal groups and their front companies so that

further action may be taken as appropriate.



2.  Money Laundering Centers:



The President announced that he has instructed the Secretaries of the

Treasury and State and the Attorney General to identify and notify the

nations which are most egregious in facilitating criminal money

laundering that they should enter into bilateral or multilateral

arrangements to conform to international standards. Such standards

have been established by the 28-member Financial Action Task Force. If

these nations do not enter into such agreements and implement laws

against money laundering, the Secretary of the Treasury, after

consulting with the Secretary of State and the Attorney General, will

recommend to the President whether economic sanctions should be

applied. Among the sanctions available is the prohibition of

electronic fund transfers and dollar clearing to financial

institutions in the subject country. Secretary Rubin will be

co-chairing a meeting of hemispheric Treasury/Finance Ministers in

Buenos Aires in December on the issue of money laundering.



3. International Declaration:



The President called for the negotiation of an international

Declaration on Citizens' Security and Combating International

Organized Crime. In such a Declaration nations would join in a series

of international commitments to deny sanctuary to terrorists,

narcotics traffickers, and other international organized criminals and

provide mutual assistance in investigations of such crimes.

International agreements already exist in many of these areas and now

arrangements should be forged where they do not.



4.  Legislative Tools:



The President has directed the Attorney General and the Secretaries of

State and of the Treasury to develop a legislative package of new

authorities which U.S. government agencies believe they need to better

investigate and prosecute all aspects of international organized

crime. The U.S. legislative proposal would also provide additional

sanctions authority against those governments which cooperate with or

provide sanctuary for international organized crime. This effort is

the result of a comprehensive review ordered by the President last

year.



5.  International Assistance:



The President directed that the new U.S. legislative package include

authorization for providing increased U.S. training and assistance to

friendly governments to help them in their efforts to combat

international organized crime affecting their own and other countries

around the globe.



6.  Counterterrorism:



The Administration has made counterterrorism one of its highest

priorities. Since taking officer the Administration has:



-- Arrested and brought back to the U.S. to stand trial terrorists

hiding in Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Jordan, and Egypt.



-- Made swift arrests following both of the major terrorist incidents

that have taken place in the U.S. (World Trade Center and Oklahoma

City).



-- Broken up two major attacks on the U.S. that were about to take

place, before they could happen (New York: UN and Holland tunnel;

Manila: US flag 747s)



-- Exercised unilateral military action against a country whose

intelligence service we found to have attempted to organize a

terrorist act against a former President (Iraqi plot against President

Bush).



-- Extended economic sanctions to Iran and Sudan for their sponsorship

of terrorism.



-- Prevented the loosening of sanctions against Libya and Iraq, both

states on the list of stats sponsors of terrorism.



-- Assisted other nations in their apprehension of major terrorist

figures.



-- Banned fund-raising for Middle East terrorists in the United

States.



-- Increased personnel and other resources for counter-terrorism.



-- Proposed an expansion of legal authorities for counter-terrorism.



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