A letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate and an Executive Order signed regarding blocking property of additional persons contributing to the situation in Ukraine :: THE WHITE HOUSEOffice of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release March 17, 2014 TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE . Dear Mr. Speaker: (Mr. President:)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 (the order) expanding the scope of the national emergency I declared in Executive Order 13660 of March 6, 2014, with respect to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by the situation in Ukraine.In the order, I find that the actions and policies of theGovernment of the Russian Federation with respect toUkraine -- including the recent deployment of Russian Federationmilitary forces in the Crimea region of Ukraine -- underminedemocratic processes and institutions in Ukraine; threaten itspeace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorialintegrity; and contribute to the misappropriation of its assets,and thereby constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat tothe national security and foreign policy of the United States.The order blocks the property and interests in property ofpersons listed in an Annex to the order. The order also blocksthe property and interests in property of persons determined bythe Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with theSecretary of State:• to be an official of the Government of the Russian Federation;• to operate in the arms and related materiel sector in the Russian Federation;• to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly:o a senior official of the Government of the Russian Federation; oro a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to the order; or• to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of: A senior official of the Government of the Russian Federation; orA person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to the order.In addition, the order suspends entry into the United States ofany alien determined to meet one or more of the above criteria.I have delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury the authority,in consultation with the Secretary of State, to take suchactions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations,and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA asmay be necessary to carry out the purposes of the order. Allagencies of the United States Government are directed to takeall appropriate measures within their authority to carry out theprovisions of the order.I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued. Sincerely,BARACK OBAMA ## #
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 17:56:52 +0000