For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 26, 2004
Message to the Congress of the United States
Pursuant to section 1 of title I of Public Law 65-24, ch. 30, 50
U.S.C. 191, and sections 201 and 301 of the National Emergencies Act,
50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq., I hereby report that I have exercised my
statutory authority to continue the national emergency declared in
Proclamation 6867 of March 1, 1996, in response to the Cuban
government's destruction of two unarmed U.S.-registered civilian
aircraft in international airspace north of Cuba. Additionally, I have
exercised my authority to expand the scope of the national emergency
as, over the last year, the Cuban government, which is a designated
state-sponsor of terrorism, has taken a series of steps to destabilize
relations with the United States, including threatening to abrogate the
Migration Accords with the United States and to close the U.S.
Interests Section. This conduct has caused a sudden and worsening
disturbance of U.S. international relations.
In my proclamation (copy attached), I have authorized and directed
the Secretary of Homeland Security to make and issue such rules and
regulations that the Secretary may find appropriate to prevent
unauthorized U.S. vessels from entering Cuban territorial waters.
I have authorized these rules and regulations as a result of the
Cuban government's demonstrated willingness to use reckless force,
including deadly force, in the ostensible enforcement of its
sovereignty. I have also authorized these rules and regulations in an
effort to deny resources to the repressive Cuban government that may be
used by that government to support terrorist activities and carry out
excessive use of force against innocent victims, including U.S.
citizens and other persons residing in the United States, and threaten
a disturbance of international relations. Accordingly, I have
continued and expanded the national emergency in response to these
threats.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
February 26, 2004.
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