For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 26, 2004
Expanding the Scope of the National Emergency and Invocation of Emergency Authority Relating to the Regulation of the Anchorage and Movement of Vessels Into Cuban Territorial Waters
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
By the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of
the United States of America, in order to expand the scope of the
national emergency declared in Proclamation 6867 of March 1, 1996,
based on the disturbance or threatened disturbance of the international
relations of the United States caused by actions taken by the Cuban
government, and in light of steps taken over the past year by the Cuban
government to worsen the threat to United States international
relations, and,
WHEREAS the United States has determined that Cuba is a
state-sponsor of terrorism and it is subject to the restrictions of
section 6(j)(1)(A) of the Export Administration Act of 1979, section
620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, and section 40 of the Arms
Export Control Act;
WHEREAS the Cuban government has demonstrated a ready and reckless
willingness to use excessive force, including deadly force, against
U.S. citizens, in the ostensible enforcement of its sovereignty,
including the February 1996 shoot-down of two unarmed U.S.-registered
civilian aircraft in international airspace, resulting in the deaths of
three American citizens and one other individual;
WHEREAS the Cuban government has demonstrated a ready and reckless
willingness to use excessive force, including deadly force, against
U.S. citizens and its own citizens, including on July 13, 1995, when
persons in U.S.-registered vessels that entered into Cuban territorial
waters suffered injury as a result of the reckless use of force against
them by the Cuban military, and including the July 1994 sinking of an
unarmed Cuban-registered vessel, resulting in the deaths of 41 Cuban
citizens;
WHEREAS the Cuban government has impounded U.S.-registered vessels
in Cuban ports and forced the owners, as a condition of release, to
violate U.S. law by requiring payments to be made to the Cuban
government;
WHEREAS the entry of any U.S.-registered vessels into Cuban
territorial waters could result in injury to, or loss of life of,
persons engaged in that conduct, due to the potential use of excessive
force, including deadly force, against them by the Cuban military, and
could threaten a disturbance of international relations;
WHEREAS the unauthorized entry of vessels subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States into Cuban territorial waters is in
violation of U.S. law and contrary to U.S. policy;
WHEREAS the objectives of U.S. policy regarding Cuba are the end of
the dictatorship and a rapid, peaceful transition to a representative
democracy respectful of human rights and characterized by an open
market economic system;
WHEREAS a critical initiative by the United States to advance these
U.S. objectives is to deny resources to the repressive Cuban
government, resources 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;
WHEREAS the unauthorized entry of U.S.-registered vessels into
Cuban territorial waters is detrimental to the foreign policy of the
United States, which is to deny monetary and material support to the
repressive Cuban government, and, therefore, such unauthorized entries
threaten to disturb the international relations of the United States by
facilitating the Cuban government's support of terrorism, use of
excessive force, and continued existence;
WHEREAS the Cuban government has over the course of its 45-year
existence repeatedly used violence and the threat of violence to
undermine U.S. policy interests. This same regime continues in power
today, and has since 1959 maintained a pattern of hostile actions
contrary to U.S. policy interests. Among other things, the Cuban
government established a military alliance with the Soviet Union, and
invited Soviet forces to install nuclear missiles in Cuba capable of
attacking the United States, and encouraged Soviet authorities to use
those weapons against the United States; it engaged in military
adventurism in Africa; and it helped to form and provide material and
political support to terrorist organizations that sought the violent
overthrow of democratically elected governments in Central America and
elsewhere in the hemisphere allied with the United States, thereby
causing repeated disturbances of U.S. international relations;
WHEREAS the Cuban government has recently and over the last year
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, and Cuba's
most senior officials repeatedly asserting that the United States
intended to invade Cuba, despite explicit denials from the U.S.
Secretaries of State and Defense that such action is planned, thereby
causing a sudden and worsening disturbance of U.S. international
relations;
WHEREAS U.S. concerns about these unforeseen Cuban government
actions that threaten to disturb international relations were
sufficiently grave that on May 8, 2003, the United States warned the
Cuban government that political manipulations that resulted in a mass
migration would be viewed as a "hostile act;"
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States
of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the
laws of the United States of America, including section 1 of title II
of Public Law 65-24, ch. 30, June 15, 1917, as amended (50 U.S.C. 191),
sections 201 and 301 of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et
seq.), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, in order to
expand the scope of the national emergency declared in Proclamation
6867 of March 1, 1996, and to secure the observance of the rights and
obligations of the United States, hereby authorize and direct the
Secretary of Homeland Security (the "Secretary") to make and issue such
rules and regulations as the Secretary may find appropriate to regulate
the anchorage and movement of vessels, and authorize and approve the
Secretary's issuance of such rules and regulations, as authorized by
the Act of June 15, 1917.
Section 1. The Secretary may make rules and regulations governing
the anchorage and movement of any vessel, foreign or domestic, in the
territorial waters of the United States, which may be used, or is
susceptible of being used, for voyage into Cuban territorial waters and
that may create unsafe conditions, or result in unauthorized
transactions, and thereby threaten a disturbance of international
relations. Any rule or regulation issued pursuant to this proclamation
may be effective immediately upon issuance as such rule or regulation
shall involve a foreign affairs function of the United States.
Sec. 2. The Secretary is authorized to inspect any vessel, foreign
or domestic, in the territorial waters of the United States, at any
time; to place guards on any such vessel; and, with my consent
expressly hereby granted, take full possession and control of any such
vessel and remove the officers and crew and all other persons not
specifically authorized by the Secretary to go or remain on board the
vessel when necessary to secure the rights and obligations of the
United States.
Sec. 3. The Secretary may request assistance from such
departments, agencies, officers, or instrumentalities of the United
States as the Secretary deems necessary to carry out the purposes of
this proclamation. Such departments, agencies, officers, or
instrumentalities shall, consistent with other provisions of law and to
the extent practicable, provide requested assistance.
Sec. 4. The Secretary may seek assistance from State and local
authorities in carrying out the purposes of this proclamation. Because
State and local assistance may be essential for an effective response
to this emergency, I urge all State and local officials to cooperate
with Federal authorities and to take all actions within their lawful
authority necessary to prevent the unauthorized departure of vessels
intending to enter Cuban territorial waters.
Sec. 5. All powers and authorities delegated by this proclamation
to the Secretary may be delegated by the Secretary to other officers
and agents of the United States Government unless otherwise prohibited
by law.
Sec. 6. Any provisions of Proclamation 6867 that are inconsistent
with the provisions of this proclamation are superseded to the extent
of such inconsistency.
Sec. 7. This proclamation shall be immediately transmitted to the
Congress and published in the Federal Register.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-sixth
day of February, in the year of our Lord two thousand four, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and
twenty-eighth.
GEORGE W. BUSH
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