PRESIDENT'S REMARKS ON CONTINUATION OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO BURMA

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE
May 15, 2015
Message --Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Burma

TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:

Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)) provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, within 90 days 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 to the Federal Register for publication the enclosed notice stating that the national emergency with respect to Burma that was declared on May 20, 1997, is to continue in effect beyond May 20, 2015. The Government of Burma has made significant progress across a number of important areas, including the release of over 1,300 political prisoners, continued progress toward a nationwide cease-fire, the discharge of hundreds of child soldiers from the military, steps to improve labor standards, and expanding political space for civil society to have a greater voice in shaping issues critical to Burma's future. In addition, Burma has become a signatory of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Additional Protocol and ratified the Biological Weapons Convention, significant steps towards supporting global nonproliferation. Despite these strides, the situation in the country continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.

Concerns persist regarding the ongoing conflict and human rights abuses in the country, particularly in ethnic minority areas and Rakhine State. In addition, Burma's military operates with little oversight from the civilian government and often acts with impunity. For these reasons, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency with respect to Burma.

Despite this action, the United States remains committed to supporting and strengthening Burma's reform efforts and to continue working both with the Burmese government and people to ensure that the democratic transition is sustained and irreversible.

BARACK OBAMA

PRESIDENT OBAMA GIVES NOTICE OF CONTINUATION OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO SOMALIA

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE
April 08, 2015
Notice -- Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Somalia
NOTICE
- - - - - - -
CONTINUATION OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH
RESPECT TO SOMALIA

On April 12, 2010, by Executive Order 13536, I declared a national emergency pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701-1706) to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States constituted by the deterioration of the security situation and the persistence of violence in Somalia, acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia, which have repeatedly been the subject of United Nations Security Council resolutions, and violations of the arms embargo imposed by the United Nations Security Council.

On July 20, 2012, I issued Executive Order 13620 to take additional steps to deal with the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13536 in view of United Nations Security CouncilResolution 2036 of February 22, 2012, and Resolution 2002 of July 29, 2011, and to address:  exports of charcoal from Somalia, which generate significant revenue for al-Shabaab; the misappropriation of Somali public assets; and certain acts of violence committed against civilians in Somalia, all of which contribute to the deterioration of the security situation and the persistence of violence in Somalia.

Because the situation with respect to Somalia continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, the national emergency declared on April 12, 2010, and the measures adopted on that date and on July 20, 2012, to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond April 12, 2015.  Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13536.

This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.

BARACK OBAMA

GENERAL DEMPSEY SAYS SEQUESTRATION NOT YET A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Dempsey: Sequestration Not Yet a National Security Threat
By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, April 6, 2013 - Sequestration will have no effect on the drawdown in Afghanistan, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday.

"[Sequestration] is an avalanche, not a light switch," Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said in a roundtable discussion with members of the press traveling with him on his trip to Afghanistan.

The avalanche started March 1, he said, and is building momentum. "We're consuming readiness without building it, because we are taking the money that we would normally have used to build readiness of units that might deploy a year from now and we've had to apply it into our wartime operations," Dempsey said. Additionally, the chairman said, the department is supporting commitments on the Korean Peninsula and the Persian Gulf.

"When you fence that off and fully fund it -- and you have to fence it off, we've got young men and women out there in harm's way and they will always be fully funded -- when you do that, though, the risk you take begins to accrue," Dempsey said.

By 2014 the department will face medium-term problems in maintaining readiness, he said. "The problems we've got are multiplying and will multiply over time," Dempsey added.

"We will always do what we have to do to protect the nation and its interests," the chairman said. For example, he continued, the theater air defense system recently placed in Guam was costly, "but it never crossed our mind not to do it because we wanted to save the money."

"Money is not a factor when our national interests are threatened," he said, "but readiness is something that has to be sustained over time." The cost of requalifying certain service members, like pilots, due to interruptions to training can actually cost more than the training itself would have, the chairman noted.

"The one thing that I would never do -- and I know [Defense] Secretary [Chuck] Hagel feels the same way -- is we're never going to deploy a service man or woman who's not ready to deploy," he said.

"Sequestration is not a risk to our national security at present," the chairman said. " ... But the uncertainty does make us less efficient [and] it sends a very negative message to our men and women who serve."

The department will get through the readiness challenge, he said, but the next challenge could be retention. Service members won't stay in the military if they can't do their jobs, the chairman said.