President Obama: Executive Order, National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

December 19, 2011

Executive Order -- Instituting a National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security

INSTITUTING A NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON WOMEN, PEACE, AND SECURITY

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1.  Policy.  (a)  The United States recognizes that promoting women's participation in conflict prevention, management, and resolution, as well as in post conflict relief and recovery, advances peace, national security, economic and social development, and international cooperation.

(b)  The United States recognizes the responsibility of all nations to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity, including when implemented by means of sexual violence.  The United States further recognizes that sexual violence, when used or commissioned as a tactic of war or as a part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilians, can exacerbate and prolong armed conflict and impede the restoration of peace and security.

(c)  It shall be the policy and practice of the executive branch of the United States to have a National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security (National Action Plan).

Sec. 2.  National Action Plan.  A National Action Plan shall be created pursuant to the process outlined in Presidential Policy Directive 1 and shall identify and develop activities and initiatives in the following areas:

(a)  National integration and institutionalization.  Through interagency coordination, policy development, enhanced professional training and education, and evaluation, the United States Government will institutionalize a gender responsive approach to its diplomatic, development, and defense-related work in conflict-affected environments.

(b)  Participation in peace processes and decisionmaking.  The United States Government will improve the prospects for inclusive, just, and sustainable peace by promoting and strengthening women's rights and effective leadership and substantive participation in peace processes, conflict prevention, peacebuilding, transitional processes, and decisionmaking institutions in conflict-affected environments.

(c)  Protection from violence.  The United States Government will strengthen its efforts to prevent    and protect women and children from    harm, exploitation, discrimination, and abuse, including sexual and gender-based violence and trafficking in persons, and to hold perpetrators accountable in conflict-affected environments.

 (d)  Conflict prevention.  The United States Government will promote women's roles in conflict prevention, improve conflict early warning and response systems through the integration of gender perspectives, and invest in women and girls' health, education, and economic opportunity to create conditions for stable societies and lasting peace.

 (e)  Access to relief and recovery.  The United States Government will respond to the distinct needs of women and children in conflict affected disasters and crises, including by providing safe, equitable access to humanitarian assistance.

Sec. 3.  Responsibility of Executive Departments and Agencies.  (a)  Executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall maintain a current awareness of U.S. policy with regard to Women, Peace, and Security, as set out in the National Action Plan, as it is relevant to their functions, and shall perform such functions so as to respect and implement that policy fully, while retaining their established institutional roles in the implementation, interpretation, and enforcement of Federal law.

 (b)  The Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development shall each:

 (i)    designate one or more officers, as appropriate, as responsible for coordinating and implementing the National Action Plan;

 (ii)   within 150 days of the date of the release of the National Action Plan, develop and submit to the Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor an agency specific implementation plan that will identify the actions each agency plans to take to implement the National Action Plan; and

 (iii)  execute their agency specific implementation plans, and monitor and report to the Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor on such execution.

Sec. 4.  Interagency Process.  The Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor shall, consistent with Presidential Policy Directive 1 or any successor documents, establish an interagency process for coordinating the implementation of this order, which shall, inter alia:

(a)  coordinate implementation of the National Action Plan and agency specific implementation plans as specified in section 3(b) of this order;

(b)  establish a mechanism for agencies to report progress in implementing the National Action Plan and agency specific implementation plans, as appropriate and as specified in section 3(b), and in meeting the objectives of this order, which the Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor shall draw upon to provide an annual report to the President;

(c)  coordinate a comprehensive periodic review of, and update to, the National Action Plan.  The review of, and update to, the National Action Plan will be informed by consultation with relevant civil society organizations.  The first review will take place in 2015; and

(d)  consider and implement other revisions to the National Action Plan, as necessary.

Sec. 5.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

 (i)   authority granted by law to an agency, or the head thereof; or

 (ii)  functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  Independent agencies are strongly encouraged to comply with this order.

(d)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

BARACK OBAMA

THE WHITE HOUSE,
         December 19, 2011.

President Obama: Executive Order, Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay

• The White House

  Office of the Press Secretary

  For Immediate Release

  December 19, 2011

  Executive Order -- Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay

  ADJUSTMENTS OF CERTAIN RATES OF PAY
  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Continuing Appropriations and Surface Transportation Extensions Act, 2011 (Public Law 111 322), which freezes certain pay schedules for civilian Federal employees at 2010 levels through 2012 and provides for the phase-in of the full applicable locality pay rates in non-foreign areas pursuant to the Non-Foreign Area Retirement Equity Assurance Act of 2009 (5 U.S.C. 5304 note), it is hereby ordered as follows:
  Section 1.  Statutory Pay Systems.  Pursuant to the Continuing Appropriations and Surface Transportation Extensions Act, 2011 (Public Law 111 322; December 22, 2010), the rates of basic pay or salaries of the statutory pay systems (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 5302(1)) are set forth on the schedules attached hereto and made a part hereof:
  (a)  The General Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5332(a)) at Schedule 1;
  (b)  The Foreign Service Schedule (22 U.S.C. 3963) at Schedule 2; and
  (c) The schedules for the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs (38 U.S.C. 7306, 7404; section 301(a) of Public Law 102 40) at Schedule 3.
  Sec. 2.  Senior Executive Service.  The ranges of rates of basic pay for senior executives in the Senior Executive Service, as established pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 5382, are set forth on Schedule 4 attached hereto and made a part hereof.
  Sec. 3.  Certain Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Salaries.  The rates of basic pay or salaries for the following offices and positions are set forth on the schedules attached hereto and made a part hereof:
  (a)  The Executive Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5312 5318) at Schedule 5;
  (b)  The Vice President (3 U.S.C. 104) and the Congress (2 U.S.C. 31) at Schedule 6; and
  (c)  Justices and judges (28 U.S.C. 5, 44(d), 135, 252, and 461(a), and section 140 of Public Law 97 92) at Schedule 7.
  Sec. 4.  Uniformed Services.  The rates of monthly basic pay (37 U.S.C. 203(a)) for members of the uniformed services, as adjusted under 37 U.S.C. 1009, and the rate of monthly cadet or midshipman pay (37 U.S.C. 203(c)) are set forth on Schedule 8 attached hereto and made a part hereof.
  Sec. 5.  Locality Based Comparability Payments.  (a)  Pursuant to section 5304 of title 5, United States Code, the Non Foreign Area Retirement Equity Assurance Act of 2009 (5 U.S.C. 5304 note), and the Continuing Appropriations and Surface Transportation Extensions Act, 2011 (Public Law 111 322; December 22, 2010), locality based comparability payments shall be paid in accordance with Schedule 9 attached hereto and made a part hereof.
  (b)  The Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall take such actions as may be necessary to implement these payments and to publish appropriate notice of such payments in the Federal Register.
  Sec. 6.  Administrative Law Judges.  Pursuant to section 5372 of title 5, United States Code, the rates of basic pay for administrative law judges are set forth on Schedule 10 attached hereto and made a part hereof.
  Sec. 7.  Effective Dates.  Schedule 8 is effective January 1, 2012.  The other schedules contained herein are effective on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after January 1, 2012.
  Sec. 8.  Prior Order Superseded.  Executive Order 13561 of December 22, 2010, is superseded.
  BARACK OBAMA
  THE WHITE HOUSE,
           December 19, 2011.

President Obama: Executive Orders 12131 and 13539, Amendments,

• The White House

  Office of the Press Secretary

  For Immediate Release

  December 19, 2011

  Executive Order -- Amendments to Executive Orders 12131 and 13539

  AMENDMENTS TO EXECUTIVE ORDERS 12131 AND 13539
  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America it is hereby ordered as follows:
  Section 1.  Section 1 102 of Executive Order 12131 of May 4, 1979, as amended (President's Export Council), is further amended to read as follows:
  "The membership of the Council shall be as follows:
  (a)  The heads of the following executive departments, agencies, or offices, or their representatives:
  (1)   Department of State.
  (2)   Department of the Treasury.
  (3)   Department of Agriculture.
  (4)   Department of Commerce.
  (5)   Department of Labor.
  (6)   Department of Energy.
  (7)   Department of Transportation.
  (8)   Department of Homeland Security.
  (9)   Office of United States Trade Representative.
  (10)  Export Import Bank of the United States.
  (11)  Small Business Administration.
  (12)  United States Trade and Development Agency.
  (13)  Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
  (14)  Council of Economic Advisers.
  (15)  Office of Management and Budget.
  (16)  National Economic Council.
  (17)  National Security Staff.
  (b)  In their discretion, the heads of the following organizations or their designees:
  (1)  National Governors Association.
  (2)  United States Conference of Mayors.
  (c)  Five members of the United States Senate, designated by the President of the Senate, and five members of the United States House of Representatives, designated by the Speaker of the House, to serve for a two year term.
  (d)  Not to exceed 28 citizens appointed by the President.  These individuals shall be selected from those who are not full time Federal officers or employees.  They shall include representatives of business and industry, agriculture, and labor.".
  Sec. 2.  (a)  Section 3(d) of Executive Order 13539 of April 21, 2010, as amended (President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology), is further amended to read as follows:  "The Department of Energy shall provide such funding and administrative and technical support as the PCAST may require.".
  (b)  Section 5(a) of Executive Order 13539, as amended, is further amended to read as follows:  "Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.) (FACA), may apply to the PCAST, any functions of the President under the FACA, except that of reporting to the Congress, shall be performed by the Secretary of Energy in accordance with the guidelines and procedures established by the Administrator of General Services.".
  BARACK OBAMA
  THE WHITE HOUSE,
           December 19, 2011.

President Obama: Executive Order, 2011 Amendments to the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States

• The White House

  Office of the Press Secretary

  For Immediate Release

  December 13, 2011

  Executive Order -- 2011 Amendments to the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States

  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code (Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. 801-946), and in order to prescribe amendments to the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, prescribed by Executive Order 12473, as amended, it is hereby ordered as follows:
  Section 1. Parts III and IV of the Manual for Courts-Martial, United States, are amended as described in the Annex attached and made a part of this order.
  Sec. 2. These amendments shall take effect 30 days from the date of this order.
  (a) Nothing in these amendments shall be construed to make punishable any act done or omitted prior to the effective date of this order that was not punishable when done or omitted.
  (b) Nothing in these amendments shall be construed to invalidate any nonjudicial punishment proceedings, restraint, investigation, referral of charges, trial in which arraignment occurred, or other action begun prior to the effective date of this order, and any such nonjudicial punishment, restraint, investigation, referral of charges, trial, or other action may proceed in the same manner and with the same effect as if these amendments had not been prescribed.
  BARACK OBAMA
  THE WHITE HOUSE,
  December 13, 2011.

President Obama: Executive Order 13592, Improving American Indian and Alaska Native Educational Opportunities and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities

• The White House

  Office of the Press Secretary

  For Immediate Release

  December 02, 2011

  Executive Order 13592 -- Improving American Indian and Alaska Native Educational Opportunities and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities

  EXECUTIVE ORDER
  IMPROVING AMERICAN INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AND STRENGTHENING TRIBAL COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order as follows:
  Section 1.  Policy.  The United States has a unique political and legal relationship with the federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) tribes across the country, as set forth in the Constitution of the United States, treaties, Executive Orders, and court decisions.  For centuries, the Federal Government's relationship with these tribes has been guided by a trust responsibility    a long standing commitment on the part of our Government to protect the unique rights and ensure the well-being of our Nation's tribes, while respecting their tribal sovereignty.  In recognition of that special commitment    and in fulfillment of the solemn obligations it entails    Federal agencies must help improve educational opportunities provided to all AI/AN students, including students attending public schools in cities and in rural areas, students attending schools operated and funded by the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), and students attending postsecondary institutions including Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs).  This is an urgent need.  Recent studies show that AI/AN students are dropping out of school at an alarming rate, that our Nation has made little or no progress in closing the achievement gap between AI/AN students and their non-AI/AN student counterparts, and that many Native languages are on the verge of extinction.
  It is the policy of my Administration to support activities that will strengthen the Nation by expanding educational opportunities and improving educational outcomes for all AI/AN students in order to fulfill our commitment to furthering tribal self-determination and to help ensure that AI/AN students have an opportunity to learn their Native languages and histories and receive complete and competitive educations that prepare them for college, careers, and productive and satisfying lives.
  My Administration is also committed to improving educational opportunities for students attending TCUs.  TCUs maintain, preserve, and restore Native languages and cultural traditions; offer a high quality college education; provide career and technical education, job training, and other career building programs; and often serve as anchors in some of the country's poorest and most remote areas.
  Sec. 2.  Definitions.  (a)  "Agency" means any executive department or agency designated by the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of the Interior to participate in this order.
  (b)  "Indian tribe" means an Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, or community that the Secretary of the Interior acknowledges to exist as an Indian tribe pursuant to the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994, 25 U.S.C. 479a.
  (c)  "American Indian and Alaska Native" means a member of an Indian tribe, as membership is defined by the tribe.
  (d)  "Public school" means a Head Start center or a pre kindergarten, elementary, or secondary school that is predominantly funded by public means through the Federal Government, a State, a local educational agency, or an Indian tribal government, including a school operated directly by or through contract or grant with the BIE, an Indian tribe, or a State, county, or local government.
  (e)  "Tribal Colleges and Universities" are those institutions that are chartered by their respective Indian tribes through the sovereign authority of the tribes or by the Federal Government, and defined in section 316 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c).
  Sec. 3.  White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education.
  (a)  Establishment.  There is hereby established the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education (Initiative).  The Secretary of Education and the Secretary of the Interior will co chair the Initiative.  The Secretary of Education shall appoint an Executive Director who shall be responsible for overseeing implementation of the Initiative.  This individual shall be a senior level, Department of Education official who shall serve as the Secretary of Education's senior policy advisor on Federal policies affecting AI/AN education.
  The Executive Director shall work closely with the BIE Director and shall provide periodic reports to the Secretaries of Education and the Interior regarding progress achieved under the Initiative.  The Executive Director shall coordinate frequent consultations with tribal officials and shall provide staff support for the National Advisory Council on Indian Education (NACIE), authorized by section 7141 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) (20 U.S.C. 7471).
  (b)  Mission and Functions.  (1)  The Initiative shall help expand educational opportunities and improve educational outcomes for all AI/AN students, including opportunities to learn their Native languages, cultures, and histories and receive complete and competitive educations that prepare them for college, careers, and productive and satisfying lives, by:
  (i)    working closely with the Executive Office of the President to help ensure AI/AN participation in the development and implementation of key Administration priorities;
  (ii)   strengthening the relationship between the Department of Education, which has substantial expertise and resources to help improve Indian education, and the Department of the Interior and its BIE, which directly operates or provides grants to tribes to operate an extensive primary, secondary, and college level school system for AI/AN children and young adults;
  (iii)  coordinating, in consultation with the Department of Education's Director of Indian Education, programs administered by the Department of Education and other executive branch agencies regarding AI/AN education;
  (iv)   serving as a liaison with other executive branch agencies on AI/AN issues and advising those agencies on how they might help to promote AI/AN educational opportunities;
  (v)    reporting on the development, implementation, and coordination of education policy and programs that affect AI/AN students;
  (vi)   furthering tribal sovereignty by supporting efforts, consistent with applicable law, to build the capacity of tribal educational agencies and TCUs to provide high quality education services to AI/AN children;
  (vii)   developing in partnership with tribal educational agencies a more routine and streamlined process for entering into agreements for educational studies conducted on tribal lands;
  (viii)  developing sufficient data resources to inform progress on Federal performance indicators, in close collaboration with the Department of Education's National Center for Educational Statistics;
  (ix)    encouraging and coordinating Federal partnerships with public, private, philanthropic, and nonprofit entities to help increase the readiness of AI/AN students for school, college, and careers, and to help increase the number and percentage of AI/AN students completing college; and
  (x)     developing a national network of individuals, organizations, and communities to share best practices in AI/AN education and encouraging them to implement these practices.
  (2)  In order to help expand educational opportunities and improve education outcomes for AI/AN students, the Initiative shall promote, encourage, and undertake efforts, consistent with applicable law, to meet the following objectives:
  (i)    increasing the number and percentage of AI/AN children who enter kindergarten ready for success through improved access to high quality early learning programs and services, including Native language immersion programs, that encourage the learning and development of AI/AN children from birth through age five;
  (ii)   supporting the expanded implementation of education reform strategies that have shown evidence of success in enabling AI/AN students to acquire a rigorous and well-rounded education and increasing their access to the support services that prepare them for college, careers, and civic involvement;
  (iii)  increasing the number and percentage of AI/AN students who have access to excellent teachers and school leaders, including effective science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), language, and special education teachers, in part by supporting efforts to improve the recruitment, development, and retention of effective AI/AN teachers and other effective teachers and school leaders, particularly through TCUs;
  (iv)   reducing the AI/AN student dropout rate and helping a greater number and percentage of those students who stay in high school to be ready for college and careers by the time of their graduation and college completion, in part by promoting a positive school climate and supporting successful and innovative dropout prevention and recovery strategies that better engage AI/AN youths in their learning and help them catch up academically;
  (v)    providing pathways that enable those who have dropped out to reenter educational or training programs and acquire degrees, certificates, or industry recognized credentials and obtain quality jobs, and expanding access to high quality education programs leading to career advancement, especially in the STEM fields, by supporting adult, career, and technical education;
  (vi)   increasing college access and completion for AI/AN students through strategies to strengthen the capacity of postsecondary institutions, particularly TCUs; and
  (vii)  helping to ensure that the unique cultural, educational, and language needs of AI/AN students are met.
  (3)  To facilitate a new partnership between the Department of Education and the Department of the Interior, to improve AI/AN education, the Executive Director shall work with the BIE Director and develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two Departments that will take advantage of both Departments' expertise, resources, and facilities.  The MOU shall be completed within 120 days of the date of this order.  Among other things, the MOU shall address how the Departments will collaborate in carrying out the policy set out in section 1 of this order.
  (c)  Funding and Administrative Support.  Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Department of Education shall fund the Initiative, including NACIE.  The Department shall also provide administrative support for the Initiative to the extent permitted by law and within existing appropriations.
  (d)  Interagency Working Group.  There is established the Interagency Working Group on AI/AN education and TCUs, which shall be convened by the Initiative's Executive Director.  The Working Group shall consist of senior officials from the Department of Education and the Department of the Interior and officials from the Departments of Justice, Agriculture, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the White House Domestic Policy Council, as well as such additional agencies and offices as the Secretaries of Education and the Interior may designate.  Senior officials shall be designated by the heads of their respective agencies and offices.  The Secretaries of Education and the Interior shall serve as the co chairs of the Interagency Working Group.
  (e)  Federal Agency Plans.  (1)  Each agency designated by the co chairs as a member of the Interagency Working Group shall develop and implement a two part, 4 year plan of the agency's efforts to fulfill the purposes of this order, with part one of the plan focusing on all AI/AN students except for those attending TCUs, and part two focusing on AI/AN students attending TCUs.  Each agency plan shall include:
  (i)    annual performance indicators and appropriate measurable objectives with which the agency will measure its success in meeting the goals of this order;
  (ii)   information on how the agency intends to increase the capacity of educational agencies and institutions, including our Nation's public schools and TCUs, to deliver high-quality education and related social services to all AI/AN students; and
  (iii)  agency efforts to enhance the ability of these educational agencies and institutions serving AI/AN students to compete effectively for grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, and other Federal resources with which to serve the education needs of AI/AN students, and to encourage eligible schools and colleges serving those students to apply for Federal grants and participate in Federal education programs, as appropriate.  Agency plans may also emphasize access to high quality educational opportunities for AI/AN students, consistent with requirements of the ESEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and other applicable Federal education statutes; the preservation and revitalization of tribal languages and cultural traditions; and innovative approaches to more seamlessly align early learning, elementary, and secondary education programs with the work of TCUs.
  (2)  Submission.  Each agency shall submit its plan to the Initiative by a deadline established by the co chairs.  In consultation with NACIE, the Initiative shall then review agency plans and develop, for submission to the President, a synthesized interagency plan to achieve the aims of this order.
  (3)  Annual Performance Reports.  Each agency shall submit to the Initiative an Annual Performance Report that measures the agency's performance against the objectives set forth in its plan.  In consultation with NACIE, the Initiative shall review and combine Annual Performance Reports from the various agencies into one annual report, which shall be submitted to the Secretaries of Education and the Interior for review.
  (f)  Private Sector.  In consultation with NACIE, and consistent with applicable law, the Interagency Working Group, led by the Executive Director, shall encourage the private sector to assist State- and locally-operated public schools that serve large numbers of AI/AN students, including those attending our Nation's public schools, publicly funded preschools, and TCUs, through increased use of such strategies as:
  (1)  Providing funds to support the preservation and revitalization of Native languages and cultures;
  (2)  Providing funds to support increased institutional endowments;
  (3)  Helping these schools develop expertise in financial and facilities management, information systems, and curricula; and
  (4)  Providing resources for the hiring and training of effective teachers and administrators.
  Sec. 4.  Study.  In carrying out this order, the Secretaries of Education and the Interior shall study and collect information on the education of AI/AN students.
  Sec. 5.  General Provisions.  (a)  NACIE shall serve as the Initiative's advisory committee.
  (b)  Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), may apply to the Initiative, any functions of the President under that Act, except for those of reporting to the Congress, shall be performed by the Secretary of Education, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Administrator of General Services.
  (c)  This order revokes Executive Order 13270 of July 3, 2002, Executive Order 13336 of April 30, 2004, and section 1(n) of Executive Order 13585 of September 30, 2011.
  (d)  The heads of agencies shall assist and provide such information to the Initiative as may be necessary to carry out its functions, consistent with applicable law.
  (e)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
  (1)  authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or
  (2)  functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
  (f)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
  BARACK OBAMA
  THE WHITE HOUSE
  December 2, 2011.

President Obama: Executive Order, Message to Congress on Iran Sanctions

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

November 21, 2011

Message to Congress -- Iran Sanctions

TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:

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") that takes additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12957 of March 15, 1995.

In Executive Order 12957, the President found that the actions and policies of the Government of Iran threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.  To deal with that threat, the President in Executive Order 12957 declared a national emergency and imposed prohibitions on certain transactions with respect to the development of Iranian petroleum resources.  To further respond to that threat, Executive Order 12959 of May 6, 1995, imposed comprehensive trade and financial sanctions on Iran.  Executive Order 13059 of August 19, 1997, consolidated and clarified the previous orders.

In the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-195) (22 U.S.C. 8501 et seq.) (CISADA), which I signed into law on July 1, 2010, the Congress found that the illicit nuclear activities of the Government of Iran, along with its development of unconventional weapons and ballistic missiles and its support for international terrorism, threaten the security of the United States.  The Congress also found in CISADA that economic sanctions imposed pursuant to the provisions of CISADA, the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-172) (50 U.S.C. 1701 note) (ISA), and IEEPA, and other authorities available to the United States to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, are necessary to protect the essential security interests of the United States.  To take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12957 and to implement section 105(a) of CISADA (22 U.S.C. 8514(a)), I issued Executive Order 13553 on September 28, 2010, to impose sanctions on officials of the Government of Iran and other persons acting on behalf of the Government of Iran determined to be responsible for or complicit in certain serious human rights abuses.  To take additional steps with respect to the threat posed by Iran and to provide implementing authority for a number of the sanctions set forth in ISA, as amended by, inter alia, CISADA, I issued Executive Order 13574 on May 23, 2011, to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to implement certain sanctions imposed pursuant to ISA by the Secretary of State.

This order expands upon actions taken pursuant to ISA, as amended by, inter alia, CISADA.  The ISA requires that, absent a waiver, the President impose at least three of nine possible forms of sanctions on persons determined to have made certain investments in Iran's energy sector.  The CISADA expanded ISA to, inter alia, require the same treatment of persons determined to have provided refined petroleum to Iran above specified monetary thresholds or have provided certain goods, services, technology, information, or support to Iran related to the importation or development of refined petroleum.  This order authorizes the Secretary of State to impose similar sanctions on persons determined to have provided certain goods, services, technology, or support that contributes to either Iran's development of petroleum resources or to Iran's production of petrochemicals, two sectors that continue to fund Iran's illicit nuclear activities and that could serve as conduits for Iran to obtain proliferation sensitive technology.  Because CISADA has impeded Iran's ability to develop its domestic refining capacity, Iran has tried to compensate by using its petrochemical facilities to refine petroleum.  These new authorities will allow the United States to target directly Iran's attempts to subvert U.S. sanctions.

This order authorizes the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, and with the President of the Export-Import Bank, the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and other agencies and officials as appropriate, to impose sanctions on a person upon determining that the person:

• knowingly, on or after the effective date of the order, sells, leases, or provides to Iran goods, services, technology, or support that has a fair market value of $1,000,000 or more or that, during a 12-month period, has an aggregate fair market value of $5,000,000 or more, and that could directly and significantly contribute to the maintenance or enhancement of Iran's ability to develop petroleum resources located in Iran;
• knowingly, on or after the effective date of this order, sells, leases, or provides to Iran goods, services, technology, or support that has a fair market value of $250,000 or more or that, during a 12-month period, has an aggregate fair market value of $1,000,000 or more, and that could directly and significantly contribute to the maintenance or expansion of Iran's domestic production of petrochemical products;
• is a successor entity to a person that engaged in a provision of goods, services, technology, or support for which sanctions may be imposed pursuant to this new order;
• owns or controls a person that engaged in provision of goods, services, technology, or support for which sanctions may be imposed pursuant to this new order and had actual knowledge or should have known that the person engaged in the activities; or
• is owned or controlled by, or under common ownership or control with, a person that engaged in the provision of goods, services, technology, or support for which sanctions may be imposed pursuant to this new order, and knowingly participated in the provision of such goods, services, technology, or support.

The following sanctions may be selected for imposition on a person that the Secretary of State determines to meet any of the above criteria:

• the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank shall deny approval of the issuance of any guarantee, insurance, extension of credit, or participation in an extension of credit in connection with the export of any goods or services to the sanctioned person;
• agencies shall not issue any specific license or grant any other specific permission or authority under any statute that requires the prior review and approval of the United States Government as a condition for the export or reexport of goods or technology to the sanctioned person;
• with respect to a sanctioned person that is a financial institution, the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shall take such actions as they deem appropriate, including denying designation, or terminating the continuation of any prior designation of, the sanctioned person as a primary dealer in United States Government debt instruments; or agencies shall prevent the sanctioned person from serving as an agent of the United States Government or serving as a repository for United States Government funds;
• agencies shall not procure, or enter into a contract for the procurement of, any goods or services from the sanctioned person;
• the Secretary of the Treasury shall prohibit any United States financial institution from making loans or providing credits to the sanctioned person totaling more than $10,000,000 in any 12-month period unless such person is engaged in activities to relieve human suffering and the loans or credits are provided for such activities;
• the Secretary of the Treasury shall prohibit any transactions in foreign exchange that are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and in which the sanctioned person has any interest;
• the Secretary of the Treasury shall prohibit any transfers of credit or payments between financial institutions or by, through, or to any financial institution, to the extent that such transfers or payments are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and involve any interest of the sanctioned person;
• the Secretary of the Treasury shall block all property and interests in property that are in the United States, that come within the United States, or that are or come within the possession or control of any United States person, including any foreign branch, of the sanctioned person, and provide that such property and interests in property may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in; or
• the Secretary of the Treasury shall restrict or prohibit imports of goods, technology, or services, directly or indirectly, into the United States from the sanctioned person.

I have delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury the authority, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of section 3 of the order.  All agencies of the United States Government are directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of the order.

I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued.

BARACK OBAMA

THE WHITE HOUSE,
         November 20, 2011.

President Obama: Executive Order 13591, Continuance of Certain Federal Advisory Committees

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

November 23, 2011

Executive Order 13591 -- Continuance of Certain Federal Advisory Committees

CONTINUANCE OF
CERTAIN FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and consistent with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Each advisory committee listed below is continued until September 30, 2013.

(a) Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues; Executive Order 13521 (Department of Health and Human Services).

(b) National Council on Federal Labor-Management Relations; Executive Order 13522 (Office of Personnel Management).

(c) President's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities; Executive Order 13532 (Department of Education).

(d) President's Management Advisory Board; Executive Order 13538 (General Services Administration).

(e) President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology; Executive Order 13539 (Office of Science and Technology Policy).

(f) Interagency Task Force on Veterans Small Business Development; Executive Order 13540 (Small Business Administration).

(g) State, Local, Tribal, and Private Sector (SLTPS) Policy Advisory Committee; Executive Order 13549, as amended (National Archives and Records Administration).

Sec. 2. The following advisory committee is continued until September 30, 2012: Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health; Executive Order 13544 (Department of Health and Human Services).

Sec. 3. Section 6 of Executive Order 13530 of January 29, 2010 (President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability), is amended to read as follows: "Unless extended by the President, the Council shall terminate on January 29, 2013."

Sec. 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other Executive Order, the functions of the President under the Federal Advisory Committee Act that are applicable to the committees listed in sections 1 and 2 of this order shall be performed by the head of the department or agency designated after each committee, in accordance with the guidelines and procedures established by the Administrator of General Services.

BARACK OBAMA

THE WHITE HOUSE,
November 23, 2011.