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The registerExecutive Order 13290
E.O.13290

Confiscating and Vesting Certain Iraqi Property

Signed March 20, 2003·George W. Bush·68 FR 14307

Source

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Plain-language summary

Auto-generated summaryWritten by claude-sonnet-5 from the order’s own text · prompt v4 ·

Invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the National Emergencies Act, in connection with the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12722, this order confiscates and vests in the Department of the Treasury all blocked U.S. accounts held in the name of the Government of Iraq, the Central Bank of Iraq, Rafidain Bank, Rasheed Bank, and the State Organization for Marketing Oil. It exempts funds protected under the Vienna Conventions used for diplomatic or consular purposes, and funds subject to certain post-judgment writs under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, though any remainder after judgments are satisfied is likewise confiscated. It states the vested property is intended to assist the Iraqi people and Iraq's reconstruction. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to carry out related functions under the statute, issue necessary rules, redelegate authority, and consult the Attorney General as needed. The order is to be transmitted to Congress and published in the Federal Register.

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Claimed authority

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and in order to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12722 of August 2, 1990

Quoted from the order as written. Many orders cite nothing more specific than “the Constitution and the laws”; this reproduces what the order claims, not an assessment of whether it holds.

Disposition

See: Notice of May 9, 2022, 87 FR 29021; EO 13303, May 22, 2003; Notice of July 31, 2003, 68 FR 45739; Notice of May 19, 2005, 70 FR 29435 Amended by: EO 13350, July 29, 2004

Compiled after the fact by the National Archives, so recent orders often have none yet. An empty disposition means no record, not no activity.

The order, in full

Executive Order 13290 of March 20, 2003

Confiscating and Vesting Certain Iraqi Property

By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, including the International Emergency Economic
Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the
National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and
section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and in
order to take additional steps with respect to the
national emergency declared in Executive Order 12722 of
August 2, 1990,

I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of
America, hereby determine that the United States and
Iraq are engaged in armed hostilities, that it is in
the interest of the United States to confiscate certain
property of the Government of Iraq and its agencies,
instrumentalities, or controlled entities, and that all
right, title, and interest in any property so
confiscated should vest in the Department of the
Treasury. I intend that such vested property should be
used to assist the Iraqi people and to assist in the
reconstruction of Iraq, and determine that such use
would be in the interest of and for the benefit of the
United States.

I hereby order:

Section 1. All blocked funds held in the United States
in accounts in the name of the Government of Iraq, the
Central Bank of Iraq, Rafidain Bank, Rasheed Bank, or
the State Organization for Marketing Oil are hereby
confiscated and vested in the Department of the
Treasury, except for the following:

(a) any such funds that are subject to the Vienna
Convention on Diplomatic Relations or the Vienna
Convention on Consular Relations, or that enjoy
equivalent privileges and immunities under the laws of
the United States, and are or have been used for
diplomatic or consular purposes, and

(b) any such amounts that as of the date of this order
are subject to post-judgment writs of execution or
attachment in aid of execution of judgments pursuant to
section 201 of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002
(Public Law 107 297), provided that, upon satisfaction
of the judgments on which such writs are based, any
remainder of such excepted amounts shall, by virtue of
this order and without further action, be confiscated
and vested.

Sec. 2. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to
perform, without further approval, ratification, or
other action of the President, all functions of the
President set forth in section 203(a)(1)(C) of IEEPA
with respect to any and all property of the Government
of Iraq, including its agencies, instrumentalities, or
controlled entities, and to take additional steps,
including the promulgation of rules and regulations as
may be necessary, to carry out the purposes of this
order. The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate
such functions in accordance with applicable law. The
Secretary of the Treasury shall consult the Attorney
General as appropriate in the implementation of this
order.

Sec. 3. This order shall be transmitted to the Congress
and published in the Federal Register.

    (Presidential Sig.)B

THE WHITE HOUSE,

     March 20, 2003.

Reproduced from the Federal Register plain-text record, signed March 20, 2003. Typesetting artifacts are removed; no wording is changed.