Message to the Congress on Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction

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, 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 the enclosed notice to the Federal Register for publication. The notice states that the national emergency with respect to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States posed by the proliferation of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons (weapons of mass destruction) and the means of delivering such weapons declared by Executive Order 12938 on November 14, 1994, is to continue in effect beyond November 14, 2001. The most recent notice continuing this emergency was published in the Federal Register on November 13, 2000 (65 Fed. Reg. 68063).

The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. Therefore, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared on November 14, 1994, regarding weapons of mass destruction, beyond November 14, 2001.

GEORGE W. BUSH

The White House, November 9, 2001.