Washington, D.C. - 

Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-CA) today made the following comments with regard to new regulations issued by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on publishing works from embargoed countries. Rep. Berman is the author of the "Berman Amendment," legislation which exempts information and informational materials from economic embargoes.

"While I'm pleased that OFAC has made it clear that publishers will no longer need to seek a specific license to publish new works by authors who live in Cuba, Iran and the Sudan," said Berman, "the regulations continue to represent that the government has the inherent legal authority to regulate these activities under a so-called ‘general license.’ This violates both the letter and spirit of my amendment, which has been the law of the land since 1988."

"It also raises critically important Constitutional issues - in America, publishers do not need permission. OFAC is still acting like they have the authority to grant permission and that interferes with our fundamental right to freedom of expression," continued Berman.

"The second major flaw in these new regulations is that they apply only to publishing, and not other elements of the creative community," Berman said. "Why should it be okay for a publisher to commission a book from an Iranian dissident, but not for a film studio to work with a Sudanese filmmaker, or a recording studio to collaborate with a Cuban musician? This makes absolutely no sense, and reflects the fact that these regulations were issued in a desperate attempt to head off mounting legal and political pressure - not as part of a serious effort to rationalize an indefensible and counterproductive policy."

 

CONTACT: Gene Smith, 202-225-4695