Designation of a Foreign Terrorist Organization

The CPP, a Maoist group, was founded in 1969 with the aim of overthrowing the Philippine government through guerilla warfare. CPP’s military wing, the New People’s Army, strongly opposes any U.S. presence in the Philippines and has killed U.S. citizens there. The group has also killed, injured, or kidnapped numerous Philippine citizens, including government officials.

By designating the CPP/NPA as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and publishing that decision in the Federal Register, we impose measures against these terrorist groups in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, which was originally enacted as part of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. This law makes it illegal for persons in the United States or subject to U.S. jurisdiction to provide material support or resources to these terrorist groups; it requires U.S. financial institutions to block assets held by them or their agents; and it makes representatives and members of these groups, if they are aliens, inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances, removable from the United States.

With today's designation, the number of Foreign Terrorist Organizations is now 34. FTO designations play a critical role in our fight against terrorism and are an effective means of curtailing support for terrorist activities and pressuring groups to get out of the terrorism business. I hope this list will draw the attention of foreign governments around the world to this group and to the other FTOs. I also hope it will encourage those governments to take action, as we have, to isolate these terrorist organizations, to choke off their sources of financial support, and to prevent their movement across international borders.