Union Calendar No. 400

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4541

[Report No. 103–723]

A BILL

To authorize assistance to promote the peaceful

resolution of conflicts in Africa.

SEPTEMBER 19, 1994

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 400

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4541

[Report No. 103–723]

To authorize assistance to promote the peaceful resolution of conflicts in

Africa.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 8, 1994

Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida (for himself and Mr. PAYNE of New Jersey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign

Affairs

SEPTEMBER 19, 1994

Additional sponsors: Mr. HAMILTON, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. EDWARDS of California, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. BACCHUS of Florida, Mrs.

MEEK, Mr. PENNY, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr.

WYNN, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. WASHINGTON, Mr. HUGHES, Mr. MCCLOSKEY, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas,

Mr. RANGEL, Mr. DE LUGO, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. HILLIARD, Mr. REYNOLDS, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. HALL of

Ohio, Mr. WALSH, Mr. KLEIN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. LEACH, Ms. FURSE, Mr.

MFUME, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. WATT, and Mr. SYNAR

SEPTEMBER 19, 1994

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 8, 1994]
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A BILL

To authorize assistance to promote the peaceful resolution

of conflicts in Africa.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘African Conflict Resolu5 tion Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF POLICY.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following

8 findings:

9 (1) It is in the national interest of the United

10 States to help build African capability in conflict res11 olution. A relatively small investment of assistance in

12 promoting African conflict resolution—

13 (A) would reduce the enormous human suf14 fering which is caused by wars in Africa;

15 (B) would help the United States avoid

16 huge future expenditures necessitated by Soma17 lia-like humanitarian disasters; and

18 (C) would reduce the need for United Na19 tions intervention as African institutions develop

20 the ability to resolve African conflicts.

21 (2) Africa, to a greater extent than any other

22 continent, is afflicted by war. Africa has been marred
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1 by more than 20 major civil wars since 1960. Rwan2 da, Somalia, Angola, Sudan, Liberia, and Burundi

3 are among those countries that have recently suffered

4 serious armed conflict.

5 (3) In the last decade alone, between 2,000,000

6 and 4,000,000 Africans have died because of war.

7 There were 5,200,000 refugees and 13,100,000 dis8 placed people in Africa in 1993. In Angola, relief or9 ganizations estimated that 1,000 people were dying

10 each day at the end of 1993. In Rwanda, more than

11 200,000 people died in less than 5 weeks of fighting

12 during 1994, while 300,000 people fled to other coun13 tries to escape war.

14 (4) Millions more Africans are currently at risk

15 of war-related death. Looming or ongoing conflicts in

16 Zaire, Angola, Sudan, Rwanda, and other countries

17 threaten Africa’s future.

18 (5) War has caused untold economic and social

19 damage to the countries of Africa. Food production is

20 impossible in conflict areas, and famine often results.

21 Widespread conflict has condemned many of Africa’s

22 children to lives of misery and, in certain cases, has

23 threatened the existence of traditional African cul24 tures.
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1 (6) Conflict and instability in Africa, particu2 larly in large, potentially rich countries such as An3 gola, Sudan, and Zaire, deprive the global economy

4 of resources and opportunities for trade and invest5 ment. Peace in these countries could make a signifi6 cant contribution to global economic growth, while

7 creating new opportunities for United States busi8 nesses.

9 (7) Many African armies are far too large,

10 threatening political and economic stability while di11 verting scarce resources from development needs. Mili12 tary expenditures in Africa average over twice the

13 level in Latin America. Demobilization and other

14 measures to reduce military expenditures are thus a

15 critical need for many African countries.

16 (8) Conflict prevention, mediation, and demobili17 zation are prerequisites to the success of development

18 assistance programs. Nutrition and education pro19 grams, for example, cannot succeed in a nation at

20 war. Billions of dollars of development assistance

21 have been virtually wasted in war-ravaged countries

22 such as Liberia, Somalia, and Sudan.

23 (9) Africans have a long tradition of informal

24 mediation. This tradition should be built upon to cre-
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1 ate effective institutions through which Africans can

2 resolve African conflicts.

3 (10) The Organization of African Unity, under

4 the leadership of Secretary General Salim Salim, has

5 established a conflict resolution mechanism and has

6 been active in mediation and conflict resolution in

7 several African countries. Various subregional organi8 zations have also become active in conflict resolution

9 efforts. These are encouraging developments.

10 (b) UNITED STATES POLICY.—The Congress declares,

11 therefore, that a key goal for United States foreign policy

12 should be to help institutionalize conflict resolution capabil13 ity in Africa.

14 SEC. 3. IMPROVING THE CONFLICT RESOLUTION CAPABILI15 TIES OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN

16 UNITY.

17 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE.—The President

18 is authorized to provide assistance to strengthen the conflict

19 resolution capability of the Organization of African Unity,

20 as follows:

21 (1) Funds may be provided to the Organization

22 of African Unity for use in supporting its conflict

23 resolution capability.
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1 (2) Funds may be used for expenses of sending

2 individuals with expertise in conflict resolution to

3 work with the Organization of African Unity.

4 (b) FUNDING.—Of the foreign assistance funds that are

5 allocated for sub-Saharan Africa, not less than $1,500,000

6 for each of the fiscal years 1995 through 1998 should be

7 used to carry out subsection (a).

8 SEC. 4. IMPROVING CONFLICT RESOLUTION CAPABILITIES

9 OF MULTILATERAL SUBREGIONAL ORGANIZA10 TIONS IN AFRICA.

11 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE.—The President

12 is authorized to provide assistance to strengthen the conflict

13 resolution capabilities of subregional organizations estab14 lished by countries in sub-Saharan Africa, as follows:

15 (1) Funds may be provided to such an organiza16 tion for use in supporting its conflict resolution capa17 bility.

18 (2) Funds may be used for the expenses of send19 ing individuals with expertise in conflict resolution to

20 work with such an organization.

21 (b) FUNDING.—Of the foreign assistance funds that are

22 allocated for sub-Saharan Africa, such sums as may be nec23 essary for each of the fiscal years 1995 through 1998 may

24 be used to carry out subsection (a).
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1 SEC. 5. AFRICAN DEMOBILIZATION AND RETRAINING PRO2 GRAM.

3 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE.—In order to fa4 cilitate reductions in the size of the armed forces of coun5 tries of sub-Saharan Africa, the President is authorized to

6 provide assistance for—

7 (1) the encampment and related activities for the

8 purpose of demobilization of such forces; and

9 (2) the reintegration of demobilized military per10 sonnel into civilian society through activities such as

11 retraining for civilian occupations, creation of in12 come-generating opportunities, the reintegration into

13 agricultural activities, and the transportation to the

14 home areas of such personnel.

15 (b) FUNDING.—Of the foreign assistance funds that are

16 allocated for sub-Saharan Africa, $25,000,000 for each of

17 the fiscal years 1995 and 1996 should be used for the assist18 ance described in subsection (a), if conditions permit.

19 SEC. 6. TRAINING FOR AFRICANS IN CONFLICT RESOLU20 TION AND PEACEKEEPING.

21 Chapter 5 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of

22 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2347 et seq.) is amended by adding at the

23 end the following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 546. CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND PEACEKEEPING

2 PROGRAM FOR SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA.

3 ‘‘In addition to the other education and training ac4 tivities carried out under this chapter, the President is au5 thorized to establish a program to provide education and

6 training in conflict resolution and peacekeeping for civilian

7 and military personnel of countries in sub-Saharan

8 Africa.’’.

9 SEC. 7. BUILDING MEDIATION CAPABILITY IN AFRICA.

10 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE.—The President

11 is authorized to provide assistance to nongovernmental or12 ganizations that are engaged in mediation and reconcili13 ation efforts in Africa.

14 (b) FUNDING.—Of the foreign assistance funds that are

15 allocated for sub-Saharan Africa, such sums as may be nec16 essary for each of the fiscal years 1995 and 1996 should

17 be used to carry out subsection (a).

18 SEC. 8. PLAN FOR UNITED STATES SUPPORT FOR CONFLICT

19 RESOLUTION AND DEMOBILIZATION IN SUB20 SAHARAN AFRICA.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—In furtherance of and building

22 upon the provisions of sections 3 through 7, the President

23 shall develop an integrated long-term plan to provide sup24 port for the enhancement of conflict resolution capabilities

25 and demobilization activities in sub-Saharan Africa.
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1 (b) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—Such plan shall identify,

2 among other things, the following:

3 (1) The type, purpose, amount, and duration of

4 assistance that is planned to be provided to conflict

5 resolution units in sub-Saharan Africa.

6 (2) The type and amount of assistance that is

7 planned to be provided for the demobilization of mili8 tary personnel of countries of sub-Saharan Africa, in9 cluding—

10 (A) a list of which countries will receive

11 such assistance and an explanation of why such

12 countries were chosen for such assistance; and

13 (B) a list of other countries and inter14 national organizations that are providing assist15 ance for such demobilization.

16 (3) The type and amount of assistance that is

17 planned to be provided to nongovernmental organiza18 tions that are engaged in mediation and reconcili19 ation efforts in sub-Saharan Africa.

20 (4) A description of proposed training programs

21 for Africans in conflict resolution and peacekeeping,

22 including a list of prospective participants and plans

23 to expand such programs.

24 (5) The mechanisms to be used to coordinate

25 interagency efforts to administer the plan.
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1 (6) Efforts to seek the participation of other

2 countries and international organizations to achieve

3 the objectives of the plan.

4 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after the date

5 of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to

6 the appropriate congressional committees a report contain7 ing a description of the plan developed under this section.

8 SEC. 9. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

9 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment

10 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the President shall sub11 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a report

12 describing the efforts and progress made in carrying out

13 the provisions of this Act.

14 SEC. 10. CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT.

15 The President shall consult with the appropriate con16 gressional committees prior to providing assistance under

17 section 3 or section 5.

18 SEC. 11. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE19 FINED.

20 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate con21 gressional committees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Af22 fairs, the Committee on Appropriations, and the Committee

23 on Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the

24 Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Appro-
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1 priations, and the Committee on Armed Services of the

2 Senate.