In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

December 6, 2006.

Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 2125) entitled ‘‘An Act to promote relief, security, and democracy in 

the Democratic Republic of the Congo’’, do pass with the following

AMENDMENT:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Democratic Republic 

3 of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion 

4 Act of 2006’’. 

5 TITLE I—BILATERAL ACTION ON 

6 ADDRESSING URGENT NEEDS 

7 IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUB8 LIC OF THE CONGO 

9 SEC. 101. FINDINGS. 

10 Congress makes the following findings: 

11 (1) The National Security Strategy of the United 

12 States, dated September 17, 2002, concludes that 

13 ‘‘[i]n Africa, promise and opportunity sit side-by-side 

14 with disease, war, and desperate poverty. This threat-
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1 ens both a core value of the United States preserving 

2 human dignity and our strategic priority combating 

3 global terror. American interests and American prin4 ciples, therefore, lead in the same direction: we will 

5 work with others for an African continent that lives 

6 in liberty, peace, and growing prosperity.’’. 

7 (2) On February 16, 2005, the Director of the 

8 Central Intelligence Agency testified, ‘‘In Africa, 

9 chronic instability will continue to hamper 

10 counterterrorism efforts and pose heavy humanitarian 

11 and peacekeeping burdens.’’. 

12 (3) According to the United States Agency for 

13 International Development, ‘‘Given its size, popu14 lation, and resources, the Congo is an important 

15 player in Africa and of long-term interest to the 

16 United States.’’. 

17 (4) The Democratic Republic of the Congo is 

2,345,410 square miles (approximately 1 18 ⁄4 the size of 

19 the United States), lies at the heart of Africa, and 

20 touches every major region of sub-Saharan Africa. 

21 Therefore, a secure, peaceful, and prosperous Demo22 cratic Republic of the Congo would have a profound 

23 impact on progress throughout Africa. 

24 (5) The most recent war in the Democratic Re25 public of the Congo, which erupted in 1998, spawned 
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1 some of the world’s worst human rights atrocities and 

2 drew in six neighboring countries. 

3 (6) Despite the conclusion of a peace agreement 

4 and subsequent withdrawal of foreign forces in 2003, 

5 both the real and perceived presence of armed groups 

6 hostile to the Governments of Uganda, Rwanda, and 

7 Burundi continue to serve as a major source of re8 gional instability and an apparent pretext for contin9 ued interference in the Democratic Republic of the 

10 Congo by its neighbors. 

11 (7) A mortality study completed in December 

12 2004 by the International Rescue Committee found 

13 that 31,000 people were dying monthly and 3,800,000 

14 people had died in the previous six years because of 

15 the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 

16 and resulting disintegration of the social service in17 frastructure, making this one of the deadliest conflicts 

18 since World War II. 

19 (8) In 2004, Amnesty International estimated 

20 that at least 40,000 women and girls were systemati21 cally raped and tortured in the Democratic Republic 

22 of the Congo since 1998, and nearly two-thirds of on23 going abuses against women and girls are perpetrated 

24 by members of the security forces, particularly the 

25 Forces Armes de la Republique Democratique du 
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1 Congo (FARDC) and the Police Nationale Congolaise 

2 (PNC). 

3 (9) According to the Department of State, ‘‘re4 turning one of Africa’s largest countries [the Demo5 cratic Republic of the Congo] to full peace and sta6 bility will require significant United States invest7 ments in support of national elections, the reintegra8 tion of former combatants, the return and reintegra9 tion of refugees and [internally displaced persons], es10 tablishment of central government control over vast 

11 territories, and promotion of national reconciliation 

12 and good governance’’. 

13 SEC. 102. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

14 It is the policy of the United States—

15 (1) to help promote, reinvigorate, and support 

16 the political process in the Democratic Republic of the 

17 Congo in order to press all parties in the Transi18 tional National Government and the succeeding gov19 ernment to implement fully and to institutionalize 

20 mechanisms, including national and international 

21 election observers, fair and transparent voter registra22 tion procedures, and a significant civic awareness 

23 and public education campaign created for the July 

24 30, 2006, elections and future elections in the Demo-
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1 cratic Republic of the Congo, to ensure that elections 

2 are carried out in a fair and democratic manner; 

3 (2) to urge the Government of the Democratic 

4 Republic of the Congo to recognize and act upon its 

5 responsibilities to immediately bring discipline to its 

6 security forces, hold those individuals responsible for 

7 atrocities and other human rights violations, particu8 larly the rape of women and girls as an act of war, 

9 accountable and bring such individuals to justice; 

10 (3) to help ensure that, once a stable national 

11 government is established in the Democratic Republic 

12 of the Congo, it is committed to multiparty democ13 racy, open and transparent governance, respect for 

14 human rights and religious freedom, ending the vio15 lence throughout the country, promoting peace and 

16 stability with its neighbors, rehabilitating the na17 tional judicial system and enhancing the rule of law, 

18 combating corruption, instituting economic reforms to 

19 promote development, and creating an environment to 

20 promote private investment; 

21 (4) to assist the Government of the Democratic 

22 Republic of the Congo as it seeks to meet the basic 

23 needs of its citizens, including security, safety, and 

24 access to health care, education, food, shelter, and 

25 clean drinking water; 
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1 (5) to support security sector reform by assisting 

2 the Government of the Democratic Republic of the 

3 Congo to establish a viable and professional national 

4 army and police force that respects human rights and 

5 the rule of law, is under effective civilian control, and 

6 possesses a viable presence throughout the entire coun7 try, provided the Democratic Republic of the Congo 

8 meets all requirements for United States military as9 sistance under existing law; 

10 (6) to help expedite planning and implementa11 tion of programs associated with the disarmament, 

12 demobilization, repatriation, reintegration, and reha13 bilitation process in the Democratic Republic of the 

14 Congo; 

15 (7) to support efforts of the Government of the 

16 Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Nations 

17 Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of 

18 the Congo (MONUC), and other entities, as appro19 priate, to disarm, demobilize, and repatriate the 

20 Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda and 

21 other illegally armed groups; 

22 (8) to make all efforts to ensure that the Govern23 ment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo—
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1 (A) is committed to responsible and trans2 parent management of natural resources across 

3 the country; and 

4 (B) takes active measures—

5 (i) to promote economic development; 

6 (ii) to hold accountable individuals 

7 who illegally exploit the country’s natural 

8 resources; and 

9 (iii) to implement the Extractive In10 dustries Transparency Initiative by enact11 ing laws requiring disclosure and inde12 pendent auditing of company payments and 

13 government receipts for natural resource ex14 traction; 

15 (9) to promote a viable civil society and to en16 hance nongovernmental organizations and institu17 tions, including religious organizations, the media, 

18 political parties, trade unions, and trade and busi19 ness associations, that can act as a stabilizing force 

20 and effective check on the government; 

21 (10) to help rebuild and enhance infrastructure, 

22 communications, and other mechanisms that will in23 crease the ability of the central government to manage 

24 internal affairs, encourage economic development, and 

25 facilitate relief efforts of humanitarian organizations; 
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1 (11) to help halt the high prevalence of sexual 

2 abuse and violence perpetrated against women and 

3 children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 

4 mitigate the detrimental effects from acts of this type 

5 of violence by undertaking a number of health, edu6 cation, and psycho-social support programs; 

7 (12) to work aggressively on a bilateral basis to 

8 urge governments of countries contributing troops to 

9 the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in the 

10 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) to enact 

11 and enforce laws on trafficking in persons and sexual 

12 abuse that meet international standards, promote 

13 codes of conduct for troops serving as part of United 

14 Nations peacekeeping missions, and immediately in15 vestigate and punish citizens who are responsible for 

16 abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; 

17 (13) to assist the Government of the Democratic 

18 Republic of the Congo as undertakes steps to—

19 (A) protect internally displaced persons and 

20 refugees in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 

21 and border regions from all forms of violence, in22 cluding gender-based violence and other human 

23 rights abuses; 

24 (B) address other basic needs of vulnerable 

25 populations with the goal of allowing these con-
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1 flict-affected individuals to ultimately return to 

2 their homes; and 

3 (C) assess the magnitude of the problem of 

4 orphans from conflict and HIV/AIDS in the 

5 Democratic Republic of the Congo, and work to 

6 establish a program of national support; 

7 (14) to engage with governments working to pro8 mote peace and security throughout the Democratic 

9 Republic of the Congo and hold accountable individ10 uals, entities, and countries working to destabilize the 

11 country; and 

12 (15) to promote appropriate use of the forests of 

13 the Democratic Republic of the Congo in a manner 

14 that benefits the rural population in that country 

15 that depends on the forests for their livelihoods and 

16 protects national and environmental interests. 

17 SEC. 103. BILATERAL ASSISTANCE TO THE DEMOCRATIC RE18 PUBLIC OF THE CONGO. 

19 (a) FUNDING FOR FISCAL YEARS 2006 AND 2007.—

20 Of the amounts made available to carry out the Foreign 

21 Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), the Agricul22 tural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (68 

23 Stat. 454, chapter 469), and the Arms Export Control Act 

24 (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) for fiscal year 2006 and 2007, at 

25 least $52,000,000 for each such fiscal year should be allo-
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1 cated for bilateral assistance programs in the Democratic 

2 Republic of the Congo. 

3 (b) FUTURE YEAR FUNDING.—It is the sense of Con4 gress that the Department of State should submit budget 

5 requests in fiscal years 2008 and 2009 that contain in6 creases in bilateral assistance for the Democratic Republic 

7 of the Congo that are appropriate if progress is being made, 

8 particularly cooperation by the Government of the Demo9 cratic Republic of the Congo, toward accomplishing the pol10 icy objectives described in section 102. 

11 (c) COORDINATION WITH OTHER DONOR NATIONS.—

12 The United States should work with other donor nations, 

13 on a bilateral and multilateral basis, to increase inter14 national contributions to the Democratic Republic of the 

15 Congo and accomplish the policy objectives described in sec16 tion 102. 

17 SEC. 104. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE 

18 DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. 

19 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress 

20 that—

21 (1) the Government of the Democratic Republic 

22 of the Congo must be committed to achieving the pol23 icy objectives described in section 102 if the efforts of 

24 the United States and other members of the inter-
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1 national community are to be effective in bringing re2 lief, security, and democracy to the country; 

3 (2) the Government of the Democratic Republic 

4 of the Congo should immediately exercise control over 

5 and discipline its armed forces, stop the mass rapes 

6 at the hands of its armed forces, and hold those re7 sponsible for these acts accountable before an appro8 priate tribunal; 

9 (3) the Government of the Democratic Republic 

10 of the Congo, in collaboration with international aid 

11 agencies, should establish expert teams to assess the 

12 needs of the victims of rape and provide health, coun13 seling, and social support services that such victims 

14 need; and 

15 (4) the international community, through the 

16 United Nations peacekeeping mission, humanitarian 

17 and development relief, and other forms of assistance, 

18 is providing a substantial amount of funding that is 

19 giving the Government of the Democratic Republic of 

20 the Congo an opportunity to make progress towards 

21 accomplishing the policy objectives described in sec22 tion 102, but this assistance cannot continue in per23 petuity. 

24 (b) TERMINATION OF ASSISTANCE.—It is the sense of 

25 Congress that the Secretary of State should withhold assist-
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1 ance otherwise available under this Act if the Secretary de2 termines that the Government of the Democratic Republic 

3 of the Congo is not making sufficient progress towards ac4 complishing the policy objectives described in section 102. 

5 SEC. 105. WITHHOLDING OF ASSISTANCE. 

6 The Secretary of State is authorized to withhold assist7 ance made available under the Foreign Assistance Act of 

8 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), other than humanitarian, 

9 peacekeeping, and counterterrorism assistance, for a foreign 

10 country if the Secretary determines that the government of 

11 the foreign country is taking actions to destabilize the 

12 Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

13 SEC. 106. REPORT ON PROGRESS TOWARD ACCOMPLISHING 

14 POLICY OBJECTIVES. 

15 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than one year 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

17 General of the United States shall submit to Congress a re18 port on the progress made toward accomplishing the policy 

19 objectives described in section 102. 

20 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required under subsection 

21 (a) shall include—

22 (1) a description of any major impediments that 

23 prevent the accomplishment of the policy objectives de24 scribed in section 102, including any destabilizing ac-
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1 tivities undertaken in the Democratic Republic of 

2 Congo by governments of neighboring countries; 

3 (2) an evaluation of United States policies and 

4 foreign assistance programs designed to accomplish 

5 such policy objectives; and 

6 (3) recommendations for—

7 (A) improving the policies and programs 

8 referred to in paragraph (2); and 

9 (B) any additional bilateral or multilateral 

10 actions necessary to promote peace and pros11 perity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

12 SEC. 107. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR THE GREAT LAKES REGION. 

13 Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment 

14 of this Act, the President should appoint a Special Envoy 

15 for the Great Lakes Region to help coordinate efforts to re16 solve the instability and insecurity in Eastern Congo. 

17 TITLE II—MULTILATERAL AC18 TIONS TO ADDRESS URGENT 

19 NEEDS IN THE DEMOCRATIC 

20 REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 

21 SEC. 201. PROMOTION OF UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD 

22 THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO 

23 IN THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL. 

24 The United States should use its voice and vote in the 

25 United Nations Security Council—
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1 (1) to address exploitation at the United Nations 

2 Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of 

3 the Congo (MONUC) by continuing to urge, when 

4 credible allegations exist, appropriate investigation of 

5 alleged perpetrators and, as necessary, prosecution of 

6 United Nations personnel responsible for sexual 

7 abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; 

8 (2) to conclude at the earliest possible date a 

9 Memorandum of Understanding relating to binding 

10 codes of conduct and programs for the prevention of 

11 sexual abuse and trafficking in persons to be under12 taken by the United Nations for all countries that 

13 contribute troops to MONUC, to include the assump14 tion of personal liability for the provision of victims 

15 assistance and child support, as appropriate, by those 

16 who violate the codes of conduct; 

17 (3) to strengthen the authority and capacity of 

18 MONUC by—

19 (A) providing specific authority and obliga20 tion to prevent and effectively counter imminent 

21 threats; 

22 (B) clarifying and strengthening MONUC’s 

23 rules of engagement to enhance the protection of 

24 vulnerable civilian populations; 
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1 (C) enhancing the surveillance and intel2 ligence-gathering capabilities available to 

3 MONUC; 

4 (D) where consistent with United States 

5 policy, making available personnel, communica6 tions, and military assets that improve the effec7 tiveness of robust peacekeeping, mobility, and 

8 command and control capabilities of MONUC; 

9 and 

10 (E) providing MONUC with the authority 

11 and resources needed to effectively monitor arms 

12 trafficking and natural resource exploitation at 

13 key border posts and airfields in the eastern part 

14 of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; 

15 (4) to encourage regular visits of the United Na16 tions Security Council to monitor the situation in the 

17 Democratic Republic of the Congo; 

18 (5) to ensure that the practice of recruiting and 

19 arming children in the Democratic Republic of the 

20 Congo is immediately halted pursuant to Security 

21 Council Resolutions 1460 (2003) and 1539 (2004); 

22 (6) to strengthen the arms embargo imposed pur23 suant to Security Council Resolution 1493 (2003) 

24 and ensure that violators are held accountable 
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1 through appropriate measures, including the possible 

2 imposition of sanctions; 

3 (7) to allow for the more effective protection and 

4 monitoring of natural resources in the Democratic 

5 Republic of the Congo, especially in the eastern part 

6 of the country, and for public disclosure and inde7 pendent auditing of natural resource revenues to help 

8 ensure transparent and accountable management of 

9 these revenues; 

10 (8) to press countries in the Congo region to help 

11 facilitate an end to the violence in the Democratic Re12 public of the Congo and promote relief, security, and 

13 democracy throughout the region; and 

14 (9) to encourage the United Nations Secretary15 General to become more involved in completing the 

16 policy objectives described in paragraphs (1) and (2) 

17 of section 102 and ensure that recent fighting in 

18 North Kivu, which displaced over 150,000 people, as 

19 well as fighting in Ituri and other areas, does not cre20 ate widespread instability throughout the country. 
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1 SEC. 202. INCREASING CONTRIBUTIONS AND OTHER HU2 MANITARIAN AND DEVELOPMENT ASSIST3 ANCE THROUGH INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZA4 TIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President should instruct the 

6 United States permanent representative or executive direc7 tor, as the case may be, to the United Nations voluntary 

8 agencies, including the World Food Program, the United 

9 Nations Development Program, and the United Nations 

10 High Commissioner for Refugees, and other appropriate 

11 international organizations to use the voice and vote of the 

12 United States to support additional humanitarian and de13 velopment assistance for the Democratic Republic of the 

14 Congo in order to accomplish the policy objectives described 

15 in section 102. 

16 (b) SUPPORT CONTINGENT ON PROGRESS.—If the Sec17 retary of State determines that the Government of the 

18 Democratic Republic of the Congo is not making sufficient 

19 progress towards accomplishing the policy objectives de20 scribed in section 102, the President shall consider with21 drawing United States support for the assistance described 
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1 in subsection (a) when future funding decisions are consid2 ered.

Attest:

Clerk. 
109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2125

AMENDMENT