II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1745 

To promote security, stability and good governance in Somalia through a 

coordinated interagency strategy that supports the consolidation of recent 

security and political gains in Somalia. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 20, 2013 

Mr. COONS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To promote security, stability and good governance in Somalia through a coordinated interagency strategy that supports the consolidation of recent security and political 

gains in Somalia. 

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 ‘‘Somalia Stabilization 

5 Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Since the collapse of the Siad Barre regime 

2 in 1991, Somalia has struggled to rebuild a govern3 ment and assert order and control over warlords, 

4 clan militias, and extremist groups. 

5 (2) The lack of functioning state and governing 

6 structures led to chronic humanitarian need within 

7 Somalia and enabled terrorist groups, maritime 

8 crime, illicit trafficking, and mass refugee flows to 

9 flourish. 

10 (3) In 2007, the Ethiopian military ousted the 

11 Islamic Courts Union and the United Nations au12 thorized the African Union to deploy a peacekeeping 

13 force to Somalia, the African Union Mission to So14 malia (AMISOM), in order to support the Transi15 tional Federal Government to establish order in So16 malia. AMISOM currently consists of troops from 

17 Burundi, Djibouti, Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Ugan18 da. 

19 (4) In 2008, Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen 

20 (al-Shabaab) was designated a Foreign Terrorist Or21 ganization and a Specially Designated Global Ter22 rorist entity by the United States Government. 

23 (5) In 2010, al-Shabaab took control of south24 ern and central Somalia and instituted strict Sharia 

25 law. 


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1 (6) In July 2010, Al-Shabaab retaliated against 

2 a contributor to AMISOM by carrying out an attack 

3 in Kampala, Uganda, which killed 74 people and in4 jured 70 others. 

5 (7) In 2010, in response to growing al-Shabaab 

6 dominance and brutality, the AMISOM mandate was 

7 expanded to directly target and counter al-Shabaab 

8 in Somalia. 

9 (8) In 2011 and 2012, when many parts of the 

10 country were suffering from severe food insecurity 

11 and famine, al-Shabaab denied humanitarian access 

12 to its residents, resulting in the death of close to 

13 260,000 people and acute food insecurity for mil14 lions. 

15 (9) In 2011, the Kenyan Defense Force joined 

16 AMISOM, to help take control of urban areas like 

17 Mogadishu and Kismayo from al-Shabaab control. 

18 (10) In 2012, improved security in much of 

19 urban Somalia enabled the Transitional Federal 

20 Government to complete a draft constitution and 

21 end its transitional term. 

22 (11) In 2012, a regionally representative Somali 

23 constituent assembly elected a new Federal par24 liament, which in turn elected President Hassan 

25 Sheikh Mohamud. 


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1 (12) The United States, Arab and European 

2 countries, the United Nations, and the African 

3 Union officially recognized the new Somali govern4 ment, citing the process that created it as being the 

5 most credible and inclusive process to date. 

6 (13) On March 6, 2013, the United Nations Se7 curity Council passed Resolution 2093, creating a 

8 new exemption to the 21-year-old arms embargo for 

9 a period of 12 months, to allow for ‘‘deliveries of 

10 weapons or military equipment or the provision of 

11 advice, assistance or training, intended solely for the 

12 development of the National Security Forces of the 

13 Federal Government of Somalia’’, and calling for the 

14 training, equipping, and capacity-building of Somali 

15 Security Forces, including both its armed forces and 

16 police, with special focus on the development of in17 frastructure to ‘‘ensure the safe storage, registra18 tion, maintenance and distribution of military equip19 ment,’’ and ‘‘procedures and codes of conduct . . . 

20 for the registration, distribution, use, and storage of 

21 weapons’’. 

22 (14) On May 2, 2013, the United National Se23 curity Council passed Resolution 2102, establishing 

24 the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia 

25 (UNSOM) under the leadership of a Special RepVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:40 Nov 23, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1745.IS S1745

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1 resentative of the Secretary-General to support the 

2 Government of Somalia with peace-building, state3 building and governance, as well as the coordination 

4 of international assistance. 

5 (15) Though greeted with great optimism, the 

6 Government of Somalia has run into many chal7 lenges, which has stalled its efforts to finalize the 

8 constitution, guide the structure of the new state, or 

9 provide services to the population. 

10 (16) President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and 

11 his government have committed to the completion of 

12 these tasks and to holding a constitutional ref13 erendum and national election by 2016. 

14 (17) On September 16, 2013, the international 

15 community and a high level Somali delegation en16 dorsed a compact based on the ‘‘New Deal Strategy 

17 for Engagement in Fragile States.’’ Donors pledged 

18 $2,400,000,000 over three years to support Somali 

19 development priorities, including $69,000,000 from 

20 the United States. 

21 (18) Al Shabaab continues to use terrorist tac22 tics to attack soft targets. On September 21–24, 

23 2013, al-Shabaab perpetrated an attack on the 

24 Westgate mall in Nairobi, Kenya, killing at least 67 

25 people. 


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1 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that the United States 

3 should— 

4 (1) support the Somali Federal Government, re5 gional administrations, Federal units, and people in 

6 their ongoing efforts to consolidate political gains 

7 and develop credible, transparent, and representative 

8 government systems and institutions, and foster 

9 complementary processes at the local, regional, and 

10 national levels; 

11 (2) continue to support African-led regional ef12 forts to improve security and stability in Somalia, 

13 including through the African Union Mission to So14 malia (AMISOM) and the United Nations Assist15 ance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM); 

16 (3) support the people and Government of So17 malia to develop professional and regionally and eth18 nically representative Somali security forces that are 

19 capable of maintaining and expanding security with20 in Somalia, confronting international security 

21 threats such as terrorism, and preventing human 

22 rights abuses; 

23 (4) continue to provide lifesaving humanitarian 

24 assistance as needed, while bolstering resilience and 

25 building a foundation for sustained, inclusive devel26 opment for the people of Somalia; and 


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1 (5) carry out all diplomatic, economic, intel2 ligence, military, and development activities in So3 malia within the context of a comprehensive strategy 

4 coordinated through an interagency process. 

5 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT OF A STRATEGY TO SUPPORT THE 

6 CONSOLIDATION OF SECURITY AND GOVERN7 ANCE GAINS IN SOMALIA. 

8 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR STRATEGY.—Not later than 

9 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

10 President shall submit to the appropriate committees of 

11 Congress a strategy to guide future United States action 

12 in support of the Government and people of Somalia to 

13 foster economic growth and opportunity, counter armed 

14 threats to stability, and develop credible, transparent, and 

15 representative government systems and institutions. 

16 (b) CONTENT OF STRATEGY.—The strategy required 

17 under subsection (a) should include the following ele18 ments: 

19 (1) A clearly stated policy toward Somalia on 

20 supporting the consolidation of political gains at the 

21 national level, while also encouraging and supporting 

22 complementary processes at the local and regional 

23 levels. 

24 (2) Measures to support the development goals 

25 identified by the people and Government of Somalia. 


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1 (3) Plans for strengthening efforts by the Gov2 ernment of Somalia, the African Union, and regional 

3 governments to stabilize the security situation within 

4 Somalia and further degrade al-Shabaab’s capabili5 ties, in order to enable the eventual transfer of secu6 rity operations to Somali security forces capable 

7 of— 

8 (A) maintaining and expanding security 

9 within Somalia; 

10 (B) confronting international security 

11 threats; and 

12 (C) preventing human rights abuses. 

13 (4) Plans for supporting the development and 

14 professionalization of regionally and ethnically rep15 resentative Somali security forces, including the in16 frastructure and procedures required to ensure chain 

17 of custody and the safe storage of military equip18 ment and an assessment of the benefits and risks of 

19 the provision of weaponry to the Somali security 

20 forces by the United States. 

21 (5) A description of United States national se22 curity objectives addressed through military-to-mili23 tary cooperation activities with Somali security 

24 forces. 


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1 (6) A description of security risks to United 

2 States personnel conducting security cooperation ac3 tivities within Somalia and plans to assist the So4 mali security forces in preventing infiltration and in5 sider attacks, including through the application of 

6 lessons learned in United States military training ef7 forts in Afghanistan. 

8 (7) A description of United States tools for 

9 monitoring and responding to violations of the 

10 United Nations Security Council arms embargo, 

11 charcoal ban, and other international agreements af12 fecting the stability of Somalia. 

13 (8) A description of mechanisms for coordi14 nating United States military and non-military as15 sistance with other international donors, regional 

16 governments, and relevant multilateral organiza17 tions. 

18 (9) Plans to increase United States diplomatic 

19 engagement with Somalia, including through the fu20 ture establishment of an embassy or other diplo21 matic posts in Mogadishu. 

22 (10) Any other element the President deter23 mines appropriate. 

24 (c) REPORTS.—Not later than 180 days from the 

25 submission of the strategy required under subsection (a), 


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1 and annually thereafter for three years, the President 

2 shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 

3 an update on implementation of the strategy and progress 

4 made in Somalia in security, stability, development, and 

5 governance. 

6 (d) FORM.—The strategy under this section shall be 

7 submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classi8 fied annex. The reports may take the form of a briefing, 

9 unclassified report, or unclassified report with a classified 

10 annex. 

11 (e) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE12 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate commit13 tees of Congress’’ means— 

14 (1) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com15 mittee on Armed Services, the Committee on For16 eign Relations, and the Select Committee on Intel17 ligence of the Senate; and 

18 (2) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com19 mittee on Armed Services, the Committee on For20 eign Affairs, and the Permanent Select Committee 

21 on Intelligence of the House of Representatives. 

Æ 


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