II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 498 

To repeal the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 7, 2013 

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

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To repeal the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery 

Act of 2001. 

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 ‘‘Zimbabwe Sanctions 

5 Repeal Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe and 

9 leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Pa10 triotic Front, has ruled Zimbabwe for 31 years. 


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1 (2) During President Mugabe’s regime, 

2 Zimbabwe has gone from being the ‘‘bread basket’’ 

3 of Africa to the world’s fastest shrinking economy. 

4 (3) In 2000, the Government of Zimbabwe initi5 ated a farmland redistribution program, designed to 

6 reallocate foreign commercial farmland to poor and 

7 middle-class citizens of Zimbabwe. 

8 (4) The farmland redistribution program— 

9 (A) led to the confiscation of industrial, 

10 fertile, and previously settled lands, and mass 

11 chaos; 

12 (B) undermined the Constitution of 

13 Zimbabwe; and 

14 (C) caused more than 400,000 farmers to 

15 lose their homes and livelihoods. 

16 (5) In 2005, President Mugabe implemented a 

17 project known as Operation Murambatsvina, trans18 lated into English as Operation ‘‘Clean Out the 

19 Filth’’. 

20 (6) Under Operation Clean Out the Filth, the 

21 Mugabe regime bulldozed and destroyed thousands 

22 of homes and businesses, leading to an estimated 

23 700,000 internally displaced persons, of whom 

24 569,685 are still displaced. 


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1 (7) The majority of the people of Zimbabwe live 

2 on less than $1 per day. 

3 (8) The 95 percent unemployment rate in 

4 Zimbabwe has forced an estimated 3,000,000 of the 

5 people of Zimbabwe, representing 25 percent of the 

6 overall population, to migrate to neighboring coun7 tries. 

8 (9) All of these actions by President Mugabe’s 

9 regime have caused significant and persistent eco10 nomic hardships in Zimbabwe. 

11 (10) On March 29, 2008, a presidential election 

12 was held between President Mugabe and Morgan 

13 Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition party, the 

14 Movement for Democratic Change. 

15 (11) Of the votes cast in the presidential elec16 tion— 

17 (A) Tsvangirai received 47.9 percent; 

18 (B) President Mugabe received 43.2 per19 cent; and 

20 (C) Simba Mankoni, of the Mavambo 

21 Kusile Dawn Party, received 8.3 percent. 

22 (12) Because Tsvangirai failed to achieve 50 

23 percent of the votes needed to win outright, a run24 off was scheduled for June 27, 2008. 

25 (13) President Mugabe— 


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1 (A) declared that he would not relinquish 

2 power regardless of the election outcome; 

3 (B) directed a crackdown on opposition 

4 parties; and 

5 (C) stated, ‘‘Only God, who appointed me, 

6 will remove me.’’. 

7 (14) As many as 400 members and supporters 

8 of the Movement for Democratic Change were killed 

9 during the run-off campaign period. 

10 (15) Tsvangirai dropped out of the run-off race, 

11 and took refuge in the Embassy of the Netherlands, 

12 stating that he could not ask people to vote ‘‘when 

13 that vote could cost them their lives’’. 

14 (16) The violence surrounding this unfair elec15 tion came to the world’s attention and specifically to 

16 that of the Southern African Development Commu17 nity, compromised of 15 southern African countries, 

18 and the United States. 

19 (17) Pressure from the Southern African Devel20 opment Community and the United States led to the 

21 creation of a power-sharing agreement between 

22 Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patri23 otic Front and Tsvangirai and Mutambara’s respec24 tive wings of the Movement for Democratic Change 

25 Party. This agreement, which is known as the GlobVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:34 Mar 08, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S498.IS S498

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1 al Political Agreement, became effective on Sep2 tember 15, 2008. 

3 (18) The Parliament of Zimbabwe amended the 

4 Constitution of Zimbabwe to allow for the creation 

5 of the power-sharing government. 

6 (19) While Mugabe retained the office of Presi7 dent, Tsvangirai was sworn in as the Prime Minister 

8 of Zimbabwe on February 11, 2009, and Tendai Biti 

9 was appointed Minister of Finance by Prime Min10 ister Tsvangirai. 

11 (20) Since the appointment of Biti as Minister 

12 of Finance, the economy of Zimbabwe has seen re13 markable recovery in a short period of time. Minister 

14 Biti dollarized the Zimbabwean economy to combat 

15 inflation. By using stable foreign currencies, the 

16 2008 annual inflation rate of 15,000,000,000 per17 cent was reduced to the current 2012 rate of 8.3 

18 percent. 

19 (21) During Biti’s tenure as Minister of Fi20 nance, the real gross domestic product (GDP) of 

21 Zimbabwe has also improved. In 2008, the real GDP 

22 in Zimbabwe was contracting at a rate of negative 

23 14.4 percent. Current projections estimate that the 

24 real GDP in Zimbabwe will increase by 5 percent 

25 during 2012. 


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1 (22) The salaries of government employees have 

2 also been reissued, allowing those employed in basic 

3 government services like medicine, education, and 

4 transportation to return to work. 

5 (23) The overall economy and well-being of the 

6 citizens of Zimbabwe have made tremendous ad7 vances since Tsvangirai and the Movement for 

8 Democratic Change gained power-sharing authority 

9 in the Government of Zimbabwe. 

10 (24) The Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic 

11 Recovery Act of 2001 (Public Law 107–99; 22 

12 U.S.C. 2151 note), which was enacted into law in 

13 2001, imposed sanctions on the Mugabe regime and 

14 members of the Zimbabwe African National Union15 Patriotic Front. 

16 (25) Section 4(c) of the Zimbabwe Democracy 

17 and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 specifically di18 rects the United States Executive Director to each 

19 international financial institution to oppose and vote 

20 against— 

21 (A) any extension by the institution of any 

22 loan, credit, or guarantee to the Government of 

23 Zimbabwe; or 

24 (B) any cancellation or reduction of in25 debtedness owed by the Government of ZimbabVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:34 Mar 08, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S498.IS S498

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1 we to the United States or any international fi2 nancial institution. 

3 (26) Repealing the sanctions imposed under the 

4 Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act 

5 of 2001 that burden the power-sharing government 

6 in Zimbabwe is necessary— 

7 (A) to fully restore the economy of 

8 Zimbabwe; and 

9 (B) to assist Zimbabwe in transitioning to 

10 democracy. 

11 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF ZIMBABWE DEMOCRACY AND ECO12 NOMIC RECOVERY ACT OF 2001. 

13 The Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery 

14 Act of 2001 (Public Law 107–99; 22 U.S.C. 2151 note) 

15 is repealed. 

Æ 


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