I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2027 

To support stabilization and lasting peace in northeast Nigeria and areas 

affected by Boko Haram through development of a regional strategy 

to support multilateral efforts to successfully protect civilians and eliminate the threat posed by Boko Haram, to support efforts to rescue 

female students abducted in Nigeria on April 14, 2014, as well as 

other kidnapping victims of Boko Haram, and to provide funds for 

humanitarian relief, development programs, transitional justice, and victim support, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 23, 2015 

Ms. WILSON of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To support stabilization and lasting peace in northeast Nigeria and areas affected by Boko Haram through development of a regional strategy to support multilateral efforts 

to successfully protect civilians and eliminate the threat 

posed by Boko Haram, to support efforts to rescue female students abducted in Nigeria on April 14, 2014, 

as well as other kidnapping victims of Boko Haram, 

and to provide funds for humanitarian relief, development programs, transitional justice, and victim support, 

and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Boko Haram Disar5 mament and Northeast Nigeria Recovery Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) On the night of April 14, 2014, 276 female 

9 students, most of them between 15 and 18 years old, 

10 were abducted by Boko Haram from the Chibok 

11 Government Girls Secondary School, a boarding 

12 school located in Borno state in the Federal Repub13 lic of Nigeria. 

14 (2) All public secondary schools in Borno state 

15 were closed in March 2014 because of increasing at16 tacks by Boko Haram that killed hundreds of stu17 dents, but the schoolgirls returned to school, despite 

18 the potential dangers, determined to pursue their 

19 education. 

20 (3) Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for 

21 subsequent kidnappings in the region. 

22 (4) Boko Haram leaders have threatened to sell 

23 the kidnapped schoolgirls into slavery and according 

24 to reports, has previously kept female hostages as 

25 slaves and committed sexual violence against them. 


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1 (5) Boko Haram seems determined to carry out 

2 sophisticated and deadly attacks and to expand its 

3 area of operation. 

4 (6) Boko Haram has targeted schools, mosques, 

5 churches, villages, and agricultural centers, as well 

6 as government facilities, in hopes of creating an Is7 lamic state in northern Nigeria. 

8 (7) There are estimates that Boko Haram has 

9 killed more than 4,000 people since 2011, and more 

10 than 2,000 people this year alone. 

11 (8) There is a possibility that many of the girls 

12 may have been taken into neighboring countries. 

13 (9) Boko Haram and other terrorist organiza14 tions pose a growing threat to United States inter15 ests in the region, as well as to broader regional 

16 peace and security. 

17 (10) In an effort to locate the kidnapped 

18 schoolgirls, the United States authorized the deploy19 ment of up to 80 military personnel to Chad in 

20 order to help with intelligence and surveillance. 

21 (11) The United States military have provided 

22 training, equipment, and other support for counter23 terrorism units in the Sahel region to combat Al 

24 Qaeda affiliates and related groups in Africa. 


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1 (12) Cameroon, Niger, and Chad have deployed 

2 troops in an effort to secure their borders against 

3 Boko Haram. 

4 (13) The United States named several individ5 uals linked to Boko Haram as Specially Designated 

6 Global Terrorists in 2012 and designated Boko 

7 Haram as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in No8 vember 2013. 

9 (14) On May 22, 2014, the United Nations Se10 curity Council added Boko Haram to the 1267 sanc11 tions list, a list of Al Qaeda-linked terrorist organi12 zations subject to weapons embargoes, travel bans, 

13 and asset freezes. 

14 (15) The Senate and House have both passed 

15 resolutions condemning Boko Haram and the abduc16 tion of female students by the group from schools in 

17 the northeastern province of Borno in the Federal 

18 Republic of Nigeria. 

19 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

20 It is the policy of the United States to work vigor21 ously for a lasting resolution to the conflict in northeast 

22 Nigeria and other Boko Haram-affected areas by— 

23 (1) eliminating the threat posed by Boko 

24 Haram to civilians and regional stability through po25 litical, economic, humanitarian, law enforcement, 


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1 military, and intelligence support for a comprehen2 sive multilateral effort to protect civilians in affected 

3 areas and to defeat and demobilize Boko Haram 

4 fighters; 

5 (2) supporting efforts to rescue those individ6 uals who have been abducted by Boko Haram; and 

7 (3) further supporting comprehensive recon8 struction, transitional justice, development and hu9 manitarian programs, and reconciliation efforts. 

10 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT OF A REGIONAL STRATEGY FOR DE11 FEATING BOKO HARAM. 

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

13 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

14 President shall develop and submit to the appropriate 

15 committees of Congress a regional strategy to guide 

16 United States support for multilateral efforts to protect 

17 civilians from attacks by Boko Haram, to eliminate the 

18 threat to civilians and regional stability posed by Boko 

19 Haram, and to enforce the rule of law and ensure full hu20 manitarian access in areas affected by Boko Haram. 

21 (b) CONTENT OF STRATEGY.—The strategy should 

22 include the following: 

23 (1) A plan to work with Nigeria and other 

24 international partners to find Boko Haram’s kidnap25 ping victims and liberate them and a viable plan to 


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1 protect civilians and eliminate the threat posed by 

2 Boko Haram. 

3 (2) An interagency framework to plan, coordi4 nate, and execute all diplomatic, economic, intel5 ligence, development, humanitarian, law enforce6 ment, and military elements of United States policy 

7 across the region regarding Boko Haram. 

8 (3) A framework to evaluate the progress and 

9 effectiveness of the United States strategy toward 

10 eliminating the threat posed by Boko Haram. 

11 (c) FORM.—The strategy under this section shall be 

12 submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classi13 fied annex. 

14 SEC. 5. HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE FOR AREAS AF15 FECTED BY BOKO HARAM. 

16 (a) AUTHORITY.—In accordance with section 491 of 

17 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2292) and 

18 section 2 of the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 

19 1962 (22 U.S.C. 2601), the President is authorized to 

20 provide humanitarian and development assistance to the 

21 populations in areas affected by Boko Haram. 

22 (b) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts equivalent to the 

24 funds received by the United States Government 

25 pursuant to the final judgment in the case specified 


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1 in paragraph (2) shall, notwithstanding any other 

2 provision of law, be made available to carry out this 

3 section. 

4 (2) CASE.—The case referred to in paragraph 

5 (1) is United States of America v. All Assets Held 

6 in Account Number 80020796, in name of Doraville 

7 Properties Corporation, at Deutsche Bank Inter8 national, Limited in Jersey, Channel Islands, and 

9 All Interest, Benefits, or Assets Traceable Thereto, 

10 et al., Case No. 1:13–cv–01832–JDB (D.D.C.). 

11 SEC. 6. ASSISTANCE FOR RECOVERY AND RECONSTRUC12 TION IN AREAS AFFECTED BY BOKO HARAM. 

13 (a) AUTHORITY.—It is the sense of Congress that the 

14 President should support efforts by the people of Boko 

15 Haram-affected areas and the Governments of Nigeria, 

16 Chad, Cameroon, and Niger, as security conditions per17 mit— 

18 (1) to assist internally displaced people and re19 turnees in securing durable solutions by spurring 

20 economic growth, supporting livelihoods, helping to 

21 alleviate poverty, and promoting access to basic serv22 ices in northeast Nigeria, including education and 

23 employment opportunities; 

24 (2) to enhance the accountability and adminis25 trative competency of state and local governance inVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 May 06, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2027.IH H2027

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1 stitutions and public agencies in northeast Nigeria 

2 with regard to budget management, provision of 

3 public goods and services, and related oversight 

4 functions; 

5 (3) to provide all children with a quality basic 

6 education while ensuring the safety of students and 

7 school faculty; 

8 (4) to strengthen the operational capacity of the 

9 civilian police in Nigeria to enhance public safety, 

10 prevent crime and communal and sectarian violence, 

11 and deal sensitively with gender-based violence, while 

12 strengthening accountability measures to prevent 

13 corruption and abuses; and 

14 (5) to promote programs to address physical 

15 harm and psychosocial trauma, including post-trau16 matic stress disorder. 

17 (b) FUTURE YEAR FUNDING.—It is the sense of Con18 gress that the Secretary of State and Administrator of the 

19 United States Agency for International Development 

20 should work with the appropriate committees of Congress 

21 to increase assistance in future fiscal years to support ac22 tivities described in this section if the Government of Nige23 ria demonstrates a commitment to transparent and ac24 countable reconstruction in Boko Haram-affected areas of 

25 Nigeria, specifically by— 


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1 (1) increasing oversight activities and reporting 

2 to ensure funds used to combat Boko Haram are 

3 used efficiently and with minimal waste; and 

4 (2) committing substantial funds of its own, 

5 above and beyond standard budget allocations to 

6 state and local governments, for the task of com7 bating Boko Haram and rebuilding those regions af8 fected by Boko Haram attacks. 

9 (c) COORDINATION WITH OTHER DONOR NA10 TIONS.—The United States should work with other donor 

11 nations, on a bilateral and multilateral basis, to increase 

12 contributions for recovery efforts in northeast Nigeria and 

13 other areas affected by Boko Haram, and strengthen ac14 countability mechanisms to ensure the transparent and 

15 timely use of those funds. 

16 (d) TERMINATION OF ASSISTANCE.—It is the sense 

17 of Congress that the Secretary of State should withhold 

18 bilateral assistance to Nigeria for the purposes described 

19 under this section if the Secretary determines that the 

20 Government of Nigeria is not committed to transparent 

21 and accountable reconstruction and reconciliation in the 

22 Boko Haram-affected areas of Nigeria. 

23 SEC. 7. REPORT. 

24 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 year after 

25 the submission of the strategy required under section 4, 


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1 the Secretary of State shall prepare and submit to the ap2 propriate committees of Congress a report on the progress 

3 made toward the implementation of the strategy required 

4 under section 4 and a description and evaluation of the 

5 assistance provided under this Act toward the policy objec6 tives described in section 3. 

7 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required under section 

8 (a) shall include— 

9 (1) a description and evaluation of actions 

10 taken toward the implementation of the strategy re11 quired under section 4; 

12 (2) a description of assistance provided under 

13 section 5 and section 6; 

14 (3) an evaluation of bilateral assistance pro15 vided to Nigeria and associated programs in light of 

16 stated policy objectives; and 

17 (4) a description of amounts of assistance com18 mitted, and amounts provided, to Nigeria during the 

19 reporting period by the Government of Nigeria, each 

20 donor country, and all relevant organizations. 

21 SEC. 8. DEFINITION. 

22 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate committees of 

23 Congress’’ means— 


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1 (1) the Committee on Appropriations and the 

2 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep3 resentatives; and 

4 (2) the Committee on Appropriations and the 

5 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate. 

Æ 


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