I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3028 
To end the use of child soldiers in hostilities around the world, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 12, 2007 
Mr. FORTENBERRY (for himself, Mr. PAYNE, and Mr. SMITH of New Jersey) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To end the use of child soldiers in hostilities around the 
world, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Soldier Preven-
tion Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) According to the September 7, 2005, report 
to the General Assembly of the United Nations by 
the Special Representative of the Secretary-General 
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for Children and Armed Conflict, ‘‘In the last dec-
ade, two million children have been killed in situa-
tions of armed conflict, while six million children 
have been permanently disabled or injured. Over 
250,000 children continue to be exploited as child 
soldiers and tens of thousands of girls are being sub-
jected to rape and other forms of sexual violence.’’. 
(2) According to the Center for Emerging 
Threats and Opportunities (CETO), Marine Corps 
Warfighting Laboratory, ‘‘The Child Soldier Phe-
nomenon has become a post-Cold War epidemic that 
has proliferated to every continent with the excep-
tion of Antarctica and Australia.’’. 
(3) Many of the children currently serving in 
armed forces or paramilitaries were forcibly con-
scripted through kidnapping or coercion, a form of 
human trafficking, while others joined military units 
due to economic necessity, to avenge the loss of a 
family member, or for their own personal safety. 
(4) Some military and militia commanders force 
child soldiers to commit gruesome acts of ritual 
killings or torture, including acts of violence against 
other children. 
(5) Many female child soldiers face the addi-
tional psychological and physical horrors of rape and 
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sexual abuse, enslavement for sexual purposes by mi-
litia commanders, and severe social stigma should 
they return home. 
(6) Some military and militia commanders tar-
get children for recruitment because of their psycho-
logical immaturity and vulnerability to manipulation 
and indoctrination. Children are often separated 
from their families in order to foster dependence on 
military units and leaders. Consequently, many of 
these children suffer from deep trauma and are in 
need of psychological counseling and rehabilitation. 
(7) Child soldiers are exposed to hazardous con-
ditions and are at risk of physical injury and dis-
ability, psychological trauma, sexually transmitted 
diseases, respiratory and skin infections, and often 
death. 
(8) On May 25, 2000, the United Nations 
adopted and opened for signature, ratification, and 
accession the Optional Protocol to the Convention on 
the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Chil-
dren in Armed Conflict (in this Act referred to as 
the ‘‘Optional Protocol’’), which establishes 18 as 
the minimum age for conscription or forced recruit-
ment and requires states party to ensure that mem-
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bers of their armed forces under the age of 18 do 
not take a direct part in hostilities. 
(9) On June 18, 2002, the Senate unanimously 
approved the resolution advising and consenting to 
the ratification of the Optional Protocol. 
(10) On December 23, 2002, the United States 
presented the ratified optional protocol to the United 
Nations. 
(11) More than 110 governments worldwide 
have ratified the optional protocol, establishing a 
clear international norm concerning the use of chil-
dren in combat. 
(12) On December 2, 1999, the United States 
ratified International Labour Convention 182, the 
Convention concerning the Prohibition and Imme-
diate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms 
of Child Labour, which includes the use of child sol-
diers among the worst forms of child labor. 
(13) On October 7, 2005, the Senate gave its 
advice and consent to the ratification of the Protocol 
to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Per-
sons, 
Especially 
Women 
and 
Children, 
Supplementing the United Nations Convention 
Against Transnational Organized Crime. 
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(14) It is in the national security interest of the 
United States to reduce the chances that members 
of the United States Armed Forces will be forced to 
encounter children in combat situations. 
(15) Section 502B(a)(3) of the Foreign Assist-
ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304(a)(3)) provides 
that ‘‘the President is directed to formulate and con-
duct international security assistance programs of 
the United States in a manner which will promote 
and advance human rights and avoid identification 
of the United States, through such programs, with 
governments which deny to their people internation-
ally recognized human rights and fundamental free-
doms, in violation of international law or in con-
travention of the policy of the United States as ex-
pressed in this section or otherwise’’. 
SEC. 3. CHILD SOLDIER DEFINED. 
In this Act, consistent with the provisions of the Op-
tional Protocol, the term ‘‘child soldier’’— 
(1) means— 
(A) any person under age 18 who takes a 
direct part in hostilities as a member of govern-
mental armed forces; 
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(B) any person under age 18 who has been 
compulsorily recruited into governmental armed 
forces; 
(C) any person under age 16 voluntarily 
recruited into governmental armed forces; and 
(D) any person under age 18 recruited or 
used in hostilities by armed forces distinct from 
the armed forces of a state; and 
(2) includes any person described in subpara-
graphs (B), (C), and (D) of paragraph (1) who is 
serving in any capacity, including in a support role 
such as a cook, porter, messenger, medic, guard, or 
sex slave. 
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress— 
(1) to condemn the conscription, forced recruit-
ment 
or 
use 
of 
children 
by 
governments, 
paramilitaries, or other organizations in hostilities; 
(2) that the United States Government should 
support and, where practicable, lead efforts to estab-
lish and uphold international standards designed to 
end this abuse of human rights; 
(3) that the United States Government should 
expand ongoing services to rehabilitate recovered 
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child soldiers and to reintegrate them back into their 
communities by— 
(A) offering ongoing psychological services 
to help victims recover from their trauma and 
relearn how to deal with others in nonviolent 
ways such that they are no longer a danger to 
their community, taking into consideration the 
needs of girl soldiers, who may be at risk of ex-
clusion from disarmament, demobilization, and 
reintegration programs; 
(B) facilitating reconciliation with their 
communities through negotiations with tradi-
tional leaders and elders to enable recovered 
abductees to resume normal lives in their com-
munities; and 
(C) providing educational and vocational 
assistance; 
(4) that the United States should work with the 
international community, including, where appro-
priate, third country governments, nongovernmental 
organizations, faith-based organizations, United Na-
tions agencies, local governments, labor unions, and 
private enterprise— 
(A) on efforts to bring to justice rebel or-
ganizations that kidnap children for use as 
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child soldiers, including the Lord’s Resistance 
Army (LRA) in Uganda, Fuerzas Armadas 
Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), and Lib-
eration Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), includ-
ing, where feasible, by arresting the leaders of 
such groups; and 
(B) on efforts to recover those children 
who have been abducted and to assist them in 
their rehabilitation and reintegration into com-
munities; 
(5) that the Secretary of State, the Secretary of 
Labor, and the Secretary of Defense should coordi-
nate programs to achieve the goals specified in para-
graph (3), and in countries where the use of child 
soldiers is an issue, whether or not it is supported 
or sanctioned by the governments of such countries, 
United States diplomatic missions should include in 
their mission program plans a strategy to achieve 
the goals specified in such paragraph; 
(6) that United States diplomatic missions in 
countries in which governments use or tolerate child 
soldiers should develop, as part of annual program 
planning, strategies to promote efforts to end this 
abuse of human rights, identifying and integrating 
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global best practices, as available, into such strate-
gies to avoid duplication of effort; and 
(7) that, in allocating or recommending the al-
location of funds or recommending candidates for 
programs and grants funded by the United States 
Government, United States diplomatic missions 
should give particular consideration to those pro-
grams and candidates deemed to promote the end to 
this abuse of human rights. 
SEC. 5. PROHIBITION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections (b), (c), 
and (d), none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made 
available for international military education and training, 
foreign military financing, foreign military sales, direct 
commercial sales, or excess Defense articles by the For-
eign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs 
Appropriations Act, 2006 (Public Law 109–102) or any 
other Act making appropriations for foreign operations, 
export financing, and related programs may be obligated 
or otherwise made available to the government of a coun-
try that is clearly identified by the Department of State 
in the Department of State’s most recent Country Reports 
on Human Rights Practices as having governmental 
armed forces or government supported armed groups, in-
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cluding paramilitaries, militias, or civil defense forces, that 
recruit or use child soldiers. 
(b) NOTIFICATION TO COUNTRIES IN VIOLATION OF 
THE STANDARDS OF THIS ACT.—The Secretary of State 
shall formally notify any government identified pursuant 
to subsection (a). 
(c) NATIONAL INTEREST WAIVER.— 
(1) WAIVER.—The President may waive the ap-
plication to a country of the prohibition in sub-
section (a) if the President determines that such 
waiver is in the interest of the United States. 
(2) PUBLICATION
AND
NOTIFICATION.—The 
President shall publish each waiver granted under 
paragraph (1) in the Federal Register and shall no-
tify the Committee on Foreign Relations and the 
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on 
Appropriations of the House of Representatives of 
each such waiver, including the justification for the 
waiver, in accordance with the regular notification 
procedures of such Committees. 
(d) REINSTATEMENT OF ASSISTANCE.—The Presi-
dent may provide to a country assistance otherwise prohib-
ited under subsection (a) upon certifying to Congress that 
the government of such country— 
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(1) has implemented effective measures to come 
into compliance with the standards of this Act; and 
(2) has implemented effective policies and 
mechanisms to prohibit and prevent future use of 
child soldiers and to ensure that no children are re-
cruited, conscripted, or otherwise compelled to serve 
as child soldiers. 
(e) EXCEPTION FOR PROGRAMS DIRECTLY RELATED 
TO ADDRESSING THE PROBLEM OF CHILD SOLDIERS OR 
PROFESSIONALIZATION OF THE MILITARY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The President may provide 
to a country assistance for international military 
education and training otherwise prohibited under 
subsection (a) upon certifying to Congress that— 
(A) the government of such country is im-
plementing effective measures to demobilize 
child soldiers in its forces or in government 
supported paramilitaries and to provide demobi-
lization, rehabilitation, and reintegration assist-
ance to those former child soldiers; and 
(B) the assistance provided by the United 
States Government to the government of such 
country will go to programs that will directly 
support professionalization of the military. 
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