•HRES 780 IH 
Whereas a root cause of these conflicts was the decay of the 
undemocratic and corrupt regime of President Mobutu 
Sese Seko; 
Whereas in 2002 the United States, working with African 
and European partners, helped facilitate a Congo peace 
accord that included a democratic transition and free 
elections under a new constitution limiting the President 
to two terms by an unamendable provision and providing 
for the President of the Senate to assume power tempo-
rarily until elections can be held once a Presidential va-
cancy is declared; 
Whereas in 2006 Joseph Kabila was elected President in 
what was widely viewed as a free and fair election, but 
many respected international observers concluded that his 
2011 election ‘‘victory’’ was ‘‘not credible’’; 
Whereas President Kabila’s second term will end December 
19, 2016, after which his government can no longer be 
considered the constitutionally legitimate representative 
of the Congolese people; 
Whereas President Kabila has yet to declare unequivocally 
and publicly that he will step down at the end of his 
term, as required by the constitution, causing growing 
political tension, unrest and violence across the country; 
Whereas during the summer of 2014, President Kabila tried 
unsuccessfully to persuade parliament to change the con-
stitution to open the way for his continuation in power 
after his term expires on December 19, 2016, and subse-
quently attempted to pass a law requiring a multiyear 
census in advance of the Presidential election—an effort 
that was dropped in January 2015 after mass dem-
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•HRES 780 IH 
onstrations in which Kabila’s security forces killed at 
least 42 people and arbitrarily jailed hundreds; 
Whereas since January 2015, in further steps to undermine 
democratic processes and institutions, Congolese security 
and intelligence officials have clamped down on peaceful 
activists, political leaders and others who oppose Presi-
dent Kabila’s effort to stay in power past his constitu-
tionally mandated two-term limit; 
Whereas since January 2015 President Kabila has contin-
ually used administrative and technical means to try to 
delay the Presidential election (including an overloaded, 
unfeasible multielection calendar, failure to pass timely 
election laws and release authorized election budgets, 
abruptly implementing the division of the country’s prov-
inces, and having his ‘‘Independent National Election 
Commission’’ recently declare that it will take 16 months 
to update the voter roll); 
Whereas President Obama spoke with President Kabila on 
March 15, 2015, and ‘‘emphasized the importance of 
timely, credible, and peaceful elections that respect the 
DRC’s constitution and protect the rights of all DRC 
citizens’’; 
Whereas President Kabila is calling for a broad national dia-
logue that could be used to confuse the election issue and 
serve as yet another means of delaying the scheduled No-
vember elections; 
Whereas international and domestic human rights groups 
continually report on the worsening of the situation with 
regard to human rights in the DRC, including the use of 
excessive force against peaceful demonstrators and an in-
crease in politically motivated trials and whereas the 
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•HRES 780 IH 
United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has reg-
istered more than 260 human rights violations, mainly 
against political opponents, civil society and journalists 
during the past year; 
Whereas the DRC retains a relatively vibrant civil society 
that is exerting pressure on the government, and is at 
risk of being stamped out due to government repression 
consistent with President Kabila’s attempt to remain in 
power; 
Whereas leaders of Congo’s main opposition parties, non-
governmental organizations and prodemocracy youth 
movements called on Congolese citizens to stay home 
from work and school on February 16, 2016, for ‘‘Ville 
Morte (Dead City Day)’’ largely to protest against delays 
in organizing Presidential elections; and whereas the 
strike was largely successful in major Congolese cities de-
spite government detentions and threats; 
Whereas, on March 10, 2016, the European Union Par-
liament adopted a resolution that urged the EU to ‘‘use 
all its diplomatic and economic tools’’ in favor of ‘‘compli-
ance with the constitution of the DRC’’ and invited Afri-
can Union member states to also become engaged in the 
effort to advance this goal; whereas the resolution also 
called upon the EU ‘‘to consider imposing targeted sanc-
tions, including travel bans and asset freezes, so as to 
help prevent further violence’’; and 
Whereas, on March 30, 2016, the United Nations Security 
Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2277 expressing 
‘‘deep concern’’ about ‘‘delays in the Presidential elec-
tion’’ and ‘‘increased restriction of the political space in 
the DRC’’ and calling for ‘‘ensuring the successful and 
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•HRES 780 IH 
timely holding’’ of Presidential and legislative elections 
‘‘in accordance with the Constitution’’: Now, therefore, be 
it 
Resolved, That— 
(1) under Executive Order 13413, as amended 
by Executive Order 13671, in coordination to the 
maximum extent possible with its African and Euro-
pean partners, the United States should impose 
sanctions on government officials who impede 
progress toward a peaceful democratic transition 
through credible elections that respect the will of the 
Congolese; 
(2) sanctions should target core figures in the 
government of President Kabila for visa denials and 
for asset freezes because of actions that ‘‘undermine 
democratic processes or institutions’’; 
(3) economic and security assistance provided 
to the DRC government should be reviewed for pos-
sible termination, while preserving other, particularly 
humanitarian, assistance through nongovernmental 
and international organizations, and review future 
international financial institution assistance to the 
DRC until the election crisis is resolved; 
(4) the President should lift sanctions only 
when the President determines that— 
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•HRES 780 IH 
(A) President Kabila has unequivocally 
and publicly declared that, in accordance with 
the constitution, he will not remain in power 
once his term ends on December 19, 2016, has 
made verifiable progress on the ground towards 
holding timely free and fair national elections in 
accordance with the constitution, and has de-
monstrably opened the necessary political space 
for the opposition and civil society; or 
(B) the DRC has held a free and fair Pres-
idential election as provided by the constitution 
and a new President has been sworn in; 
(5) if President Kabila’s government meets the 
condition specified in paragraph (4)(A), the United 
States should join other donors in helping to support 
election preparedness, including voter registration 
and supporting a level playing field for campaign ac-
tivities by diverse political parties; 
(6) the United States Government should sup-
port independent DRC civil society organizations 
and media to more effectively monitor efforts to un-
dermine democracy and governance; 
(7) the United States Government should use 
authorities under subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 
31, United States Code, chapter X of title 31, Code 
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