H. R. 4173—838 
duration of any program approved under such proposals, the Sec-
retary of the Treasury shall report in writing to the Committee 
on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate assessing the likelihood 
that loans made pursuant to such proposals will be repaid in 
full, including— 
‘‘(1) the borrowing country’s current debt status, including, 
to the extent possible, its maturity structure, whether it has 
fixed or floating rates, whether it is indexed, and by whom 
it is held; 
‘‘(2) the borrowing country’s external and internal 
vulnerabilities that could potentially affect its ability to repay; 
and 
‘‘(3) the borrowing country’s debt management strategy.’’. 
SEC. 1502. CONFLICT MINERALS. 
(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON EXPLOITATION AND TRADE OF CON-
FLICT MINERALS ORIGINATING IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF 
THE CONGO.—It is the sense of Congress that the exploitation 
and trade of conflict minerals originating in the Democratic Republic 
of the Congo is helping to finance conflict characterized by extreme 
levels of violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, 
particularly sexual- and gender-based violence, and contributing 
to an emergency humanitarian situation therein, warranting the 
provisions of section 13(p) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 
as added by subsection (b). 
(b) DISCLOSURE RELATING TO CONFLICT MINERALS ORIGINATING 
IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO.—Section 13 of the 
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m), as amended 
by this Act, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(p) DISCLOSURES RELATING
TO CONFLICT MINERALS ORIGI-
NATING IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO.— 
‘‘(1) REGULATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after the 
date of the enactment of this subsection, the Commission 
shall 
promulgate 
regulations 
requiring 
any 
person 
described in paragraph (2) to disclose annually, beginning 
with the person’s first full fiscal year that begins after 
the date of promulgation of such regulations, whether con-
flict minerals that are necessary as described in paragraph 
(2)(B), in the year for which such reporting is required, 
did originate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 
or an adjoining country and, in cases in which such conflict 
minerals did originate in any such country, submit to the 
Commission a report that includes, with respect to the 
period covered by the report— 
‘‘(i) a description of the measures taken by the 
person to exercise due diligence on the source and 
chain of custody of such minerals, which measures 
shall include an independent private sector audit of 
such report submitted through the Commission that 
is conducted in accordance with standards established 
by the Comptroller General of the United States, in 
accordance with rules promulgated by the Commission, 
in consultation with the Secretary of State; and
H. R. 4173—839 
‘‘(ii) a description of the products manufactured 
or contracted to be manufactured that are not DRC 
conflict free (‘DRC conflict free’ is defined to mean 
the products that do not contain minerals that directly 
or indirectly finance or benefit armed groups in the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining 
country), the entity that conducted the independent 
private sector audit in accordance with clause (i), the 
facilities used to process the conflict minerals, the 
country of origin of the conflict minerals, and the 
efforts to determine the mine or location of origin with 
the greatest possible specificity. 
‘‘(B) CERTIFICATION.—The person submitting a report 
under subparagraph (A) shall certify the audit described 
in clause (i) of such subparagraph that is included in such 
report. Such a certified audit shall constitute a critical 
component of due diligence in establishing the source and 
chain of custody of such minerals. 
‘‘(C) UNRELIABLE DETERMINATION.—If a report required 
to be submitted by a person under subparagraph (A) relies 
on a determination of an independent private sector audit, 
as described under subparagraph (A)(i), or other due dili-
gence processes previously determined by the Commission 
to be unreliable, the report shall not satisfy the require-
ments of the regulations promulgated under subparagraph 
(A)(i). 
‘‘(D) DRC CONFLICT FREE.—For purposes of this para-
graph, a product may be labeled as ‘DRC conflict free’ 
if the product does not contain conflict minerals that 
directly or indirectly finance or benefit armed groups in 
the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining 
country. 
‘‘(E) INFORMATION
AVAILABLE
TO
THE
PUBLIC.—Each 
person described under paragraph (2) shall make available 
to the public on the Internet website of such person the 
information disclosed by such person under subparagraph 
(A). 
‘‘(2) PERSON DESCRIBED.—A person is described in this para-
graph if— 
‘‘(A) the person is required to file reports with the 
Commission pursuant to paragraph (1)(A); and 
‘‘(B) conflict minerals are necessary to the functionality 
or production of a product manufactured by such person. 
‘‘(3) REVISIONS AND WAIVERS.—The Commission shall revise 
or temporarily waive the requirements described in paragraph 
(1) if the President transmits to the Commission a determina-
tion that— 
‘‘(A) such revision or waiver is in the national security 
interest of the United States and the President includes 
the reasons therefor; and 
‘‘(B) establishes a date, not later than 2 years after 
the initial publication of such exemption, on which such 
exemption shall expire. 
‘‘(4) TERMINATION
OF
DISCLOSURE
REQUIREMENTS.—The 
requirements of paragraph (1) shall terminate on the date 
on which the President determines and certifies to the appro-
priate congressional committees, but in no case earlier than
H. R. 4173—840 
the date that is one day after the end of the 5-year period 
beginning on the date of the enactment of this subsection, 
that no armed groups continue to be directly involved and 
benefitting from commercial activity involving conflict minerals. 
‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this subsection, the 
terms ‘adjoining country’, ‘appropriate congressional commit-
tees’, ‘armed group’, and ‘conflict mineral’ have the meaning 
given those terms under section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall 
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.’’. 
(c) STRATEGY AND MAP TO ADDRESS LINKAGES BETWEEN CON-
FLICT MINERALS AND ARMED GROUPS.— 
(1) STRATEGY.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 
in consultation with the Administrator of the United States 
Agency for International Development, shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees a strategy to address 
the linkages between human rights abuses, armed groups, 
mining of conflict minerals, and commercial products. 
(B) CONTENTS.—The strategy required by subpara-
graph (A) shall include the following: 
(i) A plan to promote peace and security in the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo by supporting efforts 
of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the 
Congo, including the Ministry of Mines and other rel-
evant agencies, adjoining countries, and the inter-
national community, in particular the United Nations 
Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo, 
to— 
(I) monitor and stop commercial activities 
involving the natural resources of the Democratic 
Republic of the Congo that contribute to the activi-
ties of armed groups and human rights violations 
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and 
(II) develop stronger governance and economic 
institutions that can facilitate and improve trans-
parency in the cross-border trade involving the 
natural resources of the Democratic Republic of 
the Congo to reduce exploitation by armed groups 
and promote local and regional development. 
(ii) A plan to provide guidance to commercial enti-
ties seeking to exercise due diligence on and formalize 
the origin and chain of custody of conflict minerals 
used in their products and on their suppliers to ensure 
that conflict minerals used in the products of such 
suppliers do not directly or indirectly finance armed 
conflict or result in labor or human rights violations. 
(iii) A description of punitive measures that could 
be taken against individuals or entities whose commer-
cial activities are supporting armed groups and human 
rights violations in the Democratic Republic of the 
Congo. 
(2) MAP.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 
shall, in accordance with the recommendation of the United
H. R. 4173—841 
Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of 
the Congo in their December 2008 report— 
(i) produce a map of mineral-rich zones, trade 
routes, and areas under the control of armed groups 
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjoining 
countries based on data from multiple sources, 
including— 
(I) the United Nations Group of Experts on 
the Democratic Republic of the Congo; 
(II) 
the 
Government 
of 
the 
Democratic 
Republic of the Congo, the governments of 
adjoining countries, and the governments of other 
Member States of the United Nations; and 
(III) local and international nongovernmental 
organizations; 
(ii) make such map available to the public; and 
(iii) provide to the appropriate congressional 
committees an explanatory note describing the sources 
of information from which such map is based and 
the identification, where possible, of the armed groups 
or other forces in control of the mines depicted. 
(B) DESIGNATION.—The map required under subpara-
graph (A) shall be known as the ‘‘Conflict Minerals Map’’, 
and mines located in areas under the control of armed 
groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 
adjoining countries, as depicted on such Conflict Minerals 
Map, shall be known as ‘‘Conflict Zone Mines’’. 
(C) UPDATES.—The Secretary of State shall update the 
map required under subparagraph (A) not less frequently 
than once every 180 days until the date on which the 
disclosure requirements under paragraph (1) of section 
13(p) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as added 
by subsection (b), terminate in accordance with the provi-
sions of paragraph (4) of such section 13(p). 
(D) PUBLICATION IN FEDERAL REGISTER.—The Secretary 
of State shall add minerals to the list of minerals in the 
definition of conflict minerals under section 1502, as appro-
priate. The Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register 
notice of intent to declare a mineral as a conflict mineral 
included in such definition not later than one year before 
such declaration. 
(d) REPORTS.— 
(1) BASELINE
REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter 
until the termination of the disclosure requirements under 
section 13(p) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Comp-
troller General of the United States shall submit to appropriate 
congressional committees a report that includes an assessment 
of the rate of sexual- and gender-based violence in war-torn 
areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjoining 
countries. 
(2) REGULAR REPORT ON EFFECTIVENESS.—Not later than 
2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act and annually 
thereafter, the Comptroller General of the United States shall 
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 
that includes the following: