IV
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 410
Supporting peace and democracy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
and an end to the plunder of its natural resources.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 23, 2002
Mr. HALL of Ohio (for himself, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. WOLF, and
Mr. PAYNE) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Supporting peace and democracy in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, and an end to the plunder of its natural
resources.
Whereas during the war in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo that began in 1998, involving rebel groups in that
country as well as armed forces of Angola, Zimbabwe,
Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi, the United
States has supported the people of the Democratic Re-
public of the Congo in their desire for peace and democ-
racy through moral and financial support of Congolese
citizens, and through United Nations and other initia-
tives designed to secure peace;
Whereas, despite a peace agreement signed by most parties
to the conflict in 1999 (the ‘‘Lusaka Peace Accords’’),
•HCON 410 IH
and despite the efforts of the United Nations there
through peacekeeping forces and otherwise, suffering
caused by the war continues, in significant part because
rebel groups and foreign armies are profiting directly
from their control of the natural resources of the Demo-
cratic Republic of the Congo, and are therefore dissuaded
from agreeing to end the war;
Whereas independent reports confirm that most of the more
than 2,500,000 deaths in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo since the war began in 1998 have been caused by
starvation and disease, and are not the direct result of
fighting;
Whereas the human suffering in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo is extreme; one-third of the population is in
critical need of food, infant mortality in some isolated re-
gions exceeds 41 percent, maternal mortality in the coun-
try is among the highest in the world, 60 percent of
school-aged children are not being educated, and large
numbers of children are forced to serve as soldiers;
Whereas there have been many reports by United Nations or-
ganizations, private charities, journalists, and others con-
cerning the extent of the human suffering in the Demo-
cratic Republic of the Congo and concerning the role that
plunder of natural resources, including diamonds, timber,
and coltan, is playing in preventing an end to the war;
Whereas international efforts to sever the funding that the
trade in diamonds provides for wars that are underway
encourage diamond-producing countries to develop a sys-
tem of certification to assist international efforts in ex-
cluding ‘‘conflict diamonds’’ from international trade;
however, because the United Nations has not imposed
sanctions on diamonds that fund the conflict in the
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Democratic Republic of the Congo, there is no way for
consumers to be confident that the money they use to
purchase diamond jewelry is not funding the most deadly
ongoing war in the world; and
Whereas there is growing evidence that the trade in diamonds
mined in lawless areas such as much of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo supports not only terror against
Africans, but also acts of terrorism against Americans:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That—
(1) the Congress joins the international commu-
nity in supporting peace and democracy in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, and an end to
the plunder of its natural resources; and
(2) it is the sense of the Congress that—
(A)(i) the President should direct the
United States representative to the United Na-
tions immediately to work to bring before the
United Nations Security Council a resolution
imposing comprehensive sanctions against the
sale of diamonds mined in the territory of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo unless the
diamonds are certified by the government of
that country as not funding the conflict there;
and
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(ii) sanctions referred to in clause (i)
should be similar to those sanctions relating to
conflict diamonds that have been imposed
against rebels in Angola and UNITA, and
against Liberia, taking into account the rec-
ommendations of the report of the United Na-
tions Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploi-
tation of Natural Resources and Other Forms
of Wealth of the Democratic Republic of the
Congo;
(B) the President should urge the United
Nations Security Council to give priority to tak-
ing steps to control the illegal harvesting of
timber in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo;
(C) combatants in the Democratic Repub-
lic of the Congo, whether members of rebel
groups within that country or members of
armed forces of other countries, should be con-
demned by the United Nations and the inter-
national community for failing to abide by the
1999 Lusaka Peace Accords, and for inflicting
unspeakable suffering on the vast numbers of
civilians in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, including more than 2,500,000 people