•HRES 1227 EH 
cratic Republic of the Congo military forces, and 14 per-
cent by civilians; 
Whereas control over the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s 
natural resources is central to the ongoing conflict; 
Whereas in 2002, the United Nations Panel of Experts on 
the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other 
Forms of Wealth of the Democratic Republic of the 
Congo alleged nine United States business enterprises to 
be in violation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational 
Enterprises; 
Whereas, on July 30, 2007, the United Nations Special 
Rapporteur on Violence Against Women reported, 
‘‘Women are brutally gang raped, often in front of their 
families and communities. In numerous cases, male rel-
atives are forced at gun point to rape their own daugh-
ters, mothers or sisters. Frequently women are shot or 
stabbed in their genital organs, after they are raped. 
Women, who survived months of enslavement, [said] that 
their tormentors had forced them to eat excrements or 
the human flesh of murdered relatives’’; 
Whereas rape with the use of knives, gun barrels, beer bot-
tles, cassava roots, or sticks can result in a tear or fistula 
between a woman’s vagina and bladder or rectum, or 
both, causing the development of traumatic gynecologic 
fistula; 
Whereas some women and young girls reportly have had their 
lips or tongues cut off by their attackers so that they 
won’t report the crime to authorities; 
Whereas the Panzi Hospital, a specialized institution in 
South Kivu, receives about 3,500 cases annually of 
women who suffer from traumatic fistula and other se-
•HRES 1227 EH 
vere genital injuries resulting from these sexual atroc-
ities; 
Whereas at Heal Africa Hospital in Goma, doctors reported 
treating 4,800 rape victims and, in 2005, doctors per-
formed 242 fistula-repair operations; 
Whereas current activities to treat survivors meet only a por-
tion of the need; 
Whereas the scope of the sexual violence affects women and 
girls of all ages, from 10 months to 80 years old; 
Whereas a culture of impunity continues in eastern Congo 
and rape has become a societal norm; 
Whereas in July 2006, the Congolese Parliament passed the 
Law on the Suppression of Sexual Violence, which at-
tempted to strengthen penalties and criminal procedures, 
but in reality, little action has been taken by the authori-
ties to implement the law and perpetrators continue to 
enjoy impunity; and 
Whereas the United States Government has codified its com-
mitment to the Democratic Republic of the Congo 
through the Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Se-
curity, and Democracy Promotion Act of 2006 (Public 
Law 109–456): Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) strongly condemns the use of all forms of sexual 
violence, including rape, in the Democratic Republic of 
the Congo; 
(2) condemns the actions of all armed groups in the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo, including militias 
and rebel groups, such as the Forces De´mocratiques de
•HRES 1227 EH 
Libe´ration du Rwanda (FDLR), Mai-Mai Militia, and 
the Front for Patriotic Resistance of Ituri, that have 
created a culture of impunity for rape and sexual vio-
lence; 
(3) calls on the Government of the Democratic Re-
public of the Congo to develop a strategy to address and 
end the large-scale sexual violence in the Democratic Re-
public of the Congo by— 
(A) protecting its civilians from violence and 
enforcing and respecting the rule of law in accord-
ance with international norms and standards; 
(B) holding all armed groups accountable for 
their actions by implementing judicial reforms to in-
vestigate, arrest, and try suspected criminals; 
(C) prosecuting and punishing members of the 
Congolese Armed Forces who have committed 
crimes of sexual violence and other atrocities; and 
(D) establishing a verification mechanism to 
ensure that officers who have engaged in or have 
been complicit in the commission of sexual violence, 
including rape, do not receive important posts in 
the Congolese Armed Forces, the national police, 
and other security services; 
(4) urges an increased effort by the United States 
through the Department of State and other donor coun-
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tries to provide greater assistance to the Democratic Re-
public of the Congo for police and military human rights 
education and training, and training for those in the ju-
diciary in order to improve their ability to investigate, 
prosecute, and sentence rapists; 
(5) strongly urges the United States Agency for 
International Development to increase its assistance to 
victims of rape and sexual violence in the Democratic 
Republic of the Congo; 
(6) urges the Secretary of State to appoint a special 
envoy to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to sus-
tain United States engagement in a peace process and 
stabilization programs, and to continue its leadership to-
wards the implementation of the Nairobi communique´; 
(7) encourages the Secretary of State to continue to 
work with the heads of the other agencies implementing 
programs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to 
develop a plan for systematically assessing the United 
States Government’s overall progress in achieving the 
policy objectives of the Democratic Republic of the 
Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act of 
2006; 
(8) encourages the international community to en-
sure greater coordination in its response to sexual vio-
lence and to provide further humanitarian and psycho-
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social assistance to survivors of sexual and gender-based 
violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the 
Congo; 
(9) reaffirms its support for democracy, the rule of 
law, and human rights in the Democratic Republic of the 
Congo and calls upon regional African leaders to support 
the preservation of a democratic political system in the 
country; 
(10) encourages full protection of women and girls 
and the promotion of their rights by emphasizing the re-
sponsibilities of all countries to put an end to impunity 
and to prosecute those responsible for genocide crimes, 
including those related to sexual and other forms of vio-
lence against women and girls; 
(11) calls on the Secretary General of the United 
Nations and the permanent members of the Security 
Council to immediately take steps to— 
(A) ensure that the United Nations Mission in 
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) is 
fully funded and strategically deployed in areas 
where sexual violence is most prevalent; 
(B) include an adequate number of female 
troops and police in MONUC to properly manage 
incidents of rape and sexual violence;
•HRES 1227 EH 
(C) provide more in-depth and continuing gen-
der-sensitive training to its peacekeepers; and 
(D) hold all military and civilian personnel as-
sociated with MONUC who have committed acts of 
rape or sexual exploitation accountable for their 
crimes and ensure that they are permanently barred 
from serving in any future peacekeeping operation; 
(12) encourages a transparent process for the gov-
ernment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s re-
view of mining contracts; and 
(13) strongly encourages United States companies 
investing and operating in the Democratic Republic of 
the Congo to exert oversight concerning where their 
products are coming from and who is benefitting from 
the trade of such products. 
Attest: 
Clerk.