I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 550
To prohibit economic assistance, military assistance, or arms transfers to
the Government of Mauritania until appropriate action is taken to elimi-
nate chattel slavery in Mauritania.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 17, 1995
Mr. ZIMMER (for himself, Mr. PORTER, Mr. LANTOS, and Mr. PAYNE of New
Jersey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on International Relations
A BILL
To prohibit economic assistance, military assistance, or arms
transfers to the Government of Mauritania until appro-
priate action is taken to eliminate chattel slavery in
Mauritania.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The practice of slavery in Mauritania has
been officially abolished 3 times in Mauritania’s his-
tory, including a 1961 constitutional prohibition and
a 1980 government decree declaring that ‘‘slavery is
definitely abolished throughout the national terri-
tory’’ of Mauritania. Yet, despite these legal prohibi-
tions of slavery, slavery remains a common practice
in Mauritania.
(2) The United States Department of State’s
Country Reports on Human Rights for 1993 noted
that tens of thousands of people live in slavery or
near slavery even though ‘‘slavery has been officially
abolished several times’’, and that many former
slaves who now live independently still continue to
perform unpaid labor for their former masters out of
a sense of fear and duty.
(3) Human Rights Watch/Africa estimated in a
1994 report that 100,000 people live in servitude in
Mauritania and noted that the sale of slaves still
persists despite claims by the Government of Mauri-
tania that slave sales ended in the 1960’s.
(4) In Mauritania, for which more than
$3,900,000 in United States foreign aid was appro-
priated in fiscal year 1994, there is no indication
that the present government of Mauritania has seri-
ously attempted to enforce the prohibition against
slavery, to prosecute slaveholders, or to educate the
people of Mauritania about their rights of freedom.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE, MILI-
TARY ASSISTANCE, OR ARMS TRANSFERS TO
THE GOVERNMENT OF MAURITANIA UNLESS
APPROPRIATE ACTION IS TAKEN TO ELIMI-
NATE CHATTEL SLAVERY.
The President may not provide economic assistance,
military assistance, or arms transfers to the Government
of Mauritania unless the President certifies to the Con-
gress that such Government has taken appropriate action
to eliminate chattel slavery in Mauritania, including—
(1) the enactment of anti-slavery laws that pro-
vide appropriate punishment for violators of such
laws; and
(2) the rigorous enforcement of such laws.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) ECONOMIC
ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘eco-
nomic assistance’’ means any assistance under part
I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.
2151 et seq.) and any assistance under chapter 4 of
part II of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2346 et seq.) (relat-
ing to the economic support fund), except that such
term does not include humanitarian assistance.
(2) MILITARY
ASSISTANCE
OR
ARMS
TRANS-
FERS.—The term ‘‘military assistance or arms
transfers’’ means—
(A) assistance under chapter 2 of part II
of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22
U.S.C. 2311 et seq.) (relating to military assist-
ance), including the transfer of excess defense
articles under sections 516 through 519 of that
Act (22 U.S.C. 2321j through 2321m);
(B) assistance under chapter 5 of part II
of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22
U.S.C. 2347 et seq.) (relating to international
military education and training);
(C) assistance under the ‘‘Foreign Military
Financing Program’’ under section 23 of the
Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2763); or
(D) the transfer of defense articles, de-
fense services, or design and construction serv-
ices under the Arms Export Control Act (22
U.S.C. 2751 et seq.), including defense articles
and defense services licensed or approved for
export under section 38 of that Act (22 U.S.C.
2778).
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