that as many as 2,500,000 people have died as a re-
sult of the conflict.
(2) The war is a result of the August 1998 in-
vasion of the DRC by Rwanda, Uganda, and Bu-
rundi.
(3) After the invasion, additional loss of life
and misery were caused to the people of the DRC
when, on occasion, the forces of Uganda and Rwan-
da fought against each other.
(4) A staff member of the United Nations was
murdered while visiting the region for the purpose of
studying the damage done to the DRC by Uganda
and Rwanda.
(5) Human rights abuses stemming from this
conflict include child and forced labor, mass dis-
placement causing large refugee populations, rape,
conscription, arbitrary detention, torture, and bans
on political expression and freedom of speech.
(6) A recent United Nations report, entitled
‘‘Report of the Panel of Experts on the Illegal Ex-
ploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of
Wealth of the Democratic Republic of Congo’’, found
that ‘‘Illegal exploitation of the mineral and forest
resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
is taking place at an alarming rate.’’.
(7) The United Nations report states that re-
sources being looted from the DRC include dia-
monds, gold, timber, cobalt, coltan (colombo tanta-
lite), coffee, ivory, other minerals, and exotic ani-
mals.
(8) The United Nations report, in addition to
numerous press and eyewitness reports, cites the
use, by Rwandans and Rwandan-supported rebels, of
slave and prison labor in the mining and extraction
of coltan, diamonds, and other minerals.
(9) According to the World Conservation Union,
‘‘coltan mining is taking place in [two] World Herit-
age sites’’ in the DRC, Kahuzi-Biega National Park
and Okapi Wildlife Reserve, in contravention of
DRC protective restrictions. The World Conservation
Union further states that ‘‘over 10,000 miners have
moved into the Parks and are largely relying on
meat from wild animals (bushmeat) for food’’, in-
cluding the endangered eastern lowland gorilla.
(10) According to the United States Geological
Survey 1999 Minerals Yearbook, 3 of the top 6 na-
tions from which the United States imports
unrefined tantalum—a component of coltan—are the
DRC, Rwanda, and Uganda, providing for nearly
$4,000,000 in revenue to those nations in 1999, and
totaling imports of 164 metric tons.
(11) As miners have pushed into the forests of
the DRC in pursuit of coltan, gold, and other min-
erals, increased logging has resulted on account of
greater access to forest resources and rare woods
and has reduced the opportunity for oversight of ille-
gal activities.
(12) The United Nations Report of the Panel
of Experts found that one result of the illegal exploi-
tation of the DRC was a ‘‘massive availability of fi-
nancial resources for the Rwandan Patriotic Army,
and the individual enrichment of top Ugandan mili-
tary commanders and civilians’’, thereby not only al-
lowing the infiltrating nations to continue their
armed incursions, but also providing substantial mo-
tivation to pursue such conflict.
(13) The United Nations Panel concluded that
‘‘tough measures must be taken to bring an end to
the cycle of exploitation of the natural resources and
the continuation of the conflict in the Democratic
Republic of Congo’’, including sanctions against the
countries involved in the illegal activities, preventive
measures to avoid a recurrence of the situation, and
an improvement of international mechanisms and
regulations governing some natural resources.
(14) Some United States corporations that
process and use tantalum for manufacture, including
Kemet of Greenville, South Carolina, and Cabot Cor-
poration of Boston, Massachusetts, have asked tan-
talum suppliers to certify that the mineral does not
originate in the Congo region; if they do not, the
corporations have said that they will not buy any
tantalum from the region.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON IMPORTATION OF COLOMBO TAN-
TALITE AND TANTALUM.
(a) COLOMBO TANTALITE FROM CERTAIN COUN-
TRIES.—Colombo tantalite (‘‘coltan’’) that is the product
of Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, or the Democratic Republic
of the Congo may not be imported into the United States.
(b) TANTALUM, TANTALUM ORE, AND TANTALUM
POWDER.—Tantalum, tantalum ore, and tantalum powder
may not be imported into the United States unless the
importer can demonstrate to the Customs Service that the
tantalum, tantalum ore, or tantalum powder (as the case
may be) is not produced from colombo tantalite that is
a product of a country listed in subsection (a).
SEC. 
3. 
PROHIBITION 
ON 
PURCHASE 
OVERSEAS 
OF
COLOMBO TANTALITE AND TANTALUM.
(a) PROHIBITION.—No United States person may
purchase outside the United States colombo tantalite, tan-
talum, tantalum ore, or tantalum powder that is a product
of a country listed in section 2(a).
(b) CIVIL PENALTY.—The Secretary of the Treasury
may impose a civil penalty of not more than $100,000 on
any United States person who knowingly violates sub-
section (a).
(c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘United
States person’’ means—
(1) a United States citizen or alien admitted for
permanent residence into the United States;
(2) a partnership, corporation, or other legal
entity organized under the laws of the United
States; and
(3) a partnership, corporation, or other legal
entity that is organized under the laws of a foreign
country and is controlled by entities described in
paragraph (2) or United States citizens, or both.
SEC. 4. PREVENTION OF TRANSSHIPMENT.
The Commissioner of Customs, in consultation with
the heads of appropriate departments and agencies, shall,
to the extent possible, determine the origins of all colombo
tantalite, tantalum, tantalum ore, and tantalum powder