H. Res. 780 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
November 15, 2016. 
Whereas given its size, location, and diverse economy, the 
United States has deep interests in the democratic sta-
bility of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); 
Whereas from 1996 to 2006, more than 3,000,000 people 
died in the DRC as a result of internal and regional 
wars, and significant violence persists in the Eastern 
Congo; 
Whereas a root cause of these conflicts was the decay of the 
undemocratic and corrupt regime of President Mobutu 
Sese Seko; 
Whereas in 2002 the United States, working with African 
and European partners, helped facilitate a Congo peace 
accord that included a democratic transition and free 
elections under a new constitution limiting the President 
to two terms by an unamendable provision and providing 
for the President of the Senate to assume power tempo-
rarily until elections can be held once a Presidential va-
cancy is declared; 
Whereas in 2006 Joseph Kabila was elected President in 
what was widely viewed as a free and fair election, but 
many respected international observers concluded that his 
2011 election ‘‘victory’’ was ‘‘not credible’’;
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Whereas President Kabila’s second term will end on Decem-
ber 19, 2016, after which his government can no longer 
be considered the constitutionally legitimate representa-
tive of the Congolese people; 
Whereas President Kabila has yet to declare unequivocally 
and publicly that he will step down at the end of his 
term, as required by the constitution, causing growing 
political tension, unrest, and violence across the country; 
Whereas during the summer of 2014, President Kabila tried 
unsuccessfully to persuade parliament to change the con-
stitution to open the way for his continuation in power 
after his term expires on December 19, 2016, and subse-
quently attempted to pass a law requiring a multiyear 
census in advance of the Presidential election—an effort 
that was dropped in January 2015 after mass dem-
onstrations in which Kabila’s security forces killed at 
least 42 people and arbitrarily jailed hundreds; 
Whereas since January 2015, in further steps to undermine 
democratic processes and institutions, Congolese security 
and intelligence officials have clamped down on peaceful 
activists, political leaders, and others who oppose Presi-
dent Kabila’s effort to stay in power past his constitu-
tionally mandated two-term limit; 
Whereas since January 2015 President Kabila has contin-
ually used administrative and technical means to try to 
delay the Presidential election (including an overloaded, 
unfeasible multielection calendar, failure to pass timely 
election laws and release authorized election budgets, 
abruptly implementing the division of the country’s prov-
inces, and having his ‘‘Independent National Election 
Commission’’ recently declare that it will take 16 months 
to update the voter roll);
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Whereas the broad national dialogue convened by President 
Kabila served as another means of justifying a delay of 
the scheduled November 2016 elections despite the wide-
spread withdrawal of participation by opposition parties 
and church leaders; 
Whereas President Obama spoke with President Kabila on 
March 15, 2015, and ‘‘emphasized the importance of 
timely, credible, and peaceful elections that respect the 
DRC’s constitution and protect the rights of all DRC 
citizens’’; 
Whereas President Kabila is calling for a broad national dia-
logue that could be used to confuse the election issue and 
serve as yet another means of delaying the scheduled No-
vember 2016 elections; 
Whereas international and domestic human rights groups 
continually report on the worsening of the situation with 
regard to human rights in the DRC, including the use of 
excessive force against peaceful demonstrators and an in-
crease in politically motivated trials and the United Na-
tions Organization Stabilization Mission in the Demo-
cratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has registered 
more than 260 human rights violations, mainly against 
political opponents, civil society, and journalists during 
the past year; 
Whereas the DRC retains a relatively vibrant civil society 
that is exerting pressure on the government, and is at 
risk of being stamped out due to government repression 
consistent with President Kabila’s attempt to remain in 
power; 
Whereas leaders of Congo’s main opposition parties, non-
governmental organizations, and prodemocracy youth
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movements called on Congolese citizens to stay home 
from work and school on February 16, 2016, for ‘‘Ville 
Morte (Dead City Day)’’ largely to protest against delays 
in organizing Presidential elections; 
Whereas the strike was largely successful in major Congolese 
cities despite government detentions and threats; 
Whereas, on March 10, 2016, the European Union Par-
liament adopted a resolution that urged the European 
Union to ‘‘use all its diplomatic and economic tools’’ in 
favor of ‘‘compliance with the constitution of the DRC’’ 
and invited African Union member states to also become 
engaged in the effort to advance this goal; 
Whereas the European Union Parliament resolution also 
called upon the European Union ‘‘to consider imposing 
targeted sanctions, including travel bans and asset 
freezes, so as to help prevent further violence’’; 
Whereas, on March 30, 2016, the United Nations Security 
Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2277, express-
ing ‘‘deep concern’’ about ‘‘delays in the Presidential 
election’’ and ‘‘increased restriction of the political space 
in the DRC’’ and calling for ‘‘ensuring the successful and 
timely holding’’ of Presidential and legislative elections 
‘‘in accordance with the Constitution’’; 
Whereas, on June 23, 2016, the U.S. Department of the 
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 
General Celestin Kanyama of the Congolese National Po-
lice for his role in targeting of civilian protestors; 
Whereas, on September 28, 2016, the U.S. Department of 
the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanc-
tioned Major General Gabriel Amisi Kumba and General 
John Numbi for leading an armed group that has threat-
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ened the stability of the DRC and violently suppressing 
political opposition, respectively; 
Whereas the DRC’s Independent National Electoral Commis-
sion and the Constitutional Court have validated the in-
definite postponement of the scheduled November 2016 
elections; and 
Whereas the Kabila government has stated that the elections 
may now take place as late as 2018, potentially extending 
his mandate by as much as two years: Now, therefore, be 
it 
Resolved, That— 
(1) under Executive Order No. 13413, as amended 
by Executive Order No. 13671, in coordination to the 
maximum extent possible with its African and European 
partners, the United States should impose sanctions on 
government officials of the Democratic Republic of the 
Congo (DRC) who impede progress toward a peaceful 
democratic transition through credible elections that re-
spect the will of the people of the DRC; 
(2) sanctions should target core figures in the gov-
ernment of President Kabila for visa denials and for 
asset freezes because of actions that ‘‘undermine demo-
cratic processes or institutions’’; 
(3) economic and security assistance provided to the 
DRC government should be reviewed for possible termi-
nation, while preserving other, particularly humani-
tarian, assistance through nongovernmental and inter-
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national organizations, and review future international 
financial institution assistance to the DRC until the elec-
tion crisis is resolved; 
(4) the President should lift sanctions only when 
the President determines that— 
(A) President Kabila has unequivocally and 
publicly declared that, in accordance with the con-
stitution, he will not remain in power once his term 
ends on December 19, 2016, has made verifiable 
progress on the ground towards holding timely free 
and fair national elections in accordance with the 
constitution, and has demonstrably opened the nec-
essary political space for the opposition and civil so-
ciety; or 
(B) the DRC has held a free and fair Presi-
dential election as provided by the constitution and 
a new President has been sworn in; 
(5) if President Kabila’s government meets the con-
dition specified in paragraph (4)(A), the United States 
should join other donors in helping to support election 
preparedness, including voter registration and sup-
porting a level playing field for campaign activities by di-
verse political parties; 
(6) the United States Government should support 
independent DRC civil society organizations and media