I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2760
To limit United States assistance for Ethiopia and Eritrea if those countries 
are not in compliance with the terms and conditions of agreements 
entered into by the two countries to end hostilities and provide for 
a demarcation of the border between the two countries, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 16, 2003
Mr. LANTOS (for himself and Mr. PAYNE) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on International Relations 
A BILL 
To limit United States assistance for Ethiopia and Eritrea 
if those countries are not in compliance with the terms 
and conditions of agreements entered into by the two 
countries to end hostilities and provide for a demarcation 
of the border between the two countries, and for other 
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Resolution of the 
Ethiopa–Eritrea Border Dispute Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ALGIERS AGREEMENTS.—The term ‘‘Algiers 
Agreements’’ means the Cessation of Hostilities 
Agreement and the Comprehensive Peace Agree-
ment. 
(2) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means the Committee on International Re-
lations of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate. 
(3) CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES AGREEMENT.—
The term ‘‘Cessation of Hostilities Agreement’’ 
means the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities 
signed on June 18, 2000, in Algiers, Algeria, by the 
Government of Ethiopia and the Government of Eri-
trea that established a temporary demilitarized secu-
rity zone within Eritrea to be enforced by the United 
Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Ethiopia and Eri-
trea (UNMEE). 
(4) COMPREHENSIVE PEACE AGREEMENT.—The 
term ‘‘Comprehensive Peace Agreement’’ means the 
agreement signed on December 12, 2000, in Algiers, 
Algeria, by the Government of Ethiopia and the 
Government of Eritrea, under the auspices of the 
Organization of African Unity (OAU), that provided
for an end to military hostilities between the two 
countries, assurances by the countries to refrain 
from the threat or use of force against each other, 
and established a neutral Boundary Commission to 
delimit and demarcate the border between the two 
countries. 
(5) ECONOMIC
ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘eco-
nomic assistance’’ means—
(A) assistance under chapter 1 of part I of 
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (relating to 
development assistance); and 
(B) assistance under chapter 4 of part II 
of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (relating 
to economic support fund assistance). 
(6) MILITARY ASSISTANCE AND ARMS TRANS-
FERS.—The term ‘‘military assistance and arms 
transfers’’ means—
(A) assistance under chapter 2 of part II 
of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (relating 
to military assistance), including the transfer of 
excess defense articles under section 516 of that 
Act; 
(B) assistance under chapter 5 of part II 
of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (relating 
to international military education and training
or ‘‘IMET’’), including military education and 
training for civilian personnel under section 541 
of that Act (commonly referred to as ‘‘Ex-
panded IMET’’); and 
(C) assistance under the ‘‘Foreign Military 
Financing’’ Program under section 23 of the 
Arms Export Control Act and the transfer of 
defense articles, defense services, design and 
construction services, or any other defense-re-
lated training under that Act. 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) On May 6, 1998, a conflict erupted between 
Ethiopia and Eritrea, two of the world’s poorest 
countries. 
(2) The two-year war claimed 100,000 lives, 
displaced more than 1,000,000 people, cost Ethiopia 
more than $2,900,000,000, and caused a 62 percent 
decline in food production in Eritrea. 
(3) Millions of dollars were diverted from much 
needed development projects into military activities 
and weapons procurements at a time when severe 
drought threatened a famine in both Ethiopia and 
Eritrea, as bad as the famine in 1984 in those coun-
tries, putting more than 13,000,000 lives at risk.
(4) On June 18, 2000, Prime Minister Meles 
Zenawi of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethi-
opia and President Issaias Afewerki of the State of 
Eritrea signed the Cessation of Hostilities Agree-
ment in Algiers, Algeria. On December 12, 2000, 
the two countries also signed the Comprehensive 
Peace Agreement in Algiers under the auspices of 
the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and in the 
presence of United Nations Secretary General Kofi 
Annan and President Abdel-Aziz Boutheflika of Al-
geria. 
(5) Article 4.2 of the Comprehensive Peace 
Agreement states the following: ‘‘The parties agree 
that a neutral Boundary Commission composed of 
five members shall be established with a mandate to 
delimit and demarcate the colonial treaty border [be-
tween the two countries] based on pertinent colonial 
treaties (1900, 1902 and 1908) and applicable inter-
national law.’’. 
(6) Article 4.15 of the Comprehensive Peace 
Agreement states the following: ‘‘The parties agree 
that the delimitation and demarcation determina-
tions of the Commission shall be final and binding. 
Each party shall respect the border so determined,
as well as territorial integrity and sovereignty of the 
other party.’’. 
(7)(A) The President of the United Nations Se-
curity Council, on behalf of the Security Council, 
confirmed the Security Council’s endorsement of the 
terms and conditions of the Algiers Agreements, 
with special reference to the neutral Boundary Com-
mission described in Article 4.2 of the Comprehen-
sive Peace Agreement and its mandate. 
(B) In addition, the Security Council reaffirmed 
its support for the Algiers Agreements in United 
Nations Security Council Resolution 1308 (July 17, 
2000), 1312 (July 31, 2000), 1320 (September 15, 
2000), 1344 (March 15, 2001), 1369 (September 
14, 2001), 1398 (March 15, 2002), 1430 (August 
14, 2002), 1434 (September 6, 2002), and 1466 
(March 14, 2003). 
(8) On April 13, 2002, the neutral Boundary 
Commission announced its ‘‘Delimitation Decision’’, 
reiterating that both parties had agreed that it 
would be ‘‘final and binding’’. 
(9) Following the decision of the Boundary 
Commission that the heavily disputed town of 
Badme would be zoned to the Eritrean side of the 
new border, Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin of
Ethiopia announced on April 15, 2003, that ‘‘[n]o-
one expects the [G]overnment of Ethiopia to accept 
these mistakes committed by the Commission’’. Fur-
ther, the Ethiopian Ministry of Information released 
a statement accusing the Boundary Commission of 
an ‘‘unfair tendency’’ in implementing the border 
ruling and ‘‘misinterpreting’’ the Algiers Agree-
ments. 
(10) In his March 6, 2003, ‘‘Progress Report’’ 
to the United Nations Security Council, Secretary 
General Kofi Annan reported that Prime Minister 
Zenawi of Ethiopia had expressed to his Special 
Representative, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, that ‘‘if 
its concerns were not adequately addressed Ethiopia 
might eventually reject the demarcation-related deci-
sions of the Commission’’. 
(11) The independent Boundary Commission 
has investigated, reviewed, and rejected Ethiopia’s 
claims with respect to the village of Badme, and in 
a report issued on March 21, 2003, stated that, 
based on the boundary line from the 1902 treaty be-
tween the two countries that was used as the ref-
erence under the terms of the Algiers Agreements, 
the evidence submitted by the Government of Ethi-
opia to support its claim was ‘‘inadequate and incon-
sistent’’ and the Commission ‘‘cannot allow one 
party to claim a territorial right, to insist on adjust-
ments of parts of the boundary which that party 
finds disadvantageous’’. 
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that both Ethiopia and 
Eritrea should take all appropriate actions to implement 
the Algiers Agreements, including by accepting the ‘‘De-
limitation Decision’’ issued by the neutral Boundary Com-
mission on April 13, 2002, with respect to the boundary 
between the two countries. 
SEC. 5. DECLARATIONS OF POLICY. 
Congress makes the following declarations: 
(1) Congress expresses its support for the 
Boundary Commission established by the Com-
prehensive Peace Agreement and calls on the inter-
national community to continue to support the 
United Nations trust fund established to facilitate 
the process of demarcation between Ethiopia and 
Eritrea and the economic and social transition of af-
fected communities to new borders determined by 
the Commission. 
(2) Congress further declares that it shall be 
the policy of the United States to limit United 
States assistance for Ethiopia or Eritrea if either
such country is not in compliance with, or is not 
taking significant steps to comply with, the terms 
and conditions of the Algiers Agreements. 
(3) Congress strongly condemns recent state-
ments by senior Ethiopian officials criticizing the 
Boundary Commission’s decision and calls on the 
Government of Ethiopia to immediately end its in-
transigence and fully cooperate with the Commis-
sion. 
SEC. 6. LIMITATIONS ON UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE. 
(a) LIMITATION ON ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE.—Eco-
nomic assistance may only be provided for Ethiopia or Eri-
trea for any period of time for which the President deter-
mines that Ethiopia or Eritrea (as the case may be) is 
in compliance with, or is taking significant steps to comply 
with, the terms and conditions of the Algiers Agreements. 
(b) LIMITATION
ON MILITARY ASSISTANCE
AND 
ARMS TRANSFERS.—Military assistance and arms trans-
fers may only be provided for Ethiopia or Eritrea for any 
period of time for which the President determines that 
Ethiopia or Eritrea (as the case may be) is in compliance 
with, or is taking significant steps to comply with, the 
terms and conditions of the Algiers Agreements. 
(c) EXCEPTIONS.—The limitation on assistance 
under subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply with respect
to humanitarian assistance (such as food or medical as-
sistance), peacekeeping assistance, counterterrorism ini-
tiatives, assistance to protect or promote human rights, 
and assistance to prevent, treat, and control HIV/AIDS. 
(d) WAIVER.—The President may waive the applica-
tion of subsection (a) or (b) with respect to Ethiopia or 
Eritrea if the President determines that it is in the na-
tional security interests of the United States to do so. 
SEC. 7. REPORT. 
Until the date on which the border demarcation be-
tween Ethiopia and Eritrea is finalized, the President 
shall prepare and transmit on a regular basis to the appro-
priate congressional committees a report that contains a 
description of progress being made toward such demarca-
tion, including the extent to which Ethiopia and Eritrea 
are in compliance with, or are taking significant steps to 
comply with, the terms and conditions of the Algiers 
Agreements.
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