I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2478 
To support stabilization and lasting peace in northern Uganda and areas 
affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army through development of a re-
gional strategy to support multilateral efforts to successfully protect 
civilians and eliminate the threat posed by the Lord’s Resistance Army 
and to authorize funds for humanitarian relief and reconstruction, rec-
onciliation, and transitional justice, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 19, 2009 
Mr. MCGOVERN (for himself, Mr. ROYCE, and Mr. MILLER of North Carolina) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To support stabilization and lasting peace in northern Ugan-
da and areas affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army 
through development of a regional strategy to support 
multilateral efforts to successfully protect civilians and 
eliminate the threat posed by the Lord’s Resistance 
Army and to authorize funds for humanitarian relief 
and reconstruction, reconciliation, and transitional jus-
tice, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lord’s Resistance 
Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act 
of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) For over 2 decades, the Government of 
Uganda engaged in an armed conflict with the 
Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda 
that led to the internal displacement of more than 
2,000,000 Ugandans from their homes. 
(2) The members of the Lord’s Resistance 
Army used brutal tactics in northern Uganda, in-
cluding mutilating, abducting, and forcing individ-
uals into sexual servitude and forcing a large num-
ber of children and youth in Uganda, estimated by 
the Survey for War Affected Youth to be over 
66,000, to fight as part of the rebel force. 
(3) The Secretary of State has designated the 
Lord’s Resistance Army as a terrorist organization 
and placed the Lord’s Resistance Army on the Ter-
rorist Exclusion list pursuant to section 212(a)(3) of 
the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1182(a)(3)). 
(4) In late 2005, according to the United Na-
tions Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Af-
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fairs, the Lord’s Resistance Army shifted their pri-
mary base of operations from southern Sudan to 
northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and the 
rebels have since withdrawn from northern Uganda. 
(5) Representatives of the Government of 
Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army began 
peace negotiations in 2006, mediated by the Govern-
ment of Southern Sudan in Juba, Sudan, and signed 
the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement on August 
20, 2006, which provided for hundreds of thousands 
of internally displaced people to return home in safe-
ty. 
(6) After nearly 2 years of negotiations, rep-
resentatives from the parties reached the Final 
Peace Agreement in April 2008, but Joseph Kony, 
the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, refused to 
sign the Final Peace Agreement in May 2008 and 
his forces launched new attacks in northeastern 
Congo. 
(7) According to the United Nations Office for 
the Coordination of Humanitarian Relief, the new 
activity of the Lord’s Resistance Army in north-
eastern Congo and southern Sudan since September 
2008 has led to the abduction of at least 711 civil-
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ians, including 540 children, and the displacement of 
more than 160,000 people. 
(8) In December 2008, the military forces of 
Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and 
southern Sudan launched a joint operation against 
the Lord’s Resistance Army’s bases in northeastern 
Congo, but the operation failed to apprehend Joseph 
Kony, and his forces retaliated with a series of new 
attacks and massacres in Congo and southern 
Sudan, killing an estimated 900 people in 2 months. 
(9) The escalated activity of the Lord’s Resist-
ance Army over recent months and the inability of 
military operations to stop them or protect civilians 
has perpetuated fears amongst communities in 
northern Uganda that the rebels could cross back 
into Uganda in the future, which complicates ongo-
ing recovery efforts. 
(10) Despite the refusal of Joseph Kony to sign 
the Final Peace Agreement, the Government of 
Uganda has committed to continue reconstruction 
plans for northern Uganda, and to implement those 
mechanisms of the Final Peace Agreement not con-
ditional on the compliance of the Lord’s Resistance 
Army. 
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(11) Since April 2008, recovery efforts in 
northern Uganda have moved forward with the fi-
nancial support of the United States and other do-
nors, but have been hampered by a lack of strategic 
coordination, logistical delays, and limited capacity 
of the Government of Uganda. 
(12) Continued economic disparities between 
northern Uganda and the rest of the country and a 
failure to take meaningful steps toward reconcili-
ation and accountability, if unchanged, risk perpet-
uating longstanding political grievances and fueling 
new conflicts. 
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States to work vigor-
ously for a lasting resolution to the conflict in northern 
and eastern Uganda and other affected areas by— 
(1) eliminating the threat posed by the Lord’s 
Resistance Army to civilians and regional stability 
through political, economic, military, and intelligence 
support for a comprehensive multilateral effort to 
protect civilians in affected areas, to apprehend or 
otherwise remove Joseph Kony and his top com-
manders from the battlefield, and to disarm and de-
mobilize Lord’s Resistance Army fighters; and 
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(2) further supporting comprehensive recon-
struction, transitional justice, and reconciliation ef-
forts as affirmed in the Northern Uganda Crisis Re-
sponse Act of 2004 (Public Law 108–283) and sub-
sequent resolutions, including Senate Resolution 
366, 109th Congress, agreed to February 2, 2006, 
Senate Resolution 573, 109th Congress, agreed to 
September 19, 2006, Senate Concurrent Resolution 
16, 110th Congress, agreed to in the Senate March 
1, 2007, and House Concurrent Resolution 80, 
110th Congress, agreed to in the House of Rep-
resentatives June 18, 2007. 
SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT OF A REGIONAL STRATEGY FOR DIS-
ARMING THE LORD’S RESISTANCE ARMY. 
(a) REQUIREMENT FOR STRATEGY.—Not later than 
180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
President shall develop and submit to the appropriate 
committees of Congress a regional strategy to guide 
United States support for multilateral efforts to protect 
civilians from attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army, to 
eliminate the threat to civilians and regional stability 
posed by the Lord’s Resistance Army, and to enforce the 
rule of law and ensure full humanitarian access in LRA- 
affected areas. 
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(b) CONTENT OF STRATEGY.—The strategy should 
include the following: 
(1) A viable plan to protect civilians from at-
tacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army and eliminate 
the threat posed by the Lord’s Resistance Army, 
while building institutions in the affected areas that 
can help to maintain the rule of law and prevent 
conflict in the long term. 
(2) An interagency framework to plan, coordi-
nate, and execute all diplomatic economic, intel-
ligence, and military elements of United States pol-
icy across the region regarding the Lord’s Resist-
ance Army. 
(3) A description of the type and form of diplo-
matic engagement to work with regional mecha-
nisms, including the Tripartite Plus Commission and 
the Great Lakes Pact, and to coordinate the imple-
mentation of United States policy toward the Lord’s 
Resistance Army across the region. 
(4) A description of how this engagement will 
fit within the context of broader efforts and policy 
objectives in the Great Lakes Region. 
(5) A framework to evaluate the progress and 
effectiveness of the United States strategy toward 
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SEC. 8. REPORT. 
(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 1 year after 
the submission of the strategy required under section 4, 
the Secretary of State shall prepare and submit to the ap-
propriate committees of Congress a report on the progress 
made toward the implementation of the strategy required 
under section 4 and a description and evaluation of the 
assistance provided under this Act toward the policy objec-
tives described in section 3. 
(b) CONTENTS.—The report required under section 
(a) shall include— 
(1) a description and evaluation of actions 
taken toward the implementation of the strategy re-
quired under section 4; 
(2) a description of assistance provided under 
section 5 and section 6; 
(3) an evaluation of bilateral assistance pro-
vided to the Republic of Uganda and associated pro-
grams in light of stated policy objectives; 
(4) a description of the status of the Peace Re-
covery and Development Plan for Northern Uganda 
and the progress of the Government of Uganda to 
take the steps outlined in section 6(b); and 
(5) a description of amounts of assistance com-
mitted, and amounts provided, to northern Uganda 
during the reporting period by the Government of 
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