(6) Regional mechanisms have been unable to 
sufficiently address the longstanding insecurity. 
(7) The DRC has globally significant reserves 
of cobalt and other critical minerals, including lith-
ium, tantalum, and rare earth elements such as nio-
bium and germanium, among others. 
(8) The DRC is the world’s largest producer 
and exporter of cobalt and, as of mid-2023, the 
world’s second largest producer of copper. 
(9) As of 2021, 15 of the 19 cobalt producing 
mines in the DRC are owned or in part financed by 
the People’s Republic of China (hereafter referred to 
as ‘‘PRC’’) based firms. 
(10) In 2016, one of the largest copper and co-
balt mines in the world, Tenke Fungurume, and in 
2020, the undeveloped Kisanfu concession were sold 
by a United States company to the PRC state-tied 
mining company CMOC (previously known as China 
Molybdenum Company Limited). 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) the stability of the Democratic Republic of 
the Congo is a strategic priority for the people of the 
DRC, the continent of Africa, and the United 
States, and it is in the economic and national secu-
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rity interest of the United States to support ac-
countable, inclusive, and democratic governance in 
the Democratic Republic of Congo; 
(2) it is in the United States interest to support 
additional efforts to end conflicts in eastern DRC, 
including by seeking to end the Rwandan Govern-
ment’s support to the M23, the DRC Government’s 
support to the FDLR, the documented use of child 
soldiers by armed groups, and the threat posed to 
the Congolese people from undisciplined elements of 
the armed forces of the DRC and non-state armed 
groups; 
(3) United States humanitarian assistance re-
mains critical in providing millions of people in the 
DRC with life-saving aid and alleviating the suf-
fering of people affected by disasters; 
(4) the United States should use its voice, vote, 
and influence in the United Nations to ensure that 
the withdrawal of MONUSCO from the DRC does 
not create a security vacuum that amplifies the 
armed conflict and humanitarian crisis in eastern 
DRC; 
(5) the United States should identify policy re-
forms that would support the aspirations of the 
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DRC Government to become eligible for a Millenium 
Challenge Corporation threshold program; 
(6) the United States should build on the Africa 
Gold Advisory issued in June 2023 and encourage 
enterprises active in the mineral supply chain of gold 
produced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 
notably Primera Gold DRC and AuricHub, to ensure 
that their sourcing practices are in full compliance 
with national, regional, and international require-
ments and standards and benefit the Congolese peo-
ple; 
(7) the United States should work to ensure en-
forcement of voluntary and mandatory due diligence 
mechanisms and safeguards to protect internation-
ally recognized worker rights, support multi stake-
holder alliances and industry coalitions, and pursue 
actions to end human rights violations, environ-
mental degradation, and opaque businesses practices 
in the DRC’s mining sector, and especially in regard 
to artisanal mining, the United States should assist 
and work to ensure that forced labor, including child 
labor, and other human rights abuses are not prac-
ticed; and 
(8) the current dominant role of the PRC over 
the extraction, processing and refining of the DRC’s 
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cobalt and certain other critical minerals, coupled 
with poor governance and illegal exploitation of crit-
ical minerals, deprives the DRC of important rev-
enue and added value and has contributed to the 
lack of adherence to governance, human rights prin-
ciples, and labor and environmental standards. 
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States to— 
(1) support efforts to address conflict and in-
stability in the DRC, including to urge armed actors 
to comply with their obligations to protect civilians 
under international humanitarian law and to respect 
international human rights; 
(2) use existing sanctions authorities including 
the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability 
Act (22 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.), Executive Order 
13413 as amended by Executive Order 13671, and 
Executive Order 13224 as amended against those 
perpetrating corruption or human rights violations 
in the DRC; 
(3) condemn all actions that suppress press 
freedom and to reaffirm to the Government of the 
DRC the centrality of press freedom to efforts of the 
United States Government to support democracy, 
mitigate conflict, and promote good governance; 
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(4) ensure that critical minerals are produced, 
processed, and recycled in a manner that supports 
the ability of countries to realize the full economic 
development benefit of their geological endowments 
and that respects human rights as well as environ-
mental, social, labor, and governance standards; 
(5) support efforts to accurately oversee, mon-
itor, and prevent labor and human rights abuses in 
the DRC’s mining industry in order to remove child 
and forced labor, which occurs in some artisanal 
mining, from United States and global supply 
chains, including by encouraging the Government of 
the DRC to support business and technological 
skills-training and other capacity-building measures, 
including legal reforms, to help build the legitimate, 
responsible, conflict-free, productive and income-gen-
erating capacity of the artisanal and small-scale 
mining sector; 
(6) engage with the Government of the DRC to 
address factors, including opaque business and tax-
ation practices, and unpredictable administrative re-
quirements, that limit United States investment and 
constrain the ability of the United States and the 
DRC to strengthen economic cooperation; 
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(7) encourage Federal departments and agen-
cies including the Department of State, the United 
States Agency for International Development, the 
United States Development Finance Corporation, 
the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the 
United States Trade and Development Agency, and 
the Department of Commerce to identify opportuni-
ties to increase the amount of United States invest-
ment in the DRC’s critical minerals sector; and 
(8) recognize that the PRC’s influence over the 
DRC’s mining sector output and processing is harm-
ful to the Congolese people, in particular the preda-
tory and opaque business tactics and labor rights 
violations of PRC-linked entities. 
SEC. 5. STRATEGY ON DEMOCRACY, PEACE, AND STABILITY 
IN THE DRC. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the President, in consulta-
tion with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, 
and the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
International Development, shall submit to the appro-
priate congressional committees a strategy to promote de-
mocracy, peace, and stability in the DRC. Such strategy 
shall include the following— 
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(1) a long-term plan for the United States to 
support and promote democracy and good govern-
ance in the DRC, including— 
(A) identifying specific failures in the Na-
tional 
Independent 
Electoral 
Commission’s 
2023 election planning that contributed to the 
pre-election voter roll issues and logistical 
delays in distributing ballot materials and the 
election day irregularities regarding polling sta-
tion openings and voting machine performance, 
to ensure that future elections are free and fair; 
and 
(B) identifying necessary reforms to gov-
ernment institutions to address corruption, pro-
mote human rights, and increase transparency 
and accountability; 
(2) a plan to address conflict and instability in 
eastern DRC, including support for— 
(A) plans to promote more transparent co-
ordination among various state security actors; 
(B) a vetting mechanism to remove abusive 
officers from command positions in the state se-
curity forces; 
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(C) an effective Disarmament, Demobiliza-
tion, and Reintegration (DDR) program for 
former combatants; 
(D) encouraging greater protection of civil-
ians and human rights; 
(E) truth and reconciliation processes to 
address grievances of parties to the conflict; 
and 
(F) preventing and addressing human 
rights abuses by all parties; and 
(G) an inclusive and holistic approach to 
justice and accountability for perpetrators of 
human rights violations and atrocities. 
(b) FORM.—The strategy required under subsection 
(a) shall be submitted in unclassified form and may in-
clude a classified annex. 
(c) UPDATES.—Not later than 3 years after the sub-
mission of the initial strategy required by subsection (a), 
and every 3 years thereafter for 12 years, the President 
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 
a report that includes— 
(1) an update of the strategy submitted pursu-
ant to subsection (a); and 
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(2) an assessment of the effectiveness of such 
strategy, as of the date of the submission of the up-
date. 
SEC. 6. NATIONAL STRATEGY ON THE DRC’S CRITICAL MIN-
ERAL SECTOR. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the President, in consulta-
tion with the Secretary of State, the Administrator of the 
United States Agency for International Development, and 
the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and 
agencies, shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees a written strategy to support efforts by the 
DRC to ensure critical minerals are produced, processed, 
and recycled in a manner that— 
(1) supports the ability of the people of the 
DRC to realize the full economic development ben-
efit of their geological endowments; and 
(2) adheres to the highest human rights as well 
as environmental, social, labor, and governance 
standards. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required by subsection 
(a) shall also include the following: 
(1) An analysis of the level of control exerted 
by the PRC over the DRC’s mining sector, includ-
ing— 
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(A) the market share of PRC-linked enti-
ties in the DRC’s mining sector, to include 
analysis of the market share for each of the 
critical minerals identified as part of the United 
States Geological Survey list of 50 mineral com-
modities critical to the United States economy 
and national security and being at the highest 
risk of supply chain disruption in both the DRC 
as a whole and within each province where the 
critical minerals are located; and 
(B) the financial terms of PRC-linked enti-
ties investments in primary extraction. 
(2) An assessment of human rights and labor 
conditions at PRC-owned mines in the DRC com-
pared to those owned by partner countries. 
(3) An assessment of the market share and ca-
pacity of partner country mining companies with re-
spect to the DRC’s mining sector. 
(4) An assessment of illicit mining deals, crit-
ical mineral theft, and corruption in resource rich 
areas of the DRC. 
(5) A plan to facilitate consultation with Congo-
lese civil society and community leaders to develop 
a comprehensive and holistic strategy to achieve the 
goals in subsection (a). 
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