IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 303 
Recognizing the growing threat that al Qaeda and its affiliates in Africa, 
particularly al Shabaab and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, pose 
to the United States and its allies and interests. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 22, 2010 
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. PENCE, Mr. FORTENBERRY, 
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, and Mr. BURTON of Indiana) submitted 
the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Affairs 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the growing threat that al Qaeda and its affili-
ates in Africa, particularly al Shabaab and al Qaeda 
in the Islamic Maghreb, pose to the United States and 
its allies and interests. 
Whereas, on August 7, 1998, 229 people, including 12 
United States citizens, were killed and another 5,000 
people were injured during simultaneous attacks against 
the United States Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar 
es Salaam, Tanzania; 
Whereas the 1998 East Africa Embassy attacks were the 
first major terrorist attacks directed against United 
States interests by Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda 
network; 
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•HCON 303 IH 
Whereas al Qaeda, a designated foreign terrorist organization 
pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nation-
ality Act and specially designated global terrorist pursu-
ant to section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224, has since 
expressed its intention to expand in Africa, most notably 
calling for jihad in Nigeria, Sudan, and Somalia; 
Whereas in September 2006, the Algerian radical Islamist in-
surgent group, the Salafist Group for Preaching and 
Combat (GSPC), formally merged with al Qaeda, renam-
ing itself al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and 
has since claimed responsibility for more than a dozen 
deadly suicide attacks in North Africa and across the 
Sahel; 
Whereas AQIM is now considered one of al Qaeda’s most ro-
bust affiliates and is pursuing a sophisticated, global 
jihadist agenda, including by targeting western interests 
and deploying fighters to Iraq; 
Whereas in December 2009, 3 West African men were appre-
hended in Ghana and subsequently charged in a United 
States Federal Court with conspiracy to commit narco- 
terrorism and provide support to a foreign terrorist orga-
nization after attempting to broker a deal between AQIM 
and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia for the 
transshipment of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine into 
Spain; 
Whereas the radical Islamist al Shabaab insurgent group, 
which emerged during the rise of the Union of Islamic 
Courts (UIC) in Somalia, has pledged fealty to al Qaeda 
and has been designated a foreign terrorist organization 
under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act and as a specially designated global terrorist under 
section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224; 
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•HCON 303 IH 
Whereas, on October 29, 2008, al Shabaab militants 
launched 5 simultaneous suicide attacks in northern So-
malia, including a presidential palace, an Ethiopian con-
sulate, and United Nations offices, killing at least 28 
people and signaling a clear tactical shift toward al 
Qaeda; 
Whereas according to court documents, between September 
2007 and October 2009, approximately 20 young men 
from the Minneapolis area trained and ultimately fought 
with al Shabaab, and on March 11, 2009, Deputy Direc-
tor of Intelligence for the National Counterterrorism 
Center (NCTC), Andrew Liepman, asserted, ‘‘we are con-
cerned that if Somali-American youth can be motivated 
to engage in such activities overseas, [Shirwa] Ahmed’s 
fellow travelers could return to the U.S. and engage in 
terrorist activities here’’; 
Whereas al Shabaab was formally renamed Harakat al 
Shabaab al-Mujahidin in 2009 to express its global 
jihadist aspirations, and is now believed to include hun-
dreds of foreign fighters; 
Whereas, on September 17, 2009, simultaneous suicide at-
tacks at the headquarters of the African Union Mission 
in Somalia (AMISOM) killed over 30 peacekeepers, in-
cluding 
the 
deputy 
commander 
General 
Juvenal 
Niyoyunguruza; 
Whereas, on December 3, 2009, al Shabaab operatives re-
portedly launched a suicide attack at a graduation cere-
mony for medical students in Mogadishu, killing 24 peo-
ple, including 3 ministers in the Transitional Federal 
Government; 
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•HCON 303 IH 
Whereas, on December 23, 2009, the United Nations Secu-
rity Council in resolution 1907 (2009) demanded that all 
Member States, in particular Eritrea, cease to arm, train, 
and equip armed groups, including al Shabaab, that aim 
to destabilize the region, and in subsequent investigations 
the United Nations Monitoring Group has reported that 
the Government of Eritrea ‘‘has continued to provide po-
litical, diplomatic, financial, and—allegedly—military as-
sistance to armed groups in Somalia’’ in violation of reso-
lution 1844 (2008); 
Whereas in his February 2010 testimony before Congress, 
Dennis C. Blair, Director of National Intelligence, 
warned that ‘‘East Africa-based al-Qa’ida leaders or al- 
Shabaab may elect to redirect to the Homeland some of 
the Westerners, including North Americans, now training 
and fighting in Somalia’’, and noted that al Shabaab’s 
ability to operate continues to increase, as the group ‘‘has 
assumed control over many local revenue-generating 
structures including ports, airports, roads, and water re-
sources since taking over large portions of central and 
southern Somalia last year’’; 
Whereas, on June 5, 2010, and again on July 21, 2010, 
United States citizens reportedly attempting to travel 
from New York to Somalia to join al Shabaab were ar-
rested and charged with conspiracy to kill, maim, and 
kidnap people outside the United States, and with pro-
viding material support to al Shabaab, respectively; 
Whereas, on July 11, 2010, more than 70 people, including 
1 United States citizen, who had gathered to watch the 
World Cup finals were killed when simultaneous explo-
sions tore through a rugby club and an Ethiopian res-
taurant in Kampala, Uganda; 
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•HCON 303 IH 
Whereas al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the at-
tacks in Uganda, which provides the majority of 
AMISOM forces, as an act of revenge for Uganda’s in-
volvement in Somalia, marking the first time the group 
has conducted a successful attack outside Somali terri-
tory, and has threatened attacks against Burundi, which 
has also contributed troops to AMISOM; 
Whereas the United States has already launched at least 7 
military strikes against al Qaeda and al Shabaab targets 
in Somalia since early 2007, including a helicopter-borne 
commando raid that killed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a 
prominent member of al Qaeda’s East Africa cell, on 
September 14, 2009; 
Whereas according to the African Union, ‘‘International ter-
rorism . . . and all its evil manifestations around the 
world and particularly in Africa, undermine the most 
cherished values and fundamental principles of the 21st 
century’’, and ‘‘The African Union strongly condemns all 
acts and forms of terrorism in Africa and wherever they 
may occur’’; and 
Whereas a number of African countries have engaged with 
the United States in efforts to combat terrorism, deny 
terrorist sanctuary, disrupt terrorist financing, and 
counter extremist ideologies through programs such as 
the Tran-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP) 
and the East Africa Regional Security Initiative 
(EARSI), and through the efforts of the Combined Joint 
Task Force–Horn of Africa (CJTF–HOA): Now, there-
fore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress— 
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•HCON 303 IH 
(1) recognizes the growing threat that al Qaeda 
and its affiliates in Africa, particularly al Shabaab 
and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, pose to the 
United States and its allies and interests; 
(2) acknowledges the commitment and coopera-
tion of a number of governments and regional orga-
nizations in Africa to deny safehaven to al Qaeda 
and its affiliates and calls upon all governments to 
intensify their efforts toward that end; and 
(3) calls upon the Administration to formulate 
a comprehensive strategy, in cooperation with all rel-
evant stakeholders in the United States Government 
and its African partners, to— 
(A) confront the growing regional and 
global threat posed by al Qaeda and its affili-
ates in Africa; 
(B) prevent the spread of violent Islamist 
extremism; 
(C) disrupt the operations of extremist net-
works; and 
(D) deny safehaven to extremist groups in 
Africa. 
Æ 
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