I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6655 
To authorize assistance for Liberia. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 30, 2008 
Mr. JACKSON of Illinois (for himself, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. 
PAYNE, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. ELLISON, Ms. WATSON, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. 
PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. LEE, 
Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. HASTINGS of Flor-
ida, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. CARSON, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. 
EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. THOMPSON of 
Mississippi, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. TOWNS, 
Mr. 
ISRAEL, 
Mr. 
ROTHMAN, 
Mr. 
CLEAVER, 
Mr. 
WATT, 
Mr. 
BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CLAY, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mrs. 
CHRISTENSEN, and Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To authorize assistance for Liberia. 
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 ‘‘Liberia Stabilization, 
Economic Empowerment, Development and Security Act 
of 2008’’ or the ‘‘Liberia SEEDS Act of 2008’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Since the founding of Liberia, the Liberian 
people have been staunch Unites States allies and 
friends in sub-Saharan Africa, and the history of Li-
beria is closely entwined with that of the United 
States. 
(2) After two brutal civil wars, peace in Liberia 
was achieved as a result of implementation of the 
Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2003, which was 
signed in Accra, Ghana, on August 18, 2003, fol-
lowing the cessation of Liberia’s second national 
armed civil conflict, which lasted from 1999 to 2003, 
and followed the first such conflict, which took place 
from 1989 to1997. 
(3) The Liberian people demonstrated their 
deep commitment to a system of democratic, con-
stitutionally based government by turning out in 
large numbers to vote in peaceful, free, and fair 
presidential and legislative elections on October 11, 
2005, and in a free and fair presidential run-off 
election held on November 8, 2005, which resulted 
in the election to office of President Ellen Johnson 
Sirleaf of Liberia, who became the first woman elect-
ed president of an African country. 
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(4) The robust and active efforts by the Gov-
ernment of President Sirleaf to promote the socio- 
economic development of Liberia are severely chal-
lenged by the abiding legacies of Liberia’s two recent 
civil wars, and by over a decade of misgovernance 
that preceded and contributed to the outbreak of the 
first of these conflicts, including— 
(A) the near-total destruction of Liberia’s 
public systems for electricity generation and 
transmission, potable water distribution and 
treatment, and public sanitation, and the long- 
term and substantial neglect of Liberia’s limited 
national all weather road system; 
(B) the widespread lack of well-functioning 
central government institutions, public sector 
corruption, and the general absence of demo-
cratic accountability; and 
(C) a history of numerous citizen abuses, 
curtailments of constitutional freedoms, and 
often serious and criminal violations of human 
rights, including extortion, child abduction, 
rape, torture, and extra-judicial killings, by 
many members of the former Armed Forces of 
Liberia, national police, and other public secu-
rity agencies, caused by the politicization of 
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public security functions, widespread personal 
corruption among military and police personnel, 
and lack of personnel training. 
(5) Since 2003, the United States has invested 
over $1,500,000,000 to help end the Liberian con-
flict, consolidate the Comprehensive Peace Agree-
ment of 2003, support the national democratic elec-
tions of 2005, deliver emergency humanitarian as-
sistance to the Liberian people, and assist in the 
post-war economic and political reconstruction of Li-
beria. 
SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF POLICY. 
Congress makes the following declarations: 
(1) In order to support the democratic and 
socio-economic aspirations of the Liberian people, 
the United States should continue to support and 
assist the Government of President Ellen Johnson 
Sirleaf of Liberia and its energetic and dedicated ef-
forts to rebuild Liberia economically, socially, and 
politically, to expand constitutional freedoms and 
protections and the rule of law, and to improve the 
lives of the Liberian people. 
(2) The United States should also continue to 
provide assistance to the people of Liberia in order 
to— 
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(A) assist Liberia in making irrevocable 
and permanent the peace achieved as a result 
of implementation of the Comprehensive Peace 
Agreement of 2003 signed in Accra, Ghana, on 
August 18, 2003; 
(B) ensure that Liberia never again be-
comes a source of regional military or political 
instability, a threat to the sovereignty or terri-
torial integrity of neighboring countries, or a 
source of insecurity for those countries’ citizens; 
and 
(C) protect the interests and substantial 
past and current investments of the United 
States in Liberia. 
(3) Among other important objectives, assist-
ance provided by United States for the Liberian peo-
ple should seek to— 
(A) build a robust, private sector-based, 
market-driven economy capable of substantially 
alleviating the most severe and widespread 
forms of poverty in Liberia, in accordance with 
the United Nations Millennium Declaration (A/ 
RES/55/2), adopted by the United Nations 
General Assembly on September 18, 2000; 
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(B) build a democratic, accountable, and 
fully participatory democratic political system, 
based on the constitutional rule of law and well- 
functioning government institutions capable of 
effectively providing public goods and services 
to the Liberian people and of resolving key 
problems, including unmet basic socio-economic 
needs, the inequitable distribution of resources, 
and the persisting impact of undemocratic prac-
tices under past Liberian governments, which 
contributed to the outbreak of Liberia’s two 
armed civil conflicts; 
(C) help foster close bilateral cooperation 
between the United States and Liberia and sup-
port cooperation between Liberia and multilat-
eral and international organizations; and 
(D) assist efforts by the Government of Li-
beria to ensure effective governance, and 
achieve social development and sustainable, pri-
vate sector-led economic growth by— 
(i) 
reconstructing 
or 
refurbishing 
basic physical infrastructure; 
(ii) pursuing efforts to ensure govern-
ment accountability, and public sector fis-
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cal and operational transparency and effec-
tiveness; 
(iii) pursuing efforts to ensure public 
safety and security and adherence to the 
rule of law; 
(iv) ensuring that ex-combatants and 
war-affected youth are given access to job 
training and opportunities to work on pub-
lic work projects in order to enable them to 
contribute as gainfully employed citizens to 
the development of their country; and 
(v) supporting Liberian efforts to ad-
vance the pursuit of transitional justice, 
national reconciliation, and accountability 
for crimes by government officials and oth-
ers, including human rights violations and 
misappropriations of public funds. 
SEC. 4. PURPOSES OF ASSISTANCE. 
The purposes of assistance authorized by this Act are 
to ensure that the United States, in furtherance of its se-
curity and other national interests, fulfills the U.S. For-
eign Assistance Framework objectives of Peace and Secu-
rity, Governing Justly and Democratically, and Economic 
Growth by providing targeted assistance to support efforts 
by the people and Government of Liberia to— 
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(1) ensure that all Government of Liberia reve-
nues, in particular revenues derived from the eco-
logically and financially sustainable use or sale of 
Liberia’s abundant natural resources, are used in an 
accountable, transparent, and equitable manner for 
public purposes, including by continuing to— 
(A) provide assistance to support national 
fiscal management and oversight capacity devel-
opment and reforms under the donor-backed 
Governance and Economic Management Assist-
ance Program (GEMAP) during its remaining 
period of operation; and 
(B) invest in economic good governance 
programs or capacity-building efforts that are 
endorsed or implemented by the Liberia Recon-
struction and Development Committee (LRDC), 
its component subcommittees or associated or-
gans, or any similar entity that may in the fu-
ture succeed the LRDC; 
(2) build a robust, free market system, spur 
economic revitalization and growth, help alleviate 
poverty, and advance access to basic services by re-
constructing or refurbishing basic physical infra-
structure, or major elements thereof, including pub-
lic electricity generation and transmission, clean 
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