United States Public Law # 109-456

The Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security and Democracy Promotion Act of 2006

Key excerpts from the law

SEC. 101. FINDINGS.

(2) The national Strategy of the United States, dated September 17, 2002, concludes that ‘[i]n Africa, promise and opportunity sit side-by-side with disease, war, and desperate poverty. This threatens both a core value of the United States preserving human dignity and our strategic priority combating global terror. American interests and American principles, therefore, lead in the same direction: we will work with others for an African continent that lives in liberty, peace and growing prosperity.’.

(4) The Democratic Republic of the Congo is 2,345,410 square miles (approximately ¼ the size of the United States), lies at the heart of Africa, and touches every major region of sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, a secure, peaceful, and prosperous Democratic Republic of the Congo would have a profound impact on the progress throughout Africa.

(7) A mortality study completed in December 2004 by the International Rescue Committee found that 31,000 people were dying monthly and 3,800,000 people had died in the previous six years because of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and resulting disintegration of the social service infrastructure, making this one of the deadliest conflicts since WWII.

SEC. 102. STATEMENT OF POLICY

(2) to urge the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to recognize and act upon its responsibilities to immediately bring discipline to its security forces, hold those individuals responsible for atrocities and other human rights violations, particularly the rape of women and girls as an act of war, accountable and bring such individuals to justice;

(8) to make all efforts to ensure that the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo—

(A) is committed to responsible and transparent management of natural resources across the country; and
(B) takes active measures—

(i) to promote economic development;
(ii) to hold accountable individuals who illegally exploit the country’s natural resources; and
(iii) to implement the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative by enacting laws requiring disclosure and vindependent auditing of company payments and government receipts for natural resource extraction;

(14) to engage with governments working to promote peace and security throughout the Democratic Republic of the Congo and hold accountable individuals, entities, and countries working to destabilize the country;

SEC. 104. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO.

(b) Termination of Assistance- It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State should withhold assistance otherwise available under this Act if the Secretary determines that the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is not making sufficient progress towards accomplishing the policy objectives described in section 102.

SEC. 105. WITHHOLDING OF ASSISTANCE.

The Secretary of State is authorized to withhold assistance made available under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), other than humanitarian, peacekeeping, and counter-terrorism assistance, for a foreign country if the Secretary determines that the government of the foreign country is taking actions to destabilize the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

SEC. 201. PROMOTION OF UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO IN THE UNITED NATIONS SECRUTIY COUNCIL.

The United States should use its voice and vote in the United Nations Security Council—

(5) to ensure that the practice of recruiting and arming children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is immediately halted pursuant to Security Council Resolutions 1460 (2003) and 1539 (2004);

(6) to strengthen the arms embargo imposed pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1493 (2003) and ensure that violators are held accountable through appropriate measures, including the possible imposition of sanctions;

(7) to allow for the more effective protection and monitoring of natural resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, especially in the eastern part of the country, and for public disclosure and independent auditing of natural resource revenues to help ensure transparent and accountable management of these revenues;