[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 115 Engrossed in House (EH)]


                 In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

                                                        April 17, 1997.
Whereas Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko's 31-year rule has turned his 
        potentially prosperous country into one of the world's poorest, where 
        human suffering long has been widespread;
Whereas the Mobutu Government has systematically violated the human rights and 
        undermined the security of Zaire's 46,000,000 people;
Whereas the Mobutu Government has proven itself unwilling to allow a genuine 
        transition to multi-party democracy and continues to cling to power 
        against the best interests of Zaire's people;
Whereas the Mobutu Government permitted the circulation of extremist propaganda 
        in the refugee camps that undermined voluntary repatriation efforts of 
        the United Nations High Commission on Refugees;
Whereas the international community is concerned about the humanitarian needs of 
        the hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced Zairians;
Whereas many thousands of Rwandans seeking to return home are now too ill to 
        walk and scores succumb each day to cholera, malnutrition, malaria, 
        dehydration, and other diseases while awaiting final agreements among 
        parties to the conflict, the Government of Rwanda, and international 
        humanitarian organizations, to permit the organization and 
        implementation of a speedy air evacuation and the regular supply of 
        urgently needed relief supplies and medical care;
Whereas in Zaire there have been numerous attempts to obstruct humanitarian 
        relief to these populations at risk and to hinder relocation of 
        civilians and the repatriation of refugees wishing to return home;
Whereas there are continuing reports of human rights violations by all parties 
        that stem from the continued fighting in Zaire;
Whereas representatives of the Zairian Government and the Alliance of Democratic 
        Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (ADFL) negotiated in South 
        Africa, under the supervision of the United Nations and the Organization 
        of African Unity, with no cease-fire agreement; and
Whereas the objectives of the United States Government, achieving the cessation 
        of hostilities and achieving political reforms in Zaire, continue to be 
        stymied: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That--
            (1) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that--
                    (A) President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire should immediately 
                resign from the office of the Presidency of Zaire, leave Zaire, 
                and withdraw from all political activity;
                    (B) the United States Government should unequivocally call 
                on Mobutu Sese Seko to immediately leave Zaire and withdraw from 
                all political activity;
                    (C) the United States should continue to distance itself and 
                its foreign policy from President Mobutu and his government in 
                order to hasten his departure from Zaire's government and 
                political life;
                    (D) the United States should work with all interested 
                African and European nations to oppose the presence in Zaire of 
                foreign government and mercenary forces, halt the flow of arms 
                into the country, and encourage the warring parties to negotiate 
                a cease-fire leading to a lasting peace;
                    (E) the United States Government should play a leading role 
                in the international effort in supporting the creation of a 
                broad-based transitional government of national unity composed 
                of all democratic forces in Zaire; and
                    (F) the United States should actively pursue an immediate 
                agreement among the various parties to permit the immediate and 
                unhindered provision of humanitarian relief and the presence of 
                international humanitarian workers to aid refugees and displaced 
                persons in the Zaire; and
            (2) the House of Representatives supports the creation in Zaire of 
        the enabling environment necessary to conduct democratic, multi-party 
        elections at the earliest feasible time, as well as the necessary 
        conditions to establish the rule of law, respect for human rights, and 
        the effective provision of humanitarian assistance.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.