[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 453 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 453

Expressing the sense of Congress relating to the increasingly dire food 
security situation in Zimbabwe and the failure of the Mugabe regime to 
take appropriate measures to mitigate the impact of its failed policies 
 on the nutritional well-being of the people of Zimbabwe and of other 
                countries in the Southern Africa region.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 26, 2002

Mr. Hyde (for himself and Mr. Royce) submitted the following concurrent 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of Congress relating to the increasingly dire food 
security situation in Zimbabwe and the failure of the Mugabe regime to 
take appropriate measures to mitigate the impact of its failed policies 
 on the nutritional well-being of the people of Zimbabwe and of other 
                countries in the Southern Africa region.

Whereas the United Nations expects that starting in June 2002 more than 
        5,000,000 people in Zimbabwe will require food aid to survive, and that 
        by December 2002, that figure will increase to 6,100,000 people;
Whereas cereal production in Zimbabwe in 2002 is down 57 percent from the level 
        of such production in 2001 and is down 67 percent from the level of such 
        production in 1999-2000;
Whereas maize production in Zimbabwe in 2002 is down 67 percent from the level 
        of such production in 2001 and down 77 percent from the level of such 
        production in 1999-2000;
Whereas Mr. Robert Mugabe maintained the powers of the Zimbabwean presidency 
        after a March 2002 election, the legitimacy of which is widely rejected, 
        including by the United States;
Whereas Zimbabwe historically was a major food producer for Southern Africa, 
        feeding itself and helping its neighbors through the work of its 
        industrious and productive agricultural sector, but is now for the first 
        time in its post-colonial history undergoing food shortages not caused 
        primarily by natural factors, but rather by failed and destructive 
        policies of Mr. Mugabe;
Whereas unemployment in Zimbabwe is now more than 70 percent, with farm and 
        industrial workers particularly affected;
Whereas agricultural production is decreasing precipitously in Zimbabwe due to 
        the actions of the Mugabe regime and also through economic collapse and 
        lack of security due to Mugabe-supported mob violence, including 
        increased illegal confiscation and occupation of farms;
Whereas in 1997 Zimbabwe had an annualized inflation rate of 18.3 percent, but 
        following the implementation of failed and self-destructive economic 
        policies of the Mugabe regime, Zimbabwe now suffers from 114 percent 
        inflation;
Whereas World Food Program officials have stated that ``a crisis looms large 
        over Zimbabwe's horizon, and will seriously affect many more than the 
        6,100,000 most vulnerable people'', and the crisis ``will turn into a 
        grave crisis in the next few months with tragic consequences unless 
        rapid and adequate response is made'';
Whereas the people most affected by this looming crisis in Zimbabwe are the poor 
        and vulnerable--those individuals living in areas with chronic food 
        deficits, the urban poor who are entirely dependent on markets that have 
        failed to provide even barely adequate supplies of commodities, and the 
        displaced commercial farm workers and their families who have been the 
        victims of violence;
Whereas the United States has and will continue to furnish emergency food 
        assistance to the people of Zimbabwe through the United Nations and 
        nongovernmental organizations;
Whereas the people of the United States value peace and stability in the global 
        community and in particular the economic prosperity and livelihoods of 
        the people of the nations of Africa; and
Whereas the people and Government of the United States have long promoted the 
        adherence to basic human rights for all, the adoption of sound economic 
        policies, and the respect for political and press freedom, and urge 
        other peoples and governments to do so as well: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the land confiscation campaign and the state-sponsored 
        campaign of violence, torture, and intimidation led by Mr. 
        Robert Mugabe and his followers is a calculated and depraved 
        attempt to cling to power at the expense of the Zimbabwean 
        people;
            (2) the economic and nutritional status of the Zimbabwean 
        people will only be harmed further by the continued pursuit of 
        failed policies by Mr. Mugabe and his followers;
            (3) Mr. Mugabe should immediately cease the state monopoly 
        on grain imports and allow market forces to deliver food to 
        areas of Zimbabwe in need;
            (4) in this time of self-imposed crisis, Mr. Mugabe should 
        allow the unfettered access of the indigenous and international 
        nongovernmental community, including the United Nations, to 
        assist Zimbabwean people in need;
            (5) Mr. Mugabe and his followers should immediately cease 
        the withholding of food deliveries from certain regions of 
        Zimbabwe, thus ending the use of food as a weapon against his 
        own people; and
            (6) absent any corrective action on his part, Mr. Mugabe's 
        legacy will be defined by his responsibility for the suffering 
        and death by famine of many tens of thousands of Zimbabweans.
                                 <all>