IV 111th CONGRESS 2d Session H. CON. RES. 303 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 affiliates 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; Whereas al Qaeda, a designated foreign terrorist organization pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and specially designated global terrorist pursuant 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 insurgent group, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), formally merged with al Qaeda, renaming 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 robust 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 apprehended in Ghana and subsequently charged in a United States Federal Court with conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism and provide support to a foreign terrorist organization 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; Whereas, on October 29, 2008, al Shabaab militants launched 5 simultaneous suicide attacks in northern Somalia, including a presidential palace, an Ethiopian consulate, 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 Director of Intelligence for the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), Andrew Liepman, asserted, we are concerned 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 hundreds of foreign fighters; Whereas, on September 17, 2009, simultaneous suicide attacks at the headquarters of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) killed over 30 peacekeepers, including the deputy commander General Juvenal Niyoyunguruza; Whereas, on December 3, 2009, al Shabaab operatives reportedly launched a suicide attack at a graduation ceremony for medical students in Mogadishu, killing 24 people, including 3 ministers in the Transitional Federal Government; Whereas, on December 23, 2009, the United Nations Security 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 political, diplomatic, financial, and—allegedly—military assistance to armed groups in Somalia in violation of resolution 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 resources 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 arrested and charged with conspiracy to kill, maim, and kidnap people outside the United States, and with providing 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 explosions tore through a rugby club and an Ethiopian restaurant in Kampala, Uganda; Whereas al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Uganda, which provides the majority of AMISOM forces, as an act of revenge for Uganda’s involvement in Somalia, marking the first time the group has conducted a successful attack outside Somali territory, 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 terrorism … 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, therefore, be it

That Congress— (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 cooperation of a number of governments and regional organizations 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 relevant 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 affiliates in Africa; (B)prevent the spread of violent Islamist extremism; (C)disrupt the operations of extremist networks; and (D)deny safehaven to extremist groups in Africa.