[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 151 (Monday, November 1, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2232]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CONSUMER ACCESS TO A RESPONSIBLE ACCOUNTING OF TRADE ACT

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                           HON. TONY P. HALL

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, November 1, 1999

  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Consumer 
Access to a Responsible Accounting of Trade Act of 2000.
  This bill aims to give Americans the same information about diamonds 
that they have about other products they buy. I believe it is 
information that may be of increasing interest to them, as attention 
focuses on some regions' reliance on diamonds to fuel wars there. This 
link between dirty diamonds and war is at the root of much evil in 
Africa today.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to make it clear that war--and not diamonds--is 
the root of these evils. Botswana went from the poorest country in the 
world to become one of Africa's greatest success stories--a success 
built on the careful investment of diamond revenues in the nation's 
people. In Namibia and South Africa, too, diamonds have been the fuel 
for tremendous progress.
  Sadly, and especially so for those of us who have hoped and worked 
for a brighter future for all Africans, fighting is again overshadowing 
prospects for progress in several other African nations. In two--
Liberia and Sierra Leone--peace agreements have stopped most of the 
fighting; in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a fragile cease-fire is 
holding so far; and in Angola, war threatens to drag on for some time. 
In all four countries, revenues from diamond mining have fueled these 
wars and made their continuation possible.
  Sierra Leone is a dramatic example: Rebels there went from a rag-tag 
bunch of 400 soldiers, to a formidable force numbering more than 
20,000. The revenues from the diamond mines they seized ensured they 
never wanted for the best in weapons or gear, and they enabled these 
butchers to cut off the hands and arms of civilians in punishment for 
casting ballots. In all, $200 million a year in diamond exports funded 
the bloodshed that killed 50,000 people in Sierra Leone this decade.
  Angola's seemingly endless war is another example. Rebels again are 
waging the war that has cost a million people their lives, has driven 
more than a million from their homes in the past year, and now 
threatens two million with famine. Their weapons, including land mines 
that make Angola the deadliest place in the world, are purchased with 
diamond revenues totaling nearly $4 billion this decade.
  Through their greed and craven brutality, rebels and dealers in dirty 
diamonds risk tarnishing the appeal of diamonds to consumers, and their 
promise to impoverished African nations. I believe the CARAT Act will 
help protect these democracies from the shame that these outlaws are 
bringing to the diamond trade.
  The information my bill provides to consumers can be given without 
hesitation by those trading in diamonds mined in Botswana, South 
Africa, Namibia, Canada, Australia, and Russia. It will reassure 
Americans that the symbols of love and commitment they cherish were 
never darkened by the shadows of machetes or land mines, and that their 
investment was not used to buy guns or bombs.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend the efforts of Global Witness, a coalition of 
human rights organizations working to draw worldwide attention to the 
link between the illicit trade in diamonds and wars in Africa. The 
``Fatal Transactions'' campaign they have launched is a responsible 
effort, one that aims to shield those engaged in legitimate trade from 
public outrage. That is very important, because activists will play a 
crucial role in shaping public opinion about the diamond trade. If 
diamonds go the way of fur--if they become a pariah product in the eyes 
of many consumers--democracy in Southern Africa could be shaken, and 
regional stability put at risk. I am heartened that Global Witness' 
member organizations are exercising greater caution to ensure this does 
not happen. I hope that, by giving consumers information they can use 
to understand this issue, my bill will provide another safeguard.
  I also hope this legislation will support work on this issue by 
policymakers, and I commend to our colleagues' attention the efforts of 
our State Department, of Secretary Albright, of Britain's Robin Cook, 
of Canada's Robert Fowler, and of the many experts in government, non-
government, and business organizations working to sever the link 
between war and gems.
  The supply-side approach they are taking offers the promise of a 
global solution, and I hope they succeed. In the meantime, however, the 
United States can play a bigger role in this noble effort. In fact, the 
way to have the most constructive impact might be by exercising our 
purchasing power wisely.
  Mr. Speaker, Americans buy 65 percent of the gem-quality diamonds 
sold worldwide, making us a force the market must reckon with. 
Insisting that our consumers are informed of the original source of 
diamonds sold to them will send a wake-up call to the diamond industry. 
It will encourage countries and businesses in Africa to use their 
influence to end the wars that wreak so much havoc on that continent 
before those wars give diamonds a bad name. And it will help protect 
the democratic nations that are using their diamond revenues for the 
good of their people.
  Mr. Speaker, in the past decade our Nation has spent nearly $2 
billion in humanitarian aid to people who live in the nations where 
``conflict diamonds'' are fueling wars. Over the same period, at least 
three times that much was siphoned away from those same nations' 
diamond mines; too much of it was spent on weapons that cost millions 
of Africans their lives and limbs, and reversed years of economic 
progress their countries had made.
  Where would these nations be without those wars? The contrast between 
Botswana, which invested its diamonds in its people, and Sierra Leone, 
which invested them in war, is striking.
  Africans in Botswana live to age 52, on average; in Sierra Leone, 
they die at age 35.
  In Botswana, 7 in 10 people can read; in Sierra Leone, 7 in 10 
cannot.
  In Botswana, annual per capita income is nearly $6,000; in Sierra 
Leone, it is just over $600.
  Mr. Speaker, as Members of Congress we have a civic responsibility to 
invest our taxpayers' money wisely. We also have a moral duty to help 
those who Scriptures call ``the least of these.'' Neither allows us to 
ignore the root cause of the terrible suffering that this legislation 
seeks to address. We should not rush into enacting any ill-advised 
sanctions; but neither should we continue to look away from a problem 
we could do so much to eliminate.
  In this decade, we have had no opportunity to get to the root of this 
evil like the one we have today. The hideous war in Sierra Leone has 
ended; Liberia is rebuilding its economy and society; and United 
Nations sanctions block the sale of diamonds by UNITA rebels in Angola. 
Only in the Democratic Republic of Congo do illicit sales of diamonds 
threaten peace. Now is the time to take preventive action to sever one 
of the key lifelines of war in Africa.
  In preparing this bill, I have learned that diamonds are judged by 
what experts call ``the four C's''--cut, color, clarity, and carat 
weight. I believe the day is coming when diamonds also are judged by a 
fifth C--their country of origin. the CARAT Act will ensure consumers 
know all five C's, and help them--if they choose to do so--use their 
purchasing power to support those who are using diamond revenues to 
wage war against their people.
  My bill is a simple one, Mr. Speaker. It simply requires gem-quality 
diamonds imported into the U.S. market to be accompanied by a 
certificate listing where they were mined. But it will also remind 
those who depend on our business that Americans are powerful and 
responsible consumers. It will protect the democratic nations in Africa 
that depend on diamond revenues. And it enables American consumers to 
choose not to support the oppressors of African people who have paid 
too dearly, and for too long, the price of war.

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