[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 107 (Wednesday, September 13, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1450]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CONSUMER ACCESS TO A RESPONSIBLE ACCOUNTING OF TRADE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TONY P. HALL

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 12, 2000

  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 sever the funding link that has enabled the 
murderous rebels in Sierra Leone and Angola to wage their wars against 
civilians; that has helped bring a thug to power in Liberia; and that 
is sustaining eight nations fighting in the Democratic Republic of 
Congo.
  This has been a top priority for a coalition of 70 human rights 
organizations, led by Physicians for Human Rights, and it has become an 
urgent matter for the diamond industry, whose tokens of love face being 
exposed as symbols of butchery.
  The industry and activists both support a plan to block diamonds 
mined in conflict zones from entering the legitimate diamond trade. 
Many details remain to be ironed out, but the industry is working on 
that. Unfortunately, they are running into intransigence from some 
segments of the industry and some nations. Because of the nature of the 
system they have devised, substantial participation is necessary to 
make it work.
  My bill aims to support the industry's efforts and expresses the 
Sense of the Congress that some effective system of preventing smuggled 
diamonds from being traded as blood-free ones is urgently needed and 
directing the Administration to make this a higher priority. The bill 
also encourages technology that will find a more traditional approach 
to this problem. Finally, it implements embargoes imposed by the United 
Nations and takes steps to make them more effective.
  Mr. Speaker, we owe passage of this bill to innocent Africans--both 
those caught in the wars over diamonds, and those who depend on the 
legitimate trade in South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia and will be 
hurt by a consumer backlash against the blood trade.
  But we also owe it to Americans to pass this bill.
  American consumers play a significant role in the diamond trade, 
because they buy 65 percent of all diamonds. They clearly have no 
intention of supporting brutal wars--after all, their intention is to 
buy tokens of love and commitment--but that is precisely what they are 
doing.
  American taxpayers also deserve better: they have funded more than $3 
billion in humanitarian relief to the people of these four nations who 
are caught up in war--at the same time rebels there have earned $10 
billion to pay for weapons and material to keep the same wars going.
  The CARAT Act aims to empower Americans to lend their consumer might 
to efforts to bring peace to Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia, and the 
Democratic Republic of Congo. It is measured and responsible 
legislation that deserves immediate action by the 106th Congress, and I 
urge our colleagues to support it.

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