[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 121 (Tuesday, October 3, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H8630]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   ILLEGAL DIAMOND SALES SUPPORT BRUTAL REBEL GROUPS IN SIERRA LEONE

  (Mr. EHLERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss a very serious 
situation in Africa, the situation in Sierra Leone.
  Last week, under the leadership of the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Royce), who serves as chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, we had a 
special meeting or hearing at which we heard from victims of the 
violence in Africa.
  Just as an example, there were two 4-year-old children, both of whom 
had had an arm chopped off, when they were 2 years old, by the rebels. 
We also saw a student who had said, please, don't chop off my right 
hand; I am a student and I have to write with it. They chopped off his 
right hand. Another gentleman had both arms chopped off. This is the 
type of violence taking place.
  But this is not a political revolution, this is a revolution of 
bandits who wanted to get control of the diamond mines, and in fact, 
they have achieved that. They are financing their war with the revenue 
from the mines.
  These so-called ``conflict diamonds,'' which I call bloody diamonds, 
are fueling the conflict over there, and many of those diamonds are 
being sold in the United States. We must stop the importation of those 
diamonds.
  Our State Department has to enforce international law, and bring 
pressure on Charles Taylor of Liberia and others to stop their meddling 
in the affairs of Sierra Leone, Above all, we must end the conflict.

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