Congressional Record, Volume 150 Issue 97 (Wednesday, July 14, 2004)

[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 97 (Wednesday, July 14, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H5765-H5767]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

NORTHERN UGANDA CRISIS RESPONSE ACT

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
Senate bill (S. 2264) to require a report on the conflict in Uganda,
and for other purposes.
The Clerk read as follows:

S. 2264

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Northern Uganda Crisis
Response Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The United States and the Republic of Uganda enjoy a
strong bilateral relationship and continue to work closely
together in fighting the human immunodeficiency virus and
acquired immune deficiency syndrome (``HIV/AIDS'') pandemic
and combating international terrorism.
(2) For more than 17 years, the Government of Uganda has
been engaged in a conflict with the Lord's Resistance Army
that has inflicted hardship and suffering on the people of
northern and eastern Uganda.
(3) The members of the Lord's Resistance Army have used
brutal tactics during this conflict, including abducting and
forcing individuals into sexual servitude, and forcing a
large number of children, estimated to be between 16,000 and
26,000 children, in Uganda to serve in such Army's military
forces.
(4) The Secretary of State has designated the Lord's
Resistance Army as a terrorist organization and placed the
Lord's Resistance Army on the Terrorist Exclusion list
pursuant to section 212(a)(3) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)).
(5) According to Human Rights Watch, since the mid-1990s
the only known sponsor of the Lord's Resistance Army has been
the Government of Sudan, though such Government denies
providing assistance to the Lord's Resistance Army.
(6) More than 1,000,000 people have been displaced from
their homes in Uganda as a result of the conflict.
(7) The conflict has resulted in a lack of security for the
people of Uganda, and as a result of such lack, each night
more than 18,000 children leave their homes and flee to the
relative safety of town centers, creating a massive ``night
commuter'' phenomenon that leaves already vulnerable children
subject to exploitation and abuse.
(8) Individuals who have been displaced by the conflict in
Uganda often suffer from acute malnutrition and the mortality
rate for children in northern Uganda who have been displaced
is very high.
(9) In the latter part of 2003, humanitarian and human
rights organizations operating in northern Uganda reported an
increase in violence directed at their efforts and at
civilians, including a sharp increase in child abductions.
(10) The Government of Uganda's military efforts to resolve
this conflict, including the arming and training of local
militia forces, have not ensured the security of civilian
populations in the region to date.
(11) The continued instability and lack of security in
Uganda has severely hindered the ability of any organization
or governmental entity to deliver regular humanitarian
assistance and services to individuals who have been
displaced or otherwise negatively affected by the conflict.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that the Government of the
United States should--
(1) work vigorously to support ongoing efforts to explore
the prospects for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in
northern and eastern Uganda;
(2) work with the Government of Uganda and the
international community to make available sufficient
resources to meet the immediate relief and development needs
of the towns and cities in Uganda that are supporting large
numbers of people who have been displaced by the conflict;
(3) urge the Government of Uganda and the international
community to assume greater responsibility for the protection
of civilians and economic development in regions in Uganda
affected by the conflict, and to place a high priority on
providing security, economic development, and humanitarian
assistance to the people of Uganda;
(4) work with the international community, the Government
of Uganda, and civil society in northern and eastern Uganda
to develop a plan whereby those now displaced may return to
their homes or to other locations where they may become
economically productive;
(5) urge the leaders and members of the Lord's Resistance
Army to stop the abduction of children, and urge all armed
forces in Uganda to stop the use of child soldiers, and seek
the release of all individuals who have been abducted;
(6) make available increased resources for assistance to
individuals who were abducted during the conflict, child
soldiers, and other children affected by the conflict;
(7) work with the Government of Uganda, other countries,
and international organizations to ensure that sufficient
resources and technical support are devoted to the
demobilization and reintegration of rebel combatants and
abductees forced by their captors to serve in non-combatant
support roles;
(8) cooperate with the international community to support
civil society organizations and leaders in Uganda, including
Acholi religious leaders, who are working toward a just and
lasting resolution to the conflict;
(9) urge the Government of Uganda to improve the
professionalism of Ugandan military personnel currently
stationed in northern and eastern Uganda, with an emphasis on
respect for human rights, accountability for abuses, and
effective civilian protection;
(10) work with the international community to assist
institutions of civil society in Uganda to increase the
capacity of such institutions to monitor the human rights
situation in northern Uganda and to raise awareness of abuses
of human rights that occur in that area;
(11) urge the Government of Uganda to permit international
human rights monitors to establish a presence in northern and
eastern Uganda;
(12) monitor the creation of civilian militia forces in
northern and eastern Uganda and publicize any concerns
regarding the recruitment of children into such forces or the
potential that the establishment of such forces will invite
increased targeting of civilians in the conflict or
exacerbate ethnic tension and violence; and
(13) make clear that the relationship between the
Government of Sudan and the Government of the United States
cannot improve unless no credible evidence indicates that
authorities of the Government of Sudan are complicit in
efforts to provide weapons or other support to the Lord's
Resistance Army.

SEC. 4. REPORT.

(a) Requirements.--Not later than 6 months after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit
a report to the appropriate congressional committees on the
conflict in Uganda.
(b) Content.--The report required by subsection (a) shall
include a description of the following:
(1) The individuals or entities that are providing
financial and material support for the Lord's Resistance
Army, including a description of any such support provided by
the Government of Sudan or by senior officials of such
Government.
(2) The activities of the Lord's Resistance Army that
create obstacles that prohibit the provision of humanitarian
assistance or the protection of the civilian population in
Uganda.
(3) The practices employed by the Ugandan People's Defense
Forces in northern and eastern Uganda to ensure that children
and civilians are protected, that civilian complaints are
addressed, and that any member of the armed forces that
abuses a civilian is held accountable for such abuse.
(4) The actions carried out by the Government of the United
States, the Government

[[Page H5766]]

of Uganda, or the international community to protect
civilians, especially women and children, who have been
displaced by the conflict in Uganda, including women and
children that leave their homes and flee to cities and towns
at night in search of security from sexual exploitation and
gender-based violence.
(c) Form of Report.--The report under subsection (a) shall
be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a
classified annex.
(d) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this
section, the term ``appropriate congressional committees''
means the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and
the Committee on International Relations of the House of
Representatives.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos).

General Leave

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on S. 2264.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
We are urging support for S. 2264, the Northern Uganda Crisis
Response Act, and we are doing that because for the past 18 years
Northern Uganda has been embroiled in a particularly vicious conflict,
one which pits Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's efforts at
governance against a group called the Lord's Resistance Army. And the
Lord's Resistance Army, designated as a terrorist organization by the
Secretary of State, moves in small, well-coordinated groups from bases
in southern Sudan, launching brutal attacks against civilian
populations. They launch these attacks at night.
Members of the Lord's Resistance Army have no clear political agenda;
and, frankly, they make no attempts to hold territory. But what they do
do and have done for these last 18 years is to murder and rape and loot
with impunity.
The devastation inflicted upon the civilian population during this
war cannot be overstated. Frankly, it is unknown how many people have
been killed, but we do know that more than 1.2 million people, 80
percent of the local population, have been displaced by the Lord's
Resistance Army. Over 1.8 million people depend on food aid in an area
that once served as the breadbasket of Uganda, and acute malnutrition
of children under the age of 5 has risen 30 percent since December,
2002.
Humanitarian operations have been severely hampered by the
increasingly tenuous security situation there in Northern Uganda. Aid
convoys regularly come under attack; and, according to the United
Nations, they can now only deliver materials under heavy military
escort. Up to 90 percent of the schools in affected districts have been
closed.
The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the Gulu District, a district
particularly hard-hit by the crisis, is 30 percent, while the national
average is just 5 percent. Many of us are aware of the progress made
under President Museveni in fighting HIV/AIDS nationwide in Uganda
where it has been reduced.

{time} 2115

But not in this district where the Lord's Resistance Army operates at
night.
Perhaps the most heart-wrenching aspect of this conflict has been the
impact it has had on the children. Up to 20,000 children have been
abducted since the start of this conflict. Many have been killed while
others have been beaten and tortured and maimed and forced to be
soldiers or sexual slaves.
Between 20,000 to 30,000 other children are forced every evening to
seek refuge on the streets of Gulu and Pader and Kitgum. They walk up
to 15 kilometers from their villages to spend the night sleeping under
grossly overcrowded tents on concrete floors, before giving up at dawn
to make the return to their village. These children have never known
peace. They have never known stability. They have never had the luxury
of being a child and experiencing the joys of childhood.
According to Jan Egeland, the United Nations Under Secretary General
for Humanitarian Affairs, the conflict in northern Uganda ``is
characterized by a level of cruelty seldom seen and few conflicts rival
it for sheer brutality.'' Given the horrific nature of the crimes
perpetrated by the Lord's Resistance Army, I have no doubt that that
statement is true. Despite this, the magnitude of the crisis is not
well grasped outside of the region, and international response,
frankly, has been underwhelming.
The Northern Ugandan Crisis Response Act, this bill, draws much-
needed attention to the forgotten war in northern Uganda. It reaffirms
the strong relationship which exists between the United States and
Uganda while recognizing that the government of Uganda's military
efforts to resolve the conflict have not effectively ensured the
security of civilian populations.
The bill calls on the government of Uganda to improve the level of
professionalism within the Ugandan People's Defense Force and to permit
international human rights monitors to establish a presence in northern
and eastern Uganda.
The bill acknowledges that, according to Human Rights Watch, the
government of Sudan has been the only known supporter of the Lord's
Resistance Army since the early 1990s. To this end, it calls on the
administration to investigate the sources of support for the Lord's
Resistance Army and to make it clear to the government of Sudan that
normalization of relations will not be possible if credible evidence
against these sources again emerges.
S. 2264 asserts that the United States should work vigorously to
support peace initiatives in northern Uganda. It urges the United
States Government, the international community, and the government of
Uganda to make resources available to meet immediate relief and
development needs and to provide civilian protection and to develop
reintegration plans for displaced persons to integrate them back into
society, and for combatants and for abductees and to provide support in
general for civil society.
Finally, the bill requires the Secretary of State to submit a report
to the Congress which describes not only the sources of support for the
Lord's Resistance Army but also the activities undertaken by the Lord's
Resistance Army which obstruct humanitarian assistance, the practices
employed by the UPDF to ensure civilian protection, and to punish
soldiers who are themselves guilty of abuse, and the actions taken by
the Ugandan government, the United States and the international
community to ensure civilian protection.
This bill is the result of a collaborative effort and enjoys strong
bipartisan, bicameral support; and we thank the gentleman from
Wisconsin in the Senate, Mr. Feingold, for introducing this timely and
important measure; and here on the House floor, we urge full support.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume,
and I rise in strong support of this legislation.
First, I want to commend my good friend and colleague, the gentleman
from California (Mr. Royce), for his leadership on this issue, and
indeed on so many other matters.
Mr. Speaker, the terrorist organization known as the Lord's
Resistance Army has turned northern Uganda into a living hell for the
Acholi people, and particularly their children, for years now. Under
the ruthless and delusional leadership of Joseph Kony, this terrorist
organization maintains a vicious hit-and-run guerrilla war with the
Ugandan government where the overwhelming casualties are the Acholi
people, particularly kidnapped boys and girls.
While Kony invokes the name of God in his unholy war against innocent
civilians, it has been the backing of the Sudanese government in
Khartoum that has kept this war going for so many years.
Several months ago, our committee hosted a young woman, Grace Akallo,
who was abducted by this terrorist group at age 13 and was forced to
live as a sex slave. As part of her induction,

[[Page H5767]]

she, along with other girls, were forced to beat an old woman to death.
After living that nightmare, she then was taken to southern Sudan,
trained by the Arabs, as she called them, and forced to fight for
Khartoum against the Sudanese People's Liberation Army.
Grace escaped this terrorist group and the Sudanese forces, and on
her own made her way to a safe place in Uganda. She will be going to
school next year here in the United States. However, as moving and
heroic as Grace's story is, it is the extreme exception. The more
common and familiar story for a young Acholi girl captured by this
terrorist outfit is rape, other physical brutality, slavery, and a
broken life.
Mr. Speaker, with approval of this resolution today, Congress will
stand fast in the face of the horrors perpetrated directly or
indirectly by Khartoum by demanding an end to the conflict in northern
Uganda. We will also strongly signal to the administration and to the
international community that every possible step must be taken to
protect peace and the security of these children.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this important
bill.
Mr. Speaker, we have no further speakers on this side, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume,
and I will conclude.
The conflict in northern Uganda does not receive much attention in
the press; and, frankly, it does not receive the attention it deserves.
Today, the U.S. Congress is speaking out, going on record in saying
that we have an interest in helping to stop the savagery that is
devastating so many lives.
I want to just take a moment and thank my colleague, the gentleman
from California (Mr. Lantos), for his support on this resolution, but
wider than that, for his leadership on so many of the most vexing and
troublesome of gross human rights violations around the world which he
has consistently brought to the world's attention.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Franks of Arizona). The question is on
the motion offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) that
the House suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill, S. 2264.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of
those present have voted in the affirmative.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.

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