[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 149 (Wednesday, October 3, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12535-S12536]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      BY Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Feingold, and Mr. 
        Brownback):
  S. 2135. A bill to prohibit the recruitment or use of child soldiers, 
to designate persons who recruit or use child soldiers as inadmissible 
aliens, to allow the deportation of persons who recruit or use child 
soldiers, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Child 
Soldiers Accountability Act of 2007. This narrowly-tailored bipartisan 
legislation would make it a crime and a violation of immigration law to 
recruit or use child soldiers. Congress must ensure that perpetrators 
who commit this war crime will not find safe haven in our country.
  I would like to thank the other original cosponsors of the Child 
Soldiers Accountability Act, Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Senator 
Russell Feingold of Wisconsin, and Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas. 
This bill is a product of the Judiciary Committee's new Subcommittee on 
Human Rights and the Law, which is the first ever congressional 
committee dealing specifically with human rights. I am the Chairman of 
this Subcommittee and Senator Coburn is its ranking member.
  Up to 250,000 children currently serve as combatants, porters, human 
mine detectors and sex slaves in state-run armies, paramilitaries and 
guerilla groups around the world. These child soldiers are denied the 
childhood that our children and grandchildren have and to which every 
child has an inalienable right. Moreover, their health and lives are 
endangered.
  Children are recruited and used in combat situations because their 
emotional and physical immaturity makes it easy to mold them into 
obedient combatants who will witness and partake in horrific violence, 
often without comprehending their actions. Child soldiers are 
frequently recruited in areas of long-standing conflict where there are 
no longer eligible adults for recruitment. In many cases, they are 
provided with drugs and alcohol to numb them to the atrocities they are 
required to commit, as well as to increase their dependency upon the 
armed group.
  Children are more likely to be killed, injured or become ill in 
combat situations than adults. In combat, child soldiers have been 
forced to the front lines, sent into minefields ahead of older troops 
or even used for suicide missions.
  The devastating effects of war and abuse on the physical, emotional 
and social development of children are long lasting. Former child 
soldiers require extensive care and support from family and others in 
order to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into society. In the absence 
of such support, former child soldiers may comprise a generation of 
adults who will perpetuate conflict and undermine security, creating 
unforeseen challenges that our children will have to address.
  There is a clear legal prohibition on recruiting and using child 
soldiers. Under customary international law, recruitment or use of 
child soldiers under the age of 15 is a war crime. Over 110 countries, 
including the United States, have ratified the Optional Protocol to the 
Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibits the recruitment 
and use of child soldiers under 18.

  While there have been positive developments internationally in the 
prosecution of child soldier recruitment and use, especially by the 
Special Court for Sierra Leone, the ability of international tribunals 
or hybrid courts to try these cases is limited. The average perpetrator 
still runs very little risk of being prosecuted. National courts can 
and should play a greater role in prosecuting perpetrators.
  Unfortunately, recruiting and using child soldiers does not violate 
U.S. criminal or immigration law. As a result, the U.S. government is 
unable to punish individuals found in our country who have recruited or 
used child soldiers. In contrast, other grave human rights violations, 
including genocide and torture, are punishable under U.S. criminal and 
immigration law.
  This loophole in the law was identified during a hearing entitled 
``Casualties of War: Child Soldiers and the Law,'' held by the Senate 
Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law. Ismael Beah, a former child 
soldier and author of the bestselling book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of 
a Boy Soldier, testified at this hearing. Mr. Beah said this gap in the 
law ``saddens me tremendously'' and that closing this loophole ``would 
set a clear example that there is no safe haven anywhere for those who 
recruit and use children in war.'' Mr. Beah also posed a moral 
challenge to all of us:

       When you go home tonight to your children, your cousins, 
     and your grandchildren and watch them carrying out their 
     various childhood activities, I want you to remember that at 
     that same moment, there are countless children elsewhere who 
     are being killed; injured; exposed to extreme violence; and 
     forced to serve in armed groups, including girls who are 
     raped (leading some to have babies of commanders); all of 
     them between the ages of 8 and 17. As you watch your loved 
     ones, those children you adore most, ask yourselves whether 
     you would want these kinds of suffering for them. If you 
     don't, then you must stop this from happening to other 
     children around the world whose lives and humanity are as 
     important and of the same value as all children everywhere.

  The Child Soldiers Accountability Act will help to ensure that the 
war criminals who recruit or use children as soldiers will not find 
safe haven in our country and allow the U.S. government to hold these 
individuals accountable for their actions.
  First, this bill will make it a crime to recruit or use persons under 
the age of 15 as soldiers. Second, it will enable the government to 
deport or deny admission to an individual who recruited or used child 
soldiers under the age of 15.
  This legislation will send a clear message to those who recruit or 
use child soldiers that there are real consequences to their actions. 
By holding such individuals criminally responsible, our country will 
help to deter the recruitment and use of child soldiers.
  I urge my colleagues to ask themselves the question Ishmael Beah 
posed: Would we want our children or grandchildren to endure the pain 
and suffering that Mr. Beah and other child soldiers face? As Mr. Beah 
reminded us, the lives of child soldiers are just as important as those 
of our children and grandchildren. We have a moral obligation to take 
action to help these young people and to stop the abhorrent practice of 
recruiting and using child soldiers.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 2135

       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 ``Child Soldiers 
     Accountability Act of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE RECRUITMENT AND USE OF CHILD 
                   SOLDIERS.

       (a) Crime for Recruiting or Using Child Soldiers.--
       (1) In general.--Chapter 118 of title 18, United States 
     Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

     ``Sec. 2442. Recruitment or use of child soldiers

       ``(a) Offense.--Any person who knowingly recruits, enlists, 
     or conscripts a person under 15 years of age into an armed 
     force or group or knowingly uses a person under 15 years of 
     age to participate actively in hostilities--
       ``(1) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more 
     than 20 years, or both; and
       ``(2) if the death of any person results, shall be fined 
     under this title and imprisoned for any term of years or for 
     life.
       ``(b) Attempt and Conspiracy.--Any person who attempts or 
     conspires to commit an

[[Page S12536]]

     offense under this section shall be punished in the same 
     manner as a person who completes the offense.
       ``(c) Jurisdiction.--There is jurisdiction over an offense 
     described in subsection (a), and any attempt or conspiracy to 
     commit such offense, if--
       ``(1) the alleged offender is a national of the United 
     States (as defined in section 101(a)(22) of the Immigration 
     and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(22))) or an alien 
     lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United 
     States (as defined in section 101(a)(20) of such Act (8 
     U.S.C. 1101(a)(20));
       ``(2) the alleged offender is a stateless person whose 
     habitual residence is in the United States;
       ``(3) the alleged offender is present in the United States, 
     irrespective of the nationality of the alleged offender; or
       ``(4) the offense occurs in whole or in part within the 
     United States.
       ``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
       ``(1) Participate actively in hostilities.--The term 
     `participate actively in hostilities' means taking part in--
       ``(A) combat or military activities related to combat, 
     including scouting, spying, sabotage, and serving as a decoy, 
     a courier, or at a military checkpoint; or
       ``(B) direct support functions related to combat, including 
     taking supplies to the front line and other services at the 
     front line.
       ``(2) Armed force or group.--The term `armed force or 
     group' means any army, militia, or other military 
     organization, whether or not it is state-sponsored.''.
       (2) Statute of limitations.--Chapter 213 of title 18, 
     United States Code is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:

     ``Sec. 3300. Recruitment or use of child soldiers

       ``No person may be prosecuted, tried, or punished for a 
     violation of section 2442 unless the indictment or the 
     information is filed not later than 10 years after the 
     commission of the offense.''.
       (3) Clerical amendment.--Title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended--
       (A) in the table of sections for chapter 118, by adding at 
     the end the following:

``2442. Recruitment or use of child soldiers.''; and
       (B) in the table of sections for chapter 213, by adding at 
     the end the following:

``3300. Recruitment or use of child soldiers.''.
       (b) Ground of Inadmissibility for Recruiting or Using Child 
     Soldiers.--Section 212(a)(3) of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)) is amended by adding at 
     the end the following:
       ``(G) Recruitment or use of child soldiers.--Any alien who 
     has committed, ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise 
     participated in the commission of the recruitment or use of 
     child soldiers in violation of section 2442 of title 18, 
     United States Code, is inadmissible.''.
       (c) Ground of Removability for Recruiting or Using Child 
     Soldiers.--Section 237(a)(4) of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(4)) is amended by adding at 
     the end the following:
       ``(F) Recruitment or use of child soldiers.--Any alien 
     described in section 212(a)(3)(G) is deportable.''.
                                 ______