[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 194 (Tuesday, December 18, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15941-S15943]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S15941]]
               CHILD SOLDIERS ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2007

  Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 532, S. 2135.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2135) 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.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill, 
which was reported by the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment, 
as follows:
  [Insert the part printed in italic.]

                                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 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.''.
       (d) Withholding of Removal.--Section 241(b)(3)(B) of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(b)(3)(B)) is 
     amended by adding at the end the following: ``For purposes of 
     clause (iii), an alien who is removable under section 
     237(a)(4)(F) or inadmissible under section 212(a)(3)(G) shall 
     be considered an alien with respect to whom there are serious 
     reasons to believe that the alien committed a serious 
     nonpolitical crime.''.
       (e) Asylum.--Section 208(b)(2)(B) of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(2)(B) is amended by adding 
     at the end the following:
       ``(iii) Recruitment and use of child soldiers.--For 
     purposes of clause (iii) of subparagraph (A), an alien who is 
     removable under section 237(a)(4)(F) or inadmissible under 
     section 212(a)(3)(G) shall be considered an alien with 
     respect to whom there are serious reasons to believe that the 
     alien committed a serious nonpolitical crime.''.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of 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 use children to wage war are held accountable and do 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 or subcommittee dealing specifically with human rights. I am 
the chairman of this Subcommittee and Senator Coburn is its ranking 
member.
  The use of child soldiers has been reported in 21 ongoing or recent 
conflicts throughout the world since 2001, including conflicts in 
Colombia, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sri Lanka. The 
proliferation of small arms, particularly lightweight automatic weapons 
that can be used by children as easily as by adults, has contributed to 
the increased use of child soldiers. Child soldiers are often used in 
conflicts where high desertion rates and insufficient volunteers have 
generated a shortage of soldiers.
  For example, Burma is believed to be one of the countries with the 
largest number of child soldiers in the world. Burmese military 
recruiters reportedly buy and sell children in a desperate effort to 
meet recruitment quotas in a setting where low morale, high desertion 
rates and insufficient volunteers have created a military personnel 
crisis. In a report to the U.N. Security Council on children and armed 
conflict in Burma issued last month, the Secretary General stated that 
there has been tremendous pressure to accelerate recruitment rates in 
the Burmese armed forces and that recruitment centers have experienced 
difficulty meeting their quotas. The U.N. Secretary General's report 
also found that some children picked up by police in Burma without 
national identification cards are told they can ``choose'' to be 
arrested or enlist in the army. According to another report, children 
constitute a large percentage of privates in some of the new Burmese 
army battalions and some have been forced to participate in human 
rights abuses, including burning villages.
  One Burmese boy was reportedly forcibly recruited twice by the time 
he was 16 years old. This boy was allegedly sold to a battalion by a 
corporal for approximately US$15, a sack of rice and a tin of cooking 
oil. When this boy's aunt and grandmother sought his release, the 
captain of the battalion company apparently said he would let the boy 
go in exchange for five new recruits. The boy reportedly told his aunt 
that he didn't want five other people to have to face what he had 
experienced in the army.
  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.
  Over the last few years, significant progress has been made in the 
prosecution of child soldier recruitment and use by international 
courts. In 2005, the International Criminal Court issued its first 
arrest warrants for five Lord's Resistance Army commanders from Uganda 
for, among other crimes, enlisting

[[Page S15942]]

children as soldiers by two of the commanders. In February 2006, the 
International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Thomas 
Lubanga for the war crime of ``conscripting and enlisting children 
under the age of 15 years and using them to participate actively in 
hostilities.'' Mr. Lubanga, the first person to be arrested by the 
International Criminal Court, allegedly recruited children as young as 
ten years old to fight for the Union of Congolese Patriots in the 
northeastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
  In June 2007, the Special Court for Sierra Leone became the first 
international court to issue convictions for child soldier recruitment, 
finding three defendants guilty of crimes that included conscripting or 
enlisting children under the age of 15. In August 2007, the Special 
Court for Sierra Leone found another defendant guilty of using child 
soldiers.
  Despite these positive developments, 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 ``Casualties of War: 
Child Soldiers and the Law,'' a hearing held by the Senate Subcommittee 
on Human Rights and the Law. Ishmael 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.''
  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 will 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 adults who 
deliberately and actively recruit or use children to wage war 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.
  Recognizing that adults often use drugs, threats, or other means to 
pressure child soldiers into committing serious human rights 
violations, including the recruitment of other children, this 
legislation seeks to hold adults accountable for their actions and is 
not intended to make inadmissible or deportable former child soldiers 
who participated in the recruitment of other children.
  Former child soldiers require extensive care and support from family 
and others in order to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into society. 
As Mr. Beah testified, ``[h]ealing from the war was a long-term process 
that was difficult but very possible . . . Effective rehabilitation of 
children is in itself a preventive measure, and this should be the 
focus, not punitive measures against children that have no beneficial 
outcome for the child and society.'' This legislation should not be 
interpreted as placing new restrictions on or altering the legal status 
of former child soldiers who are seeking admission or are already 
present in the United States.
  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. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased that the Senate today will 
pass S. 2135, the Child Soldiers Accountability Act of 2007. I commend 
Senator Durbin and Senator Coburn for their leadership on this 
important legislation to combat the unconscionable practice of using 
children as soldiers in violent conflicts, and I was proud to join as a 
cosponsor of this bill. I am glad that Senators Durbin and Coburn 
worked with me and others on the Senate Judiciary Committee to produce 
a consensus bill and to move it through Committee and the Senate. The 
United States should do all it can to prevent and punish this conduct 
which is so contrary to our values.
  This bill creates a tough new criminal provision aimed at those who 
recruit or conscript children under the age of 15 into armed conflict. 
It extends U.S. jurisdiction to perpetrators of this crime who are 
present in the United States, regardless of their nationality and where 
the crime takes place, so that those who commit human rights violations 
cannot come to this country as a sanctuary from prosecution. The bill 
also amends immigration law to allow those who have used children as 
soldiers to be barred or removed from the United States.
  This bill is another example of the good work of the Judiciary 
Committee's new Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law. I am glad 
that the efforts Subcommittee Chairman Durbin and I have made to make 
this subcommittee a force for change and to bring focus on these 
important issues is resulting in legislative action, as well as 
providing a forum to put a spotlight on important issues. This is an 
area in which I have worked for many years as the chair and ranking 
member of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the Appropriations 
Committee.
  During the last 5 years, America's reputation has suffered 
tremendously. Some of our ability to lead on human rights issues has 
been needlessly and carelessly squandered. Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and 
torture have tarnished that role and that tradition. The secret prisons 
that the President confirmed last year, this Administration's role in 
sending people to other countries where they would be tortured, and 
recent revelations of the destruction of videotapes showing cruel 
interrogations by the CIA have led to condemnation by our allies, to 
legal challenges, and to possible criminal investigations.
  I was proud to work with Senator Durbin to create the Human Rights 
and the Law Subcommittee. This subcommittee will continue to closely 
examine some of the important and difficult legal issues that are now a 
focus of the Judiciary Committee and will work to reverse and correct 
the damaging policies established by this administration over the last 
6 years. The subcommittee has already spearheaded the Genocide 
Accountability Act, which will soon provide a powerful new tool in 
America's efforts to prevent and punish genocide, and has made further 
progress with hearings and legislation dealing with human trafficking 
and other vital issues.
  The conduct prohibited by the Child Soldiers Accountability Act is 
appalling but happens all too often throughout the world. We should do 
everything we can to stop this offense to human rights and human 
dignity, which exacts such great costs from too many of the world's 
children. I commend the Senate for passing this important legislation 
today.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. PRYOR. I ask unanimous consent that a Feingold amendment, which 
is at the desk, be agreed to; the committee amendment be agreed to; the 
bill, as amended, be read three times and passed; the motions to 
reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, 
and any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 3882) was agreed to, as follows:

[[Page S15943]]

                           AMENDMENT NO. 3882

(Purpose: To exclude groups assembled solely for non-violent political 
      association from the definition of an armed force or group)

       On page 4, line 7, insert after ``state-sponsored'' the 
     following: ``, excluding any group assembled solely for non-
     violent political association''.

  The committee amendment was agreed to.
  The bill (S. 2135), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a 
third reading, was read the third time, and passed, 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 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, excluding 
     any group assembled solely for nonviolent political 
     association.''.
       (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.''.
       (d) Withholding of Removal.--Section 241(b)(3)(B) of the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1231(b)(3)(B)) is 
     amended by adding at the end the following: ``For purposes of 
     clause (iii), an alien who is removable under section 
     237(a)(4)(F) or inadmissible under section 212(a)(3)(G) shall 
     be considered an alien with respect to whom there are serious 
     reasons to believe that the alien committed a serious 
     nonpolitical crime.''.
       (e) Asylum.--Section 208(b)(2)(B) of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(2)(B) is amended by adding 
     at the end the following:
       ``(iii) Recruitment and use of child soldiers.--For 
     purposes of clause (iii) of subparagraph (A), an alien who is 
     removable under section 237(a)(4)(F) or inadmissible under 
     section 212(a)(3)(G) shall be considered an alien with 
     respect to whom there are serious reasons to believe that the 
     alien committed a serious nonpolitical crime.''.

                          ____________________