[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 60 (Thursday, April 23, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4696-S4698]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BROWNBACK (for himself, Mr. Durbin, and Mr. Feingold):
  S. 891. A bill to require annual disclosure to the Securities and 
Exchange Commission of activities involving columbite-tantalite, 
cassiterite, and wolframite from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
Affairs.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I rise before you today to speak on an 
issue that I have brought to the Senate Floor before and have been 
watching for quite some time now. I would like to submit for the record 
the Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009.
  This bill will require U.S.-registered companies selling products 
using columbite-tantalite, coltan, cassiterite, or wolframite, or 
derivatives of these minerals, to annually disclose to the Securities 
and Exchange Commission the country of origin of those minerals. If the 
country of origin is the Democratic Republic of Congo or neighboring 
countries, the company would need to disclose the mine of origin.
  These minerals are the ``conflict diamonds'' of Congo, however rather 
than ending up in jewelry these minerals are ending up in our 
electronics products.
  This is not the first time this issue has been raised. Only last year 
Senator Durbin and I introduced S3058, the Conflict Coltan and 
Cassiterite Act, which prohibited the importation of certain products 
that contained or are derived from columbite-tantalite or cassiterite 
mined or extracted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. While the 
bill did not go anywhere, the issue itself has gained attention. We 
have taken a strong hard look at last year's bill and have done our 
best to improve on it.
  In the current legislation we call for transparency and 
accountability throughout the supply-chain of these minerals. By making 
this supply-chain more translucent, we ultimately can help save 
millions of innocent Congolese lives who find themselves caught in the 
middle of this conflict, a conflict based on the control of these 
minerals. Some in industry have already started down this road and are 
even in front of the curve with their efforts, but we still need to 
strive to do a better job of showing transparency and we need to do it 
quickly.
  It is no secret that the exploitation of minerals is taking place and 
funding the conflict in Congo. In its final report, released on 
December 12, 2008, the United Nations Group of Experts on the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo found that official exports of 
columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite, and gold are grossly 
undervalued and that various illegal armed groups in the eastern region 
of the Democratic Republic of Congo continue to profit greatly from 
these natural resources by coercively exercising control over mining 
sites from where they are extracted and locations along which they are 
transported for export.
  I have said this before and I will say it again, this murky, 
conflict-funding supply-chain of minerals in eastern Congo has been the 
heart of darkness for that country too long and I am not the only one 
who believes that.
  Last month the Democratic Republic of Congo's U.N. Ambassador Faida 
Mitifu spoke in New York during a panel discussion on media coverage of 
sexual violence against Congolese women. When the issue of minerals in 
eastern Congo was raised, Ambassador Mitifu said the exploitation of 
mineral resources is the driving force behind the conflict.
  Her exact quote ``the minerals have truly been the driving force 
behind this war. It has been dressed with different clothes, but truly 
the minerals are the driving force.'' She went onto say the history of 
exploitation and conflict dates back to the Congo's colonial history 
with Belgium.
  She is right. The mismanagement of natural resources has long cast a 
gloom over the Democratic Republic of Congo. The exploitation of these 
natural resources that began during the reign of King Leopold has 
endured for over 100 years. During this 24-year tyranny of Congo, King 
Leopold exploited the local population by turning it into a slave 
colony, extracting the resource of the day--rubber, while over 13 
million Congolese died.
  In his book the ``Heart of Darkness'' Joseph Conrad describes King 
Leopold's colonial project in the Congo ``the vilest scramble for loot 
that ever disfigured the history of human conscience.'' But have we 
seen history change at all? Well let me share with you some of the 
lives ravaged by this ongoing conflict.
  This small 3\1/2\-year-old boy became one of the millions of victims 
of displacement and malnourishment. His family fled into the jungle 
from a rebel group that had burnt their village to the ground in just 
outside the village of Kitchanga in North Kivu.
  They lived in the jungle and had been constantly on the move. Food 
became scarce and meals became as sporadic as 2 to 3 a week. He fell 
sick and developed a cough. When his mother brought him to the local 
health clinic, they were immediately referred to an international 
humanitarian organization in the area. There, this young boy was 
diagnosed with malaria, tuberculosis, and anemia.
  His doctors then discovered he had been eating only what his mother 
could gather in jungle and ate only once every three to four days. They 
immediately began his treatments, which his small, frail body was 
struggling to accept.
  While this small 2-year-old boy had a similar story, however more 
disheartening. His family had fled into the jungle when the rebels 
attacked their village. After 3 months of seeking shelter in the 
jungle, his mother finally brought him to a local health clinic where 
he too was referred to the international humanitarian organization 
there. The only diagnosis the doctors could come up with was malaria. 
However when this photo was taken his body was rejecting the 
treatments, he no longer cried-out in hunger or pain, he no longer 
responded to anything.

  The issue of rape in the Congo is quite possibly the worst in the 
world. We used to call it a ``tool of war'' but now it's not even due 
to the war. Because it has been taking place there for so long, it has 
nearly become an accepted behavior and one where impunity reigns free.
  Last year I spoke with Dr. Mukwege from Panzi Hospital in the city of 
Bukavu in the South Kivu Province of Congo. Panzi Hospital is the 
leading treatment hospital of rape and sexual violence survivors in 
Congo. Dr. Mukwege sat in my office and told me of how he was seeing as 
many as 10 new rape survivors who needed treatment a week.
  He then pulled out a map and circled the areas where majority of his 
patients were coming from and explained that those areas were the key 
mining areas for coltan and cassiterite in South Kivu. He said that 
rebels controlled these areas because of the mineral wealth and that 
with their control of these areas came their lawlessness and with 
lawlessness came the impunity of rape.

[[Page S4697]]

  Rape, displacement, insecurity, forced labor, child soldiers, curable 
illnesses left untreated, and deaths of 1,500 people a day are only a 
few of the human indignities directly and indirectly surrounding this 
struggle for control of the minerals in eastern Congo. However there is 
no room for turning a blind eye on this matter when we all must be 
actors in this supply-chain--from miner to consumer.
  American greatness has always been founded on our fundamental 
goodness. We need to be a nation where the strong protect the weak and 
people of privilege assist those in poverty. It says a lot about the 
kind of America we all should work for when we speak out against this 
type of tragedy and commit ourselves to those who are suffering there.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today I am pleased to join Senators 
Brownback and Durbin as an original cosponsor of the Congo Conflict 
Minerals Act of 2009. The purpose of this bill is to bring greater 
attention and transparency to the way in which the trade in three 
minerals--columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, or wolframite--is 
intertwined with the ongoing violence, displacement and human rights 
abuses in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The metals derived 
from these three minerals are used widely in the electronic products 
that we use daily, from cell phones to laptops to digital cameras. By 
working to ensure the raw materials used in those products are not 
benefiting armed groups, we can have a positive impact on ending armed 
conflict and human rights abuses in the Congo.
  Specifically, this bill charges the State Department to support the 
work of the United Nations Group of Experts to further investigate and 
provide companies with guidance on the links between natural resources 
and the financing of armed groups. It also charges the State Department 
with developing a strategy to help break these linkages, while helping 
governments in the region to establish the necessary frameworks and 
institutions to monitor and regulate the cross-border trade of these 
minerals. Then, this bill requires U.S.-registered companies selling 
products containing those three minerals to disclose the country of 
origin of those minerals and, if they come from Congo or neighboring 
countries, to give further information, including the mine of origin. 
This requirement will compel companies to take responsibility for their 
suppliers and thus bring greater transparency to the trade in these 
minerals, which may enable more targeted actions down the road. 
Finally, this bill encourages USAID to expand programs seeking to 
improve the conditions and livelihood prospects for communities 
affected by this violence in Congo. We must not forget that the long-
term goal is not to shut this trade down, but to support a conflict-
free mining economy that benefits the Congolese people.
  The United Nations Group of Experts has reported over the years that 
various illegal armed groups in eastern Congo profit greatly from the 
region's vast natural resources. In February 2008, the Group of Experts 
stated, ``individuals and entities buying mineral output from areas of 
the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo with a strong 
rebel presence are violating the sanctions regime when they do not 
exercise due diligence to ensure their mineral purchases do not provide 
assistance to illegal armed groups.'' They defined due diligence as 
determining the precise identify of the deposits from which the 
minerals have been mined, establishing whether or not these deposits 
are controlled and/or taxed by illegal armed groups, and refusing to 
buy minerals known to originate--or suspected to originate--from 
deposits controlled/taxed by these armed groups. In December 2008, the 
United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1857, 
broadening existing sanctions relating to Congo to include individuals 
or entities supporting the illegal armed groups through the illicit 
trade of natural resources. The resolution also encouraged member 
countries to ensure that companies handling minerals from Congo 
exercise due diligence with their suppliers.
  The U.S. has invested financial resources and diplomacy over recent 
years in trying to bring peace and stability to eastern Congo, and 
there have been some successes. However, our efforts have ultimately 
been hindered by a failure to directly address the underlying causes of 
conflict. A study by the Government Accountability Office released in 
2007 found that U.S. efforts in Congo are undermined by weak governance 
and mismanagement of natural resources. The plunder and unregulated 
trade of eastern Congo's rich mineral base continues to make war a 
profitable enterprise. This legislation attempts to finally confront 
and address that problem. It commits the United States government and 
those companies under our jurisdiction to shed light on the dynamics of 
eastern Congo's mineral economy and to take actions to reduce its 
exploitation by armed groups. This can be an important step--perhaps 
even a transitional one--as we work with our regional partners to help 
them establish and implement better frameworks for regulation and 
oversight.
  Some may say the bill goes too far, while others may argue that this 
bill does not go far enough; that it has loopholes and lacks sufficient 
``teeth.'' This bill is not perfect. However, we must realize the 
conflict mineral problem is a complex one. This legislation is just a 
first step to bring greater transparency to that problem, which will 
then enable more comprehensive, robust and targeted measures down the 
road. At the same time, we must tread carefully because there are many 
communities in eastern Congo whose livelihoods are intertwined with the 
mining economy. All-out prohibitions or blanket sanctions could be 
counterproductive and negatively affect the very people we seek to 
help. I am confident that this bill is sensitive to that complex 
reality. It tasks the Government Accountability Office, within two 
years, with assessing any problems resulting from the implementation of 
this Act, determining any adverse impacts on local Congolese 
communities, and making recommendations for improving its 
effectiveness. It also urges USAID to expand its programs to work with 
these communities and improve their livelihood prospects.
  I also realize that some others may argue that this bill goes too 
far; that it imposes impractical or onerous requirements on companies 
who end-use these minerals. Similar arguments were made in the early 
days of the Kimberley Process. I appreciate that these three minerals 
often pass through extensive supply chains and processing stages before 
the relevant metals are used in technological products. Bringing 
transparency to those supply chains may not be easy, but it is 
something we can and should expect of industry when certain commodities 
are known to be fueling human rights violations. Industry itself has 
acknowledged this. In February 2009, the Electronic Industry 
Citizenship Coalition, which includes several major U.S. electronic 
companies, put out a statement saying that companies can and should 
uphold responsible practices in their operations and work with 
suppliers to meet social and environmental standards with respect to 
the raw materials used in the manufacture of their products. That was a 
bold statement and I want to work with companies to make it a reality 
with respect to Congo.
  I traveled in 2007 to eastern Congo and saw firsthand the grave 
suffering of people who have lived through a decade of conflict and 
humanitarian crisis. The numbers are staggering: an estimated 5.4 
million deaths over the last decade--making it the deadliest conflict 
since the Second World War. In addition, millions of people are still 
displaced from their homes, living in squalid camps where children are 
subject to forced recruitment and women suffer unspeakable levels of 
sexual violence. In my travels to many parts of Africa over the years, 
the suffering of women and girls in eastern Congo particularly stands 
out. I met with women and girls there who had been gang raped, often 
leaving them with horrific physical and psychological damage. I met 
with women who had lost their husbands, their homes, and their 
livelihoods and yet against all odds they refused to give up--if only 
for the sake of their children. I believe this bill will make attaining 
peace for these women and their families a little easier and that is 
one of the reasons why I am supporting it.
  In 2006, under the leadership of then-Senator Obama and Senator

[[Page S4698]]

Brownback, the U.S. Congress passed the Democratic Republic of Congo 
Relief, Security and Democracy Promotion Act. That bill committed the 
United States to work comprehensively toward peace, prosperity and good 
governance in the Congo. The Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009 seeks 
to move us a step closer toward those goals. I urge my colleagues to 
support it, and thank Senators Brownback and Durbin for their 
leadership on this important issue.

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