[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 8762-8763]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  NORTHERN UGANDA CRISIS RESPONSE ACT

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 488, S. 2264.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The assistant journal clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2264) to require a report on the conflict in 
     Uganda, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be 
read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 
table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 2264) was read the third time and passed, 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.

[[Page 8763]]

       (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 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.

     

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