[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2793-2794]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          UGANDA RECOVERY ACT

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I am a cosponsor of a bill introduced by 
Senators Feingold and Brownback, the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament 
and Northern Uganda Recovery Act. I am one of the 62 cosponsors of this 
legislation, and I believe this broad bipartisan support speaks to both 
the urgency of this issue and the importance of this legislation.
  On a continent plagued by man-made tragedy, the Lord's Resistance 
Army stands out as a manufacturer of that tragedy. The U.S. State 
Department describes the LRA as ``vicious and cult-like.'' Formed in 
the 1980s to overthrow the Ugandan government, the LRA engaged in such 
widespread violence that at one time, about 2 million Ugandans were 
displaced from their homes. The LRA massacred, mutilated and abducted 
civilians, and forced many into sexual servitude. An estimated 66,000

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Ugandan youths were forced to fight for the group.
  The good news is that the Ugandan government has now largely pushed 
the LRA out of Uganda. The bad news is that the scars it has left 
behind are raw and real for Ugandans; and that meanwhile, the LRA has 
moved into parts of Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the 
Central African Republic, continuing to spread violence and terror. 
Between September of 2008 and July of 2009, the United Nations 
estimates that LRA violence claimed 1,300 civilian lives, that the LRA 
abducted another 1,400 civilians, and that more than 300,000 were 
forced from their homes.
  This legislation, which 63 Senators support, would take a number of 
steps to address both the aftermath of the LRA's rampage in Northern 
Uganda and its continuing violence in Uganda's neighbor nations. The 
Act would require that within six months, the United States develop a 
comprehensive strategy for dealing with the LRA, including an outline 
of steps to protect the civilian population against LRA violence. The 
act would authorize funding under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to 
provide humanitarian assistance in areas affected by LRA. And it would 
provide assistance for reconstruction and for promotion of justice and 
reconciliation in areas of Uganda recovering from the LRA's 
depredations.
  It is unfortunate that despite the broad and bipartisan support for 
this legislation, apparently only one Member of the Senate objects to 
it and is able to block its consideration. As with so many measures 
before the Senate, there is little doubt that this bill would win 
overwhelming passage were it allowed to come to the floor.
  But the innocent victims of LRA violence, past and present, need our 
help. The objection of one Senator should not be allowed to thwart us 
responding to that need.

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