[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16037]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     RIDDING CENTRAL AFRICA OF JOSEPH KONY: CONTINUING U.S. SUPPORT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 9, 2015

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, since 1987, the Lord's 
Resistance Army, or LRA, has killed, raped, kidnapped, enslaved or 
robbed thousands of people in the Great Lakes region of Africa and 
beyond. In October 2011, the Obama administration deployed about 100 
military advisers to help Ugandan and other military forces in the 
region to seek out and capture or kill the members of a terrorist force 
that has now dwindled from thousands of fighters in the late 1990s and 
early 2000s to fewer than 200 today, but remains a very real danger to 
people in the east and central regions of Africa. A hearing I held last 
week looked at why the effort to end the LRA is so critical for the 
international community and how the U.S. counter-LRA program has worked 
thus far.
  Last week's hearing was held even in the absence of the Department of 
Defense or the State Department (whose relevant officials are 
unavailable for a few weeks) because it will serve as acknowledgement 
of the importance of countering the LRA prior to the administration's 
decision on whether to continue the program. The decision on renewing 
the American deployment will come in the next few weeks. We trust the 
administration will decide to continue this worthy effort. We hope to 
cover U.S. counter-LRA policy with administration witnesses in a future 
hearing on Africa's Great Lakes region.
  One can use a number of metaphors to describe the LRA today. It is 
like a wounded animal, less capable but still very dangerous. It is 
like a vulture, feeding off the existing misery it finds in countries 
otherwise troubled by conflict. The LRA is like a fire that is tamped 
down but not extinguished and can re-ignite at any time. However, the 
danger posed by the LRA is not metaphorical; it is very real to those 
who still live in fear in eastern and central Africa.
  The LRA is a vivid example of how ethnic strife can provide a cover 
for wanton viciousness. In the name of protecting the rights of 
northern Uganda's Acholi tribe, LRA founder Joseph Kony has brought 
only wretchedness to his people and their neighbors, as well as to 
people living in surrounding countries. Efforts to come to a negotiated 
settlement have all come to naught because Kony apparently has no 
coherent demands. His terrorist group seems to want nothing more than 
chaos and destruction.
  The international community has been much too quick to abandon 
humanitarian activities, largely because the number of victims has been 
reduced significantly. In confirmation hearing testimony before the 
Senate Armed Services Committee last year, General David Rodriguez 
referred to the counter-LRA effort as ``a good success story,'' citing 
the group's decline and American determination to support African 
efforts to finish off the LRA.
  Unfortunately, this is where the metaphors about the group must be 
kept in mind. Whenever the LRA has had a setback due to international 
efforts to eliminate it, the group's retaliation has been ruthless. 
Ongoing conflict in Central African Republic, South Sudan and eastern 
Democratic Republic of the Congo has provided a welcoming environment 
in which the LRA can hide and resume its deadly activities with less 
fear of regional government action against it. When we take our eyes 
off the LRA, they have enhanced maneuverability and opportunity to 
regroup.
  Thanks to the #Kony2012 campaign by the advocacy group Invisible 
Children, the LRA became notorious worldwide and garnered international 
support, especially among the young, on behalf of a robust counter-LRA 
effort. Yet the staying power of social media is fleeting. There are 
always new causes, also legitimate, to draw attention away. Remember 
#BringBackOurGirls on behalf of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by 
Boko Haram?
  Our caring has to extend to the victims of LRA and other such groups, 
which not only include those whom they attack, but also those whom they 
cruelly use in their destructive campaigns. We had one such victim with 
us, who described the ongoing desolation the LRA brings to so many 
young lives. We also had witnesses familiar with the LRA and its 
terrorist activities who described the ongoing threat this group poses, 
however diminished their ranks may be.
  Countering terrorist groups cannot depend on Twitter campaigns. The 
United States and other members of the international community must 
retain our resolve to capture or remove the leaders of the LRA and any 
terrorist group that threaten the lives and well-being of innocent 
people worldwide. Whether such groups pose a direct, confirmable threat 
to the homeland or not, by terrorizing those whom we help, they oppose 
U.S. interests and must be dealt with.

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