H.Con.Res. 23 (ih) Expressing respect and affection for the flag of the United States. ...

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108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 239

Expressing the sense of the Congress that the global diamond industry, 
as represented by the World Diamond Council, should provide transition 
development assistance to communities in Sierra Leone, Angola, and the 
   Democratic Republic of Congo, where the illicit trade in conflict 
      diamonds for arms fueled civil war, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 26, 2003

   Ms. Watson (for herself, Mr. Lantos, and Mr. Payne) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                        International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Congress that the global diamond industry, 
as represented by the World Diamond Council, should provide transition 
development assistance to communities in Sierra Leone, Angola, and the 
   Democratic Republic of Congo, where the illicit trade in conflict 
      diamonds for arms fueled civil war, and for other purposes.

 Whereas during the past decade, civil wars in Sierra Leone, Angola, and the 
        Democratic Republic of Congo, fueled by the trade in ``conflict 
        diamonds'' for arms and waged in large part for control of diamond 
        mining areas, have killed approximately 3,700,000 people and driven more 
        than 6,500,000 people from their homes, communities, workplaces, and 
        schools;
Whereas the practice of maiming and mutilating civilians, including children, 
        inflicted permanent injury, leaving them permanently disabled and less 
        able to maintain a livelihood for themselves and their families;
Whereas an estimated 27,000 young boys were conscripted as child soldiers to 
        serve in combat and combat-support roles in those civil wars, and 
        unknown numbers of girls were forced into combat-related sex slavery and 
        domestic labor in those wars;
Whereas rape was used as a weapon of war, a tactic of terror, and an act of 
        revenge against scores of women and girls who continue to suffer 
        physically, socially, and psychologically, and recovery from these 
        traumas is a matter of importance on individual, familial, and community 
        levels;
Whereas the rise of HIV prevalence in Sierra Leone, Angola, and the Democratic 
        Republic of Congo can be attributed in large part to the wars that 
        caused the massive displacement of people and the disruption of social, 
        economic, and governance systems and the increased vulnerability among 
        people, particularly women and girls;
Whereas according to the United Nations, ``conflict diamonds'' are diamonds that 
        originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to 
        legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to 
        fund military action in opposition to those governments;
Whereas humanitarian and human rights groups and other nongovernmental 
        organizations have documented that conflict diamonds have been used by 
        armed groups and terrorist organizations to purchase weapons to sustain 
        campaigns of human rights abuses against civilians;
Whereas over the past decade, United Nations peacekeeping efforts in Sierra 
        Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo have cost the international 
        community an estimated $675,000,000;
Whereas the United Nations Security Council, in Security Council Resolutions 
        1173 of June 12, 1998, and 1176 of June 24, 1998, passed measures 
        imposing sanctions against UNITA in Angola and the Revolutionary United 
        Front in Sierra Leone that target the specific link between the trade in 
        conflict diamonds and the supply to rebel movements of weapons, fuel, 
        and other prohibited materiel;
Whereas in the year 2000, the estimated value of rough diamonds exported from 
        Africa was $7,000,000,000, and the estimated value of polished diamonds 
        and diamond jewelry exported from countries that imported the rough 
        diamonds from Africa was close to $50,000,000,000;
Whereas it is estimated that, in the year 2000, between 4 percent and 15 percent 
        of rough diamonds exported from Africa were conflict diamonds with an 
        estimated value of $280,000,000 to $1,050,000,000, and the estimated 
        value of polished diamonds and diamond jewelry derived from conflict 
        diamonds was $2,000,000,000 to $7,500,000,000;
Whereas the global diamond industry profited substantially from the trade in 
        illicit conflict diamonds;
Whereas the global diamond industry as represented by the World Diamond Council 
        has worked with the United Nations, governments, and nongovernmental 
        organizations in the design of the Kimberley Process to develop a 
        diamond certification system to distinguish between legitimate and 
        conflict diamonds and thereby stem the trade in conflict diamonds;
Whereas the success of the Kimberley Process is dependent upon the development 
        and implementation of a transparent and auditable chain of warranty 
        system for the industry and the use of highly skilled and knowledgeable 
        experts to monitor routinely all participants in the Kimberley Process 
        in accordance with uniformly established procedures; and
Whereas the United States Congress supports the efforts and activities of the 
        War Affected Amputee Association (WAAA) of Sierra Leone and individuals, 
        organizations, and other entities seeking compensation for victims of 
        atrocities in civil wars fought in Sierra Leone, Angola, and the 
        Democratic Republic of Congo: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That this concurrent resolution may be cited as the ``Conflict Diamonds 
Resolution''.
    Sec. 2. It is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) the global diamond industry, as represented by the 
        World Diamond Council--
                    (A) should establish a fund--
                            (i) to support demobilization centers and 
                        rehabilitation training programs, including 
                        trauma counseling, for excombatants in the 
                        civil wars in Sierra Leone, Angola, and the 
                        Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly 
                        child soldiers;
                            (ii) to support programs to provide 
                        psychological counseling, health care 
                        treatment, education, training, and other needs 
                        of women and girls victimized in those civil 
                        wars by rape, forced domestic servitude, and 
                        other gender-related abuses;
                            (iii) to help strengthen governmental and 
                        nongovernmental health care infrastructure to 
                        support HIV/AIDS programs that provide 
                        voluntary testing and counseling, education, 
                        prevention, treatment, and hospice care in 
                        Sierra Leone, Angola, and the Democratic 
                        Republic of Congo;
                            (iv) to support economic development and 
                        civil society-building programs in those 
                        countries, particularly the promotion of 
                        entrepreneurship, including access to 
                        microfinance to establish rural and urban 
                        microenterprise activities;
                            (v) to support efforts to rebuild schools, 
                        health clinics, training centers, and other 
                        efforts to reconstruct the local economies of 
                        those countries, including agriculture, and to 
                        support water and sanitation reconstruction 
                        programs and infrastructure rehabilitation and 
                        development in those countries; and
                            (vi) to support diamond training institutes 
                        covering all aspects of the diamond industry in 
                        order to develop a new generation of African 
                        workers trained in the latest technologies, 
                        business management, sales, sorting, polishing, 
                        setting, and valuation, and all other 
                        professional and vocational aspects of the 
                        diamond industry;
                    (B) should establish a program through which 
                humanitarian assistance from the diamond industry can 
                be made available to the amputees of, and others 
                permanently disabled by, the civil wars in Sierra 
                Leone, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo;
                    (C) should continue the cooperative deliberations 
                with the United Nations, governments, charitable 
                organizations, and nongovernmental organizations in the 
                Kimberley Process to develop a diamond certification 
                system for rough diamonds in order to stem the trade in 
                conflict diamonds, and to operate in a more transparent 
                manner in true partnership with host countries;
                    (D) should support the activities of all 
                reconciliation processes, including the Truth and 
                Reconciliation Commission of Sierra Leone, that will 
                play a critical role in healing the wounds of war in 
                Sierra Leone, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of 
                Congo, and to reinforce a just and lasting peace in 
                those countries by promoting respect for the dignity 
                and human rights of all citizens; and
                    (E) should encourage the World Diamond Council to 
                develop and implement a comprehensive, reliable, 
                standardized, and auditable chain of warranty system to 
                support the Kimberley Process;
            (2) the Secretary of State should make every effort to 
        assist the World Diamond Council in establishing and 
        administering the fund described in paragraph (1)(A); and
            (3) not later than 6 months after the adoption of this 
        resolution, the Secretary of State should report to the 
        appropriate congressional committees on--
                    (A) the actions of the World Diamond Council in 
                developing and implementing the Kimberley Process;
                    (B) the progress made by the World Diamond Council 
                toward addressing the goals and objectives set forth in 
                this resolution; and
                    (C) the efforts of the Secretary of State to assist 
                the World Diamond Council in establishing the fund 
                described in paragraph (1)(A) and implementing the 
                Kimberley Process.
                                 <all>

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