Note #9214 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:
06176 March 23, 2006
Group backs bill calling for U.S. effort to stabilize Congo
Senate legislation calls for 'investments' in democracy, peacemaking
by Alexa Smith
LOUISVILLE - The Congo Chicago Advocacy Coalition, an arm of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s Congo Mission Network, is urging church members to lobby their senators to support a bill aimed at stabilizing Congo's precarious political situation.
The group also wants the United States to send an envoy to try to negotiate peace in the troubled eastern part of the central African country.
"The bill is more expansive than we've asked for," said Tom Sullivan, one of the network's advocates, "but we are pleased. We were asking to call attention to the situation there, and for support for free democratic elections."
Teams from First Presbyterian Church in Evanston, IL, Sullivan's congregation, have been urging Illinois' representatives to respond to the humanitarian disaster in the Congo.
Senate Bill 2125, co-written by Illinois Senators Barack Obama (D) and Richard Durbin (D), is co-sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Sen. Michael Dewine (R-OH).
The bill would provide:
A special envoy to try to resolve instability in eastern Congo, where Rwandan incursions have been frequent in the past decade
$52 million in U.S. aid for 2006 (a 25 percent increase) to carry out the administration's policy objectives
A statement of 14 principles for U.S. policy regarding Congo, among them: providing for democratic elections; reintegration of indigenous combatants into civilian life; disarmament and repatriation of soldiers of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda; protection of vulnerable populations; monitoring of natural resources; and putting an end to the sexual abuse of civilians
The bill argues that stabilizing the Democratic Republic of the Congo will require "significant U.S. investments" to support national elections (which have been delayed repeatedly by the transitional government because of logistical problems); return internally displaced people; establish central government control of vast territories; and reintegrate former combatants.
According to the draft legislation, a 2004 State Department report alleged that Congolese government security forces committed grotesque abuses of civilians, including rape, torture, extortion and killings. In areas of marginal government control, the report said, a variety of armed groups have held civilians hostage and extorted money, goods and services.
Sullivan's fear is that the bill will be stalled in the Foreign Relations Committee unless it is viewed as urgent. "In all of the United States, the Congo is pretty invisible," he said. "... and the situation is so unstable."
The PC(USA) has had ties to churches in the Congo since 1891, when it established its first mission station there. Its partners now include the Presbyterian Community of Congo (CPC) and the Presbyterian Community of Kinshasa (PCK), as well as the Protestant University of Congo.
According to the humanitarian agency Human Rights Watch (HRW), the northeast corner of the country includes one of Africa's richest gold-mining areas, and competition for the ore and the trading routes has spurred bloody conflict in the region since 1998.
More than 60,000 people have died in that region alone.
U ganda and Rwanda have occupied the region and withdrawn, but each has left behind local proxies who have fought for control of the area. According to HRW's country report for 2005, multinational corporations have tried to sign new deals or revitalize old ones to start mining and exploration operations.
"These incursions have continued and the ongoing fighting continues," Sullivan told the Presbyterian News Service, adding that U.S. policy is out of focus and the region is out of reach of Congo's central government. "The people flee their villages, live in the jungle with no clothes, no food, no access to medical care. And rape of women is part of the military strategy."
A spokesperson for Obama's office said church pressure regarding this bill is significant because it is creating "unusual" coalitions of non-governmental and religious organizations - of both left and right.
Sullivan's draft letter to legislators is short and sweet:
Dear Senator:
Conditions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are disastrous. Thirty-one thousand die each month due to civil conflict and the resulting health and economic problems. Almost four million Congolese have died unnecessarily since the beginning of the conflicts in 1998.
The United States must help stem this tide of death and destruction by passing Senate Bill S. 2125 to stop the war, stabilize the government and encourage economic recovery. I urge you to act on behalf of the Congolese people.
Please:
1. Support the bipartisan Senate Bill 2125: To promote relief, security and democracy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (sponsored by Senators Brownback, Dewine, Durbin and Obama). S. 2125's appropriations must get in this year's budget.
2. Help end the conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
3. Urge the Congolese government to fully fund education for its children because education is the bedrock of a well-functioning democracy and it will facilitate the country's recovery.
Stabilizing the Democratic Republic of the Congo will help stabilize all of Africa and will help the Congolese use their own rich natural resources for the betterment of their own country.
Thank you for your support of the Congolese people.
Sincerely,
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee members include:
Richard C. Lugar, chairman (R-IN) senator_lugar@lugar.gov
Joseph R. Biden (D-DE) senator@biden.senate.gov
Lamar Alexander (R-TN) 202-228-3398 (FAX)
George Allen (R-VA) 202-224-5432 (FAX)
Barbara Boxer (D-CA) 213-894-5042 (FAX)
Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) chafee.senate.gov/webform.htm
Norm Coleman (R-MN), 202-224-1152 (FAX)
Christopher Dodd (D-CT) 202-224-1083 (FAX)
Russell D. Feingold (D-WI) 202-224-2725 (FAX)
Chuck Hagel (R-NE) (202)-224-5213 (FAX)
John F. Kerry (D-MA) (202)-224-8525 (FAX)
Bill Nelson (D-FL) (202)-228-2183 (FAX)
Barack Obama (D-IL) (202)-228-4260 (FAX)
Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) (202)-224-1651 (FAX)
John E. Sununu (R-NH) (202)-228-4131 (FAX)
George V. Voinovich (R-OH) (202)-228-1382 (FAX)
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