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S. 1067 (111th): Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009

Introduced:
May 19, 2009 (111th Congress, 2009–2010)
Sponsor:
Sen. Russell Feingold [D-WI]
Status:
Signed by the President
Slip Law:
This bill became Pub.L. 111-172.

S. stands for Senate bill.

Status

This bill was enacted after being signed by the President on May 24, 2010.

Text

Read Bill Text »

Last updated Aug 25, 2010.
6 pages

 
Progress
Introduced May 19, 2009
Referred to Committee May 19, 2009
Reported by Committee Nov 17, 2009
Passed Senate Mar 10, 2010
Passed House May 12, 2010
Signed by the President May 24, 2010
Full Title

A bill to support stabilization and lasting peace in northern Uganda and areas affected by the Lord's Resistance Army through development of a regional strategy to support multilateral efforts to successfully protect civilians and eliminate the threat posed by the Lord's Resistance Army and to authorize funds for humanitarian relief and reconstruction, reconciliation, and transitional justice, and for other purposes.

Primary Source

THOMAS.gov (The Library of Congress)

GovTrack gets most information from THOMAS, which is updated generally one day after events occur. Activity since the last update may not be reflected here.

 
Cosponsors
64 cosponsors (43D, 19R, 2I) (show)
Committees

House Foreign Affairs

Senate Foreign Relations

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Summary

No summaries available.

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

We don’t have a summary available yet.

Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

5/24/2010.
Section 4 -
Directs the President to submit to Congress a regional strategy to guide U.S. support for multilateral efforts to eliminate the threat to civilians and regional stability posed by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Requires the strategy to include:
(1) a plan to help strengthen efforts by the United Nations (U.N.) and regional governments to protect civilians from attacks by the LRA;
(2) an assessment of viable options through which the United States could help develop and support multilateral efforts to eliminate the threat posed by the LRA;
(3) an interagency framework to plan, coordinate, and review diplomatic, economic, intelligence, and military elements of U.S. policy across the region regarding the LRA;
(4) a description of the type and form of diplomatic engagement across the region undertaken to coordinate and implement U.S. policy regarding the LRA and to work multilaterally with regional mechanisms, including the Tripartite Plus Commission and the Great Lakes Pact; and
(5) a description of how this engagement will fit within the context of broader efforts and policy objectives in the Great Lakes Region.
Section 5 -
Authorizes the President to provide additional assistance to respond to the humanitarian needs of populations the Democratic Republic of Congo, southern Sudan, and Central African Republic affected by LRA activity.
Section 6 -
Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should support efforts by the people of northern Uganda and the government of Uganda to:
(1) assist internally displaced people in transition and returnees by spurring economic revitalization and advancing access to basic services at return sites;
(2) enhance the accountability and administrative competency of local governance institutions and public agencies in northern Uganda;
(3) strengthen the operational capacity of the civilian police and the justice system in northern Uganda;
(4) establish mechanisms for the disarmament and reintegration of former combatants and those abducted by the LRA; and
(5) promote programs to address psychosocial trauma.
Expresses the sense of Congress that:
(1) the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) should work with Congress to increase future assistance to Uganda if the government of Uganda demonstrates a commitment to reconstruction in war-affected areas of northern Uganda; and
(2) the Secretary should withhold non-humanitarian assistance to Uganda if the government of Uganda is not committed to reconstruction and reconciliation in the war-affected areas of northern Uganda and is not taking steps to ensure this process moves forward in a transparent and accountable manner.
Section 7 -
Expresses the sense of Congress that a continued failure to take meaningful steps toward national reconciliation and accountability risks perpetuating political grievances and fueling new conflicts.
Authorizes the President to support efforts by the people of northern Uganda and the government of Uganda to promote transitional justice and reconciliation on both local and national levels, including to encourage implementation of the mechanisms in the Annexure to the Agreement on Accountability and Reconciliation between the government of Uganda and the LRA.
Section 8 -
Directs the Secretary to report to Congress on implementation of the strategy and evaluation of the assistance under this Act.
Section 9 -
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) of the total amounts to be appropriated for FY2011 for the Department of State and foreign operations, up to $10 million should be used to carry out activities under section 5; and (2) of the total amounts to be appropriated for FY2011-FY2013 for the Department of State and foreign operations, up to $10 million in each such fiscal year should be used to carry out activities under section 7.
Section 10 -
Defines: (1) "Great Lakes Region" as the region comprising Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, southern Sudan, and Uganda; and (2) "LRA-affected areas" as those portions of northern Uganda, southern Sudan, northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and southeastern Central African Republic affected by the LRA.

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/111/2/s1067.

Background

For over two decades, the Ugandan government has fought a rebel group known as the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda. The LRA is led by Joseph Kon and is nominally Christian, but is influenced by a blend of mysticism, Islam and witchcraft, and claims to be establishing a theocratic state based on the Ten Commandments and native tradition.

The LRA is accused of murder, abduction, mutilation, sexual enslavement of women and children, and forcing children to engage in murder and other atrocities. An estimated 2 million Ugandans have been displaced by the LRA, while 66,000 children have been abducted to fight for the group. Besides Uganda, the group operates in parts of Sudan, Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The LRA is currently listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.

 

Summary

S. 1067 would require the President to develop a strategy to support the disarmament of the Lord's Resistance Army-a sectarian guerrilla group in central Africa.  The strategy would include:

•  A plan to help strengthen efforts by the UN and regional governments to protect civilians from attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army.

•  An assessment of viable options through which the U.S. could help develop and support multilateral efforts to eliminate the threat posed by the Lord's Resistance Army.

•  An interagency framework to plan, coordinate, and review diplomatic, economic, intelligence, and military elements of U.S. policy across the region regarding the Lord's Resistance Army.

•  A description of the type and form of diplomatic engagement across the region undertaken to coordinate and implement U.S. policy regarding the Lord's Resistance Army and to work multilaterally with regional mechanisms, including the Tripartite Plus Commission and the Great Lakes Pact.

•  A description of how this engagement will fit within the context of broader efforts and policy objectives in the Great Lakes Region.

The bill does not authorize any funding but it expresses the sense of Congress that $10 million should be provided in Fiscal Year 2011 for assistance to the Democratic Republic of Congo, southern Sudan, and Central African Republic to respond to the humanitarian needs of populations directly affected by the activity of the Lord's Resistance Army.  It also expresses the sense of Congress that $10 million should be provided in each of the fiscal years 2011 through 2013 for reconciliation efforts in Uganda.

 

Cost


The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has not provided a cost estimate for the version of the bill passed by the Senate, and approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.

So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.

We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.

The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

Slip Laws

Slip laws refer to enacted bills and joint resolutions in their original form as enacted by Congress, that is, before other laws amend them. Slip laws are cited as “Public Law XXX-YYY”, where XXX is the number of the Congress in which the bill or resolution was introduced.

United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of general and permanent laws enacted by Congress. Laws that are not permanent in nature, law that affect a single individual, family, or small group, regulations, case law, state law, and local law do not appear in the United States Code.

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