Security |
Peace Building | Governance
| Human Rights | Global Health
| Foreign Policy
Issues
Foreign Policy Africa
Peace and Stability
It is in the interest of the United States to help build sustainable peace and stability in war-torn regions. As a member and the current chairman of the Subcommittee on African Affairs, I have actively worked to bring about peace and stability in many parts of Africa. Throughout the 1990s, I pushed for the United States to do more to help end the brutal civil wars in Angola, Liberia and Sierra Leone. I have also strongly supported post-conflict efforts to promote reconciliation and accountability, including the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
I have also long worked to bring lasting peace and stability to Central Africa, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been home to the deadliest conflict since the Second World War. In 1999, I visited 10 countries in Africa trying to rally support for peace in Congo. I visited eastern Congo in 2007 and continue to push for an end to the ongoing atrocities there. I have also long called for the United States to support peace efforts in northern Uganda and to help bring an end to the terror caused by rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army. In 2009, I introduced the LRA Disarmament & Northern Uganda Recovery Act.
Finally, I have been especially active on Sudan and Somalia. I strongly supported the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end Sudan's North-South war and I continue to press for its full implementation. In March 2004, I was the first member of Congress to speak on the floor about the genocide unfolding in the Darfur region of Sudan. In my work regarding Somalia, I have long pushed for the United States to develop a comprehensive strategy to address the instability there and in the wider Horn of Africa. I have held numerous hearings and even passed legislation to that end. |
