On the recordMay 12, 2010
As a cosponsor of the House version of this resolution, I stand in strong support of S. 1067. This measure expresses the frustration of many members of Congress who feel that efforts to disarm the Lord's Resistance Army and to bring its members to justice are progressing too slowly. The LRA is currently branded a terrorist organization by the U.S. government for perpetrating two decades of violence in Uganda, Sudan, Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself the ``spokesperson'' of God and a spirit medium, the LRA is responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in northern Uganda and Congo and the displacement of 2,000,000 more. This resolution requires the president to develop a comprehensive strategy to guide future U.S. support across the region to mitigate and eliminate the threat posed by the LRA. It requires that the strategy include a plan to bolster the efforts of the United Nations and regional governments with the goal of protecting civilians and strengthening regional institutions. Additionally, the resolution recommends that an interagency framework be developed to plan, coordinate and review the diplomatic, economic, intelligence and military elements of U.S. policy across the region.
