Authorizes the President to disburse additional humanitarian aid to Afghanistan in 2002 and 2003, to be distributed equitably and to include assistance for Afghan refugees in Central Asia. Expresses the sense of Congress that development aid should be targeted toward refugees, women, and the urban and rural poor, and that emphasis for all aid should be placed on needs of women and children, particularly girls.
Authorizes the President to disburse assistance for a multinational security force in Afghanistan, and to make a donation to the United Nations Drug Control Program to combat trafficking in illicit drugs in Afghanistan, particularly heroin.
[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1880 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1880
To provide assistance for the relief and reconstruction of Afghanistan,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 20 (legislative day, December 18), 2001
Mr. Wellstone introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide assistance for the relief and reconstruction of Afghanistan,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Afghanistan
Freedom and Reconstruction Act of 2001''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings and purposes.
Sec. 3. United States policy toward Afghanistan.
Sec. 4. Urgent humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan.
Sec. 5. Support for security during transition in Afghanistan.
Sec. 6. Rehabilitation and reconstruction of Afghanistan.
Sec. 7. Afghanistan democracy and human rights initiatives.
Sec. 8. Authorization of funds for United Nations Drug Control Program
(UNDCP) initiatives in Afghanistan.
Sec. 9. United States diplomatic facilities.
Sec. 10. Definitions.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) The President in his remarks on December 12, 2001, at
the signing of the Afghan Women and Children Relief Act stated
that ``America and our allies will do our part in the
rebuilding of Afghanistan. We learned our lessons from the
past. We will not leave until the mission is complete. We will
work with international institutions on the long-term
development of Afghanistan. We will provide immediate
humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.''.
(2) Current estimates of the costs of assisting Afghanistan
range from $5,000,000,000 over 5 years to $40,000,000,000 over
a decade.
(3) The United States should be the lead financial
contributor to the rehabilitation and reconstruction effort in
Afghanistan, and should contribute no less that $5,000,000,000
to this effort over the next 5 years.
(4) The people of Afghanistan have suffered for more than
20 years from continual conflict, civil strife, and from
successive repressive regimes supported by foreign governments
resulting in one of the lowest levels of life expectancy, adult
literacy, and high levels of infant and child mortality,
maternal mortality, and malnutrition.
(5) Afghanistan has experienced near total devastation
through 2 decades of war, resulting in the largest
concentration of land mines and unexploded ordinances and the
destruction of most infrastructure, including schools,
hospitals, and powerplants.
(6) As a result, there are approximately 2,000,000 Afghan
refugees in Pakistan, 1,500,000 in Iran, and 1,200,000
internally displaced persons in Afghanistan at risk of disease
and malnutrition, the largest such group in the world.
(7) The Taliban implemented a brutal and repressive regime,
particularly with respect to the rights of women and their
participation in Afghan society. Under Taliban rule, women were
denied access to work, healthcare, and prevented from
adequately providing for their children. Women were segregated
from society and virtually imprisoned in their own homes under
the Taliban's harsh interpretation of Islamic law.
(8) Under Taliban rule, Afghanistan became a training
ground, operational base, and safe haven for terrorists and
international terrorist organizations, and it continues to be
one of the world's largest sources of illegal opium.
(9) Since 1996, the Taliban harbored Osama bin Laden, whom
the United Nations demanded that it surrender in United Nations
Security Council Resolution 1267 (1999). As a result of the
Taliban's failure to do so, the United Nations Security Council
imposed progressively more comprehensive sanctions on the
Taliban under Resolutions 1267 (1999), 1333 (2000), and 1363
(2001), which sanctions are binding on all members of the
United Nations under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United
Nations.
(10) The failure of the Taliban to comply with the demands
of the United States and the United Nations Security Council
allowed Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network to orchestrate
from Afghanistan the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001,
on the United States in which thousands of Americans and
foreign nationals were murdered.
(11) After the expulsion or elimination of foreign
terrorist organizations from the territory of Afghanistan and
the cessation of hostilities, the United States bears the
leading responsibility to help create a stable political,
economic, and social environment in Afghanistan.
(12) The most effective and efficient way to promote
stability and prevent a return to lawlessness and warfare in
post-Taliban Afghanistan is to quickly restore basic services,
and to provide substantial long-term assistance for the
political, social, and economic reconstruction and
rehabilitation of Afghanistan.
(13)(A) The President in his radio address to the Nation on
October 6, 2001, urged Congress to make funds available to the
reconstruction and development of Afghanistan, recognizing that
assisting people in this fashion ``is also a central part of
the American tradition'', stated that ``[e]ven as we fight evil
regimes we are generous to the people they oppress'', and
further stated that ``[f]ollowing World War II, America fed and
rebuilt Japan and Germany, and their people became some of our
closest friends in the world''.
(B) The President in his speech before the United Nations
on November 10, 2001, stated that ``[t]he United States will
work closely with the United Nations and the [multilateral]
development banks to reconstruct Afghanistan''.
(14) United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in a
speech in Washington, D.C., on November 28, 2001--
(A) declared that ``the solution to the Afghan
crisis ultimately must come from the women and men of
Afghanistan itself'';
(B) reaffirmed the commitment of the international
community to ``ensuring that an end is put to the long
nightmare of women's repression in Afghanistan'' and
urged ``the parties to bring Afghan women into every
stage of the political process''; and
(C) stated that ``in Afghanistan today human rights
means, above all, women's rights''.
(15) As a result of the changing situation in Afghanistan,
the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1378,
calling on member states to support a transitional
administration in Afghanistan, provide urgent humanitarian
assistance to the people of Afghanistan, and furnish long-term
assistance for the social and economic reconstruction and
rehabilitation of Afghanistan.
(16) On December 5, 2001, in Bonn, Germany, representatives
of the Afghan people agreed to a framework for the
reestablishment of a government that is broad-based,
multiethnic, gender-inclusive, and fully representative of the
Afghan people.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to support a substantial United States commitment to
the reconstruction of Afghanistan;
(2) to prevent the return to power of the Taliban regime in
Afghanistan and promote the long-term stability and physical
security of an independent Afghanistan;
(3) to support a diplomatic framework for the achievement
of a broad-based, multiethnic, gender-inclusive, fully
representative government freely chosen by the Afghan people
that respects the human rights of all the Afghan people;
(4) to authorize new, immediate, and sustained humanitarian
assistance to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan
and among Afghan refugees in neighboring countries;
(5) to authorize new assistance bilaterally, or through a
multilateral fund or international foundation, for the
rehabilitation and reconstruction of Afghanistan with a
particular emphasis on meeting the educational, health, and
sustenance needs of women and children to better enable their
full participation in Afghan society; and
(6) to otherwise promote a secure environment in
Afghanistan that will prevent the resurgence of foreign
terrorists in Afghanistan.
SEC. 3. UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD AFGHANISTAN.
(a) United States Policy Toward Taliban Regime.--It shall be the
policy of the United States to prevent the return to power of the
Taliban regime in Afghanistan so as to diminish the risk of future
terrorist attacks on the United States, and restore basic human
freedoms to the people of Afghanistan.
(b) Diplomatic Framework for the Promotion of a Free and
Independent Afghanistan.--It shall be the policy of the United States--
(1) to support the convening of a traditional Afghan
assembly (commonly referred to as a ``Loya Jirga'') in order to
facilitate Afghanistan's transition from war to a broad-based,
multiethnic, gender-inclusive, fully representative government
freely chosen by the Afghan people, help lay the groundwork for
Afghanistan's reconstruction and economic recovery, and
strengthen Afghanistan's security;
(2) to maintain a significant United States commitment to
the relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction of Afghanistan
as part of a larger regional policy framework, paying
particular attention to the education and physical and mental
health care needs of the Afghan people, especially the needs of
women and children;
(3) to support the objectives agreed to on December 5,
2001, in Bonn, Germany, and work toward ensuring the future
independence of Afghanistan, establishing the principle that
neighboring countries and other countries in the region do not
threaten or interfere in one another's sovereignty, territorial
integrity, or political independence, and supporting a
coordinated and sustained international effort to reconstruct
Afghanistan;
(4) to work with the United Nations and the international
community in the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration
of combatants into Afghan society and in demining the Afghan
countryside as well as programs to rehabilitate and assist mine
victims, war orphans, and widows;
(5) to support bilateral and regional economic agreements
and other measures to foster greater economic opportunity for
the citizens of Afghanistan and the region generally;
(6) to promptly recognize a new broad-based, multiethnic,
gender-inclusive, fully representative government in
Afghanistan acceptable to the Afghan people; and
(7) in order to ensure security of the people of
Afghanistan, to support the establishment of a multinational
security force in Afghanistan.
SEC. 4. URGENT HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE FOR THE PEOPLE OF AFGHANISTAN.
(a) Current Humanitarian Efforts.--Congress commends the President
for allocating $320,000,000 in humanitarian assistance to the people of
Afghanistan and strongly urges that the President continue to provide
additional humanitarian assistance in 2002 and 2003 in conjunction with
other donors and international organizations.
(b) Equitable Distribution of Relief Assistance.--It should be the
policy of the United States in promoting equitable distribution of
relief and rehabilitation assistance in Afghanistan--
(1) to ensure noncombatants (particularly refugees and
displaced persons) equal and ready access to all emergency food
and relief assistance, with special emphasis on the needs of
women and children;
(2) to provide relief, rehabilitation, and recovery
assistance to promote self-reliance; and
(3) to ensure that relief is provided on the basis of need
without regard to political affiliation, geographic location,
or the ethnic, tribal or religious identity of the recipient.
(c) Authority To Provide Assistance.--The President is authorized
to furnish assistance in accordance with this section on such other
terms and conditions as the President may determine for the urgent
humanitarian needs of the people of Afghanistan and report to the
appropriate congressional committees on any further assistance provided
under this section.
(d) Humanitarian Assistance Inside Afghanistan.--Assistance under
this section shall be targeted to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of
the war-affected or drought-affected civilian population inside
Afghanistan and shall include--
(1) emergency food, shelter, and medical assistance,
including mental health treatment;
(2) clean drinking water and sanitation;
(3) preventative health care, including childhood
vaccination, therapeutic feeding, maternal child health
services, and infectious diseases surveillance and treatment;
(4) family tracing and reunification services for families
separated by war; and
(5) basic education and vocational training with an
emphasis on the educational needs of women and children.
(e) Assistance to Afghan Refugees.--Assistance under this section
shall be targeted to meet the needs of Afghan refugees in Pakistan,
Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and other countries in the
region and shall include--
(1) assistance described in paragraphs (1) through (4) of
subsection (d) for such refugees;
(2) assistance to families sheltering Afghan refugees in
the form of economic stipends, food assistance, and household
implements;
(3) assistance to communities in neighboring countries that
have taken in large numbers of refugees in the form of
rehabilitation or expansion of basic services, access to health
and education facilities for refugees or other assistance aimed
at easing the burden on local populations hosting refugees;
(4) assistance to international organizations and host
governments in maintaining security by screening refugees to
ensure the exclusion of armed combatants, members of foreign
terrorist organizations, and other individuals not eligible for
economic assistance from the United States; and
(5) assistance for voluntary refugee repatriation and
reintegration inside Afghanistan and continued assistance to
those refugees who are unable or unwilling to return, and to
ensure that all screening and repatriation operations are
conducted voluntarily, with safety and dignity.
(f) Food Aid.--Assistance under this section shall be targeted to
meet the immediate, emergency food needs for the Afghan people and
shall include assistance under title II of the Agricultural Trade
Development and Assistance Act of 1954, the Food for Progress Act of
1985, and section 416(b) of the Agricultural Act of 1949, as well as
local procurement of surplus commodities. Such assistance should
include--
(1) emergency food distribution to displaced, refugee, and
other vulnerable populations affected by war or drought;
(2) school feeding programs to improve child nutrition and
school attendance;
(3) food for work programs to facilitate the rehabilitation
process by increasing self-sufficiency;
(4) emergency monetization programs to increase
commercially available food stocks, decrease and stabilize food
prices, and stimulate local economies; and
(5) food and agricultural production, including the
provision of seeds and tools.
(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the President--
(1) to carry out the activities described in subsection (d)
for fiscal year 2003, $150,000,000;
(2) to carry out the activities described in subsection (e)
for fiscal year 2003, $75,000,000; and
(3) to carry out the activities described in subsection (f)
for fiscal year 2003, $175,000,000.
(h) Authority To Provide Assistance.--Assistance under this section
may be provided notwithstanding any other provision of law.
SEC. 5. SUPPORT FOR SECURITY DURING TRANSITION IN AFGHANISTAN.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that, during
the transition to a broad-based, multiethnic, gender-inclusive, fully
representative government in Afghanistan, the United States should
support, a multinational security force, to ensure security in
Afghanistan and to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance
throughout the country.
(b) Assistance for Multinational Security Force.--
(1) In general.--The President is authorized to provide
assistance for the establishment and expenses of a
multinational security force in Afghanistan.
(2) Authorization of appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to the President such sums as may be
necessary to carry out paragraph (1) for fiscal years 2002 and
2003.
SEC. 6. REHABILITATION AND RECONSTRUCTION OF AFGHANISTAN.
(a) Targeting Assistance To Aid the Poor Majority.--It is the sense
of Congress that United States development assistance for Afghanistan
should be targeted to aid the poor majority of the people of
Afghanistan (particularly refugees, women, and children) to the maximum
extent practicable. The United States Government should--
(1) build upon the capabilities and experiences of the
Afghan people both in country and in the diaspora, and of,
international, and indigenous private and voluntary
organizations active in local grassroots rehabilitation,
reconstruction, and development efforts; and
(2) consult closely with the appropriate Afghan government
and civil society representatives as well as other governments
and international organizations participating in rehabilitation
and reconstruction efforts and significantly incorporate their
views into the policymaking process.
(b) Sense of Congress on Assistance for Women and Girls.--It is the
sense of Congress that all United States assistance for Afghanistan
should include a particular emphasis on meeting the educational,
health, and sustenance needs of women and children, especially girls,
to better enable their full participation in Afghan society.
(c) Authority To Provide Assistance.--The President is authorized
to furnish assistance in accordance with this section on such other
terms and conditions as the President may determine for the
rehabilitation and reconstruction of Afghanistan if--
(1) with respect to assistance for fiscal year 2002, the
President first determines and certifies to the appropriate
congressional committees that a broad-based, multiethnic,
gender-inclusive fully representative interim authority has
been established to govern Afghanistan and that a special
independent commission for the convening of an emergency
traditional Afghan assembly (commonly referred to as a ``Loya
Jirga'') has been appointed;
(2) with respect to assistance for fiscal year 2003, the
President first determines and certifies to the appropriate
congressional committees that a Loya Jirga has been convened
and has decided on a broad-based, multiethnic, gender-
inclusive, fully representative transitional authority for
Afghanistan; and
(3) with respect to assistance for fiscal years 2004, 2005,
and 2006, the President first determines and certifies to the
appropriate congressional committees with respect to each such
fiscal year that substantial progress has been made toward
adopting a constitution and establishing a democratically
elected government for Afghanistan.
(d) Programs, Projects, and Activities Supported.--Assistance under
this section should include--
(1) projects to address the urgent needs of the Afghan
people, including projects to--
(A) establish and maintain physical security, and
rapidly expand humanitarian mine removal efforts;
(B) identify and provide critical agricultural
supplies (seeds, fertilizer, tools) for the upcoming
agricultural season;
(C) commence substantial public works programs for
refugees and nonagricultural workers, especially
returning fighters, and their families to generate
income and reintegrate them into society; and
(D) reestablish basic primary health care and
emergency services, and begin critical repairs of
hospitals, airport runways, the air traffic control
system, key bridges, and roads;
(2) rehabilitation and reconstruction projects to benefit
the poorest people, including--
(A) disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration
programs for ex-combatants;
(B) demining of the Afghan countryside and
assistance to mine victims, war orphans, and widows;
(C) reconstruction of permanent and semi-permanent
shelters, including provision of building materials;
(D) primary health care and emergency water and
power supplies;
(E) vocational training and capacity building
programs and food for work programs;
(F) programs designed to facilitate recruitment of
skilled professionals inside Afghanistan and from the
Afghan diaspora to assist in the reconstruction efforts
in Afghanistan; and
(G) the furnishing of seeds for planting,
fertilizer, pesticides, farm implements, crop storage
and preservation supplies, farm animals, vaccine and
veterinary services to protect livestock, and repair
and reconstruction of well and irrigation systems;
(3) programs to provide basic education, particularly for
girls, including efforts to support the teaching of displaced
children and rebuild schools;
(4) programs to educate young Afghan refugees, particularly
girls, in neighboring countries if conflict within Afghanistan
continues;
(5) assistance to reconstitute and expand the delivery of
primary and maternal health care, including the reconstruction
of health clinics and hospitals, the provision of mental health
care services, the reestablishment of vaccination campaigns,
and the establishment of diseases surveillance and treatment
programs;
(6) programs that combat corruption, improve transparency
and accountability, and otherwise promote good governance;
(7) assistance to establish credit, micro-enterprise, and
income-generation programs for the poor, with particular
emphasis on women;
(8) other programs to reestablish veterinary services,
local crop research, and agricultural development projects; and
(9) programs designed to eliminate the cultivation of poppy
through alternative development of licit crops.
(e) Contributions to Multilateral Fund or International
Foundation.--
(1) Authority.--In addition to providing assistance under
this section for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of
Afghanistan on a bilateral basis--
(A) there is authorized to be appropriated to the
President such sums as may be necessary for the period
beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and
ending September 30, 2006, to make a contribution or
contributions to a multilateral fund or international
foundation established for the development of a post-
conflict Afghanistan; and
(B) the President is authorized, from amounts
appropriated pursuant to the authorization of
appropriations under subsection (g), to make a
contribution for any of the fiscal years 2002 through
2006 to a multilateral fund or international foundation
established for the development of a post-conflict
Afghanistan if the President first makes a
determination and certification under subsection (c)
for the fiscal year involved.
(2) Limitation.--The amount of a contribution under
paragraph (1)(B) may not exceed 50 percent in fiscal year 2002,
and 75 percent in any subsequent fiscal year, of the amount
appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations
under subsection (g) for such fiscal year.
(f) Applicable Administrative Authorities.--Except to the extent
inconsistent with the provisions of this section, the administrative
authorities under chapters 1 and 2 of part III of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961 shall apply to the provision of assistance under
this section to the same extent and in the same manner as such
authorities apply to the provision of economic assistance under part I
of such Act.
(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the President to carry out this section (other than
subsection (e)(1)(A)) for fiscal year 2002, $75,000,000, for fiscal
year 2003, $200,000,000, for fiscal year 2004, $300,000,000, for fiscal
year 2005, $300,000,000, and $300,000,000 for fiscal year 2006.
(h) Implementation of Programs.--Of the amount made available to
carry out this section for a fiscal year, not more than 5 percent of
such amount may be used for administrative expenses for the United
States Agency for International Development in connection with such
assistance.
(i) Report Relating to Rehabilitation and Reconstruction.--As part
of the annual submission of the budget of the United States, the
President shall include a description of the activities conducted
pursuant to this section and section 7 in the prior fiscal year, the
progress made in meeting the development objectives for such year, a
description of the United States development objectives for the
rehabilitation and reconstruction of Afghanistan for the fiscal year
involved and the amount of funds necessary to meet such objectives and
the amount of funds to meet such objectives for the subsequent fiscal
year.
(j) Authority To Provide Assistance.--Assistance under this section
may be provided notwithstanding any other provision of law.
SEC. 7. AFGHANISTAN DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS INITIATIVES.
(a) Assistance to Democracy.--The President is authorized and
encouraged to provide assistance under part I of the Foreign Assistance
Act of 1961 (including chapter 4 of part II of the Act) to support the
transition to a multiethnic democratic government in Afghanistan. Such
assistance shall--
(1) focus on building the capacity of Afghans, particularly
women, to participate in the selection of a broad-based,
multiethnic, gender-inclusive, fully representative government
in Afghanistan;
(2) support activities of a transitional administration or
interim government to draft a new constitution, other legal
frameworks, and other initiatives to promote the rule of law
and combat corruption in Afghanistan;
(3) support activities to prepare Afghanistan for
elections, including voter registration, civic education
programs, political party building, and technical electoral
assistance;
(4) support the development of civil society and
independent news media;
(5) promote the participation of women in government and
civil society through education and training; and
(6) promote reconciliation, conflict resolution, and
prevention of further conflict with respect to Afghanistan,
including establishing accountability for gross human rights
violations.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the President to carry out this section for fiscal year
2002, $10,000,000, for fiscal year 2003, $25,000,000 and for fiscal
year 2004, $25,000,000.
(c) Authority To Provide Assistance.--Assistance under this section
may be provided notwithstanding any other provision of law.
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDS FOR UNITED NATIONS DRUG CONTROL PROGRAM
(UNDCP) INITIATIVES IN AFGHANISTAN.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the President not less
than $12,500,000 for fiscal year 2002 and $25,000,000 for each of the
fiscal years 2003 and 2004 for a voluntary contribution of the United
States to the United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP) for antidrug
initiatives to reduce or eliminate the trafficking of illicit drugs
from Afghanistan, in particular heroin, including activities relating
to precursor chemical control efforts.
SEC. 9. UNITED STATES DIPLOMATIC FACILITIES.
(a) Authorization of Appropriations.--In addition to such sums as
are otherwise authorized to be appropriated for ``Embassy Security,
Construction and Maintenance'', there is authorized to be appropriated
for ``Embassy Security, Construction and Maintenance'', for the fiscal
year 2003, $65,000,000 to reestablish a United States embassy and
appropriate consular facilities in Afghanistan, including offices for
agencies responsible for carrying out the purposes of this Act that are
located in such facilities.
(b) Availability of Funds.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to
subsection (a) are authorized to be remain available until expended.
SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on
International Relations of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
(2) National.--The term ``national'' means, with respect to
a foreign country, a national of the country, including a
natural person, corporation, business association, partnership,
or other entity operating as a business enterprise under the
laws of the country.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S13970-13971)
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
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