Conflict Minerals Trade Act - States that it is U.S. policy to promote peace in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo by supporting efforts of the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, other governments in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, and the international community to: (1) stop commercial activities involving the natural resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo that contribute to armed groups and human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and (2) develop stronger governance and economic institutions to improve transparency in the cross-border trade of natural resources in order to reduce exploitation by armed groups and promote local and regional development.
Directs the Secretary of State to: (1) produce a Congo Conflict Minerals Map of mineral-rich zones and areas under the control of armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and (2) submit a related report to the appropriate congressional committees.
Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Commerce to provide guidance to commercial entities seeking to exercise due diligence to ensure that conflict minerals used in their products do not finance armed conflict, result in labor or human rights violations, or damage the environment.
Directs the Secretary to: (1) submit a strategy to the appropriate congressional committees addressing linkages between human rights abuses, armed groups, and the mining of conflict minerals; (2) ensure that the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices relating to the Democratic Republic of the Congo or countries that share a border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo include a description of instances where the extraction and cross-border trade in conflict minerals has negatively affected human rights conditions; and (3) include in the annual report to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Investment Committee a description of efforts to ensure that enterprises under U.S. jurisdiction are exercising diligence to ensure that their purchases of minerals or metals are not originating from mines and trading routes that are used to finance armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) should expand programs to assist communities in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo whose livelihoods depend on the mineral trade.
Directs the Secretary of Commerce to annually publish in the Federal Register a list of articles specified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States that should be identified as likely containing conflict minerals.
Requires importers of articles specified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States that are included on the potential conflict goods list to certify on the importer's Customs declaration that such articles contain conflict minerals or are conflict mineral free.
Sets forth: (1) penalties relating to the introduction of goods that contain conflict minerals into the United States; and (2) events that must prior to the expiration of this Act's provisions.
[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4128 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4128
To improve transparency and reduce trade in conflict minerals, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 19, 2009
Mr. McDermott (for himself, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, and
Mr. Payne) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Ways
and Means and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve transparency and reduce trade in conflict minerals, 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.
This Act may be cited as the ``Conflict Minerals Trade Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Democratic Republic of the Congo was devastated by
a civil war in 1996 and 1997 and a war that began in 1998 and
ended in 2003, which resulted in widespread human rights
violations and the intervention of multiple armed forces and
armed non-state actors from other countries in the region.
(2) Despite the signing of a peace agreement and subsequent
withdrawal of foreign forces in 2003, the eastern region of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo has continued to suffer from
high levels of poverty, insecurity, and a culture of impunity,
in which armed groups and military forces continue to commit
widespread human rights abuses.
(3) According to a study by the International Rescue
Committee released in January 2008, conflict and related
humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
have resulted in the deaths of an estimated 5,400,000 people
since 1998 and continue to cause as many as 45,000 deaths each
month.
(4) Sexual violence and rape remain pervasive tools of
combat used by all parties in eastern region of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo to terrorize and destroy communities.
Sexual violence and rape affect hundreds of thousands of women
and girls, frequently resulting in traumatic fistula, other
severe genital injuries, and long-term psychological trauma.
(5) The use of child soldiers on the front lines, as bonded
labor, and as sex slaves is a widespread phenomenon among armed
groups in the region.
(6) A report released by the Government Accountability
Office in December 2007 describes how the mismanagement and
illicit trade of extractive resources from the Democratic
Republic of the Congo supports conflict between militias and
armed domestic factions in neighboring countries.
(7) In its final report, released on December 12, 2008, the
United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of
the Congo found armed groups in the eastern region of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to fight over,
illegally plunder, and profit greatly from the trade of
columbite-tantalite (coltan), cassiterite, wolframite, and gold
in the eastern Congo.
(8) United Nations Security Council Resolution 1857,
unanimously adopted on December 22, 2008--
(A) broadens existing sanctions relating to the
Democratic Republic of the Congo to include
``individuals or entities supporting the armed groups .
. . through illicit trade of natural resources,''; and
(B) encourages member countries to ensure that
companies handling minerals from the Democratic
Republic of the Congo exercise due diligence on their
suppliers, including--
(i) determining the precise identity of the
deposits from which the minerals they intend to
purchase have been mined;
(ii) establishing whether or not these
deposits are controlled or taxed by armed
groups; and
(iii) refusing to buy minerals known to
originate, or suspected to originate, from
deposits controlled or taxed by armed groups.
(9) The illicit trade by armed groups and militias in
eastern Congo in columbite-tantalite (coltan), cassiterite,
wolframite, and gold continues to flourish, fuels war, robs the
people of Congo of a valuable and legitimate resource, and
undermines the peaceful evolution of the Government of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
(10) Mineral derivatives from the Democratic Republic of
the Congo are used in industrial and technology products
worldwide, including mobile telephones, laptop computers, and
digital video recorders.
(11) In February 2009, the Electronic Industry Citizenship
Coalition and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative released a
statement asserting that--
(A) use by the information communications
technology industry of mined commodities that support
conflict in such countries as the Democratic Republic
of the Congo is unacceptable; and
(B) consumer electronics companies can and should
uphold responsible practices in their operations and
work with suppliers to meet social and environmental
standards with respect to the raw materials used in the
manufacture of their products.
(12) Companies that create and sell products that include
columbite-tantalite (coltan), cassiterite, wolframite, and
their derivatives, and gold have the ability to influence the
situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by--
(A) exercising due diligence over their
manufacturing processes, ensuring they and their
suppliers use raw materials in a manner that does not--
(i) directly finance armed conflict;
(ii) result in labor or human rights
violations; or
(iii) damage the environment;
(B) verifying the country and mine from which the
minerals used to build their products originate; and
(C) committing to support mineral exporters from
the Democratic Republic of the Congo that certify that
their minerals do not--
(i) directly finance armed conflict;
(ii) result in labor or human rights
violations; or
(iii) damage the environment.
(13) There are ample sources of columbite-tantalite
(coltan), cassiterite, and wolframite in non-conflict areas of
the Congo and worldwide; processing columbite-tantalite,
cassiterite, and wolframite for commercial use requires
sophisticated technology; there are a limited number of
processing facilities worldwide for columbite-tantalite,
cassiterite, wolframite, and their derivatives; and determining
the sources of columbite-tantalite, cassiterite, wolframite,
and their derivatives used by processing facilities has already
been successfully done at low cost.
(14) Article XX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade provides that nothing in such Agreement shall be
construed to prevent the adoption or enforcement by any
contracting party of measures necessary to protect public
morals. As such, the United States has the right to restrict
the importation of goods that are harmful to the life and
health of miners and others in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, including the importation of columbite-tantalite
(coltan), cassiterite, wolframite, or their derivatives.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States, as affirmed by the
Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy
Promotion Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-456; 22 U.S.C. 2151 note) and
consistent with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1857 (2008),
to promote peace and security in the eastern Democratic Republic of the
Congo by supporting efforts of the Government of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, other governments in the Great Lakes Region of
Africa, and the international community to--
(1) monitor and stop commercial activities involving the
natural resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo that
contribute to the activities of armed groups and human rights
violations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and
(2) develop stronger governance and economic institutions
that can facilitate and improve transparency in the cross-
border trade involving the natural resources of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo in order to reduce exploitation by armed
groups and promote local and regional development.
SEC. 4. INVESTIGATION, REPORTS, AND STRATEGY REGARDING CONFLICT
MINERALS AND HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN THE DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO.
(a) Congo Conflict Mineral-rich Zones Map, and Armed Groups.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in
consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall, in
accordance with the recommendation of the United Nations Group
of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo in their
December 2008 report, work with other member states of the
United Nations and local and international nongovernmental
organizations to--
(A) produce a map of mineral-rich zones and areas
under the control of armed groups in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo;
(B) make such map available to the public; and
(C) provide to the appropriate congressional
committees, in classified form if necessary, an
explanatory note describing in general terms the
sources of information from which such map is based,
the definition of the term ``control of armed groups''
utilized (for example, physical control of mines or
forced labor of civilians, control of trade routes, and
taxation or extortion of goods in transit), and the
identification, where possible, of the armed groups or
other forces in control of the mines depicted.
(2) Designation.--The map required under this subsection
shall be known as the ``Congo Conflict Minerals Map'', and
mines located in areas under the control of armed groups in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, as depicted on such Congo
Conflict Minerals Map, shall be known as ``conflict zone
mines''.
(3) Updates.--The Secretary of Defense, in consultation
with the Secretary of State, shall update the map required
under paragraph (1) not less frequently than once every 180
days until the Secretary of Defense certifies to Congress that
no armed group that is a party to any ongoing armed conflict in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo or any other country is
involved in the mining, sale, or export of conflict minerals or
gold, or the control thereof, or derives any benefits from such
activities.
(4) Publication in federal register.--The Secretary of
State may add minerals to the list of conflict minerals. The
Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register notice of
intent to declare a mineral as a conflict mineral not later
than one year before such declaration.
(b) Guidance for Commercial Entities.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of State and the Secretary
of Commerce shall work with other member states of the United
Nations, local and international nongovernmental organizations,
and other interested parties to provide guidance to commercial
entities seeking to exercise due diligence, including
documentation on the origin and chain of custody for their
products, on their suppliers to ensure that conflict minerals
used in their products do not--
(A) directly finance armed conflict;
(B) result in labor or human rights violations; or
(C) damage the environment.
(2) Cooperation.--The Secretary of State and the Secretary
of Commerce shall work with commercial entities and other
interested parties to identify best practices and opportunities
to improve transparency of the supply chains of such commercial
entities engaged in commerce or trade with products that
contain one or more derivatives of conflict minerals.
(c) Strategy.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall,
working with the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development, submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a strategy to address the linkages
that exist between human rights abuses, armed groups, and the
mining of conflict minerals.
(2) Contents.--The strategy required by paragraph (1) shall
include the following:
(A) A plan to assist governments plagued by
conflict establishing and effectively implementing the
necessary frameworks and institutions to formalize and
improve transparency in the trade of conflict minerals.
(B) An outline of assistance currently being
provided to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and an
assessment of future assistance that could be provided
by the Government of the United States to help the
Democratic Republic of the Congo to strengthen the
management and export of natural resources.
(C) A description of punitive measures that could
be taken against individuals or entities whose
commercial activities are supporting armed groups and
human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo.
(d) Annual Human Rights Reports.--In preparing those portions of
the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices under sections
116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.
2151n(d) and 2304(b)) relating to the Democratic Republic of the Congo
or countries that share a border with the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, the Secretary of State shall ensure that such reports include a
description of any instances or patterns of practice that indicate that
the extraction and cross-border trade in conflict minerals has
negatively affected human rights conditions or supported specific human
rights violations, sexual or gender-based violence, or labor abuses in
the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, during the
period covered by each such report.
(e) Annual Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development
Investment Committee Report.--In preparing the United States' annual
report to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
Investment Committee, the Secretary of State shall include a
description of efforts by the United States to ensure, consistent with
the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Guidelines
for Multinational Enterprises, that enterprises under United States
jurisdiction are exercising due diligence to ensure that their
purchases of minerals or metals are not originating from mines and
trading routes that are used to finance or benefit armed groups in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
(f) Support of Mandate of United Nations Group of Experts on the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.--The President, acting through the
Secretary of State, the United States Permanent Representative to the
United Nations, and other appropriate United States Government
officials, shall use the voice and vote of the United States at the
United Nations Security Council to renew the mandate and strengthen the
capacity of the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic
Republic of the Congo to investigate links between natural resources
and the financing of armed groups, and ensure that the Group of
Experts' recommendations are given serious consideration.
(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary of State for fiscal year 2010 and each
subsequent fiscal year for which the Secretary certifies to the
appropriate congressional committees that a state of war is expected to
continue to exist in the Democratic Republic of the Congo such sums as
may be necessary to carry out this section.
SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ASSISTANCE FOR AFFECTED COMMUNITIES AND
SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS.
(a) Sense of Congress on Assistance for Affected Communities.--It
is the sense of Congress that the Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development should expand and better
coordinate programs to assist and empower communities in the eastern
Democratic Republic of the Congo whose livelihoods depend on the
mineral trade, particularly--
(1) communities affected by sexual and gender based
violence;
(2) communities affected by use of child soldiers and
forced child servitude; and
(3) individuals displaced and communities affected by
violence.
(b) Sense of Congress on Future Year Funding.--It is the sense of
Congress that the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the
United States Agency for International Development should work with the
Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations and the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate to increase assistance
beginning in fiscal year 2010 for communities affected by violence in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, specifically to--
(1) provide medical treatment, psychological support, and
rehabilitation assistance for survivors of sexual and gender-
based violence;
(2) provide humanitarian relief and basic services to
people displaced by violence;
(3) improve living conditions and livelihood prospects for
artisanal miners and mine workers; and
(4) alleviate poverty by reconstructing infrastructure and
revitalizing agricultural production.
(c) Sense of Congress on Coordination of Assistance.--It is the
sense of Congress that the United States should work with other
countries, on a bilateral and multilateral basis to--
(1) increase protection and services for communities in the
eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo at risk of human
rights violations associated with the mineral trade,
particularly women and girls;
(2) strengthen the management and trade of natural
resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and
(3) improve the conditions and livelihood prospects of
artisan miners and mine workers.
SEC. 6. IDENTIFICATION OF COMMERCIAL GOODS CONTAINING CONFLICT
MINERALS.
(a) List of Goods Containing Conflict Minerals.--Not later than 180
days after the date of the enactment of this Act and annually
thereafter, the Secretary of Commerce, in cooperation with the
Secretary of State, the International Trade Commission, and the
Commissioner responsible for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, shall
determine and publish in the Federal Register a list of those articles
specified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States that
should be identified as likely containing conflict minerals. Such list
shall be referred to as the ``Potential Conflict Goods List''.
(b) Creating List of Approved Auditors.--
(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the
Secretary of Commerce, in cooperation with the Secretary of
State, the International Trade Commission, and in consultation
with nongovernmental organizations and manufacturing industry
representatives, shall determine and publish in the Federal
Register a list which contains a sufficient number of approved
private sector auditing services qualified to audit the
processing facilities worldwide of conflict minerals.
(2) Update.--The Secretary of Commerce shall update the
list required under paragraph (1) not less than once every 12
months and publish in the Federal Register the updated list.
The Secretary of State shall work with and encourage relevant
foreign governments to issue visas for auditors who are United
States citizens for purposes of travel relating to auditing of
processing facilities described in paragraph (1).
(c) Regular Auditing of Facilities for Use of Conflict Minerals.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Commerce shall seek to
ensure that facilities that process conflict minerals and whose
resulting materials are used in products shipped into the
United States subject themselves to random audits not less than
every four months by private sector auditing services approved
by the Secretary pursuant to subsection (b) to certify each
such processing facility as either ``conflict mineral free'' or
a ``conflict mineral facility''. A processing facility
certified as a ``conflict mineral facility'' is a facility that
processes one or more conflict minerals. A processing facility
certified as ``conflict mineral free'' is a facility that has
not processed conflict minerals in the previous 4 months or
since the previous audit.
(2) Audit reports.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary of Commerce shall
seek to ensure that private sector auditing services
approved by the Secretary pursuant to subsection (b)
submit to the Secretary reports on the audits conducted
by such services for those facilities that are audited
pursuant to paragraph (1).
(B) Contents.--The reports referred to in
subparagraph (A) shall contain the following:
(i) The name and location of the processing
facility audited.
(ii) The relevant minerals being processed
at the facility.
(iii) The date of the audit and the period
covered by the audit.
(iv) The date of notification of an
impending audit.
(v) The country of origin of minerals
purchased and processed, including local areas
or specific mines of origin in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo from which minerals were
sourced.
(vi) A determination as to whether there
were any minerals processed for which there is
not a credibly documented and verifiable chain
of custody.
(vii) A declaration of the facility as one
that is a ``Conflict Mineral Facility'' or is
``Conflict Mineral Free'' for the period
covered by each such report.
(3) Publication in federal register.--The Secretary of
Commerce shall publish in the Federal Register the reports of
private sector auditing services pursuant to paragraph (2) for
those facilities that are audited pursuant to paragraph (1),
including--
(A) whether any such facility has been certified as
``conflict mineral free'' or a ``conflict mineral
facility''; and
(B) if such service determines that the facility is
a ``conflict mineral facility'', the mine or local area
of origin of the conflict minerals likely to have
financed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo.
(4) Additional audits.--Processing facilities worldwide of
conflict minerals may request additional audits from private
sector auditing services approved by the Secretary pursuant to
subsection (b). Any such additional audits shall be non-binding
and may remain private.
(d) Auditing Protocol and Contents.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Commerce shall seek to
ensure that, in carrying out audits in accordance with
subsection (c) by private sector auditing services approved by
the Secretary pursuant to subsection (b), such services follow
an audit protocol that includes the following:
(A) Determination of the mines of origin of
processed materials.
(B) Verification of the chain of custody of
minerals obtained and processed during the preceding
four months, to verify whether revenues from
possession, sale, or taxation of conflict minerals are
flowing to parties financing conflict in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo.
(C) Investigation of mineral sourcing and chain of
custody in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and
other countries, as necessary, to verify the
information provided by suppliers.
(2) Timing of audits.--Audits shall be randomly timed, but
not without notice, in recognition of the rights of processing
facilities worldwide and the sovereignty of the country in
which they are located of conflict minerals.
SEC. 7. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF ARTICLES CONTAINING
CONFLICT MINERALS.
(a) Declaration of Certain Articles.--
(1) In general.--Beginning on the date that is one year
after the date of publication in the Federal Register of the
initial list of approved private sector auditing services under
section 6(b)(1) or two years after the date of the enactment of
this Act, whichever occurs later, importers that import
articles specified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the
United States that are identified pursuant to section 6(a) as
included on the Potential Conflict Goods List shall certify on
the importer's Customs declaration that such articles ``contain
conflict minerals'' or are ``conflict mineral free'' in
accordance with section 6(c). Articles that contain components
using conflict minerals from a facility audited and certified
by an auditor on the list referred to in subsection 6(b) as--
(A) ``conflict mineral free'' shall be designated
as ``conflict mineral free''; and
(B) a ``conflict mineral facility'' shall be
designated as ``contains conflict minerals''.
(2) Special rules.--For the purposes of this Act--
(A) recycled derivatives of conflict minerals shall
be considered ``conflict mineral free''; and
(B) articles that contain only components sourced
from processing facilities that are ``conflict mineral
free'' may be labeled ``conflict mineral free''.
(b) Prohibition on Importation of Certain Articles.--Unrefined
conflict minerals, not including their derivatives from a conflict zone
mine that is in raw or unrefined form for any commercial purpose may
not be imported into the United States. Beginning on the date that is
two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, articles made
wholly or in part with components containing conflict minerals from
facilities that have not been audited in accordance with section 6(c)
may not be imported into the United States.
(c) Exemption.--The President may exempt articles from inclusion on
Potential Conflict Goods List and publish notice to this effect in the
Federal Register, if the President--
(1) determines that such an exemption is in the national
security interest of the United States and includes the reasons
therefor; and
(2) establishes a date, not later than two years after the
initial publication of such exemption, on which such exemption
shall expire.
SEC. 8. REPORT BY UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the implementation
of the requirements of sections 6 and 7 and every 180 days thereafter,
the United States Trade Representative, in consultation with the
Commissioner responsible for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, shall
publish in the Federal Register a list of those importers that have
imported into the United States articles that ``contain conflict
minerals'' in the preceding 180-day period.
(b) Matters To Be Included.--Each report required under subsection
(a) shall, with respect to each importer identified under subsection
(a), include the following information irrespective of whether any
party to the importation has requested confidentiality: the carrier
code, vessel country code, vessel name, voyage number, district/port of
unlading, estimated arrival date, bill of lading number, foreign port
of lading, manifest quantity, manifest units, weight, weight unit,
shipper name, shipper address, consignee name, consignee address,
notify party name, notify party address, piece count, description of
goods, brand, manufacturing company, container number, and seal number.
SEC. 9. PENALTIES.
(a) Penalties Relating to Conflict Minerals.--If any person, by
fraud, gross negligence, or negligence, enters, introduces, or attempts
to enter or introduce any good that contains one or more conflict
minerals (as such term is defined in section 11) into the territory of
the United States by means of inaccurate information with respect to
the imported good, such person shall be subject to penalties pursuant
to section 592 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1592).
(b) Publication in the Federal Register.--The Commissioner
responsible for U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Secretary of
Commerce shall publish in the Federal Register in a timely manner a
list of all penalties imposed under subsection (a).
SEC. 10. REPORTS BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE.
(a) Initial Report.--Not later than 36 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Comptroller General
of the United States shall submit to Congress a report that includes
the following:
(1) An assessment of the accuracy of the approved private
sector auditing services under section 6.
(2) Recommendations for such auditing services to--
(A) improve the accuracy of such auditing services;
and
(B) establish standards of best practices.
(b) Follow-Up Reports.--Not later than 36 months after the date of
the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Comptroller
General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report that
includes the following:
(1) An assessment of the effectiveness of the provisions of
this Act.
(2) A description of the problems, if any, encountered by
the Department of Commerce, the Department of State, the Office
of the United States Trade Representative, U.S. Customs and
Border Protection, and the Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development in carrying out the
provisions of this Act.
(3) A description of the adverse impacts of carrying out
the provisions of this Act, if any, on countries with
columbite-tantalite (coltan), cassiterite, wolframite, or their
derivatives, and in particular, communities in the eastern
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
(4) Recommendations for legislative or regulatory actions
that can be taken to--
(A) improve the effectiveness of the provisions of
this Act to promote peace and security in accordance
with section 3;
(B) resolve the problems described in paragraph
(2), if any; and
(C) mitigate the adverse impacts described in
paragraph (3), if any.
SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee
on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Ways and Means,
and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of
Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee
on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Finance, and the
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the
Senate.
(2) Armed group.--The term ``armed group'' means armed
groups identified as perpetrators of serious human rights
abuses in the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
under sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act
of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d) and 2304(b)) relating to the
Democratic Republic of the Congo or countries that share a
border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
(3) Conflict minerals.--The term ``conflict minerals''
means columbite-tantalite (coltan), cassiterite, wolframite, or
their derivatives, or any other mineral determined by the
Secretary of State to be financing conflict in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo.
(4) United states.--The term ``United States'' means the
customs territory of the United States, as defined in general
note 2 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
SEC. 12. SUNSET.
This Act shall expire on the date on which the President determines
and certifies to the appropriate congressional committees, but in no
case earlier than the date that is one day after end of the 2-year
period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, that--
(1) no armed group is a party to any ongoing armed conflict
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is involved in the
mining, sale, or export of one or more conflict minerals; or
(2) a regional framework has been established and
effectively implemented to monitor and regulate trade and
commerce in conflict minerals so that such activities do not
benefit armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to House Foreign Affairs
Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to House Ways and Means
Referred to House Armed Services
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