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Africa

Congressman Jim McDermott has been traveling and working in Africa for four decades. He first traveled to Ghana in 1961 with Operation Crossroads Africa to help build a schoolhouse for disadvantaged African youth. Before serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, McDermott worked as a U.S. Department of State psychiatrist in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), where he treated U.S. Foreign Service Officers and U.S. Peace Corps personnel.

As a member of the House of Representatives, Congressman McDermott has been, and continues to be, one of the body’s staunchest supporters of foreign assistance for humanitarian efforts and promoting economic development.

Among McDermott’s biggest legislative achievements is passage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which he authored and championed to eliminate tariffs and other trade barriers on African products bound for the United States.

McDermott's positions on:
• Sudan
• Trade and Development in Africa
• Uganda

Sponsored and Cosponsored legislation on:
• Sudan
• Trade and Development

Click here to see letters Congressman McDermott has signed to improve conditions in Africa.

Sudan

Sudan is torn by two major conflicts. The country has been split north and south, between Muslim and Christian, for more than twenty years. The National Islamic Front (NIF) government in Khartoum has promoted this conflict, arming Muslim militias, engaging in slavery, and committing aerial attacks on civilians. This Sudanese government identifies Islam as its state religion, and it aligns itself with Islamic extremist groups including Hamas and Hezbollah. Operation Lifeline Sudan, a United Nations-coordinated relief effort, estimates that 800,000 people currently are affected by this conflict.

More recently, a second catastrophic struggle has come to the attention of the international community. Ethnic cleansing in the Darfur region, in western Sudan, has pitted government-authorized Arab Muslim militias, the Janjaweed, against African Muslim settlements. The militias are attacking civilian villages, raping and murdering their citizens, and looting their possessions. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) estimates that 213,000 people have been displaced into neighboring Chad by this ongoing attempt to purge the Darfur region of non-Arabs; casualties are nearing 80,000.

In 2004, the civil war in Sudan reached the point where Members of Congress concerned about Africa could only call the government-sponsored killings what it was: genocide. McDermott coauthored legislation formally calling the events in Darfur genocide, triggering the Bush Administration into action. McDermott joined with Members from the House Committee on International Relations to pass legislation imposing sanctions on the Khartoum government for their involvement in supporting the Janjaweed militia, the perpetrators of the raping, killing, and forced evacuation of the Fur people of Darfur. He worked with the Republicans and Democrats to urge the Bush Administration to take more forceful action at the United Nations to protect the people of Darfur and pressure the Sudanese government to stop supporting the Janjaweed.

During the summer of 2004, Congressman McDermott traveled to Chad, where the Darfur refugee camps are located, and into Sudan. He traveled with actor Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda) along with the Republican Chairman, Rep. Ed Royce, of the House Subcommittee on Africa to spend time with the Sudanese refugees and representatives from the African Union and the United Nations. He also met with the President of Algeria, a key player in the region, to try and understand the challenges facing the region and to work toward a solution. As it stands today, the African Union is the primary peacekeeping force tasked with protecting the Sudanese. Unfortunately, the African Union lacks the equipment, experience, and resources to adequately keep the peace. As a result, the security condition is Darfur is worsening daily, and the conflict appears to be spreading into neighboring Chad.

McDermott continues to work with his colleagues in the House to pressure the Bush Administration to take a more forceful role in securing security in Darfur. In particular, McDermott pressed the Secretary of State and the President to be forceful in the United Nations Security Council to bring about a meaningful and robust U.N. peacekeeping role in the region, while also proposing that perhaps the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) could be used to keep the peace as well, while a permanent solution to the conflict in Sudan is negotiated.

Legislation related to the crisis in Sudan that McDermott championed:

109th Congress:

H.R.1424  Cosponsor
Darfur Genocide Accountability Act of 2004
Last action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Relations on 4/7/2005  Read the bill...

H.R.3127  Cosponsor
Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 2005
Last action: Referred to Senate committee on 4/6/2006  Read the bill...

H.R.1435  Cosponsor
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to deny the foreign tax credit and the benefits of deferral to companies doing business directly or through subsidiaries in Sudan until the Government of Sudan takes demonstrable steps to end genocide in Sudan.
Last action: Referred to Committee on Ways and Means on 3/17/2005   Read the bill...

H.Res.723 Cosponsor
Calling on the President to take immediate steps to help improve the security situation in Darfur, Sudan, with a specific emphasis on civilian protection.
Last action: Referred to the House Committee on International Relations on 3/14/2006   Read the bill...

108th Congress:

H.Con.Res.467 Cosponsor
Declaring Genocide in Darfur, Sudan
Last action: Passed House 422-0 on 7/21/2004   Read the bill...

H.R.5061 Cosponsor
Comprehensive Peace in Sudan Act
Last action: Passed House 412-3 on 10/7/2004, became Public Law 108-497 on 12/23/2004 Read the bill...

Trade and Development in Africa

The African Entrepreneurship Act - H.R. 5480

Legislation introduced by Representatives Jim McDermott, Tom Lantos, Charles B. Rangel, Phil English, Donald Payne, and many others

Although independence and democracy spread throughout sub-Saharan Africa in the 1960s, Africa's private sector's capacity to establish and grow small businesses remains severely limited for many reasons. Since 2000, Congress implemented policies to provide new opportunities to the private sector in sub-Saharan Africa by reducing tariffs on African imports. While imports climbed in recent years, the overwhelming majority of them continue to be concentrated in the extraction industry, notably hydrocarbons, which produce few jobs for Africans and little sustainable development for the region.

The African Entrepreneurship Act (AEA) is designed to facilitate private sector growth and diversify economies in sub-Saharan Africa by exporting U.S. business and technical expertise to small- and medium-sized businesses located in sub-Saharan Africa. American small businesses are the backbone of our economy and provide two of every three new jobs. This sort of economic growth can be achieved in Africa with an emphasis on small business growth. However, African small and medium enterprises (SMEs) face significant challenges without the tools to overcome them.

The AEA would begin to address this issue by providing meaningful assistance in three fundamental ways:

1. Establish Small Business Development Centers in Africa.
2. Provide Technical Assistance to Improve Trade Capacity and to Seek
    U.S.-African Private-Sector Partnerships
3. Creation of the U.S.-African Private Sector Council.

African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)

Authored by McDermott and became law in 2000.

AGOA eliminated the high tariffs on African-made goods and led to export-related job creation in sub-Saharan Africa; however, much more needs to be done to assist the economic development of the region.

As the richest nation in history, McDermott believes it a moral imperative that the United States leads the world in providing development assistance to sub-Saharan Africa. In 2005, he introduced legislation to double the current amount of foreign assistance provided by the U.S. government, financed by repealing the Bush tax cuts that benefit those earning more than one million dollars annually.

Consider these differences:

Other facts to consider:

• One in six children in Africa dies before reaching the age of 5.

• Two-thirds of all the African children who die under the age of 5 could be saved by low-cost treatments such as vitamin A, and a tenth of all the diseases suffered by African children are caused by intestinal worms that infect 200,000,000 people and could be treated for just 25 cents per child.

• More than 300,000,000 Africans—42 percent of Africa’s population—still do not have access to safe water, and 60 percent do not have access to basic sanitation.

• 62 percent of all people aged 15–24 years who live with HIV are found in Africa.

• Africa had 43,000,000 orphans in 2003, 12,000,000 of which wre a result of AIDS. In Zambia, 71 percent of child prostitutes are orphans.

109th Congress:

H.R.3175 Sponsor
To implement measures to help alleviate the poor living conditions in Africa.
Last action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology on 7/29/2005 Read the bill...

H.Res.409 Cosponsor
Condemning the Government of Zimbabwe's "Operation Murambatsvina" under which homes, businesses, religious structures, and other buildings and facilities were demolished in an effort characterized by the Government of Zimbabwe as an operation to "restore order" to the country.>
Last action: Passed House 421-1 on 12/28/2005 Read the bill...

H.R.3396 Cosponsor
To facilitate lasting peace, democracy, and economic recovery in Somalia.
Last action: Referred to the House Committee on International Relations on 7/21/2005 Read the bill...

H.R.3781 Cosponsor
To accelerate efforts to develop vaccines for diseases primarily affecting developing countries, and for other purposes.
Last action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology on Read the bill...

H.R.4222 Cosponsor
To provide assistance to improve the health of newborns, children, and mothers in developing countries, and for other purposes. Last action: Referred to the House Committee on International Relations on 11/3/2005 Read the bill...

H.R.4319 Cosponsor
To provide assistance for small and medium enterprises in sub-Saharan African countries, and for other purposes.
Last action: Referred to the Committee on International Relations on 11/15/2005 Read the bill...

H.R.5070 Cosponsor
To extend certain trade preference programs, and for other purposes.
Last action: Referred to the Committee on International Relations on 3/30/2006
Read the bill...

108th Congress:

H.R.3572 Sponsor
To amend the African Growth and Opportunity Act(AGOA) to expand certain trade benefits to eligible sub-Saharan African countries, and for other purposes .
Last action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology on 1/2/2004 Read the bill...

H.Con.Res.158 Cosponsor
Recognizing the importance of inheritance rights of women in Africa.
Last action: Referred to the House Committee on International Relations on 4/30/2003 Read the bill...

H.Res.782 Cosponsor
Affirming the commitments made by the United States at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, to improve worldwide access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation services.
Last action: Referred to the House Committee on International Relations on 9/21/2004 Read the bill...

H.R.192  Cosponsor
To amend the Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act of 2000 and the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to increase assistance for the poorest people in developing countries under microenterprise assistance programs under those Acts, and for other purposes.
Last action: Became Public Law No.: 108-31 Read the bill...

H.R.643 Cosponsor
To urge reforms of the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, and for other purposes.
Last action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology on 2/27/2003 Read the bill...

H.R.1376 Cosponsor
To improve the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative.
Last action: Referred to the Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology on 3/27/2003 Read the bill...

H.R.4103 Cosponsor
To extend and modify the trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act.(AGOA)
Last action: Became Public Law No.: 108-274 Read the bill...

In northern Uganda, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) repeatedly ransacks villages and towns. The LRA is an anti-government militia known for human rights violations and massacres of innocent civilians. The LRA commonly kidnaps children and forces them into the ranks of the military to perpetuate the armed and bloody rebellion. As a result, children between the ages of 3 and 17, commonly referred to as “Night Commuters,” walk up to 12 miles each night from their villages to camp in larger towns to find protection, only to walk home again in the morning.

Congressman McDermott has personally pressed the Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni to negotiate with rebel and militia groups in order to bring peace to northern Uganda and within the region. Furthermore, he is actively working with Invisible Children to raise awareness about the issue around the country and within the Congress to find tactical ways to bring about peace, justice and reconciliation in Uganda.

Letters McDermott has signed relating to the challenges facing Africa, in particular Sudan and the Darfur region.