Clean Diamond Trade Act

Madam President, later today the Senate will take up a bill that the House has acted upon; that is, the Clean Diamond Act of 2003. There are many tragedies in this world, a lot of suffering. This bill deals with one of these problems. There are many atrocities that are occurring.

One area of the world where such atrocities are occurring on a daily basis is in Sierra Leone, Africa. For at least a decade, Sierra Leone, one of the world's poorest nations, has been embroiled in a civil war. Rebel groups--most notably, the Revolutionary United Front--RUF--have been fighting for years to overthrow the recognized government. In the process, violence has erupted as the rebels have fought to seize control of the country's profitable diamond fields which, in turn, helps finance their terrorist regime.

Once in control of a diamond field, the rebels confiscate the diamonds and then launder them onto the very legitimate market through other nearby nations, such as Liberia. We refer to these as ``conflict'' or ``blood'' diamonds. These gems are a very lucrative business for the rebel groups. In fact, over the past decade, the rebels have smuggled out of Africa, we estimate, approximately $10 billion in these diamonds.

It is nearly impossible, of course, to distinguish the illegally gathered diamonds from legitimate or ``clean'' stones. And so, Members of the Senate, regrettably and unwittingly, the United States--as the world's biggest buyer of diamonds--has contributed to the violence. Our Nation accounted for more than half of the $57.5 billion in the global retail diamond trade last year, and some estimates suggest that illegal diamonds from Africa account for as much as 15 percent of the overall diamond trade.

Since the start of the rebel's quest for control of Sierra Leone's diamond supply, half of the nation's population of 4.5 million have left their homes, and at least a half million have fled the country. But it is the children, as it usually is--it is the children--of Sierra Leone who are bearing the biggest brunt of the rebel insurgency. For over 8 years, the RUF has conscripted children--children often as young as 7 or 8 years old--to be soldiers in this makeshift army. They have ripped at least 12,000 children from their own families.

As a result of deliberate and systematic brutalization, child soldiers have become some of the most vicious--and effective--fighters within the rebel factions. The rebel army--child-soldiers included--has terrorized Sierra Leone's population--killing, abducting, raping, and hacking off the limbs of victims with their machetes. This chopping off of limbs is the RUF's trademark strategy. In Freetown, the surgeons are frantic. Scores of men, women, and children--their hands partly chopped off--have flooded the main hospital. Amputating as quickly as they can, doctors toss severed hands into a communal bucket.

The RUF frequently and forcibly injects the children with cocaine in preparation for battle. This is a picture of a little girl who, obviously, has had her arm amputated.

In many cases, the rebels force the child-soldiers at gunpoint to kill their own family members or neighbors and friends. Not only are these children traumatized by what they are forced to do, they also are afraid to be reunited with their own families because of the possibility of retribution.

Madam President and members of the Senate, I cannot understate nor can I fully describe the horrific abuses these children are suffering. The most vivid accounts come from the child-soldiers themselves. I would like to read a few of their stories--their own stories--taken from Amnesty International's 1998 report entitled: ``Sierra Leone--A Year of Atrocities against Civilians.'' According to one child's recollection:

Civilians were rounded up, in groups or in lines, and then

taken individually to a pounding block in the village where

their hands, arms, or legs were cut with a machete. In some

villages, after the civilians were rounded up, they were

stripped naked. Men were then ordered to rape members of

their own family. If they refused, their arms were cut off

and the women were raped by rebel forces, often in front of

their husbands . . . victims of these atrocities also

reported women and children being rounded up and locked into

houses which were then set [on fire].

A young man from Lunsar, describing a rebel attack, said this:

Ten people were captured by the rebels and they asked us to

form a [line]. My brother was removed from the [line], and

they killed him with a rifle, and they cut his head with a

knife. After this, they killed his pregnant wife. There was

an argument among the rebels about the sex of the baby she

was carrying, so they decided to open her stomach to see the

baby.

According to Komba, a teenager:

My legs were cut with blades and cocaine was rubbed in the

wounds. Afterwards, I felt like a big person. I saw the other

people like chickens and rats. I wanted to kill them.

Rape, sexual slavery, and other forms of sexual abuse of girls and women have been systematic, organized, and widespread. Many of those abducted have been forced to become the ``wives'' of combatants.

According to Isatu, an abducted teenage girl:

I did not want to go; I was forced to go. They killed a lot

of women who refused to go with them.

She was forced to become the sexual partner of the combatant who captured her and is now the mother of their 3-month-old baby:

When they capture young girls, you belong to the soldier

who captured you. I was ``married'' to him.

Look at how some of these children have depicted themselves, the violence and bloodshed in their own drawings. That is how they depict it. Children strike at the heart of what they see and, more importantly, what they feel.

We are losing these children, an entire generation of children, if the situation is not improved. These kids have no future. But as long as the rebel diamond trade remains unchallenged, nothing really will change at all. That is why. I have been working with Senator Durbin, Senator Feingold, Senator Gregg, and so many others in the Senate and the other body for over 2 years to pass legislation that would help stem this illegal trade in conflict diamonds. I thank Senator Grassley for his good work. Together we have worked extensively with our House colleagues, including my good friend and former colleague from Ohio, former Congressman Tony Hall. We have also worked with a champion in this area, my good friend, Frank Wolf from Virginia.

We have worked to develop much needed legislation to help remove the

rebel's market incentive because that is what you have to do is to get rid of the incentive. While we have not yet been successful in getting this legislation signed into law--not yet--I credit my colleagues' continued commitment to this often forgotten issue. I know our countless congressional hearings and meetings, letters, and legislative initiatives have encouraged the administration and the international community to keep this issue alive. I thank those in the administration who have kept the issue going and worked so very hard. We have kept the pressure on. We are beginning to see very positive results.

Just this past January, an international agreement called the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme was launched. Specifically, this is a voluntary international diamond certification system among over 50 participating countries, including all of the major diamond producing and trading countries. This is a positive step. I commend the tireless work of human rights advocates and the diamond industry for making this certification system a reality.

Because of their success, today we are faced with the urgent need of providing legislative measures to enable effective U.S. implementation of the certification scheme. We need to provide the administration with the authorization necessary to ensure U.S. compliance with this global regulatory framework. This is why last week I joined with my distinguished colleagues and my friends--Senator Grassley, Senator Durbin, Senator Feingold, Senator Baucus, Senator Bingaman, Senator Gregg, and several additional cosponsors--to introduce the Clean Diamond Act, legislation that commits the United States to mandatory implementation of the Kimberley Process Certification. This legislation is similar to a measure passed just last night in the House of Representatives, H.R. 1584. I am optimistic we can pass this legislation in the Senate very shortly, possibly even as early as today.

The whole idea behind this is to commit the United States to a system of controls on the export and import of diamonds so that buyers can be certain their purchases are not fueling the rebel campaign.

I know there is not one person in this country who goes in and buys a diamond with the intention to fuel a rebel campaign. No one wants to do that. This is a way we can ensure buyers they are not doing that.

Specifically, our legislation would prohibit the import of any rough diamond that has not been controlled through the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. Put simply, this means every diamond brought into the United States would require a certificate of origin and authenticity to indicate the rebel or terrorist group has not laundered it on to the legitimate market.

Additionally, the bill calls on the President to report annually to the U.S. Congress on the control system's effectiveness and also requires the General Accounting Office to report on the law's effectiveness within 2 years of enactment.

Finally, our bill emphasizes the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is an ongoing process and that our Government should continue to work with the international community to strengthen the effectiveness of this global regulatory framework. As the world's biggest diamond customer, biggest consumer, purchasing well over half of all the diamonds purchased in the world, our Nation has a moral responsibility to show continued leadership on this issue. Quite candidly, there are a lot of terrible, tragic things going on we don't have the power to change or fix or have much impact on at all, but today in the Senate we can have impact on this issue. We can make a difference. We have the power to help put an end to this indescribable suffering and violence caused by diamond-related conflicts. We have that power, and we must use it.

I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this much needed legislation. We have a moral obligation to help stop the violence, help stop the brutality, and help stop the needless killing and the maiming going on, to help stop the victimization of these children.

No other child should kill or be killed in diamond-related conflicts. I believe it is absolutely imperative that we pass the bill we have introduced and pass it quickly to help end these atrocities once and for all. It certainly is the humane thing to do. It is the right thing to do. It is the only thing to do.

Mr. President, when I pick up the newspaper, turn on the radio, or watch television, almost all of the media's attention is, understandably, focused on the war in Iraq. As a result, some important issues in other parts of the world are being overlooked or unreported. I want to call attention to some good news that has received very little attention: Congress has made some much needed progress on the very important issue of conflict diamonds.

The role of diamonds in fueling brutal conflicts in Africa and funding terrorism is well documented, so I will not take much time recounting this history. Suffice it to say, that it is a critical problem and deserves serious attention and resources from Congress, the Bush Administration, and the international community.

It is also well known that the diamond industry, key nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and a number of governments came together to create an international regime aimed at stopping the trade in conflict diamonds, called the Kimberley Process. In January 2002, the process was launched and now the individual countries involved need to pass implementing legislation.

It is important that the Congress pass legislation before the next Kimberley Process Plenary Meeting on April 28, 2003, to ensure that the United States continues to play a leadership role on this issue.

However, the timing of the bill should not be the only factor. The legislation needs to reflect not just the wishes of the administration but also the views of a bipartisan group of Senators, including Senators Durbin, DeWine, Feingold, Gregg, and Bingaman, who have been working on this issue for years. The bill must also incorporate input from a wide range of NGOs, from Oxfam to Catholic Relief Services, that have dealt first-hand with the devastating consequences of conflict diamonds.

S. 760, the Clean Diamonds Trade Act, does just that. I rise today to support this legislation. And assuming that a word in the section concerning the Kimberley Process Implementation Coordinating Committee is changed, I also support the House companion, H.R. 1584, which is virtually identical to S. 760.

I commend Senators Grassley and Baucus for producing a solid, bipartisan bill to implement the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), an international system designed to ensure that rough diamonds entering the United States are legally mined and traded.

When we began drafting this bill several months ago, the administration's proposed legislation was little more than hortatory. It was filled with permissive authorities that would have required the administration to do virtually nothing. It essentially said: ``Thanks, but we'll take care of the problem by ourselves.''

Through a consultative, bipartisan process, Senators Grassley and Baucus worked with interested Senators, the NGO community, and the diamond industry to shape the administration's proposal into meaningful legislation that contains a number of important provisions.

For example, the bill contains a prohibition of the importation of rough diamonds; requires Government oversight of the U.S. Kimberley Process Authority--the industry body responsible for issuing certificates for U.S. rough diamond exports; and includes reporting requirements that can be used to gauge the effectiveness of the system and monitor attempts to circumvent it. In the administration's original proposal, these provisions either did not exist or were seriously watered-down.

While S. 760 is a good bill and is one that I am pleased to cosponsor, there is room for improvement.

There is nothing in this legislation that deals with polished stones. As a result, if an exporter were to make just one ``cut'' to a diamond it would be exempt from KPCS and the implementing legislation. I also think improvements can be made to the criminal penalties

language, the provision on statistics collection, and a handful of other sections.

But we all know that no bill is perfect and no Senator gets everything he or she wants in a broad, bipartisan bill. I mention these shortcomings, not to criticize the efforts of the authors of the bill, but rather for two important reasons.

First, the shortcomings in the S. 760, as well as the KPCS itself, highlight the fact that Kimberley is an ongoing process and that additional regulations, legislation, and other measures will be necessary in the future. I am very pleased that Senators Grassley and Baucus have included a sense of Congress in S. 760 that says just that.

Second, because the legislation gives the administration a good deal of flexibility, it is imperative that the State Department, Treasury Department, and other agencies follow through and implement the KPCS in an effective and timely manner. I can assure you that those of us who are co-sponsors of this legislation will be working to ensure this happens.

As I have said with countless other pieces of legislation, you can have the best bill in the world, but it is not worth a whole lot if Congress and the administration do not put the resources behind it.

I applaud the authors of the bill for including a Section in the bill that authorizes the President to provide technical assistance to developing nations seeking to implement the KPCS. But, it is up to the Appropriations Committee to make sure this initiative is funded.

As ranking member of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee, I included a provision in the fiscal year 2003 bill that appropriated $2 million for this purpose. However, I have been informed that it is unclear if the State Department plans on utilizing these funds for their intended purpose, and that the Department might transfer it to other programs.

This would be a big mistake. In order to effectively implement Kimberley, extremely poor nations, where diamonds are mined, will have to set up viable export-control and law enforcement systems. Many of these nations simply do not have enough resources to do this.

Because of the links between conflict diamonds and terrorism, as well as human rights and humanitarian concerns, it is important that the United States provide technical assistance in order to have the most effective system possible. If providing a small amount of funding helps strengthen the KPCS, we should do it.

Some in the administration might ask how one would go about implementing such a program.

Those who ask those questions need to look no further than two programs that the U.S. Government has implemented in the past.

The United States Agency for International Development supported a successful program in Sierra Leone to improve controls associated with the mining and export of diamonds. In addition, the United States provides technical assistance to nations to implement the World Trade Organization agreement. I am confident that these two programs can provide a model for the use of these funds.

Americans buy 65 to 70 percent of the world's diamonds, including rough diamonds, polished stones and jewelry containing diamonds. It is up to the United States to provide leadership on this very important issue. Without us, the world will not make the kind of progress it needs to on this and other human rights related matters.

This should not be hard for us to do. It is in our security interests. It is in our humanitarian interests. It is in our economic interests.

With the passage of the Clean Diamonds Trade Act, Congress will take an important step forward. There is much more work that needs to be done, but I am confident that it can be done.

In closing, I would like to thank some of those involved with this effort, including Everett Eissenstat and Carrie Clark of Senator Grassley's staff, Shara Aranoff of Senator Baucus' staff, Randy Soderquist of Senator Bingaman's staff, Laura Parker of Senator DeWine's staff, and last but certainly not least Cara Thanassi of Oxfam America. Without the help of these individuals, this bill would not have made it to first base. I thank them for their hard work.

Mr. President, today the Senate has taken up and will unanimously pass the Clean Diamonds Trade Act, H.R. 1584, the House companion to S. 760, which I have cosponsored. The bill implements U.S. participation in the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, an international arrangement to respond to the scourge of conflict diamonds.

In war-torn areas of Africa, rebels and human rights abusers, with the complicity of some governments, have exploited the diamond trade, particularly alluvial diamond fields, to fund their guerrilla wars, to murder, rape, and mutilate innocent civilians, and kidnap children for their forces. Al-Qaida terrorists and members of Hezbollah have also traded in conflict diamonds.

While the conflict diamond trade comprises anywhere from an estimated 3 to 15 percent of the legitimate diamond trade, it threatened to damage an entire industry that is important to the economies of many countries, and critical to a number of developing countries in Africa.

Governments, the international diamond industry, and non-governmental and religious organizations worked hard to address this complex issue, while setting an impressive example of public-private cooperation. For the last several years, the Kimberley Process participants have been working to design a new regimen to govern the trade in rough diamonds.

I introduced several bills on this subject over the last several years, along with Senator Mike DeWine and Senator Russ Feingold, to reflect the consensus that had developed between the religious and human rights community and the diamond industry on the U.S. response to this issue. Senator Judd Gregg, who had introduced his own amendments and legislation dealing with this issue in the past, joined in cosponsoring our bill, as did a bipartisan group of 11 additional Senators.

In the House of Representatives over the last several years, former Representative Tony Hall and Representative Frank Wolf were leaders on this issue, as is Representative Amo Houghton, who took the lead in introducing the House version of the bill this year.

In the bills I had sponsored in the past, my aim had been to push for the strongest possible international agreement--showing leadership in the United States and strong support in Congress for a meaningful certification and monitoring agreement. Now that an international agreement has been reached, many of my concerns have been addressed.

We have learned about the horror that has resulted when illicit diamonds fueled conflicts in Africa. Rebels from the Revolutionary United Front, RUF, funded by illegal diamonds and supported by Liberia terrorized the people of Sierra Leone--raping, murdering, and mutilating civilians, including children.

If the fragile peace in Sierra Leone is to be maintained, profits from that country's diamonds must not fall into the hands of such brutal rebels again. Anti-government rebels in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to fight and are also supported by the sale of illicit diamonds.

We have learned that members of the Al-Qaida network may have bought large quantities of these illegal conflict diamonds from rebels in Sierra Leone in advance of September 11, anticipating that the United States would seek to cut off its sources of funds. An article in the Washington Post by Douglas Farah, on November 2, 2001, outlined the Al- Qaida connection and showed that Al-Qaida terrorists on the FBI's ``Most Wanted'' list bought conflict diamonds at below-market prices and sold them in Europe.

We have learned that the Lebanese terrorist group, Hezbollah, has participated in the conflict diamond trade and that it has been a source of funding and a way to launder funds for drug dealers and other criminals.

It is now clear that ending the trade in conflict diamonds is not only the just, right, and moral thing to do, it is also in our immediate national interest in our fight against terror.

If the crisis in Afghanistan has taught us anything, it must be that we ignore failed, lawless states at our peril.

American consumers who purchase diamonds for some happy milestone in their lives, such as an engagement, wedding, or anniversary, must be assured that they are buying a diamond from a legitimate, legal, and responsible source.

The Kimberley system will allow American consumers to have some confidence that they are buying ``clean'' diamonds, and will also serve our local jewelers and diamond retailers. The jewelers in our local malls and downtown shops do not want to support rebels and terrorists in Africa any more than consumers do.

I heard from a jeweler in my hometown of Springfield, IL, Bruce Lauer, president of the Illinois Jewelers Association, who wrote:

The use of diamond profits to fund warfare and atrocities

in parts of Africa is abhorrent to all of us. . . . As the

owner of Stout & Lauer Jewelers in Springfield, I know first-

hand the importance of diamonds to my customers. A diamond is

a very special purchase symbolizing love, commitment and joy.

It should not be tarnished with doubt. . . . We want to be

able to assure our customers unequivocally that the diamonds

in our stores come from legitimate sources.

There are not many issues that can bring together Senators and Congressmen across the political spectrum; that can bring together the human rights community and the diamond industry; and that can unite leaders of every religious denomination.

The horror of what has happened to the people of Sierra Leone and especially to its children has brought us together to fight this evil by cutting off the rebel's source of support--the illicit diamond trade. Now it brings us together to fight the terrorists who have murdered our own citizens, in our own country.

The world was shocked and horrified by the murder, mutilation, and terror imposed on the people of Sierra Leone by rebels funded with conflict diamonds. The moral outcry by religious and human rights groups galvanized governments and the diamond industry to address the problem. Now is the time to close the deal and to implement the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.

I want to say how pleased I am that the Senate came to a consensus on this bill. I am especially grateful to Senator Grassley and his trade counsel, Everett Eissenstat, and to Senator Baucus and his trade counsel, Shara Aranoff, for their careful work in being sure that my concerns and those of other Senators and the Clean Diamonds Coalition were addressed in the bill.

I am pleased that my concerns were addressed about the possibility that the Kimberley system could be circumvented by cutting rough diamonds, by calling for a report that would flag such actions if it becomes a problem, so action can be taken.

It is very important that the United States move quickly to fulfill its promise to implement the Kimberley agreement, and this consensus bill will allow this country to do so in a timely way.

Amendment No. 529

Mr. President, I rise today in strong support of the Clean Diamond Trade Act. Clean Diamond legislation passed unanimously through the Finance Committee on April 2, by a voice vote. The bill we are taking up today is nearly identical to the bill that passed the House of Representatives on April 8, 2003, by a vote of 419 to 2. Today, with the passage of this bill, the Senate is taking a step toward bringing our Nation into compliance with our responsibilities as a participating Nation in the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme.

Passage of this legislation is a true bipartisan success and a significant step forward in stopping trade in conflict diamonds. I would like to thank my colleagues for helping to develop the compromise legislation in this act. I would especially like to recognize the hard work of Senators Gregg, DeWine, Durbin, Bingaman, and Feingold, whose devotion and dedication to stopping trade in conflict diamonds is unsurpassed.

The Clean Diamond Trade Act will implement the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. This is an international agreement establishing minimal acceptable international standards for national certification schemes relating to cross-border trade in rough diamonds. It represents over 2 years of negotiations among more than 50 countries, human rights advocacy groups, the diamond industry and nongovernment organizations. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme will help end the trade in conflict diamonds, which has been fueling conflicts in some African countries for many years, leading to human rights atrocities that are beyond anything we in America have ever experienced. I am pleased that we can help put an end to these atrocities with this legislation.

The next plenary session of the Kimberley Process is scheduled to convene in Johannesburg, South Africa, from April 28 to 30, 2003. The U.S. played a leadership role in crafting the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, and it is critical that we implement the certification process before April 28 if we are to retain this leadership. We also need to do this to ensure that the flow of legitimate diamonds into and out of the United States will continue without interruption. Most important, we need to do everything we can to stop trade in conflict diamonds as soon as possible.

This is a trade issue, a consumer issue, and most of all, a human rights issue. Legitimate trade can elevate the standard of living for people all over. This bill sends a strong message that the benefits of trade in valuable natural resources like diamonds should accrue to the legitimate governments and their people in Africa.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of my staff whose hard work helped to get us to this point. First and foremost, my Finance Committee staff led by Kolan Davis, my Chief Trade Counsel Everett Eissenstat, along with Carrie Clark, Zach Paulsen and Nova Daly. And I would like to acknowledge Senator Baucus's staff Tim Punke and Shara Aranoff for their help in getting this

bill through the Finance Committee and to the Senate floor. I hope this bill will receive wide support.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate immediately proceed to the consideration of H.R. 1584, which is at the desk.

I ask unanimous consent that the Grassley substitute be agreed to, that the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.