Wyden: 'Fundamentally Wrong' If Congress Ignores Conflict Minerals

From Enough blogs Thu May 6 2010, 22:03:47

Yesterday, my colleagues at the Enough Project and I had the great honor of participating in a special briefing co-hosted by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sam Brownback (R-KS) on the illicit minerals trade and epidemic of sexual violence in eastern Congo. The all-star panel included Run for Congo Women founder and author Lisa Shannon, Pole Pole Foundation's Dominique Bikaba, Enough's John Prendergast, and Kimberley process experts Rory Anderson and Corinna Gilfillan. The panelists touched on lessons learned about how to combat "blood diamonds" through the Kimberley process, how the war in eastern Congo is being fueled by a multi-million dollar trade in minerals essential to our electronics products, why the U.S. Congress needs to act, and personal stories from the ground.

We were pleased when Senators Wyden and Brownback both ducked out between votes to join us and provide their insights on the importance of advocacy efforts and pending legislation that would help make the trade in eastern Congo's minerals more transparent. As it exists now, the trade in conflict minerals generates an estimated $183 million each year for armed groups in eastern Congo. Those minerals eventually end up in the electronics that we buy here in the United States. In his remarks, Senator Wyden emphasized that "it would be fundamentally wrong if the U.S. Congress looks the other way...We want to be sure that Americans are aware of where their dollars go."

Of all that was shared, I was most taken by activist and author Lisa Shannon's remarks. As someone who has worked on the RAISE Hope for Congo campaign since it was launched in 2008, I have been an avid follower of Lisa's work to raise awareness about the conflict. Over the last couple years, I have heard many stories of survival and activism, but Lisa has a very compelling way of weaving together the stories of survivors she has met in a ...

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