Q&A: What’s the impact of yesterday’s vote?

Below is the comprehensive answer to the questions on your mind: “What just happened?” and “What happens next?”

From Resolve Uganda:

With a final vote in the House of Representatives, the United States Congress fully passed the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act (S.1067) earlier this evening. After almost exactly one year of intense lobbying, it passed with more support in Congress than any Africa-focused bill in United States history. Here’s a Q&A – building on this earlier one written by Ledio Cakaj over at Enough Project – to help you better understand the significance and impact of this accomplishment.

Here’s what we have:

• How significant is this accomplishment?
• What happens next with the bill?
• What will the bill actually DO?
• What will the bill NOT do?
• What is Resolve Uganda’s hope for how the President will implement the bill?

Put this in context. How significant is it?
Simply put, it is historic. This bill’s passage is the result of more than five years of efforts to inform our leaders about this crisis and build a public mandate for action through nationwide awareness and lobbying campaigns, and a year of intense activism from tens of thousands of people. Only 3.3% of all bills introduced in the last full session of Congress actually passed, so seeing this bill across the finish line is truly remarkable. Our hats are off to our champions in Congress and all the activists who had a part in making it happen.

The level of Congressional support activists generated for the bill is also historic. In addition to being the most widely cosponsored Africa-focused bill in United States history, it is the most widely cosponsored policy bill (aka not counting Congressional Gold Medals and other ceremonial bills) yet to pass this session of Congress, which began in January of 2009.

Most importantly, tonight’s vote was historic in the context of our efforts to seek peace for communities devastated by this conflict. Increased attention and responsible action from our leaders is key to seeing LRA violence ended and affected communities rehabilitated, and the passage of this bill constitutes the most significant step taken by our Congress on this crisis since the conflict began more than two decades ago.

Though the biggest test for our success will come in how President Obama ultimately chooses to implement the bill, today’s accomplishment is a huge step. We feel it is the most significant achievement our organization has been part of making happen.

What happens next with the bill?

Now that Congress has passed the bill, President Obama has 10 days in which to either sign it or veto it. Since a veto can be overridden by a 2/3 vote in the House – and this bill passed almost unanimously – he is likely to sign it. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the President will use the occasion to also issue a statement acknowledging the amazing public support for action on this issue and the urgency of addressing the LRA’s crimes against vulnerable communities across central Africa.

What does the bill actually do?

Well, the best way to get an answer to that is to actually read it here. But in short, it does a couple key things.

Perhaps most importantly, the bill demands that resolving this crisis be a higher priority for the United States. As a country with limited diplomatic, economic, and other resources, our first battle as advocates is simply getting attention from our leaders where it is most needed. LRA violence is taking place against communities that don’t register on the world’s radar and are marginalized even within their own countries, and international neglect allows this crisis to continue unchecked.

There are also a number of concrete impacts the bill will have on U.S. policy. First, the bill outlines our country’s commitment to helping protect civilians, apprehend top LRA commanders, and provide assistance to affected communities. But even more importantly, it requires the President to go on the record within 180 days with a detailed strategy to help see LRA atrocities permanently ended.

This is where the bill will have its most substantive impact, and will face its greatest test. Barack Obama will be the first United States President to develop and report such a strategy in the war’s history (the five US Presidents who have served since the conflict began in 1986 have neglected to do so).

Our efforts so far have given him a clear mandate to develop a strategy that is capable of seeing a permanent end to this conflict. Our efforts in the next 180 days will help determine whether or not he makes use of this mandate and actually takes the steps needed to achieve peace. In this regard, it is important to note that all those Members of Congress who were convinced to cosponsor the bill will now be asked to help shape the President’s strategy and ensure it meets these high standards. This is another benefit to the hard work done in building cosponsors for the bill.

In addition to stating our country’s commitment to seeing this conflict ended and requiring President Obama to develop a comprehensive strategy for how we can help make it happen, the bill:

• Authorizes increased humanitarian aid for communities in Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Central African Republic who are being forced to flee their homes as a result of LRA attacks;

• Recommends that $10 million per year for the next three years be allocated to support reconciliation and justice processes agreed upon during the Juba Peace Process to help heal regional divisions in Uganda and address crimes committed both by the LRA and the Ugandan government over the course of the war;

• Demands improved leadership from the Ugandan government to ensure the implementation of northern Uganda’s Peace, Recovery, and Development Plan and threatens to cut off some aid if improvements are not made; and

• Requires a report from the State Department about progress made toward recovery in northern Uganda one year after the bill passes

What does the bill NOT do?
There has been much debate about how President Obama will choose to carry out the mandate for new action this bill gives him, particularly the LRA strategy section. But to be clear, the bill itself simply outlines what qualities Obama’s strategy in the region should embody – using terms like “viable”, “multilateral”, and “comprehensive” – without providing many specifics. The reality is that there are a number of possible options, and the President is in the best position to actually choose which ones to exercise and in what combination.

Senator Russ Feingold, one of the leading authors of the legislation and chairman of U.S. Senate’s Africa Subcommittee explained in an article in the Huffington Post:

“Our bill does not… encourage a new Ugandan-led military offensive against the LRA and does not sanction any specific military operation. Instead, it seeks to push a comprehensive approach in which military activity would be one component within a larger framework. Such an approach, though, should also include humanitarian components and support for credible diplomatic efforts to press for a viable political solution.”

Consequently, at this point claims that the bill will directly result in certain specific actions by President Obama – such as further American military involvement in the search for Kony, more support for the Ugandan military, new negotiations, etc. – are actually conjectures and guesses.

This underscores how important it is that we use the next 180 days to make our voices heard about what options would do greatest justice to the needs and experiences of people in central Africa being victimized by persistent LRA violence.

How does Resolve Uganda hope the President will implement the strategy?
You can be sure that we’ll be releasing details of our opinion on what specifically the President should do very shortly, as well as campaigns to help make it happen. It is only the vigilance of activists and Members of Congress that can be sure to hold the President accountable to doing what’s most needed.

However, we can give you a brief sense of the criteria that we’ll be using to grade Obama’s strategy. These criteria are being developed together with our partners here in Washington and on the ground in LRA-affected countries:

1. A new and viable plan to apprehend top LRA commanders.

So long as Kony continues to reject peaceful disarmament, LRA violence won’t stop until he is apprehended. For more than two decades, the Ugandan military has failed to find and arrest him. Ongoing Uganda-led operations are pushing the LRA to commit attacks across an ever-widening arc across three countries. With the prospect of renewed support to the LRA from elements in the Sudan government looming large, President Obama should work with the United Nations, international partners, and regional governments to deploy a team capable of locating and apprehending Joseph Kony and other LRA commanders wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

2. United States leadership to improve protection of vulnerable civilians.

The LRA is able to commit persistent and brutal attacks on civilians across central Africa because of the failure of regional governments and peacekeepers to provide protection. Moreover, the rebel group is able to rebuild itself through abductions of children. To help protect vulnerable civilians and prevent the growth of the LRA, we want President Obama to ensure UN peacekeepers and government forces in affected areas have the will and capacity to protect civilians and to work to improve information sharing and coordination amongst all actors in the region.

3. A coordinated plan to facilitate escape and rescue of LRA fighters and abductees.

Current efforts to help LRA fighters and abductees escape and defect are almost nonexistent, due to Kony’s decisions to keep his forces on the move and migrating into new territory. We will be asking President Obama to work through the United Nations to develop a comprehensive plan that includes direct contact with the LRA and the establishment of radio programs and reception centers to help LRA fighters and abductees escape and return home.

4. Improved humanitarian support for affected communities.

Approximately one-third of the hundreds of thousands of people being forced to flee their homes by ongoing LRA violence in Sudan, DR Congo, and Central African Republic are out of reach of humanitarian aid. Even many of those receiving assistance are barely able to survive. President Obama should increase funds for lifesaving assistance for communities whose lives have been devastated by ongoing attacks and abductions, and support efforts to expand humanitarian access to isolated populations.

5. Continued diplomatic and economic investment in addressing the conflict’s root causes in Uganda.

The divisions between northern and southern Uganda that originally gave rise to this conflict persist in Uganda today, even if the LRA is no longer there. The bill gives President Obama a clear mandate to work diplomatically and through the provision of foreign aid to help address those divisions through meaningful recovery and reconciliation processes.

We look forward to your help in making these needs become reality. After, of course, appropriate celebrations are had for tonight’s accomplishment!