FEINGOLD MEASURE REQUIRING A BETTER SOMALIA POLICY PASSES SENATE
Amendment to Defense Authorization Bill Requires the Development
of a Comprehensive Stabilization and Reconstruction Strategy
June 23, 2006
Washington D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) announced
today that the Senate has passed legislation he authored requiring the
development of a comprehensive stabilization and reconstruction strategy
for Somalia. Feingold introduced the measure as an amendment to the
Department of Defense authorization bill to require the development
of a comprehensive strategy for addressing instability and terrorism
in Somalia and throughout the Horn of Africa.
“Home to al Qaeda, illicit power structures, criminal networks,
abject poverty and dire humanitarian conditions, Somalia is a key battleground
in the global fight against terrorism and it demands far more resources
and attention than we are providing,” Feingold said. “The
administration must develop a comprehensive strategy to bring stability
to this troubled nation or risk it becoming even more of a threat to
our national security.”
Earlier this year, Feingold and Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) introduced
a resolution urging the administration to develop a comprehensive strategy
for Somalia. Feingold, a thirteen-year member of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, has consistently raised concerns about the administration’s
failure to develop a policy regarding Somalia. On June 6th, Feingold
wrote Secretary of State Rice about the recent dramatic escalation of
violence and increasing levels of instability in Somalia’s capital,
Mogadishu, and urged her to develop a comprehensive strategy to bring
stability to the country and the region.
“As our nation spends $1.6 billion per week in Iraq, we spend
just two million dollars per year to support Somalia’s nascent
political structures,” Feingold said. “We must recognize
what is at stake in Somalia and work with the international community
to eliminate the root causes of terrorism and instability in this country
with the wide range of political, economic, and humanitarian resources
at our disposal.”
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