AFJN is delighted to announce that on December 10th, Congress passed legislation that severely decreases U.S. military aid to countries using child soldiers. As part of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (S. 3061, H.R. 3887), the legislation was passed unanimously by the House and Senate and will restrict International Military Education and Training, Foreign Military Financing, Excess Defense Articles, Foreign Military Sales, and Direct Commercial Sales but will still allow some assistance to be provided to professionalize a nation’s military force.
Under the restrictions in the bill, the U.S. will now deny certain military aid to Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, and Uganda. This is a bold move by Congress, particularly considering the U.S.’ strong connections with the Ugandan government.
Although Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) deserve special applause for introducing the bill, we encourage you to contact your member of Congress and thank them for supporting such an important piece of legislation.