FEINGOLD MEASURE REQUIRING A BETTER SOMALIA POLICY PASSES SENATE

Amendment to Defense Authorization Bill Requires the Development of a Comprehensive Stabilization and Reconstruction Strategy

Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI)

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.”

Source: http://feingold.senate.gov