there is worry that the -- there is word that the conflict in eastern congo could be nearing an end.avid eloida is in the congo. >> this is the front line of spending, broadcast to rebels to give themselves up is transmitted several hours a day. from the watch fly here to pakistan, -- from the watchman, here, there are calls to give themselves up. it may not look like much, but it could be the key to ending one of africa's worst guerrilla wars. there have been abuses on all sides in this war, poorly paid and train to government troops prey upon the rebels just as the hutus to. a local administrator denies it. >> it is not a single case where our forces have captured rebels and killed them in the field. >> we were told that 20 rebels sent a message here two days ago wanting to give up, but they were killed instead. >> we have to first make that decision to go out at night, put barriers away from the camps. it is clearly very difficult. we should remember that they also have dependence, as many as five or six children. -- dependents, as many as five or six children there is hope at las

nicholas kristof did a great article a few weeks ago about what's going on in the congo.re is a war that's been raging in the congo for four years. it's killed millions of people. millions. haiti is awful. but when i twittered the thing about the media is covering haiti too much, i got responses like, why do you hate black people? if i hate black people because i'm complaining about the media covering haiti too much, how do you feel about black people because you don't even know about what's going on in the congo where 5 million people have died? the media just doesn't do a good job and the americans don't do a good job about getting on the case of things that are not immediate or completely easy to understand right away or have celebrities involved. you know? there's lots of issues that need our attention. haiti was horrible, and i'm glad they're getting a lot of aid, but it wasn't the only thing that's going on in the world. >> larry: we're with bill maher. we'll ask about sarah palin and other things and take your phone ca calls and have twitter questions as well. don'

we went to tanzania, congo, ethiopia and sudan. went there to observe american development assistance, to look at programs that help with victims of h.i.v. and aids, tuberculosis, malaria, child and maternal mortality, victims of sexual violence, clean water, sanitation issues, democracy, governance, refugees. in a matter of six days traveling on the continent of africa, senator brown and i didn't have much time to ourselves but we weren't planning any. we spent a lot of time meeting with people, meeting with government officials, meeting with individuals who are part of the current political environment of africa but also touched many of -- many of their lives are touched by programs that the united states is involved in. i couldn't help but notice as i traveled the extraordinarily dedicated americans who are in our foreign service. many of them are posted in places around the world that are not glamorous, by any means. their jobs are hard and sometimes dangerous and they go to work every day without complaint. we really need to t

. >> in congo they took my t-shirt off me, my shoes and socks and took my glasses. i couldn't see. threw me in a room with mosquitos for a week. i had to pray to god i didn't get malaria. it wasn't pleasant. they thought i was a spy. >> reporter: another low points with way he was turned away at the border for not having a visa. >> i had to go back, get the visa, go all the way back. took me a week round trip, i'm crossing the border with a french guy. he said do you have a visa? i said i tried to get one last week. oh, they change the rules all the time. they gave him a visa. >> reporter: hitching rides on yachts and cargo ships across the sea he is keeping costs down. he learned people are generous the world over. >> you can go into any country in the world, any city and stand there with your bags and a map out saying help and someone will help you. >> reporter: this solitary traveler rarely feels he is on his own. >>> and that is "worldfocus" for now. there is a lot more news and analysis online at worldfocus.org. be sure to drop us a line about the program. i'm daljit dhaliwal

and it was, as is shown, that area, which is now renamed the congo, has been through -- it never stabilized has been through a lot of stuff. having grown up, you know, i'm of that age, the civil rights movement and all of that stuff so i was familiar with those struggles. i was there when it started and i was wondering like how would these people get started in -- in -- and it was all black people. see? the guy on the top was black and the guy on the bottom was black. how did they get started? how did they rally themselves to get some kind of equity here? so, you know, that's the impression that i had. tavis: you're consciousness, as is evidenced in your response to that question, your consciousness, bill, always comes through in your music. you talk about grandma's hands and let's just start and stop there. what is it about that song that all these years later, those of us who have grandmamas relate to? >> you know, it is funny because i'll give you two -- tavis: that's your grandmother on the screen there? >> yeah, that's grandma. when i met johnny cash, i was playing in hawaii and i was

. >> i was thrown in jail in congo that. >> took my t-shirt off me, my they took my glasses. i couldn't see. they threw me in a room for a week. i had to pray to god i didn't get malaria. it wasn't very pleasant. i think they thought i was a spy. when you look at me, i look like james bond. >> reporter: another point was when he turned away at the mr&y having a visa. >> go all the way on coaches and buses, get the visa, come back. it took me a week round trip. i crossing the border and a french border said have you got a visa? no, i haven't got a visa. i tried to get one last week. oh, they change the rules all the time. they gaye me a visa. >> reporter: catching rides on cargo shapes cross the seas, he is keeping costs down and raising money for aid. he says he has learned people are generous the world over. >> you go in any country in the world, in any city, stand there with your bags and say help, and someone will come and help you. >> reporter: so this solitary traveler rarely feels he son his own. annabelle roberts, itv news. >>> and this is "worldfocus" for now, but do

the democratic republic of congo is a great example of this.lso a terrible war in eastern congo where in the last ten years about 5 million people have died. and there's a movement now to make mining more responsible or to source the minerals better and make sure that the minerals that are in our cell phones didn't come from mines in congo. and that's fraught with complications for a lot of reasons. but there's a great piece right now in mother jones about exactly this problem. and the reason it's so great is that the frame is why is one of the world's richest countries also one of the poorest. and the writer really goes town to -- to these places in these small towns and meets the people who are involved in this mining. and there's no major investment because the region is so unstable, the country is so unstable. the political -- so the men who are doing this mining are miners out there earning very little money. and by the time it finally ends up in the big corporation's hands that can then get it to us, the little guy hasn't seen a whole lot

and yet the devil must have left liberia and taken up residence in congo.public of congo this summer, the contrasts were so overwhelmingly tragic. a country the size of western europe rich in minerals and natural resources where 5.4 million people have been killed in the most deadly conflict since world war ii. where 1,100 women and girls are raped every month. where the life expectancy is 46 and dropping. where poverty, starvation and all of the ills that stalk the human race are in abundance. when i traveled to goma, i saw in a single day the best and the worst of humanity. i met with women who had been savaged and brutalized physically and emotionally, victims of gender and sexual-based violence in a place where law, custom and even faith did little to protect them. but i also saw courageous women who, by faith, went back in to the bush to find those who, like them, had been violently attacked. i saw the doctors and the nurses who are helping to heal the wounds, and i saw so many who were there because their faith if led them to it. as we look at the wor

wholesale price and those kids are transited to places like the bahamas or to the democratic republic of congoto america or europe. >> larry: so they're slaves? >> that's correct. most of them end up in sex slavery. >> larry: david, what specifically does beyond borders do? >> larry, i'm going to tell you that, but let me correct something that aaron said. the vast majority of children who are sent into servitude are sent by their parents. they're not sold. i don't know of any hatian parents who sell their children. i'm sure that there are a few children who end up in the bahamas as sex slaves, but the vast majority of these children are internally trafficked, so what beyond borders is trying to do is reinforce the rural families, invest in sustainable agriculture, invest in schools. most of these rural parents send their children away to the cities out of desperation and out of false hope that they'll find a better life in the city. and so a lot of what we invest in is education programming through the radio, through adult education programs, adult literacy, so that these parents understand t

and yet, the devil must have left liberia and taken up residence in congo.n i was in the democratic republic of congo this summer, the contrasts were so overwhelmingly tragic. a country the size of western europe, rich in minerals and natural resources, where 5.4 million people have been killed in the most deadly conflict since world war ii, where 1200 women and girls are raped every month, where the life expectancy is 46 and dropping, where poverty, starvation, and all of the ills that stock the human race are in abundance. when i travel to goma, i saw in a single day the best and worst of humanity. i met with women who had been savaged and brutalized, physically and emotionally, victims of gender and sexual based violence in a place where law, custom, and even fake did little to protect them. i also saw courageous women who by faith went back into the bush to find those who, like them, had been violently attacked. i saw the doctors and nurses who were helping to heal the wounds, and i saw so many who were there because their faith led them to it. as we loo

they're less what we in the media like to call junkets where members of congo overseas.s great 250i7times for to get to know each other. 13 hours to armenia. more and more people are moving their families here. less, just time to chitchat and get to know each other. >> but i just want to stop you there because even those junkets or whatever are politicized. the rules say you have to have a bipartisan. the parties, you will have 13 republicans on a flight and they'll get one democrat or 15 democrats and they'll drag 1 republican to make it legal. every step of the way this process in washington is just like a glacier that's not moving. they can't stand each other. >> yeah. i don't disagree and i'm not suggest that if we suddenly put more people on planes to distant countries will suddenly solve our problems. you know, the biggest thing is that we have a tightly divided country. you have a geographically difficult vied couldn divided country. it used to be the cannes case that a lot of democrats are from the south and you vote like they vote now. you have republicans from

july, because we were coming to the breakup, if we could have a discussion on democratic republic of congo, i think saddam, and for personal reasons, iraq, because iraq had been in the press, nes to see me before the next cabinet meeting and said, "i promised to cut you about iraq. no decisions have been made, but i do not want to come up to the cabinet because it might leak and hype things up." then there was no cabinet all throughout the summer break, which there is not, you know, and parliament -- >> sorry to interrupt. we are in 2002, are we? >> yes, then we went to mozambique to get the wrong way to the meeting in johannesburg of tin years after rio on the world conference on sustainable development, and i cannot remember whether i ask to see him. he saw me privately there and said, "did not worry, we're going through the wind." i said, "where the military options? i really think we should make progress on palestine, get the palestinian state, transform the atmosphere in the middle east, get the arab countries to help us with iraq. this would be a better way of doing things." he said,

bosnia, rwanda, congo, darfur all told in a wartime there have been more than 100 million innocent victimsde. more than all the combat deaths in all of the wars fought during that time anywhere in the world. based on the human toll alone, genocide and manslaughter or a worse problem plaguing humanities dan war. we need to understand why. >> we need to tell many truths about genocide and mass murder because our understanding of genocide of mass murder is shrouded in ignorance, falsehood, confusion and on truth. here in the opening of this film, you saw a large scale truth and small-scale truth each equally important. the large scale truth is about the number of victims and the genocide or mass murder is the principal problem of lethal violence in the world today. it's not war. the small-scale truth is what was shown, what it means to kill somebody, which is how it is often been done in our time dating from the beginning of the 21st century face-to-face, a person deciding to raise his hands and strike down another often in the most gruesome of imaginable ways and the way that was described.

pointed out to me in early 2003, the mortality rate for children under five in iraq was worse than the congo. >> yes, the sanctions had become very very of a popular. >> extremely unpopular, and he had been successful -- wholley dishonestly i may say but successful in blaming the west for the sanctions. now, the issue was whether this successor, so-called smart sanctions regime from work would be a valid way of containing him. and it's worth just going to the -- and i think that -- forgive me if i mentioned the document and if you haven't -- i think that you've got the options paper we got before -- >> the march options paper is in the public domain. you can get it on the internet. i'm not certain of hand of whether or not it has been declassified. [laughter] maybe i will just -- i will just say -- >> the government was elected under your leadership. >> let me just summarize the affect of it because it dealt specifically as one of the options with this issue of containment. and it described as the least worst option. if you read the paper, what they are saying is it is possible that might wo

of the work i read recently where he was talking about king leopold who's known as a tyrant in the congo, mass murderer might be said that he was known in his own building has an admirable constitutional moderate restraint and so on in the depended upon the restrains the were being -- that he was acting under and one sees this with stalin the personality oriented shifted after 1932 perhaps is from this he could revive the personality when he needed. this shows interesting incrementally that goes against the tyrants feelings. stalin is also remarkably intelligent and that comes through both in the comments and in the evaluation of him as the most successful negotiator. that, too goes against the stereotypes of stalin because he was surrounded by aa and the rest which frequently typed especially by the wonderfully malicious trotsky. the scholarship confirmed was by any standards a remarkably intelligent man. so it is a recognizable stalin that i can see here and i appreciate that. a book of this type i supposed to be either revisionist or be definitive. revisionists claim to be definitive

eastern congo that but thes up again -- but thes up against the country.to ugondo, we thought that's where joseph conney was at the time. we barely missed him. he went north on a tirade going up to sudan and murdered thousands of people during that are short people of time. it averages out he murders or mutilates about 3,000 kids a day. that's why this is important. we have to get this guy. we can't do it if we tried the way we tried before. it hasn't work and it's not going to work. anyway, we have watched this take place. it's spreading now to other areas. i would anticipate before too long if it was left unchecked, it would go not just to the central african republic, but back into the sudan and maybe even eastern ethiopia. it's a very serious thing. in 2009 a total of 186 people have been killed by the l.r.a. just in southern sudan. one survivor describes his experience in the murders of his families at the hands of the l.r.a. now this is a -- this is a quote. this is actually what this person said. "we were eating dinner outside of our hut when severa

so for example, in a country like the democratic republic of congo where there are no banking surgeries order to pay the military a bag of money, by the time it gets to the troops in goma, there's nothing left. if we can set up a mobile banking system, we cut out the middle people and one of the biggest differences we can make with our aid investments is helping to build transparent anti-corrupt e-government systems and some countries are very open to that and we're working with them and we're also sending this sort of little swat team we have of high-tech young people around the world working to enhance these programs. but we're taking this anti-corruption campaign very seriously. >> well, i appreciate that response. there's nothing wrong with conditioning aid. because americans expect there's accountability in the use of our taxpayer dollars. so we have a right to expect that the countries are fighting corruption. i would also add to that list the gender issues that they are integrating women into the programs. you've been a leader on that and gives us a chance to advance that issue.

2002, they had a child mortality rate of 130 per 1,000 children under the age of 5 worse than the congo. that was despite the fact that saddam had as much money as he wanted for immunization programs and medicines for those children. that equates to roughly about 90,000 deaths under the age of 5 a year. the figure today is not 130. it's 40. that equates to about 50,000 young people, children, who as a result of a different regime that cares about its people. that's the result that getting rid of saddam makes. and you can talk to iraqis, of course, who will say some of them particularly those from the sunni side still worried about whether they'll be able to come in the politics. and some of them may say well, i don't believe it was worth it. but i think if you ask the majority of iraqis today, would you really prefer with all the challenges that lie ahead to be back under saddam, i think you'd get a pretty overwhelming answer to that question. >> the other perspective clearly -- and you will appreciate this better than anyone can probably, our participation in the iraq conflict has be

happened at the time it is in front of our police at the moment and will, if they proceed to the charges congo in front of the courts to find out exactly what did happen in this particular individual case. >> dr. louis. >> mr. speaker according to the great theorist of the counter insurgency robert thompson over 40 years ago prisoner abuse is not only morally wrong it is lethal to any counter insurgency campaigns. i appreciate the foreign secretary cannot or does not wish to comment on the particular case that is currently before the courts but in response to the honorable gentleman for kingston can he addressed the question of what representations the government made to our american allies marginally when it became known that waterboarding for example -- mr. speaker injury happy to see clearly the government has detailed in the success of intelligence and security committee reports did follow up both in terms of our own system the way in which the practices were taken forward. also in ways i think i should set out in a letter and i would be happy to do that what happened. it is also documente

the coast guard and maritime trade organization heeled a briefing about the coast guard and its congoing work. we held a meeting with the coast guard at the haitian embassy. the c.b.c. met with the haitian government and talked about various problems we wanted to take a look at, the t.p.s. guide we looked at the caricom memo, discussed haiti's debt relief numbers from treasury. we have dealt with the c.b.c. constituency outreach guide and these were all things as i indicated that the congressional black caucus has done. as i wind down, i want to once again remind americans that haiti has been a tremendous part of the growth and development of our nation. as i mentioned on the floor before, it was back in the late 1800's when haiti had a -- had the enslaved people of haiti had a rebellion against the government of france and in a pollon's army after 12 year struggle, lost the war to haiti, becoming -- haiti becoming the first country where enslaved people overthrew the power -- the european power and became a republic. just the third republic ever in the world at that time. so we have a t

2002, they had a child mortality rate of 130 per thousand children under the age of 5, worse than the congoy about 90,000 deaths under the age of 5 a year. the figure today is not 130, it is 40. that equates to about 50,000 young people, children who as a result of a different regime that cares about its people, that's the result that getting rid of saddam makes. you can talk to iraqis, of course, who will say to you, some of them particularly those from the sunni side still worried about whether they'll be able to come into the politics, and some of them may say, well, i don't believe it was worth it. but i think if you ask the majority of iraqis today would you really prefer, with all the challenges that lie ahead, to be back under saddam, i think you get a pretty overwhelming answer to that question. >> the other perspective, clearly, and you will appreciate this better than anyone can probably, our participation in the iraq conflict has been very divisive here and abroad, has caused deep anguish to those who lost people they loved, some of whom are in this room. there is gratitude, grea

next crisis will occur, but by recognizing the current instability in the horn of africa, sudan and congo, we can anticipate crises that will -- the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. boren: will the chairman yield 15 seconds? the chair: the gentleman is recognized for 15 seconds. mr. boren: we should be training the linguists and the translators in the languages now so we are not reactive in our efforts but proactive in our actions. i urge support for this bill and i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from michigan is recognized. mr. hoekstra: at this time i yield two minutes to my colleague, mr. burgess. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. burgess: i thank the ranking member for yielding. madam speaker, this is a very unfortunate bill but i think this side of the aisle has laid out abundant reasons why this should be fixed. the intelligence community is too important to our national security to allow a bill with as many concerns as this one to pass. however, i'm here also to discuss what i see as a fatal flaw in the way informati