War and humanitarian suffering in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have long preoccupied U.S. policymakers, including many Members of Congress. Since the 1990s, cyclical conflicts in eastern DRC have caused regional instability and impeded investment, becoming the focus of international attention toward the country. Since 2015, attention has turned toward DRC's political trajectory as President Joseph Kabila's efforts to remain in office past the end of his second elected term in 2016 (his last, under the constitution) have sparked unrest. Unable for now to amend constitutional term limits as other regional leaders have done, Congolese officials have delayed elections on various grounds, asserting that Kabila must remain in power in the meantime. In December 2016, under significant domestic and international pressure (including from the United States), the ruling party and opposition agreed to form a unity government and hold elections in 2017. However, the details and feasibility of implementation are in question. DRC has never experienced an electoral transfer of power between presidential administrations.

In the east, political elites have displayed limited capacity or will to improve security and state administration, while neighboring states have periodically provided support to DRC-based rebel groups. In 2013, DRC and neighboring states agreed to a regional peace framework, and later that year, the Congolese military—backed by a United Nations (U.N.) "Intervention Brigade"—defeated a relatively formidable Rwandan-backed rebel group known as the M23. Despite a subsequent peace process between the government and the M23, however, rebel combatants were never fully demobilized, and some appeared to be reorganizing as of early 2017. New armed groups have also emerged in the central Kasaï region, a political opposition stronghold.

The United States has provided significant development aid, security assistance, and emergency humanitarian assistance to DRC, and is the largest financial contributor to the U.N. peacekeeping operation in DRC, MONUSCO. As a permanent, veto-capable member of the U.N. Security Council, the United States has shaped the scope of MONUSCO's mandate and of a U.N. sanctions regime. In 2016, for the first time, the United States issued unilateral targeted sanctions against several DRC government and military officials. The United States furthermore wields influence over the decisions of international financial institutions, from which the DRC government has requested budget support amid a recent economic downturn. Starting in 2013, the Obama Administration maintained a U.S. Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region, reporting to the Secretary of State, a position held by two former Members of Congress. Whether, and at what level, the envoy position might continue under the Trump Administration remains to be seen.

Congress has helped shape U.S. policy toward DRC through legislation and oversight activities, often focusing on human rights and democracy issues. In the 114^th Congress, the House and Senate, respectively, passed H.Res. 780 and S.Res. 485, which called for punitive measures to deter President Kabila from clinging to power. Congress has also restricted certain types of aid to countries that, like DRC, have child soldiers in their military (P.L. 110-457, as amended), although the Obama Administration largely waived such restrictions for DRC. Between 2012 and 2014, the Obama Administration suspended some military aid to Rwanda, citing its support for the M23 rebel group, consistent with both the child soldiers law and provisions in foreign aid appropriations measures at the time. Members of the 114^th Congress separately focused significant attention on the DRC government's decision in 2013 to suspend its issuance of exit permits for internationally adopted children. Members continue to debate the impact of §1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (P.L. 111-203), regarding "conflict minerals" sourced in DRC and neighboring states. (See CRS Report R42618, Conflict Minerals in Central Africa: U.S. and International Responses, and CRS Report R43639, Conflict Minerals and Resource Extraction: Dodd-Frank, SEC Regulations, and Legal Challenges.)

Introduction

Cyclical conflicts in DRC have contributed to instability in Africa's Great Lakes region¹ since the 1990s, spawning a long-running humanitarian crisis and fueling human rights abuses. Since 2015, the country's domestic political trajectory has sparked new concerns. President Joseph Kabila is constitutionally barred from reelection, but he has remained in office following the notional end of his second elected term in 2016 because elections have not been held as scheduled. Large street protests over electoral delays have been violently suppressed by security forces. In December 2016, Congolese Catholic bishops negotiated a political agreement between the ruling party and opposition groups that attempts to defuse the standoff. The agreement foresees a unity government and elections in 2017. However, the details of implementation are in question, and government officials have since repeatedly suggested that further election delays are likely due to financial, logistical, and security challenges.

In the east, armed groups have exploited a lack of effective governance, enabled by local zero-sum contests over land, smuggling routes, and other resources. Neighboring countries have periodically backed Congolese rebel proxies, and the security vacuum has drawn in foreign-origin militias. DRC's military has been implicated in serious human rights abuses in conflict zones, including extrajudicial killings and mass rapes. Since 2014, new insurgencies have arisen in previously relatively stable parts of the country, including in southeastern Tanganyika province (formerly northern Katanga) and the central Kasai region. Although violence appears to be primarily driven by local concerns, both areas are political opposition strongholds.

In early 2013, a U.N.-backed regional "Framework Agreement" sought to define the respective responsibilities of regional governments and donors in ending the cycle of conflict in eastern DRC. Neighboring states agreed not to sponsor DRC-based armed groups, while DRC committed to governance reforms. Later that year, the DRC military, backed by a newly created U.N. "Intervention Brigade," defeated a formidable Rwandan-backed rebel group known as the M23. The DRC government, however, has not implemented its commitments under the 2013 accord or a separate peace process with the M23, and as of early 2017 some ex-M23 combatants appeared to be remobilizing. Tensions and conflicts in neighboring Burundi, Central African Republic, and South Sudan present further challenges.

DRC is rich in minerals, water resources, and agricultural potential. The country also receives substantial international aid, with nearly $2.8 billion in total net official development assistance disbursed by all donors in 2015.² Yet most Congolese live in poverty and some 7.5 million require humanitarian assistance.³ Due to decades of conflict, some 2.1 million Congolese are internally displaced and nearly 460,000 are refugees in nearby countries; DRC also hosts about 500,000 refugees from nearby states.⁴ DRC was ranked 176 out of 188 on the 2015 U.N. Human Development Index, and has among the world's lowest per-capita gross domestic product (GDP).

DRC's economy experienced strong growth during the decade that followed the formal end of a five-year civil and regional war in 2003. However, low global prices for DRC's mineral commodity exports have produced severe fiscal strains since 2016. Relations with the international financial institutions have been poor since 2012, when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ceased its concessional lending program due to a lack of transparency in state mining contracts. Overall, DRC political actors often appear more focused on controlling resources and augmenting their personal power than on establishing stability, creating effective state institutions, and fostering socioeconomic development. The State Department's annual human rights report highlights "widespread impunity and corruption throughout the government," security force abuses, and a judiciary that is "corrupt and subject to influence."⁵

The U.N. Organization Stabilization Mission in DRC (MONUSCO) is the world's largest U.N. peacekeeping operation, with about 18,750 uniformed personnel.⁶ Its mandate focuses on protecting civilians in conflict zones and supporting the DRC government's stabilization efforts in the east, tasks at which it has arguably had limited success. MONUSCO is also mandated to support the disarmament and reintegration of ex-combatants, promote political space and human rights, provide support to national elections (under certain conditions), and support the government's efforts to advance security sector reform, among other activities.⁷ Starting in 2013, the U.N. Security Council authorized an Intervention Brigade within MONUSCO to "neutralize" armed groups, potentially unilaterally.⁸ Policymakers continue to debate whether the brigade could be a useful model for other situations, such as South Sudan and Mali. Policymakers have also debated the extent to which MONUSCO should assist the troubled electoral process and how it should respond to election-related political unrest in urban areas.

Members of Congress have continued to debate the wisdom and impact of Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (P.L. 111-203), which required the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue a rule regulating the disclosure by U.S. firms of their use of "conflict minerals" originating in DRC or neighboring states.¹¹ Some Members view the resulting SEC rule—issued in 2012 but partially stayed in 2014 after a court challenge—as an important contribution to international efforts to stabilize eastern DRC. Others assert that it has imposed burdensome reporting and compliance costs on U.S. firms and/or is harming the Congolese people by deterring firms from sourcing their inputs from DRC or investing in the region. In the 114^th Congress, H.R. 5983, which would have repealed Section 1502 along with several other provisions of P.L. 111-203, was reported in the House. The Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2017 (H.R. 5485), which would have prohibited any funds appropriated by that act from being used to enforce the SEC rule (§1219), passed the House. New efforts to stay or weaken the SEC rule's requirements may be aided by a reported Trump Administration plan to suspend the rule, as well as by the acting SEC chairman's January 2017 directive for SEC staff to "consider whether the 2014 guidance is still appropriate and whether any additional relief is appropriate in the interim."¹²

Members of Congress widely condemned the DRC government's decision in 2013 to suspend the issuance of most exit permits for internationally adopted children, including those adopted by American families.¹³ Some Members engaged directly with top U.S. and Congolese officials on this issue. In the 114^th Congress, the FY2017 Department of State Authorization Act (S. 2937) included a "Sense of the Senate" provision (§405) urging the DRC government to complete its review of all "unresolved international adoption cases" and calling upon the State Department to "continue to treat the release of internationally adopted children" from DRC as a "priority."¹⁴ In 2015, Congress passed the Adoptive Family Relief Act (P.L. 114-70), which allowed immigrant visa renewal fees to be waived for adopted children whose initial visas, issued on or after March 27, 2013, lapsed due to "extraordinary circumstances, including the denial of an exit permit."¹⁵

Congress has, at times, sought to deter Rwandan proxy interventions in DRC, for example by adopting provisions in annual foreign aid appropriations legislation between FY2010 and FY2015 that restricted Foreign Military Financing (FMF) aid to Rwanda if it were found to be supporting Congolese rebels. From FY2012 to FY2014, the Obama Administration suspended FMF for Rwanda, consistent with such provisions, after finding that Rwanda had provided support for the M23 rebellion (which Rwanda denied). Some additional military aid to Rwanda was suspended under legislation related to child soldiers. These actions, along with diplomatic efforts and other donors' decisions to suspend or redirect aid for Rwanda, appeared to contribute to a change of behavior by Rwanda and, ultimately, to the M23's military defeat.¹⁶ No such provision was included in the FY2016 foreign aid appropriations measure (enacted as Division K of P.L. 114-113), nor in House and Senate FY2017 aid appropriations bills (H.R. 5912 and S. 3117).

In recent years, U.S. engagement with DRC has been influenced by legislative restrictions on bilateral aid for countries that, like DRC, use child soldiers (Title IV of P.L. 110-457, the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008 or CSPA, as amended); have a poor record on human trafficking (P.L. 106-386, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act or TVPA, as amended); or fail to display fiscal transparency (most recently P.L. 112-74, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012, as amended and extended into FY2013 via continuing resolutions). With regard to child soldiers, the State Department has annually designated DRC under CSPA, but President Obama partially waived aid restrictions for FY2017.¹⁷ With regard to human trafficking, in 2016, for the first time since 2009, the State Department ranked DRC "Tier 2-Watch List" instead of "Tier 3" (lowest), and thus DRC is no longer subject to aid restrictions.¹⁸ And since FY2014, the fiscal transparency provision in appropriations measures has not restricted aid (see §7031[b] of P.L. 114-113).

With its resources, vast territory, and strategic location, DRC has long served as an arena of regional and international competition. "Congo Free State" was claimed in 1885 as the personal possession of Belgium's King Leopold II. His administration of the territory became notorious for its plunder of Congo's natural resources, mismanagement, and serious abuses against the local population, and the Belgian government transitioned the territory into a formal colony in 1908.¹⁹ Belgium granted Congo independence in 1960, shortly after parliamentary elections in which nationalist leader Patrice Lumumba became prime minister. The country's early years following independence were plagued by instability, including a secession movement in Katanga and an army mutiny that culminated in Lumumba's murder in 1961.²⁰ One of the first U.N. peacekeeping operations deployed in response to the Katanga crisis in 1960 and stayed until 1964.

In 1965, Colonel Joseph Mobutu, who had been involved in the mutiny against Lumumba, seized power in a coup, gradually instituting a more centralized and authoritarian form of government. Mobutu's pursuit of a more "authentic" indigenous Congolese national identity led him to rename himself Mobutu Sese Seko and the country Zaire. Mobutu's 32-year rule was backed by U.S. and other Western support in the context of Cold War rivalry over the loyalty of African leaders.²¹ He also relied on fraudulent elections, brute force, and patronage networks fueled by extensive corruption, leading many analysts to brand his regime a "kleptocracy."²² At the same time, petty corruption came to constitute a crucial economic safety net for many Congolese.

Domestic and international pressures mounted on Mobutu as the Cold War drew to a close and as the aging president's health faltered. Mobutu agreed in principle to a multi-party democratic system in 1990, but he repeatedly delayed elections. State institutions and the military withered, while civil conflicts in neighboring states spilled over into DRC, diverting state resources and destabilizing local communities. In the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Rwandan Hutu extremists who had orchestrated the killings fled across the border and used refugee camps to remobilize against the new Tutsi-dominated Rwandan government, with reported backing from Mobutu. Rwanda launched cross-border military operations against these groups, reportedly also targeting civilians on a large scale.²³ Rwanda and Uganda then backed a 1996 rebellion against Mobutu by Laurent Désiré Kabila, an exiled militant. The ensuing conflict came to be known as the "first" Congo war. With Mobutu's security forces and personal health in tatters, Kabila seized power in 1997 and renamed the country DRC. Mobutu died in exile in Morocco the same year.

Tensions among the erstwhile allies soon erupted. In 1998, amid growing popular hostility toward Rwandan soldiers as well as Congolese of Rwandan descent, Kabila announced that Rwandan troops would be expelled. This provoked a mutiny within the armed forces. Rwanda and Uganda then deployed troops into DRC and cultivated rebel groups as proxies, this time in an effort to unseat Kabila. They also fought each other. Angola, Zimbabwe, Sudan, and others intervened on Kabila's side. The conflict, dubbed "Africa's World War," led to a major humanitarian crisis, estimated by some experts to have caused (directly and indirectly) some 3.3 million deaths.²⁴

In January 2015, street protests in Kinshasa spurred the defeat of a ruling party-backed effort to require a national census prior to elections, which had widely been seen as a delay tactic. The protests were a turning point in Congolese politics, upending previous assumptions that street unrest was unlikely to produce significant political changes because opposition groups in DRC were too divided, society too fragmented, and social trust too low.²⁷ The protests also signaled the emergent influence of non-partisan youth activists. The security forces subsequently sought to constrain anti-government mobilization, violently suppressing protests, arresting activists, shuttering critical media outlets, and expelling international researchers.²⁸ In 2016, as the notional deadline for elections approached, opposition party leaders and youth activists called for more protests in an effort to force Kabila to step down. Some protesters turned violent, while security forces reportedly assaulted, set on fire, shot, and killed protesters with machetes.²⁹

These dynamics placed new pressures on the government and elevated international concerns about DRC's stability. In October 2016, an African Union (AU) mediator produced a political agreement between the government and a relatively accommodating segment of the opposition, which notionally set April 2018 as the deadline for elections. A new cabinet was appointed along with a new prime minister, Samy Badibanga, who heads a splinter faction of the opposition Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) party. However, a larger opposition coalition known as the Rassemblement rejected the accord, and regional and Western diplomats critiqued it as insufficiently inclusive. The Rassemblement was spearheaded by two leading opposition groups: Etienne Tshisekedi's UDPS and the G7, made up of ruling party dissenters who have rallied around the popular former governor of Katanga, Moïse Katumbi.³⁰

Civilians have been the primary victims of brutal violence in DRC's mineral-rich, agriculturally fertile, and densely inhabited eastern provinces. Conflict has been especially acute in the Kivus and adjacent Ituri, together an epicenter of regional unrest since the 1990s. The spillover of conflicts in Rwanda and Burundi at that time aggravated long-standing tensions in the region between and among communities self-identified as "indigenous" and those that trace their origins (however distant) to Rwanda. Violence has been driven by deep-rooted tensions over access to land and citizenship rights, localized disputes, and organized criminal activity, as well as regional geopolitics. Rwanda and Uganda have periodically reportedly backed various rebel groups, although foreign proxy warfare has been less evident since the defeat in 2013 of the Rwandan-backed M23 insurgency. In addition to militia factions, the national military (FARDC) and other state security forces have also been implicated in atrocities, including during counter-insurgency operations and as part of illicit involvement in mining.³⁹

U.N. peacekeepers have been criticized for failing to protect civilians in DRC, a symptom of tension between MONUSCO's wide-ranging mandate, on the one hand, and stark logistical challenges paired with shortfalls of capacity and political will among troop contributors. U.N. personnel serving in DRC have also been implicated in sexual abuse and exploitation. Separately, members of a FARDC battalion that deployed as peacekeepers to neighboring Central African Republic in 2014-2015 were implicated in sexual violence, and were ultimately made to withdraw from the U.N. peacekeeping mission there in early 2016.

Multiple armed groups are active in eastern DRC, including "Mai Mai" militias (disparate groups that operate as a combination of self-defense networks and criminal rackets) as well as foreign-origin groups that have long sought safe-haven and illicit revenues in the area. These include the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), founded by perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an obscure group of Ugandan origin that has been implicated in large-scale massacres. In 2016, armed elements of South Sudan's anti-government rebel movement, the SPLM-iO, also entered DRC. Smaller foreign-origin groups include elements of the Burundian former rebel group the National Liberation Forces (FNL) and the Ugandan-origin Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

The FDLR. The FDLR is among the largest armed groups in eastern DRC, with some 1,000-2,500 combatants as of 2015.⁴¹ Formed in 2000, it has been implicated in severe violence against civilians as well as illicit economic activity. The FDLR and several key figures are designated for U.N. and U.S. sanctions, and alleged supreme commander Sylvestre Mudacumura is subject to an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant. Rwanda views the FDLR as a national security threat, noting that its founders helped perpetrate the genocide and have vowed to overthrow the Rwandan government. The FDLR's activities nonetheless appear primarily oriented toward self-preservation within DRC: the group has not launched major attacks on Rwanda since the early 2000s and it is deeply enmeshed in the political economy of the Kivus region.

The FDLR's complex embedded relationship with civilian communities makes it a challenging target for counterinsurgency operations. FARDC operations since 2009 appear to have weakened the group, but they have also reportedly produced large-scale abuses by both sides. Local-level collusion among elements of the FARDC and the FDLR is also periodically reported. MONUSCO and Rwanda have pursued efforts to entice FDLR members to desert and undergo voluntary repatriation, while supporting continued military pressure. In 2014, some regional leaders endorsed a notional voluntary disarmament plan, despite Rwandan and Western opposition; the plan appeared to produce little concrete impact. International calls for joint FARDC-MONUSCO operations against the FDLR in the aftermath of the M23's defeat were largely stymied by a lack of political will on the part of key U.N. troop contributors (namely South Africa and Tanzania), along with DRC's decision in 2015 to appoint military commanders that could not pass U.N. human rights vetting.

The FARDC has since conducted unilateral operations, with periodic MONUSCO support. It has also reportedly backed local militias at odds with the FDLR. As of late 2015, U.N. sanctions monitors reported that the FDLR's "top-level leadership, troop strength and overall military capacity remained largely intact."⁴² However, in 2016, counter-FDLR efforts appeared to bear significant fruit, and sanctions monitors reported at year's end that the group had been riven by internal divisions and defections. At the same time, they reported that the FDLR had increased its "collaboration" with Congolese groups that "act as force multipliers."⁴³ Some observers warn that the FARDC's cultivation of militias to fight the FDLR could thus sow the seeds of new conflict.⁴⁴

In 2012, a rebel group known as the M23 emerged as a mutiny of soldiers who had been integrated into the FARDC under a 2009 peace accord with a reportedly Rwandan-backed rebel group known as the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP).⁵⁰ According to a wide range of reports, the M23 received substantial support from Rwanda, with U.N. sanctions monitors referring to additional, more "subtle" support from Uganda.⁵¹

The M23's seizure of the city of Goma in November 2012 prompted a flurry of international diplomatic action. The result was the "Framework Agreement" that DRC and all of its neighbors signed in February 2013, which aimed to define the respective responsibilities of the DRC government, neighboring states, and donors in ending cyclical conflict in the east. Regional leaders committed to respect DRC's sovereignty and not to provide support to DRC-based armed groups, while DRC leaders committed to institutional reforms, the extension of state authority in the east, political decentralization, and national reconciliation. The signatories also agreed to pursue regional economic integration.

In the second half of 2013, the FARDC, backed by MONUSCO's Intervention Brigade, conducted a string of successful operations against the M23, reversing a pattern of military setbacks. Observers pointed to several possible explanatory factors, including improvements in the FARDC's command structure; support from the Intervention Brigade, made up of troops from other African countries (notably South Africa and Tanzania) that were at odds with Rwanda at the time; and an apparent cessation of Rwandan support to the M23. These developments also followed a split in the M23 and the surrender in Rwanda of one faction leader, Bosco Ntaganda, who was transferred to the ICC to stand trial for alleged crimes in Ituri. Ultimately, the M23 agreed to end its rebellion in exchange for various guarantees in December 2013. However, few ex-fighters were demobilized, and hundreds remained in camps in Uganda and Rwanda as of early 2016.⁵² In early 2017, some elements appeared to be reorganizing, with uncertain effects.

Tensions between MONUSCO and the DRC government have grown since 2014 amid international criticism of DRC's democratic trajectory, human rights abuses, and failure to implement peace agreements with armed groups and neighboring states. In 2015, MONUSCO ceased its logistical support to DRC military operations against the FDLR after the government appointed commanding generals who had been implicated in serious human rights abuses.⁵⁵ MONUSCO has since provided some ad-hoc support for FARDC operations against the ADF and Ituri-based militias, and in early 2016, MONUSCO and the government reached an agreement to resume some U.N. support for operations against the FDLR. The mission has struggled to respond to political violence (including in Kinshasa) and to emergent insurgencies in the central Kasai region, Tanganyika province, and elsewhere.

The DRC government has repeatedly requested a MONUSCO drawdown, though some Security Council members are reportedly concerned about force reductions in the lead-up to elections.⁵⁶ In 2015, the Security Council endorsed a withdrawal of 2,000 troops—recommended by the U.N. Secretary-General—while maintaining the mission's authorized troop ceiling (and thus, the flexibility to increase troop numbers if needed).⁵⁷ In renewing MONUSCO's mandate in 2016, the Security Council stated its intention to eventually make this reduction permanent through a revised troop ceiling, but only "once significant progress has been achieved"—and declined to endorse further reductions than those recommended by the U.N. Secretary-General.

Urban political unrest since 2015 has presented new challenges for MONUSCO, which as of 2014 had deployed the bulk of its uniformed personnel to conflict-affected areas in the east. MONUSCO's mandate instructs the mission to protect civilians "including […] in the context of elections"—a provision introduced in 2016 that goes beyond its previous mandate to "monitor, report, and follow-up on" election-related abuses.⁵⁸ The new language may have "contributed to expectations among Congolese civil society that the mission will protect them from political repression by the government."⁵⁹ However, the mission's mandate instructs it to work with the DRC government, and its ability to operate is de facto contingent on government acceptance.

U.S. intelligence agencies have characterized DRC as one of several African countries where "poaching presents significant security challenges."⁶⁰ According to a 2011 assessment by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), "despite the smaller size of the DRC's elephant population compared to its neighbors to the south and east, it appears to contribute disproportionately to the illicit ivory supply."⁶¹ Ivory poaching is prevalent, notably, in two national parks located in conflict-affected areas of the east and northeast: Virunga (Africa's oldest national park) and Garamba. A range of actors reportedly participate, including elements of the state security forces, Congolese militias, Sudanese poaching syndicates, and the Ugandan-origin Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). According to the World Wildlife Fund, 140 Virunga rangers have been killed "in the line of duty" since 1996.⁶²

According to U.N. sanctions monitors, elephant poaching and ivory trafficking present a "catastrophic threat" to elephant survival in DRC, but "the widespread disappearance of elephant populations has made it an ever-diminishing and increasingly marginal source of armed group financing."⁶³ U.N. sanctions monitors have highlighted poaching activity in Garamba national park, which reportedly lost at least 114 elephants to poaching in 2015. Poachers continued to use helicopters to hunt elephants in Garamba in 2015, though the U.N. Group of Experts reported that no such incidents were documented after the park promulgated a policy late in the year under which its guards will open fire on helicopters flying below 3,000 feet without prior clearance. The LRA reportedly profits from DRC elephant poaching by smuggling ivory from Garamba to Sudan for eventual export, according to research by the non-governmental Enough Project.⁶⁴

DRC has some of the largest natural resource endowments in the world. The vast majority of the population nonetheless depends on subsistence agriculture for survival, and outside of major cities and industrial mining zones, economic activity is often carried out within a broad informal sector. The reestablishment of relations with international financial institutions after the 1998-2003 war improved DRC's macroeconomic stability, but in 2012, the IMF ended its concessional loan program due to concerns about a lack of transparency in mining contracts.

Since 2015, DRC has experienced a fiscal crisis due to falling global prices for copper and other minerals whose exports are the mainstay of the country's formal economy.⁶⁵ The economy grew by 9.2% in 2014, but growth fell to 6.9% in 2015 and dropped further to 3.9% in 2016.⁶⁶ The country ran budget deficits in 2015 and 2016, as some major investors pulled back or divested of their assets. Notably, in 2016, the U.S.-based multinational Freeport McMoRan decided to unload its controlling stake in DRC's largest industrial mine, the Tenke Fungurume copper concession in Katanga, to a Chinese company, in an effort to alleviate its mounting global debt. The African Development Bank (AfDB) declined in July 2016 to provide budget support, indicating that political uncertainty related to DRC's elections process was "preventing donors from responding positively to the country's call for appropriate assistance."⁶⁷

DRC was ranked 184 out of 190 countries in the World Bank's 2017 Doing Business Report, despite some efforts by the government to improve conditions. The State Department has reported on a number of obstacles to foreign investment, including underdeveloped infrastructure, inadequate contract enforcement, limited access to credit, continued insecurity in the east, inadequate property rights protection, high levels of bureaucratic red tape and corruption, a shortage of skilled labor, and a lack of reliable electricity.⁶⁸ In addition, domestic law requires that Congolese hold a majority stake in all agriculture investments, which is seen as a significant impediment to foreign investment.⁶⁹

DRC's sovereign debt declined from 136% of GDP in 2009 to around 21% by 2014, after the country qualified in 2010 for multilateral debt relief worth $12.3 billion under the World Bank- and IMF-led Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.⁷⁰ Stated conditions for the debt cancellation included improved economic management, governance, poverty reduction, and social service delivery. Some analysts questioned whether the World Bank and IMF moved ahead too quickly, thereby losing policy leverage in the absence of significant advances in governance and the business environment.⁷¹

Countries in the region, multilateral institutions, some private-sector firms, and donors (including the United States) have advanced various methods and models for reducing the international trade in "conflict minerals"—that is, designated ores that are alleged to fuel conflict in central Africa. Conflict mineral exports from DRC are associated with the informal, artisanal mining sector in the east. In 2016, U.N. sanctions monitors reported that due diligence measures focusing on tin, tantalum, and tungsten had successfully deprived armed groups of some opportunities to benefit from illicit mineral extraction, but that "supply chains face numerous challenges, such as the involvement of FARDC elements, corruption of government officials and smuggling and leakage of minerals from non-validated mining sites into the legitimate supply chain."⁷² The U.N. Group of Experts also reported that the absence of similar traceability schemes for gold—due in large part to gold's high value relative to its size, which renders small-scale smuggling highly profitable—had hindered efforts to fully eradicate conflict minerals.⁷³

The vast majority of state revenues from the mining sector come not from artisanal mining in the Kivus, but from large-scale industrial cobalt and copper mining operations in the relatively stable southeast (formerly Katanga province), in which the parastatal Gécamines partners with multinational firms. International concerns related to the formal mining sector have focused on corruption, mismanagement, shortfalls in property rights, regulatory uncertainty, and poor labor conditions. In 2014 (latest available), DRC accounted for 47% of the world's cobalt reserves and produced 51% of the world's supply, along with 27% of natural industrial diamonds and 20% of tantalum.⁷⁴ China is the largest consumer of Congolese copper and cobalt, and is also DRC's largest overall trading partner, consuming 43.1% of DRC's exports and contributing 17.7% of its imports in 2015.⁷⁵ China has emerged as a major investor in the country since 2007, when it pledged over $6 billion in loans to DRC for infrastructure, which were expected to be repaid through joint-venture mining operations.⁷⁶

A lack of transparency with regard to mining deals has been a perennial area of focus. Notably, an independent investigation into five mining concessions sold between 2010 and 2012 reported that DRC lost at least $1.36 billion from underpricing those assets in complex deals featuring offshore companies and two multinational mining corporations, Glencore and the Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC).⁷⁷ Intermediary companies involved in the deals were linked to companies owned by Dan Gertler, an Israeli businessman with reputedly close ties to President Kabila.⁷⁸ Gertler has come under new scrutiny in the context of ongoing U.S. investigations into violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by a global asset management group, Och-Ziff, which agreed in September 2016 to pay $413 million in civil and criminal penalties.⁷⁹ Och-Ziff had reportedly invested heavily in Gertler's operations in DRC.

After the IMF ceased its lending to DRC in 2012, it again accused the country in June 2015 of failing to disclose the sale of a mining concession partially owned by Gécamines, in alleged violation of Congolese law and the terms of an agreement between DRC and the World Bank.⁸⁰ The pace of such incidents appeared to escalate in 2016 as the DRC government faced a growing fiscal crisis. In early 2016, Global Witness, an international transparency NGO, accused Gécamines of failing to release details regarding a planned joint venture with the China Nonferrous Metal Mining Company (CNMC).⁸¹ In April, Gécamines allegedly sold a stake in an ENRC project without disclosing the transaction, according to news reports.⁸² Global Witness subsequently criticized Gécamines for declining to make public the terms of a deal to sign over royalty rights in "its most lucrative mining project," Glencore's KCC copper project, to an offshore company owned by Gertler.⁸³ In early 2017, after Gécamines agreed to lift its objections to the Tenke Fungurume copper concession sale, news reports indicated that the parastatal had received $33 million from U.S. seller Freeport McMoran in a settlement deal for which the full terms were not made public.⁸⁴

Transparency concerns have also been raised concerning DRC's nascent oil sector. In 2014, independent researchers accused a British oil company, SOCO, of bribing DRC military commanders to intimidate opponents of exploration efforts in DRC's Virunga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site.⁸⁵ SOCO later announced that it had ceased operations there.

The Obama Administration characterized DRC as "a strategic priority for the United States due to its size, location, and role in the Great Lakes region."⁸⁶ The State Department stated that U.S. policy toward DRC was "focused on helping the country become a nation that is stable and democratic, at peace with its neighbors, extends state authority across its territory, and provides for the basic needs of its citizens."⁸⁷ Such policies have been pursued through diplomatic engagement, aid programs, targeted sanctions, and actions in the U.N. Security Council. The United States has also supported Ugandan-led regional military operations against the LRA.⁸⁸

Starting in 2013, the Obama Administration maintained a U.S. Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region, elevating U.S. policy deliberations and diplomatic efforts to address challenges such as the M23 crisis and the political standoff over President Kabila's succession. The post was first filled by former Senator Russ Feingold, and subsequently by former Member of Congress Tom Perriello. Envoy Perriello focused particularly on efforts to produce a roadmap toward a peaceful electoral transfer of power in 2016, as part of a broader Administration policy to encourage respect for presidential term limits in Africa. Perriello acknowledged that the term limits policy—which also shaped U.S. responses to developments in neighboring Burundi, Rwanda, and the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville)—had not always produced desired results, but asserted that it was aimed at promoting economic and political stability, in addition to democratic norms.⁸⁹

In August 2016, then-Envoy Perriello called on Kabila to commit publicly to stepping down at the end of his term. He called for a "negotiated solution" on the timing of elections, warning that other scenarios "could involve violence."⁹⁰ Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield had similarly characterized attempts by Kabila to remain in office as having "potentially disastrous results for the people of the DRC and the region."⁹¹ While the AU-backed political dialogue in 2016 was controversial in DRC, the State Department called for Congolese political leaders to "seize the opportunity" and offered support to AU mediator Edem Kodjo.⁹² Perriello subsequently voiced strong support for the CENCO-led dialogue as the best way to avert an escalating crisis in late 2016.⁹³ Obama Administration officials also repeatedly criticized the DRC government's repression of opposition leaders and civil society activists.⁹⁴

Successive U.S. Administrations have used executive orders to bring targeted sanctions against individuals and groups seen as orchestrating conflict or committing gross human rights abuses in DRC. U.S. sanctions designations have implemented a multilateral DRC sanctions regime authorized by the U.N. Security Council, which is focused on enforcing a U.N. arms embargo against non-state actors. U.S. designations have also gone beyond the U.N. list. In 2014, President Obama issued Executive Order 13671, amending and expanding Executive Order 13413 (2006) to add as grounds for targeted sanctions any "actions or policies that undermine democratic processes or institutions" in DRC, in addition to other changes.

In 2016, the Obama Administration unilaterally designated DRC state officials for sanctions for the first time, in an apparent effort to force political concessions as well as to deter security force abuses. The Administration ultimately designated five senior sitting or former officials in connection with abusing civilians, threatening stability, or undermining democratic processes. The latest designations, issued in December 2016, targeted then-Interior Minister Evariste Boshab ("a key player in leading DRC President Kabila's strategy to remain in power") and Kalev Mutondo (on the grounds that he had orchestrated efforts to tilt the electoral playing field and suppress opposition groups).⁹⁵ The European Union also designated DRC officials for the first time in 2016. However, there does not appear to be consensus among other U.N. Security Council member states to similarly broaden the scope of the multilateral sanctions regime.⁹⁶

U.S. officials began to openly express concern with presidential succession in DRC several years before the scheduled 2016 elections. During a visit to DRC in 2014, then-Secretary of State John Kerry stated that "military force alone will not deliver stability to the DRC," and called for DRC to hold "free, fair, timely, and transparent elections."⁹⁷ In April 2015, the State Department criticized the government's detention of youth activists at a pro-democracy event sponsored, in part, by the U.S. government (a USAID official was also detained, but was soon released).⁹⁸ During a visit to Kinshasa in June 2015, then-U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, Democracy, and Labor Tom Malinowski warned against any "pretext for delay" in the elections schedule, and against any effort to amend constitutional term limits.⁹⁹ The DRC government spokesman condemned Malinowski's comments as "unacceptable" and "intolerable" interference in its internal affairs.¹⁰⁰ DRC officials also reacted hostilely toward statements by Perriello.

In 2013, then-U.S. Envoy Feingold helped facilitate a peace process between the DRC government and the M23, and he pushed for full implementation of the 2013 regional framework accord. In 2012-2013, the Administration also publicly and pointedly criticized Rwanda for supporting the M23.¹⁰¹ In mid-2012, the Administration suspended Foreign Military Financing (FMF) assistance for Rwanda, consistent with a provision in annual appropriations measures that prohibited FMF assistance for Rwanda if it supported armed groups in DRC (§7043 of P.L. 112-74). In October 2013, the Administration additionally suspended other types of military aid to Rwanda under the Child Soldiers Prevention Act (Title IV of P.L. 110-457, as amended), citing the M23's use of child soldiers.¹⁰² The Administration lifted these restrictions on Rwanda starting in FY2015, citing the end of the M23. (Rwanda was subsequently re-designated under CSPA due to its reported involvement in Burundian child soldier recruitment.)

U.S. aid programs in DRC have sought to improve health conditions; promote democracy and good governance; advance stabilization and conflict resolution; enhance agricultural development, basic service delivery, and natural resource management; and encourage military professionalism. DRC also receives aid under U.S. regional initiatives related to tropical forest conservation, anti-poaching efforts, and counter-LRA efforts, among others.

U.S. bilateral aid allocations totaled an estimated $295 million in FY2016, in addition to $62.5 million in emergency food aid, $100 million in other additional emergency humanitarian aid, and $440 million in U.S. assessed contributions to MONUSCO. The Obama Administration's FY2017 bilateral aid budget request totaled $313 million, in addition to $440 million for assessed contributions to MONUSCO. (Emergency humanitarian aid is generally not requested on a country-specific basis.) Overall aid allocations for DRC increased between FY2012 and FY2014, possibly as a result of U.S. attention to the M23 conflict and the appointment of a special envoy.

Since 2007, successive Administrations have sought to promote security sector reform (SSR) in DRC, providing assistance for training, military planning, logistics, and military justice. An effort to develop and advise a "model" FARDC light infantry battalion, known as the 391^st, was curtailed in 2013 when members of the battalion were implicated in mass rapes. The Obama Administration's FY2017 aid budget request nonetheless reflected continued interest in providing advisory support to DRC military leaders. Most U.S. security assistance to DRC has been funded through the State Department's Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) account, a key vehicle for military train-and-equip programs in Africa. For FY2017, the Obama Administration waived most child soldiers-related security assistance restrictions (under CSPA, P.L. 110-457, and §8088 of P.L. 114-113), allowing such programming to continue (see "Recent Congressional Actions" above).

For many years, congressional policymakers addressing DRC focused overwhelmingly on human rights and humanitarian concerns in conflict-affected areas in the east. Since 2015, much attention has turned to DRC's political trajectory, with some Members examining whether Kabila's efforts to stay in office could produce a violent crisis and weighing the benefits and drawbacks of U.S. punitive measures such as sanctions designations. U.S. policy deliberations have been influenced by violently contested third-term presidential bids in neighboring Burundi (2015) and Republic of Congo (2016) as well as a less contested constitutional amendment in Rwanda allowing the president to seek a third term in 2017. Debate continues among policymakers in Congress and the executive branch over the relative effectiveness of various tools for exerting U.S. influence over Kabila's decisionmaking, such as diplomacy, sanctions, foreign assistance, and U.S. actions in multilateral forums.

Achieving greater stability in DRC—a U.S. policy goal in Africa for over two decades—may depend on how political actors navigate implementation disputes regarding the December 2016 political agreement. It may also hinge on whether the Congolese military can or will successfully counter endemic and emerging armed movements; whether neighboring states seek new armed proxies for leverage or economic gain; and how Congolese policymakers respond to the economic downturn. While international observers agree that deep governance reforms are needed, reform efforts can be destabilizing insofar as they threaten the entrenched interests of powerful individuals. Events in the turbulent region are also likely to have an impact on DRC's stability, and may divert international humanitarian and peacebuilding resources.

The defeat of the M23 rebel movement in 2013 was a significant accomplishment and may point to the effectiveness of U.S. diplomatic criticism of Rwanda—but it did not, in itself, address the root causes of conflict in the region. The 2013 U.N.-backed Framework Agreement between DRC and its neighbors represents a potential foundation for more functional regional relationships and greater internal stability. However, it has not been fully implemented.

Many Members of Congress have expressed an interest, through legislation and oversight activities, in advancing peace and stability, improving governance and natural resource management, and addressing health and humanitarian needs in DRC. However, Congolese political actors have often displayed limited ability and will to pursue such ends. U.S. influence may be further constrained by limited available U.S. resources, and by the challenges of coordinating with and influencing other key players, including European donors, China, and regional actors such as Rwanda, Uganda, Angola, Tanzania, and South Africa. U.S. bilateral aid does not easily present opportunities for leverage, as most programs seek to address humanitarian, development, and/or human rights problems. The Obama Administration repeatedly waived legislative restrictions on aid to DRC related to human rights and transparency concerns, using authorities provided by Congress. Congressional appropriators have also removed some of these restrictions from recent aid appropriations bills. Potential new approaches by the Trump Administration and the 115^th Congress are to be seen.

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