Our Methodology
Your Members of Congress have had numerous chances to help end LRA violence and support lasting peace in the region. Opportunities have included sponsoring legislation or resolutions, or writing letters to key U.S. and international policymakers about the crisis. Your elected representatives are graded on whether or not they acted on these opportunities.
Members of Congress also receive extra credit if they have chosen to travel to the region to see the impacts of the war firsthand, or take other noteworthy actions to advance the cause such as originally introducing legislation or a resolution, or giving a public statement or floor speech on the issue.
We looked at when the Senators or Representatives came into office, and how many of the possible actions during their terms they have taken. We used this to assign them letter grades, A+ through F. N/A is listed for new Members of Congress who haven't yet had the opportunity to take action on the issue. The specific legislation, resolutions, and letters used to calculate our grades are listed and linked below:
United States Senate
Sixteen Senate initiatives supported by Resolve were used to calculate the grades of your Senators. These initiatives are:
Rewards for Justice Update (April 2012) S.2318: To authorize the Secretary of State to pay a reward to combat transnational organized crime and for information concerning foreign nationals wanted by international criminal tribunals, and for other purposes.
Senate Resolution 402 (March 2012): Condemning Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army for committing crimes against humanity and mass atrocities, and supporting ongoing efforts by the United States Government and governments in central Africa to remove Joseph Kony and Lord’s Resistance Army commanders from the battlefield.
Senate Letter to Appropriators (May 2011): This letter was addressed to the Senators in charge of appropriating international aid funds, and called for the U.S. to set aside sufficient resources to help end atrocities committed by the LRA.
Letter to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton Regarding LRA Violence (July 2009): In this letter to Secretary of State Clinton, signatories expressed their concern over the ongoing violence being committed by the LRA and to inquired as to the US's plans to help bring an end to the conflict now affecting four countries.
Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009 (May 2010) S.1067: This bill mandates the Obama administration to come up with a multilateral strategy to help protect civilians from the LRA and eliminate the threat to civilians posed by the rebel group, and also directs the US to support recovery and transitional justice in communities in northern Uganda affected by the conflict.
Child Soldier Accountability Act of 2007/2008 (2008) S.2135: This bill prohibits the recruitment or use of child soldiers, designates persons who recruit or use child soldiers as inadmissible aliens, and allows the deportation of persons who recruit or use child soldiers. There were several previous versions of this bill, and the final version was signed into law on September 8, 2008.
William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (December 2008) S. 3061: This act enhanced measures in combating human trafficking, provided assistance to the victims of trafficking, as well cut off U.S. military assistance to countries found to be using child soldiers.
Senate Letter to President Yoweri Museveni (September 2008): This letter to President Museveni asks to stop the delays in fully implementing the Peace, Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP) in northern Uganda and take more drastic action to insure that war affected communities are efficiently provided for.
Senate letter to Appropriators (April 2008): This letter was addressed to the Senators in charge of appropriating international aid funds, and called for the U.S. to give 22 million dollars to help reconstruction efforts in Uganda.
Joint House/Senate letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon (March 2008): This letter to the UN Secretary General called for greater UN diplomatic engagement in the ongoing peace negotiations.
Joint Senate/House letter to President Bush (June 2007): This letter from Members of Congress called for the President to appoint a State Department diplomat to support the peace negotiations process.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 16 (March 2007): This resolution (passed in the House as well, as Concurrent Resolution 80) urged the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to support the peaceful end to the war.
Senate letter to Secretary of State Rice (November 2006): This letter to Secretary Rice called for the U.S. to appoint a diplomat to support peace negotiations.
Senate Resolution 573 (September 2006): This resolution called for the Bush Administration to appoint a diplomat to support peace negotiations.
Senate Resolution 366 (February 2006): This resolution expressed concern for the victims of LRA violence, and established February 2-9, 2006 as a national week of prayer for the people of northern Uganda.
Northern Uganda Crisis Response Act of 2004 (August 2004) S.2264: This legislation was the first act of Congress in response to the war, and required the State Department to submit a report to Congress on what they were doing to end the war.
United States House of Representatives
Ten House of Representatives initiatives supported by Resolve were used to calculate the grades of your Representatives. These initiatives are:
House Resolution 583 (March 2012): Expressing support for robust efforts by the United States to see Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, and his top commanders brought to justice and the group’s atrocities permanently ended.
Rewards for Justice Update (March 2012) H.R.4077: To authorize the Secretary of State to pay a reward to combat transnational organized crime and for information concerning foreign nationals wanted by international criminal tribunals, and for other purposes.
House Letter to Appropriators (May 2011): This letter was addressed to the Representatives in charge of appropriating international aid funds, and called for the U.S. to set aside sufficient resources to help end atrocities committed by the LRA.
Sudan Cessation of Support for the Lord's Resistance Army Certification Act of 2011 (March 2011) H.Res 895: This bill provided for the continuation of restrictions against the Republic of Sudan as a state sponsor of terror unless the President certified to Congress that Sudan is no longer engaged in training, harboring, supplying, financing, or supporting the Lord's Resistance Army, its leader Joseph Kony, or his top commanders.
Letter to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton Regarding LRA Violence (July 2009): In this letter to Secretary of State Clinton, signatories expressed their concern over the ongoing violence being committed by the LRA and to inquired as to the US's plans to help bring an end to the conflict now affecting four countries.
Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act (May 2010) H.R.2478: This bill mandates the Obama administration to come up with a multilateral strategy to help protect civilians from the LRA and eliminate the threat to civilians posed by the rebel group, and also directs the US to support recovery and transitional justice in communities in northern Uganda affected by the conflict.
William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reathorization Act of 2008 (December 2008) H.R.7311: These Representatives co-sponsored this act which was to enhance measures in combating human trafficking, provide assistance to the victims of trafficking, as well to cut off U.S. military assistance to countries found to be using child soldiers.
Joint House/Senate letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (March 2008): This letter to the UN Secretary General called for greater UN diplomatic engagement in the ongoing peace negotiations.
Joint Senate/House letter to President Bush (June 2007): This letter from Members of Congress called for the President to appoint a State Department diplomat to support the peace negotiations process.
House Concurrent Resolution 80 (June 2007): This resolution (passed in the Senate as well, as Concurrent Resolution 16) urged the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to support the peaceful end to the war.
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Committee Membership
The middle column of the scorecard indicates membership in key committees for the Member of Congress. Here is a list of the committees considered. As you can see, on the scorecards we've shortened the names of some of the committees and subcommittees [the abbreviated forms are in the brackets], but here they are listed in full:
Senate
• Senate Committee on Foreign Relations [Senate Foreign Relations Committee]
• Senate Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on African Affairs [Africa Subcommittee]
• Senate Committee on Appropriations [Senate Appropriations Committee]
• Senate Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and
• Related Programs [State & Foreign Ops Subcommittee]
• Senate Armed Services Committee
House
• House Committee on Foreign Affairs [House Foreign Affairs Committee]
• House Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights [Africa Subcommittee]
• House Committee on Appropriations [House Appropriations Committee]
• House Committee on Appropriations: State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs [State & Foreign Ops Subcommittee]
• House Committee on Armed Services [House Armed Services Committee]
Members of Congress on these key committees sometimes receive extra credit for voting for legislation in committee, which allows the bill to move on to the full House or Senate for a vote.
We also indicated key positions in Congress and on these committees, including:
• Speaker of the House
• Majority and Minority leaders in the House and Senate
• Majority and Minority Whips
• Chair: (Chairman, Chairwoman) head of committee
• Vice-Chair
• Ranking Member: most senior member of the committee from the minority party
• Ex Officio: the Chair and Ranking Member for a committee are members of all subcommittees by default
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While we've done our best to keep the scorecards as updated and accurate as possible, if you spot an error or think we've missed something, or if you'd just like more info on how we calculated a specific Member's grade, please don't heasitate contact us. Thanks!