Calling for Stability and the Cessation of Violence and Condemning Isis-Affiliated Terrorist Activity in Northern Mozambique, Including the Cabo Delgado Province, and for Other Purposes

Floor Speech

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Ms. JACOBS of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, Representative Manning, for yielding time; to Chairman Meeks for advancing this legislation in committee; and to Chairwoman Bass; and my friend Congresswoman Kim, for partnering with me on this important effort.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my resolution on Mozambique, which calls for stability and the cessation of violence in northern Mozambique and condemns the attacks and violence by ISIS-Mozambique.

It calls for a new strategy and a new approach for how the U.S. engages with Mozambique to address conflict and violent extremism. And part of why passing this resolution today is so important, is because we need to raise awareness in this body and in this country about the dire humanitarian situation in Mozambique.

Since 2017, ISIS-Mozambique, also known as Ahlu al Sunnah wal Jamaah, has inflicted violence on communities in Mozambique. These insurgents have brutalized people and targeted civilians through mass beheadings of men and boys, abductions of children, and attacks against key civilian infrastructure.

This violence, combined with the government response to it, has killed over 1,700 civilians in Cabo Delgado Province alone.

The international community, particularly the Southern African Development Community forces and Rwanda's forces, have responded with troop deployment to secure areas and shield civilians from continued violence. But let's be clear. We know that a military-led response will not be enough.

That is why I was so supportive of the Biden administration's recent designation of Mozambique as a priority country under the Global Fragility Act, so that we can better align resources among the interagency and work to address the key drivers of this violence and other forms of instability in the country.

And as we craft our strategy for Mozambique, we must be clear-eyed about the underlying grievance and what it will really take to make a difference in preventing new violence from occurring. We know that terrorism and violent extremism are also fueled by perceptions of state repression, human rights abuses, and socioeconomic and political marginalization. We know that these factors exist in Mozambique and in the state response to ISIS-Mozambique. We need to be honest about the challenges impacting the Mozambican people in order to get serious about preventing future terrorist recruitment.

We also need to ensure that we are helping the Mozambican Government support development goals of Cabo Delgado and northern Mozambique that will allow all sectors of society to thrive.

That is why I am looking forward to the United States' partnership with the Mozambique Government and the Mozambican people and to ensuring our strategy is shaped by lessons learned from our counterterrorism missions across the world that have consistently fallen short.

This resolution has strong support from across the ideological spectrum. I am proud to lead the passage of this important resolution, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

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