by Friends of the Congo and the African Great Lakes Coalition

Friends of the Congo and the African Great Lakes Coalition* would like to urge Occupiers and all people of good will in the U.S. who live in the states represented by members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to occupy the phones to the U.S. Senate on behalf of the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The committee is holding a hearing on the Congo today, Thursday, Dec. 15.

The DRC has held a presidential election that the Carter Center and the International Crisis Group characterize as dangerously indefensible. The fierce resistance of the Congolese people has left “the international community,” most of all foreign heads of state, thus far unwilling to acknowledge the victory claimed by incumbent President Joseph Kabila.

Please call and encourage your senators on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee NOT to recognize Joseph Kabila as the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Are these your senators?

These are the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee:

• John Kerry, Massachusetts
• Richard Lugar, Indiana
• Barbara Boxer, California
• Robert Menendez, New Jersey
• Benjamin L. Cardin, Maryland
• Robert P. Casey Jr., Pennsylvania
• Jim Webb, Virginia
• Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire
• Richard J. Durbin, Illinois
• Christopher Coons, Delaware
• Tom Udall, New Mexico
• Bob Corker, Tennessee
• James E. Risch, Idaho
• Marco Rubio, Florida
• James M. Inhofe, Oklahoma
• Jim DeMint, South Carolina
• Johnny Isakson, Georgia
• John Barrasso, Wyoming
• Mike Lee, Utah

If yes, please contact them about the Congo

If you live in one of the states listed above, we need your support in calling your senator and posting a message on his or her Facebook page about the situation in the Congo.

Here is a script you can read over the phone, post on Facebook or use as talking points:

Hello, my name is ___________. I am a constituent of Senator ___________. I am calling in regard to the Senate Hearing on Thursday, Dec. 15, on Congo’s elections that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will be hosting. I want to thank Senator ______ for holding this hearing.

According to Public Law 109-456, it is U.S. policy to support democracy in the Congo. In this respect, I appeal to Senator ______ to:

1. Urge the U.S. government not to recognize the current elections results published by the Congolese Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) in light of the Carter Center’s, European Union’s and Catholic Church’s reports about the irregularities during the electoral process.

2. Assure that the will of the Congolese people is respected per their votes on Nov. 28.

Thank you!

*The African Great Lakes Coalition is composed of the Africa Faith and Justice Network (AFJN), African Great Lakes Action Network (AGLAN), Foundation for Freedom and Democracy in Rwanda (FFDR), Foreign Policy in Focus, Friends of the Congo (FOTC), Hope Congo (HC), Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation (HRRF), Mobilization for Justice and Peace in Congo (MJPC) and Save the Congo USA.