Sec. 403. SENSE OF CONGRESS

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## SEC. 403 SENSE OF CONGRESS It is the sense of Congress that— ####

(1)the United States Government should condemn the conscription, forced recruitment, or use of children by governments, paramilitaries, or other organizations; ####

(2)the United States Government should support and, to the extent practicable, lead efforts to establish and uphold international standards designed to end the abuse of human rights described in paragraph (1); ####

(3)the United States Government should expand ongoing services to rehabilitate recovered child soldiers and to reintegrate such children back into their respective communities by— #####

(A)offering ongoing psychological services to help such children— ######

(i)to recover from the trauma suffered during their forced military involvement; ######

(ii)to relearn how to interact with others in nonviolent ways so that such children are no longer a danger to their respective communities; and ######

(iii)by taking into consideration the needs of girl soldiers, who may be at risk of exclusion from disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration programs; #####

(B)facilitating reconciliation with such communities through negotiations with traditional leaders and elders to enable recovered abductees to resume normal lives in such communities; and #####

(C)providing educational and vocational assistance; ####

(4)the United States should work with the international community, including, as appropriate, third country governments, nongovernmental organizations, faith-based organizations, United Nations agencies, local governments, labor unions, and private enterprises— #####

(A)to bring to justice rebel and paramilitary forces that kidnap children for use as child soldiers; #####

(B)to recover those children who have been abducted; and #####

(C)to assist such children to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into their respective communities; ####

(5)the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Defense should coordinate programs to achieve the goals described in paragraph (3); ####

(6)United States diplomatic missions in countries in which the use of child soldiers is an issue, whether or not such use is supported or sanctioned by the governments of such countries, should include in their mission program plans a strategy to achieve the goals described in paragraph (3); ####

(7)United States diplomatic missions in countries in which governments use or tolerate child soldiers should develop strategies, as part of annual program planning— #####

(A)to promote efforts to end such abuse of human rights; and #####

(B)to identify and integrate global best practices, as available, into such strategies to avoid duplication of effort; and ####

(8)in allocating or recommending the allocation of funds or recommending candidates for programs and grants funded by the United States Government, United States diplomatic missions should give serious consideration to those programs and candidates that are expected to promote the end to the abuse of human rights described in this section.