[DOCID: f:hc304rfs.txt]






107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 304


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 27, 2002

      Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing sympathy to the people of the Democratic Republic of the 
 Congo who were tragically affected by the eruption of the Nyiragongo 
                      volcano on January 17, 2002.

Whereas on January 17, 2002, the Nyiragongo volcano, which stands 11,380 feet 
        high and is located 6 miles north of the city of Goma in the Democratic 
        Republic of the Congo, began to erupt without warning;
Whereas 147 people lost their lives and 150,000 people have been displaced as a 
        result of the recent Nyiragongo eruption;
Wheareas the recent Nyiragongo eruption is the most destructive volcanic 
        eruption to occur in Africa during the last 25 years;
Whereas the lava flow from the recent Nyiragongo eruption was a mile wide in 
        places and destroyed the cathedral and water plant of Goma and countless 
        villages and buildings;
Whereas dangers from fires, toxic fumes, reoccurring tremors, and natural 
        methane gas under Lake Kivu continue to plague the Goma region of the 
        Democratic Republic of the Congo;
Whereas the recent Nyiragongo eruption destroyed crops and contaminated the main 
        water supply of Goma;
Whereas the suddenness of the recent Nyiragongo eruption resulted in the 
        separation of many children from their parents;
Whereas the United States has provided assistance valued at $4,400,000 for food, 
        water, sanitation, and town planning to the people of the Democratic 
        Republic of the Congo affected by the recent Nyiragongo eruption;
Whereas the Office of the United States Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) of 
        the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has made 
        available additional funds for assistance to the people affected by the 
        recent Nyiragongo eruption; and
Whereas the Governments of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Belgium have 
        also offered assistance to the people of the Democratic Republic of the 
        Congo: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress expresses its deepest sympathies and condolences to the 
people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo who were tragically 
affected by the eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano on January 17, 2002.

            Passed the House of Representatives February 26, 2002.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.