Sometimes not only is the main purpose of a bill laudable, so are some of the buried provisions--like the renewal of the adoption tax credit in the health care reform bill.
Such is the case with the financial reform legislation approved this week by Congress. Even those who may disagree that Wall Street needed some reining in may be happy to hear that part of the new law will help protect consumers from buying cell phones, video games and other electronics that fund violence in the Congo.
Catholic Relief Services is applauding the new requirement that publicly traded companies that use four specific minerals must certify with the SEC whether those minerals originated in Congo or neighboring countries and must conduct audits to ensure they are not contributing to the armed conflict in the region.
The law's global transparency provision also will provide people in poor countries with great mineral wealth with information to help hold their governments accountable for how that wealth is used.
"This is a huge victory for those ravaged by conflict around the world," Bill O'Keefe, senior director of advocacy for CRS said in a press release. "It was possible only with the support of concerned people, including the Catholic community in the U.S., who let Washington know how important these issues are."
