Former Senator Feingold Praises RSN’s Multi-Stakeholder Group at Senate Hearing

Former Senator Russ Feingold was appointed as the U.S. Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in June 2013. Since his appointment to the position, things have started to move in the right direction and positive changes are being observed on the ground in eastern Congo. For example, the M23 militia group laid down their weapons in November 2013, and other rebel groups are considering doing the same.

In a recent U.S. Senate Hearing with the Foreign Relations Committee, Special Envoy Feingold twice mentioned the call he had on Feb. 13, 2014 with the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) Against Conflict Minerals, which is convened by RSN. He stated that he learned from the call that companies are looking for incentives from the U.S. Congress to purchase minerals from the DRC, and not just avoid the region with a boycott.

In the above video, Feingold references the MSG in response to a question from Senator Boxer. He mentions the MSG one final time a few minutes later.

The MSG is now planning a face-to-face meeting with the Special Envoy in April to further discuss economic incentives for company engagement in the region.