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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast led a letter to President Trump in support of the administration’s diplomatic efforts to advance peace and responsible development across the African Great Lakes region and encouraged further engagement aimed at bolstering economic stability and growth.

Chairman Mast, who was joined by fellow House Foreign Affairs Committee Republican, Rep. Jim Baird (IN-04), commended Secretary Marco Rubio’s and Senior Advisor Massad Boulos’ leadership in the recent signing of the Declaration of Principles between the foreign ministers of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

“This agreement demonstrates that regional leaders are prepared to translate dialogue into concrete action, and is a sign that American leadership, when resolute and strategic, create conditions for lasting peace,” the lawmakers wrote.

Additionally, the lawmakers underscored that security and peace in the region “must be paired with meaningful economic stability and growth,” adding that access to reliable electric power and basic infrastructure will facilitate the gains the Trump administration is accomplishing.

“Few efforts illustrate this objective more clearly than the Ruzizi III hydropower project — a project that will deliver electricity to more than 30 million people across the DRC, Rwanda, and Burundi. The project would provide needed support to the region and build genuine political and economic cooperation between the three governments—offering a diplomatic and economic dividend that is in America’s national interest.,” the lawmakers wrote.

The lawmakers encouraged further engagement by the administration to further bolster success in the region through:

  • Continued high-level engagement with the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (CEPGL) and national ministries to ensure the final administrative steps—such as the signing of the tri-national Establishment Agreement of the “Community Enterprise of the Great Lakes.”
  • Coordination with all stakeholders to amplify diplomatic pressure in the region to usher an end to the conflict and advance the Ruzizi III project to financial close in 2025 considering most of the funding for the project has been committed by the World Bank Group and other Western allies to the U.S (EU, UK government). The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation may also wish to participate.

“By pairing robust diplomacy with smart infrastructure alignment, the United States can advance regional peace, American interests, and human dignity,” the lawmakers wrote.

Read the full letter here.