The House Appropriations Committee passed the FY15 appropriations bill with a report that gives the Department of Treasury 30 days from enactment to submit recommendations for how it will reduce delays in processing license applications for humanitarian organizations, such as those seeking to provide aid during the 2011 famine in Somalia.  The report reminds Treasury that it was required to submit such a report by the FY14 omnibus appropriations bill and says no such recommendations have been submitted.  At an April 2014 hearing Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY) told Treasury Secretary Jack Lew that the Department’s initial response was inadequate. The FY15 report also asks Treasury to use sanctions programs to prevent or respond to mass atrocities in four African countries.  The language states:

From House Report page 9: 

  1. General Licenses for Humanitarian Assistance.—The fiscal year 2014 Omnibus required Treasury to submit recommendations for reducing the response times for applications to the Office of Foreign Assets Control for a General License from humanitarian nongovernmental organizations seeking to provide aid to famine victims in south central Somalia within 45 days of enactment. While the Department has provided an initial letter, the Committee has yet to receive the recommendations and directs the Department to submit them within 30 days.
  2. The Committee recognizes the dramatic escalation of conflict in certain African states and supports the imposition of sanctions on those perpetrating some of the worst atrocities in the context of these conflicts. Within the funds provided, the Committee expects the Office of Financial Assets Control to increase sanctions development and enforcement related to conflict in Sudan, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Such sanctions regimes reinforce U.S. national security priorities by working to prevent or respond to genocide and other mass atrocities.