http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20024312-503544.htmlBen Affleck's Good Will for the Congo
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2010/11/ben_affleck_cal.html
Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, gave the keynote address and engaged with his “fellow member of Red Sox Nation” from the podium. “Ben, you couldn’t have found a cause more in need of attention and public discussion,” Kerry said.
Kerry pointed to last summer’s Dodd-Frank bill as one of “a few small things” Congress has done so far to aid the region. The DRC’s rich mineral resources – widely put to use in cell phones and computers – are exploited by illegal militias who use the profit to fund their activity. The bill requires that the State Department create a strategy to address the illicit minerals trade and its link to armed groups.
Kerry noted that consumers, once informed, can use their position to demand the production of conflict-free technology. He suggested that young people especially would be interested in the source of the raw materials for their phones. “Ben, I think we ought to take this across campuses,” said Kerry.
...
http://www.politico.com/click/stories/1011/affleck_kerry_join_forces.html (and Politico, with a very stupid comment at the end politico style)