The Hill News

U.S. anti-terrorism laws have made it difficult and sometimes impossible for charities to deliver aid to 60 percent of the famine-stricken Somali population living in areas controlled by the terrorist group al-Shabaab. Many factors beyond our control, including drought and political instability, have contributed to the Somali crisis, but the impact of U.S. law is something we can and should do something about.

U.S. law prohibits providing "material support" to terrorist groups, a sensible objective that has been applied overly broadly, with cruel consequences for civilian populations. With 29,000 Somali children dead in the last three months, the U.S. must eliminate this barrier in Somalia.

Aid to Somalia was cut drastically after al Shabaab was listed as a terrorist organization. In the past few years U.S. officials have told charities that any leakage of aid to al-Shabaab would be a violation of the material support law, which carries a possible! 15 year prison term as well as economic sanctions, including the potential freezing of charities' assets.

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