[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 267 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 267

 Expressing the sense of the Senate that the President, acting through 
  the United States Agency for International Development, should more 
effectively secure emergency famine relief for the people of Sudan, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 31, 1998

 Mr. Frist (for himself, Mr. Feingold, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Grams, and Mr. 
Ashcroft) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and 
                               agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Senate that the President, acting through 
  the United States Agency for International Development, should more 
effectively secure emergency famine relief for the people of Sudan, and 
                          for other purposes.

Whereas the National Islamic Front regime in Khartoum, Sudan, continues to wage 
        a brutal war against its own people in southern Sudan;
Whereas that war has already caused the death of more than 1,500,000 Sudanese 
        since 1983;
Whereas famine conditions now threaten areas of southern Sudan as a direct 
        consequence of the concerted and sustained effort by the regime in 
        Khartoum to subdue its southern regions by force and including 
        violations of basic human rights;
Whereas famine conditions are exacerbated by diversions of humanitarian 
        assistance by armed parties on all sides of the conflict;
Whereas the United Nations World Food Program has now targeted 2,600,000 
        Sudanese for famine relief aid, to be distributed through an umbrella 
        arrangement called ``Operation Lifeline Sudan'';
Whereas the regime in Khartoum retains the ability to deny the relief agencies 
        operating in Operation Lifeline Sudan the clearance to distribute food 
        according to needs in Sudan;
Whereas the regime in Khartoum has used humanitarian assistance as a weapon by 
        routinely denying the requests by Operation Lifeline Sudan and its 
        members to distribute food and other crucial items in needy areas of 
        Sudan both within the Khartoum regime's control and areas outside the 
        Khartoum regime's control, including the Nuba Mountains;
Whereas the United States Agency for International Development provides famine 
        relief to the people of Sudan primarily through groups operating within 
        Operation Lifeline Sudan and, thus, subjects that relief to the 
        arrangement's associated constraints imposed by the regime in Khartoum;
Whereas several relief groups already operate successfully in areas of southern 
        Sudan where Operation Lifeline Sudan has been denied access in the past, 
        thus providing crucial assistance to the distressed population;
Whereas it is in the interest of the people of Sudan and the people of the 
        United States, to take proactive and preventative measures to avoid any 
        future famine conditions in southern Sudan;
Whereas the United States Agency for International Development, when it pursues 
        assistance programs most effectively, encourages economic self-
        sufficiency;
Whereas assistance activities should serve as integral elements in preventing 
        famine conditions in southern Sudan in the future;
Whereas the current international and media attention to the starving 
        populations in southern Sudan and to the causes of the famine conditions 
        that affect them have pushed the regime in Khartoum and the rebel forces 
        to announce a tentative but temporary cease-fire to allow famine relief 
        aid to be more widely distributed; and
Whereas the current level of attention weakens the resolve of the regime in 
        Khartoum to manipulate famine relief for its own agenda: Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) the President, acting through the United States Agency 
        for International Development, should--
                    (A) aggressively seek to secure emergency famine 
                relief for the people of Sudan who now face widespread 
                starvation;
                    (B) immediately take appropriate steps to 
                distribute that famine relief to affected areas in 
                Sudan, including the use of relief groups operating 
                outside the umbrella of Operation Lifeline Sudan and 
                without regard to a group's status with respect to 
                Operation Lifeline Sudan; and
                    (C) encourage and assist Operation Lifeline Sudan 
                and the ongoing efforts to develop relief distribution 
                networks for affected areas of Sudan outside of the 
                umbrella and associated constraints of Operation 
                Lifeline Sudan;
            (2) both bilaterally and within the United Nations, the 
        President should aggressively seek to change the terms by which 
        Operation Lifeline Sudan and other groups are prohibited from 
        providing necessary relief according to the true needs of the 
        people of Sudan;
            (3) the President, acting through the United States Agency 
        for International Development, should--
                    (A) begin providing development assistance in areas 
                of Sudan not controlled by the regime in Khartoum with 
                the goal of building self-sufficiency and avoiding the 
                same conditions which have created the current crisis, 
                and with the goal of longer-term economic, civil, and 
                democratic development, including the development of 
                rule of law, within the overall framework of United 
                States strategy throughout sub-Saharan Africa; and
                    (B) undertake such efforts without regard to the 
                constraints that now compromise the ability of 
                Operation Lifeline Sudan to distribute famine relief or 
                that could constrain future multilateral relief 
                arrangements;
            (4) the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
        International Development should submit a report to the 
        appropriate congressional committees on the Agency's progress 
        toward meeting these goals; and
            (5) the policy expressed in this resolution should be 
        implemented without a return to the status quo ante policy 
        after the immediate famine conditions are addressed and 
        international attention has decreased.
    Sec. 2. The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy of this 
resolution to the President and the Administrator of the United States 
Agency for International Development.
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