[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 159 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 159

  Recognizing the fifth anniversary of the declaration by the United 
             States Congress of genocide in Darfur, Sudan.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 25, 2009

Ms. Ros-Lehtinen (for herself, Mr. Berman, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. 
 Wolf, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Inglis, and 
Mr. Bilirakis) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Recognizing the fifth anniversary of the declaration by the United 
             States Congress of genocide in Darfur, Sudan.

Whereas, on July 22, 2004, the Senate of the United States and the U.S. House of 
        Representatives passed S. Con. Res. 133 and H. Con. Res. 467, 
        respectively, thereby declaring genocide in Darfur, Sudan;
Whereas, on September 9, 2004, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell concurred 
        with the Congress, asserting that, ``genocide has been committed in 
        Darfur'' and that ``the [G]overnment of Sudan and the Janjaweed bear 
        responsibility'';
Whereas this historic determination was made in response to irrefutable evidence 
        of a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing launched by the Sudanese 
        regime, characterized by the manipulation of ethnic and tribal tensions, 
        the arming of proxy forces, aerial bombardment of civilians, destruction 
        of irrigation systems, poisoning of wells, razing of villages, forced 
        displacements, mass murder, abduction, looting, torture, and rape;
Whereas as a result of the Sudanese regime's genocidal campaign in Darfur, over 
        300,000 Darfuris have died and nearly 3,000,000 have been displaced;
Whereas the Sudanese regime employed similar tactics during its war in Southern 
        Sudan, which lasted over 20 years and left over 2,000,000 dead and 
        another 4,000,000 displaced;
Whereas the war in Southern Sudan ostensibly ended upon conclusion of the 
        Comprehensive Peace Agreement for Sudan (CPA) in 2005, but the CPA has 
        not been fully implemented and observers repeatedly have warned that it 
        is at risk of collapse;
Whereas the declaration of genocide by the United States was intended to 
        galvanize international attention and serve as a call to action for 
        responsible nations, as well as the United Nations, to take effective 
        action to deter and suppress genocide in Darfur;
Whereas despite the passage of 5 long years since the declaration of genocide by 
        the United States Congress, the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement 
        (DPA) in May 2006, significant efforts on the part of some responsible 
        nations, the heroic actions of humanitarian workers and human rights 
        campaigners, and the deployment of a joint African Union-United Nations 
        peacekeeping mission for Darfur (UNAMID), the deadly conflict in Darfur 
        continues; and
Whereas the conflicts in Darfur and Southern Sudan are inextricably linked, and 
        if the CPA fails there can be little hope for peace in Darfur: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) solemnly recognizes the fifth anniversary of the 
        declaration by the United States Congress of genocide in 
        Darfur, Sudan;
            (2) regrets that this determination has yet to yield 
        effective action on the part of the United Nations and other 
        nations which maintain significant influence in Sudan, 
        including China and certain members of the Arab League;
            (3) urges the United States to work with other responsible 
        nations to support a negotiated settlement to the conflict in 
        Darfur and full implementation of the Comprehensive Peace 
        Agreement (CPA) for Sudan, in accordance with the terms and 
        timeline established therein, while implementing a more robust 
        set of multilateral measures against those individuals who act 
        as obstructionists to peace, including those who continue to 
        sell arms to belligerents in Sudan;
            (4) urges member states of the United Nations to provide 
        sufficient resources to support the deployment of a fully 
        capacitated African Union/United Nations Mission in Darfur 
        (UNAMID), including by supplying required tactical and utility 
        helicopters and other mission enablers; and
            (5) urges the parties to the conflict in Darfur to cease 
        their attacks upon civilians and humanitarian and peacekeeping 
        operations, and to fully commit to finding a political solution 
        to the crisis in Darfur without further delay.
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