[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 106 (Friday, July 31, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9601-S9602]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 267--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE RELATIVE TO 
THE PRESIDENT, THE UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 
              AND EMERGENCY RELIEF FOR THE PEOPLE OF SUDAN

  Mr. FRIST submitted the following resolution; which was considered 
and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 267

       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;

[[Page S9602]]

       (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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