[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 116 (Friday, September 13, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8615-S8616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     UNITED STATES POLICY ON SUDAN

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise today to comment on the situation 
in Sudan, a county characterized by brutal fighting and tremendous 
suffering, a country in which an estimated two million people have died 
in just the past decade from war-related causes, and where millions 
more have been displaced.
  In July, I held a hearing on U.S. Policy in Sudan in my capacity as 
chairman of the African Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee. At that time, I praised the administration for 
devoting high-level attention to the plight of the Sudanese people. As 
I noted then, the President and the Secretary of State have spoken out 
about Sudan. The President appointed Senator John Danforth to be his 
Special Envoy for Peace in Sudan. USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios 
was named Special Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan. As a result of 
Senator Danforth's efforts, the International Eminent Persons Group has 
investigated means for preventing abductions and slavery and has 
reported on its findings. And in July, negotiations between the 
Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Army, or SPLA, in 
Machakos, Kenya produced a broad framework for ending the civil war and 
providing the people of the south with the means to exercise their 
right to self-determination. All of this deserves praise.
  But currently, the negotiations are troubled. The Government of Sudan 
pulled its negotiators out of Machakos in response to the SPLA's 
capturing the strategic garrison town of Torit on September 1. Many 
observers, including key American officials, believe that the process 
is not permanently derailed but merely disrupted. Still, this 
disruption calls the world's attention to a rather telling point. There 
is no ceasefire on the ground in Sudan, and not only do military 
engagements continue, so too do attacks on civilians and the 
manipulation of humanitarian assistance. The situation of the Sudanese 
people has not improved despite the developments at the negotiating 
table.
  I continue to support the administration's efforts to work with 
Inter-governmental Authority on Development, IGAD, to facilitate the 
peace process. But given this disconnect between reality on the ground 
and rhetoric in negotiations, given the troubled recent history of 
United States-Sudanese relations, given the scale and scope of the

[[Page S8616]]

abuses committed against civilians regularly in that troubled country, 
this effort requires something of a leap of faith. I do not criticize 
the administration for taking the leap, I believe that it was a correct 
and courageous decision to work with the Government in Khartoum and 
with the SPLA to try to find a path to peace in Sudan. But I do 
criticize the administration for not taking the confidence-building 
measures, including those identified by Senator Danforth, seriously 
enough, leaving us with little in the way of concrete reassurances that 
our leap was a wise one.
  Specifically, I am referring to issue of the civilian bombing 
monitoring team. In the July hearing, I asked Assistant Secretary of 
State for African Affairs Walter Kansteiner about the bombing of 
civilian targets. Senator Danforth succeeded in getting both the 
Government of Sudan and the Sudanese People's Liberation Army to agree 
to allow a monitoring team to verify their stated commitment not to 
intentionally attack civilian targets. That happened in spring. But at 
the time of the hearing, we still had no monitors on the ground. 
Meanwhile, reports of attacks on civilians persist. What are we waiting 
for, I asked. When will the team be functioning on the ground?
  I was told that this effort was taking shape, and that the team would 
be functioning by the end of August. But today, the team is still not 
in place, still not functioning. We cannot even move to the very 
important work of trying to link documented incidents of attacks on 
civilians to clear consequences, because we remain, apparently, 
incapable of deploying a qualified and appropriately equipped team of 
people with experience in Sudan and in human rights monitoring.
  I spend a great deal of time trying to call the administration's 
attention to very serious issues in sub-Saharan Africa that are 
deserving of more American time and interest. I do not have to do that 
when it comes to Sudan. Bringing peace to Sudan appears to me to be 
this administration's most significant policy initiative in the region, 
and I commend the administration for its efforts. That said, this 
element of the effort, following up on the commitments obtained by 
Senator Danforth relating to the bombing of civilian targets, this 
element of the effort is quite plainly falling short.
  If the administration needs additional resources, personnel, or 
logistical capacity to make this happen efficiently and effectively, I 
know that many in Congress stand ready to help. Many of my colleagues 
have long history of working to address the crisis in Sudan, notably my 
partner in on the African Affairs Subcommittee, Senator Frist, and I 
admire their commitment and their work. In calling attention to this 
issue, and in criticizing the administration for its failure to move 
forward on the civilian bombing monitoring issue, I do not seek to 
inject partisanship into the Sudan policy debate. But I do want to make 
it clear that this is not a small thing and not a secondary priority. 
The administration's capacity to help bring peace to Sudan is strongest 
when the diverse community of Sudan advocates and the entire Congress 
is united in support for that effort. We need to sustain our faith in 
this endeavor with concrete steps even as our country continues to 
facilitate big-picture negotiations. And so I encourage the 
administration to make deploying a qualified and well-organized 
monitoring team at the earliest possible date a real priority.

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