[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 130 (Monday, October 7, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H7102-H7109]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            SUDAN PEACE ACT

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 5531) to facilitate famine relief efforts and a 
comprehensive solution to the war in Sudan, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 5531

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Sudan Peace Act''.

[[Page H7103]]

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       The Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) The Government of Sudan has intensified its prosecution 
     of the war against areas outside of its control, which has 
     already cost more than 2,000,000 lives and has displaced more 
     than 4,000,000 people.
       (2) A viable, comprehensive, and internationally sponsored 
     peace process, protected from manipulation, presents the best 
     chance for a permanent resolution of the war, protection of 
     human rights, and a self-sustaining Sudan.
       (3) Continued strengthening and reform of humanitarian 
     relief operations in Sudan is an essential element in the 
     effort to bring an end to the war.
       (4) Continued leadership by the United States is critical.
       (5) Regardless of the future political status of the areas 
     of Sudan outside of the control of the Government of Sudan, 
     the absence of credible civil authority and institutions is a 
     major impediment to achieving self-sustenance by the Sudanese 
     people and to meaningful progress toward a viable peace 
     process. It is critical that credible civil authority and 
     institutions play an important role in the reconstruction of 
     post-war Sudan.
       (6) Through the manipulation of traditional rivalries among 
     peoples in areas outside of its full control, the Government 
     of Sudan has used divide-and-conquer techniques effectively 
     to subjugate its population. However, internationally 
     sponsored reconciliation efforts have played a critical role 
     in reducing human suffering and the effectiveness of this 
     tactic.
       (7) The Government of Sudan utilizes and organizes 
     militias, Popular Defense Forces, and other irregular units 
     for raiding and enslaving parties in areas outside of the 
     control of the Government of Sudan in an effort to disrupt 
     severely the ability of the populations in those areas to 
     sustain themselves. The tactic helps minimize the Government 
     of Sudan's accountability internationally.
       (8) The Government of Sudan has repeatedly stated that it 
     intends to use the expected proceeds from future oil sales to 
     increase the tempo and lethality of the war against the areas 
     outside of its control.
       (9) By regularly banning air transport relief flights by 
     the United Nations relief operation OLS, the Government of 
     Sudan has been able to manipulate the receipt of food aid by 
     the Sudanese people from the United States and other donor 
     countries as a devastating weapon of war in the ongoing 
     effort by the Government of Sudan to starve targeted groups 
     and subdue areas of Sudan outside of the Government's 
     control.
       (10) The acts of the Government of Sudan, including the 
     acts described in this section, constitute genocide as 
     defined by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of 
     the Crime of Genocide (78 U.N.T.S. 277).
       (11) The efforts of the United States and other donors in 
     delivering relief and assistance through means outside of OLS 
     have played a critical role in addressing the deficiencies in 
     OLS and offset the Government of Sudan's manipulation of food 
     donations to advantage in the civil war in Sudan.
       (12) While the immediate needs of selected areas in Sudan 
     facing starvation have been addressed in the near term, the 
     population in areas of Sudan outside of the control of the 
     Government of Sudan are still in danger of extreme disruption 
     of their ability to sustain themselves.
       (13) The Nuba Mountains and many areas in Bahr al Ghazal 
     and the Upper Nile and the Blue Nile regions have been 
     excluded completely from relief distribution by OLS, 
     consequently placing their populations at increased risk of 
     famine.
       (14) At a cost which has sometimes exceeded $1,000,000 per 
     day, and with a primary focus on providing only for the 
     immediate food needs of the recipients, the current 
     international relief operations are neither sustainable nor 
     desirable in the long term.
       (15) The ability of populations to defend themselves 
     against attack in areas outside of the control of the 
     Government of Sudan has been severely compromised by the 
     disengagement of the front-line states of Ethiopia, Eritrea, 
     and Uganda, fostering the belief among officials of the 
     Government of Sudan that success on the battlefield can be 
     achieved.
       (16) The United States should use all means of pressure 
     available to facilitate a comprehensive solution to the war 
     in Sudan, including--
       (A) the multilateralization of economic and diplomatic 
     tools to compel the Government of Sudan to enter into a good 
     faith peace process;
       (B) the support or creation of viable democratic civil 
     authority and institutions in areas of Sudan outside of 
     government control;
       (C) continued active support of people-to-people 
     reconciliation mechanisms and efforts in areas outside of 
     government control;
       (D) the strengthening of the mechanisms to provide 
     humanitarian relief to those areas; and
       (E) cooperation among the trading partners of the United 
     States and within multilateral institutions toward those 
     ends.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
     ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee 
     on International Relations of the House of Representatives 
     and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
       (2) Government of sudan.--The term ``Government of Sudan'' 
     means the National Islamic Front government in Khartoum, 
     Sudan.
       (3) OLS.--The term ``OLS'' means the United Nations relief 
     operation carried out by UNICEF, the World Food Program, and 
     participating relief organizations known as ``Operation 
     Lifeline Sudan''.

     SEC. 4. CONDEMNATION OF SLAVERY, OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES, 
                   AND TACTICS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF SUDAN.

       The Congress hereby--
       (1) condemns--
       (A) violations of human rights on all sides of the conflict 
     in Sudan;
       (B) the Government of Sudan's overall human rights record, 
     with regard to both the prosecution of the war and the denial 
     of basic human and political rights to all Sudanese;
       (C) the ongoing slave trade in Sudan and the role of the 
     Government of Sudan in abetting and tolerating the practice;
       (D) the Government of Sudan's use and organization of 
     ``murahalliin'' or ``mujahadeen'', Popular Defense Forces, 
     and regular Sudanese Army units into organized and 
     coordinated raiding and slaving parties in Bahr al Ghazal, 
     the Nuba Mountains, and the Upper Nile and the Blue Nile 
     regions; and
       (E) aerial bombardment of civilian targets that is 
     sponsored by the Government of Sudan; and
       (2) recognizes that, along with selective bans on air 
     transport relief flights by the Government of Sudan, the use 
     of raiding and slaving parties is a tool for creating food 
     shortages and is used as a systematic means to destroy the 
     societies, culture, and economies of the Dinka, Nuer, and 
     Nuba peoples in a policy of low-intensity ethnic cleansing.

     SEC. 5. ASSISTANCE FOR PEACE AND DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE.

       (a) Assistance to Sudan.--The President is authorized to 
     provide increased assistance to the areas of Sudan that are 
     not controlled by the Government of Sudan to prepare the 
     population for peace and democratic governance, including 
     support for civil administration, communications 
     infrastructure, education, health, and agriculture.
       (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--
       (1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
     the President to carry out the activities described in 
     subsection (a) of this section $100,000,000 for each of the 
     fiscal years 2003, 2004, and 2005.
       (2) Availability.-- Amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
     authorization of appropriations under paragraph (1) of this 
     subsection are authorized to remain available until expended.

     SEC. 6. SUPPORT FOR AN INTERNATIONALLY SANCTIONED PEACE 
                   PROCESS.

       (a) Findings.--Congress hereby--
       (1) recognizes that--
       (A) a single, viable internationally and regionally 
     sanctioned peace process holds the greatest opportunity to 
     promote a negotiated, peaceful settlement to the war in 
     Sudan; and
       (B) resolution to the conflict in Sudan is best made 
     through a peace process based on the Declaration of 
     Principles reached in Nairobi, Kenya, on July 20, 1994, and 
     on the Machakos Protocol in July 2002; and
       (2) commends the efforts of Special Presidential Envoy, 
     Senator Danforth and his team in working to assist the 
     parties to the conflict in Sudan in finding a just, permanent 
     peace to the conflict in Sudan.
       (b) Measures of Certain Conditions Not Met.--
       (1) Presidential determination.--
       (A) The President shall make a determination and certify in 
     writing to the appropriate congressional committees within 6 
     months after the date of enactment of this Act, and each 6 
     months thereafter, that the Government of Sudan and the Sudan 
     People's Liberation Movement are negotiating in good faith 
     and that negotiations should continue.
       (B) If, under subparagraph (A) the President determines and 
     certifies in writing to the appropriate congressional 
     committees that the Government of Sudan has not engaged in 
     good faith negotiations to achieve a permanent, just, and 
     equitable peace agreement, or has unreasonably interfered 
     with humanitarian efforts, then the President, after 
     consultation with the Congress, shall implement the measures 
     set forth in paragraph (2).
       (C) If, under paragraph (A) the President determines and 
     certifies in writing to the appropriate congressional 
     committees that the Sudan People's Liberation Movement has 
     not engaged in good faith negotiations to achieve a 
     permanent, just, and equitable peace agreement, then 
     paragraph (2) shall not apply to the Government of Sudan.
       (D) If the President certifies to the appropriate 
     congressional committees that the Government of Sudan is not 
     in compliance with the terms of a permanent peace agreement 
     between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's 
     Liberation Movement, then the President, after consultation 
     with the Congress, shall implement the measures set forth in 
     paragraph (2).
       (E) If, at any time after the President has made a 
     certification under subparagraph (B), the President makes a 
     determination and certifies in writing to the appropriate 
     congressional committees that the Government of Sudan has 
     resumed good faith negotiations, or makes a determination and 
     certifies in writing to the appropriate congressional 
     committees that the Government of Sudan is

[[Page H7104]]

     in compliance with a peace agreement, then paragraph (2) 
     shall not apply to the Government of Sudan.
       (2) Measures in support of the peace process.--Subject to 
     the provisions of paragraph (1), the President--
       (A) shall, through the Secretary of the Treasury, instruct 
     the United States executive directors to each international 
     financial institution to continue to vote against and 
     actively oppose any extension by the respective institution 
     of any loan, credit, or guarantee to the Government of Sudan;
       (B) should consider downgrading or suspending diplomatic 
     relations between the United States and the Government of 
     Sudan;
       (C) shall take all necessary and appropriate steps, 
     including through multilateral efforts, to deny the 
     Government of Sudan access to oil revenues to ensure that the 
     Government of Sudan neither directly nor indirectly utilizes 
     any oil revenues to purchase or acquire military equipment or 
     to finance any military activities; and
       (D) shall seek a United Nations Security Council Resolution 
     to impose an arms embargo on the Government of Sudan.
       (c) Report on the Status of Negotiations.--If, at any time 
     after the President has made a certification under subsection 
     (b)(1)(A), the Government of Sudan discontinues negotiations 
     with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement for a 14-day 
     period, then the President shall submit a quarterly report to 
     the appropriate congressional committees on the status of the 
     peace process until negotiations resume.
       (d) Report on United States Opposition To Financing by 
     International Financial Institutions.--The Secretary of the 
     Treasury shall submit a semiannual report to the appropriate 
     congressional committees describing the steps taken by the 
     United States to oppose the extension of a loan, credit, or 
     guarantee if, after the Secretary of the Treasury gives the 
     instructions described in subsection (b)(2)(A), such 
     financing is extended.
       (e) Report on Efforts To Deny Oil Revenues.--Not later than 
     45 days after the President takes an action under subsection 
     (b)(2)(C), the President shall submit to the appropriate 
     congressional committees a comprehensive plan for 
     implementing the actions described in such subsection.
       (f) Definition.--In this section, the term ``international 
     financial institution'' means the International Bank for 
     Reconstruction and Development, the International Development 
     Association, the International Monetary Fund, the African 
     Development Bank, and the African Development Fund.

     SEC. 7. MULTILATERAL PRESSURE ON COMBATANTS.

       It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the United Nations should help facilitate peace and 
     recovery in Sudan;
       (2) the President, acting through the United States 
     Permanent Representative to the United Nations, should seek 
     to end the veto power of the Government of Sudan over the 
     plans by OLS for air transport relief flights and, by doing 
     so, to end the manipulation of the delivery of relief 
     supplies to the advantage of the Government of Sudan on the 
     battlefield; and
       (3) the President should take appropriate measures, 
     including the implementation of recommendations of the 
     International Eminent Persons Commission contained in the 
     report issued on May 22, 2002, to end slavery and aerial 
     bombardment of civilians by the Government of Sudan.

     SEC. 8. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

       Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State 
     shall prepare and submit to the appropriate congressional 
     committees a report regarding the conflict in Sudan. Such 
     report shall include--
       (1) a description of the sources and current status of 
     Sudan's financing and construction of infrastructure and 
     pipelines for oil exploitation, the effects of such financing 
     and construction on the inhabitants of the regions in which 
     the oil fields are located, and the ability of the Government 
     of Sudan to finance the war in Sudan with the proceeds of the 
     oil exploitation;
       (2) a description of the extent to which that financing was 
     secured in the United States or with involvement of United 
     States citizens;
       (3) the best estimates of the extent of aerial bombardment 
     by the Government of Sudan, including targets, frequency, and 
     best estimates of damage; and
       (4) a description of the extent to which humanitarian 
     relief has been obstructed or manipulated by the Government 
     of Sudan or other forces.

     SEC. 9. CONTINUED USE OF NON-OLS ORGANIZATIONS FOR RELIEF 
                   EFFORTS.

       (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress 
     that the President should continue to increase the use of 
     non-OLS agencies in the distribution of relief supplies in 
     southern Sudan.
       (b) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the 
     appropriate congressional committees a detailed report 
     describing the progress made toward carrying out subsection 
     (a).

     SEC. 10. CONTINGENCY PLAN FOR ANY BAN ON AIR TRANSPORT RELIEF 
                   FLIGHTS.

       (a) Plan.--The President shall develop a contingency plan 
     to provide, outside the auspices of the United Nations if 
     necessary, the greatest possible amount of United States 
     Government and privately donated relief to all affected areas 
     in Sudan, including the Nuba Mountains and the Upper Nile and 
     the Blue Nile regions, in the event that the Government of 
     Sudan imposes a total, partial, or incremental ban on OLS air 
     transport relief flights.
       (b) Reprogramming Authority.--Notwithstanding any other 
     provision of law, in carrying out the plan developed under 
     subsection (a), the President may reprogram up to 100 percent 
     of the funds available for support of OLS operations for the 
     purposes of the plan.

     SEC. 11. INVESTIGATION OF WAR CRIMES.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall collect 
     information about incidents which may constitute crimes 
     against humanity, genocide, war crimes, and other violations 
     of international humanitarian law by all parties to the 
     conflict in Sudan, including slavery, rape, and aerial 
     bombardment of civilian targets.
       (b) Report.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Secretary 
     of State shall prepare and submit to the appropriate 
     congressional committees a detailed report on the information 
     that the Secretary of State has collected under subsection 
     (a) and any findings or determinations made by the Secretary 
     on the basis of that information. The report under this 
     subsection may be submitted as part of the report required 
     under section 8.
       (c) Consultations With Other Departments.--In preparing the 
     report required by this section, the Secretary of State shall 
     consult and coordinate with all other Government officials 
     who have information necessary to complete the report. 
     Nothing contained in this section shall require the 
     disclosure, on a classified or unclassified basis, of 
     information that would jeopardize sensitive sources and 
     methods or other vital national security interests.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).


                             General Leave

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and 
extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 5531.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in very strong support of the Sudan Peace Act, 
and I want to especially thank the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. 
Tancredo) for introducing this very worthwhile legislation.
  This bill represents an important cause with strong bipartisan 
backing. I am particularly grateful to the original cosponsors that 
include the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Royce), the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), the 
gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus), the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Lantos), the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Pence), the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), who chairs the Subcommittee on 
International Operations and Human Rights, the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Lee), the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah), the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey), and I myself am one of co-sponsors as 
well.
  Mr. Speaker, the nation of Sudan is located in the far eastern corner 
of Africa. The National Islamic Front is the governing power, albeit a 
brutal dictatorship, in Sudan's capital city of Khartoum.
  In November of 2001, President Bush renewed U.S. bilateral sanctions 
on the government of Sudan. According to the State Department, the 
Government of Sudan remains a designated state-sponsor of terrorist 
organizations around the world today. This government is an Islamic 
extremist government that has dedicated itself and its regime to 
manifesting a jihad, or holy war, even against its own citizens.
  The war struggles in the southern part of that country have touched 
the hearts of many Americans in a nationwide grassroots effort to raise 
awareness about the suffering in Sudan. The Human Rights Caucus, the 
Congressional Black Caucus, the Church Alliance of a New Sudan, the 
Holocaust Museum's Committee on Conscience, the Commission on 
International Religious Freedom, and the NAACP are

[[Page H7105]]

among the countless individuals and organizations across this country 
who give this cause the profile and attention that it deserves.
  Sudan civil war, Mr. Speaker, has been waged in the south for more 
than 4 decades. More than 2 million people have been killed, men, 
women, and children, to war-related causes and to famine. Four million 
people have been forced from their homes into temporary shelters. The 
conflict is Africa's oldest war, born from such complex causes as 
religion, ethnicity, national identity, and economic disparity.
  Religion is a major factor because of the Islamic fundamentalist 
regimes and agenda of the current government, dominated by mostly 
Muslims from the Arab north. The National Islamic Fronts Government's 
practice of holy war is reflected in attacks on civilians in the south. 
Southerners who are Christian and animist reject the Islamization of 
their country and favor a secular government that respects fundamental 
religious freedoms.
  Widespread institutionalization of the holy war has resulted in the 
practice of slavery and the mass dislocation of people in the south. I 
would just note parenthetically back in 1995, I chaired the first 
hearing ever on slavery in the Sudan, and at the time we were met with 
a number of skeptics and disbelievers who did not believe that shadow 
slavery continued to this day.
  Captured slaves are reportedly forced to attended Koranic schools, 
and we heard that at that hearing then and it continues to this day. 
They need to change their names as part of this dehumanizing process. 
They are indoctrinated at times to fight against their own people. 
Harsh beatings and torture are a reality.
  Some of the witnesses we heard of including mothers who saw their 
sons literally stolen from them, kidnapped and forced into slavery, 
their daughters as well. It was a horrifying hearing, and we heard 
about these cases year in and year out as we tried to bring attention 
to this horrible practice of slavery.
  Mr. Speaker, the Government of Sudan has one of the worst human 
rights records in the world. The United States has repeatedly condemned 
the government of Khartoum for its abhorrent violations of human 
rights. According to the 2001 State Department Human Rights Report, 
there were accounts that during raids on civilian settlements, 
government allied militias abducted persons, particularly women and 
children. According to the 2002 ``Country Reports on Human Rights 
Practices,'' children from Christian and other non-Muslim families have 
been captured, enslaved, and forced to convert to Islam.
  Some people in government-controlled peace camps for the internally 
displaced persons, IDD, were reportedly subjected to forced labor and 
at times pressured to convert to Islam.
  The Sudanese Government has increased oil mining in areas inhabited 
by the southern Sudanese, thereby forcibly displacing the people to 
finance a more lethal and offensive war. I would point out to my 
colleagues that oil has been facilitating this war, and we have got to 
be very clear that any way that we help or enable the production of oil 
in the Sudan means that more innocent people will lose their lives.
  Mr. Speaker, I would point out to my colleagues, as well, that 
Talisman Oil, and there has been a nationwide campaign, I am happy to 
say, about this, to divest State pensions and other pensions from the 
holdings of this company, a Canadian company which again has helped to 
facilitate this horrific war in Sudan.
  My own State of New Jersey, to its credit, divested itself from many, 
many shares of Talisman Oil that it owned; and thankfully other States 
and municipalities and governments have followed suit.
  Mr. Speaker, the Government of Sudan has continued to manipulate to 
its everlasting shame humanitarian relief efforts of the United 
Nations-led Operation Lifeline Sudan. In the past 14 years and as 
recently as September 27 of this year, the regime of the National 
Islamic Front has imposed flight bans on emergency humanitarian aid to 
starving civilians. In other words, by having that veto power, they 
have ensured that more innocent people have died a cruel death from 
starvation or from lack of medicines.
  Many nations, Mr. Speaker, have tried and failed to end this civil 
war in Sudan. In 1994 heads of state from the frontline states of 
Ethiopia, Kenya, Eritrea, and Uganda formed a mediation committee under 
the auspices of the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development. This 
committee established the Declaration of Principles governing the peace 
process since 1994. The continuing contrast between word and deed 
underlines the importance of today's consideration of the Sudan Peace 
Act. The aerial bombing of civilian targets continues to this day.
  The Government of Sudan continues to abandon the peace process at 
critical stages. As recently as July 2002, the Government of Sudan 
reached a peace agreement with the opposition forces, known as the 
Sudan People's Liberation Movement, in Kenya. The United States and its 
European allies worked with IDAG countries to mediate the agreement. On 
September 1 of this year, the Government of Sudan abandoned the 
agreement.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues of both parties to support 
this important measure.

                              {time}  1630

  The Sudan Peace Act condemns the violation of human rights on both 
sides and denounces the government of Sudan for using food as a weapon 
of war. It recognizes the important interests of the United States in 
remaining a key player in the peace settlement among the warring 
parties. Secretary Powell has described Sudan as the tragedy that would 
command his full attention, and he has tried his best in this effort.
  The bill establishes clear policy guidelines in support of the peace 
process by directing the U.S. to use all means to pressure and to force 
the government of Sudan to negotiate in good faith and to use all 
diplomatic and economic sanctions to further this goal.
  The measure directs the President to develop a contingency plan for 
relief delivery if the government of Sudan imposes further bans on 
Operation Lifeline Sudan and to their relief transports. It provides 
the President with authority to reprogram all of the OLS designated 
funds, if necessary.
  The bill authorizes $100 million in humanitarian assistance for each 
fiscal year of 2003, 2004 and 2005 to prepare the populations in 
opposition-controlled areas of Sudan for peace and democratic 
governance.
  In sum, the Sudan Peace Act will give the administration some 
guidance in the peace efforts while leaving enough flexibility to lead 
the foreign affairs of the nation.
  Mr. Speaker, the manager's amendment contains a few modifications, 
including an emphasis in the findings that credible civil authority 
institutions play an important role in the reconstruction of postwar 
Sudan and then a few other minor changes in the text of the bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. WATSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as 
I may consume, and I rise in strong support of this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I would first like to thank the Chairman and the ranking 
Democratic Member of the Committee on International Relations for this 
important piece of legislation. This bill will increase pressure on the 
government of Sudan to end its egregious 19-year war against civilians 
in the south and west of that country.
  The road to peace in Sudan is a very troubled one. Just a month ago, 
the Sudanese government walked away from the Machakos peace 
negotiations in Kenya. It also resumed bombings of civilian targets and 
imposed a ban on all flights carrying humanitarian assistance to 
southern Sudan and its estimated 5 million people.
  We are relieved to learn that, as a result of vigorous international 
pressure, over the past few weeks the Sudanese government has lifted 
bans on humanitarian flights and is now rejoining the Sudanese people's 
liberation movement at the Machakos peace negotiations.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill supports the Machakos peace process and 
authorizes $3 million per year for 3 years to help create institutions 
of peace and democratic governance in the areas not controlled by the 
government. This includes support for civil administration, 
communications infrastructure, education, health and agriculture.

[[Page H7106]]

  The bill also requires that the President certify within 6 months of 
the passage of this bill and every 6 months afterwards that the parties 
are negotiating in good faith towards a durable and lasting peace.
  If the President certifies that the government is the obstacle to 
peace, he is instructed to seek a U.N. Security Council resolution to 
impose an arms embargo on the Sudanese government. He must also 
instruct the U.S. executive directors to each internal financial 
institution to continue to vote against any loans, credits or 
guarantees to the government. If the Sudanese people's liberation 
movement is found acting in good faith, the President will pursue no 
actions against the government.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill sends a clear message to the world and Sudan 
that the United States stands on the side of peace in Sudan. It also 
underscores our commitment to ending the human suffering that is there 
by securing a just and peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict. I 
strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), who 
chairs the Subcommittee on Africa of the Committee on International 
Relations.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the vice chairman for yielding me 
some time; and I rise also in support of this legislation. As has been 
mentioned, this bill differs from the one that the House of 
Representatives acted upon last year; and while this Sudan Peace Act is 
maybe not as muscular as the version that the House sent to the other 
body, it should still manage to encourage the end of a horrific war 
that has taken close to two million lives and has ruined countless 
others for 20 years.
  The Sudan Peace Act most certainly deserves our support, and I would 
just like to mention that many of the Members here have seen firsthand, 
I think the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) will be joining us; I 
know the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf); I know that our vice 
chairman, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) of this committee 
have seen the consequences firsthand of this war.
  In my constituency is a pastor who has adopted two young girls whose 
mother was shot in their presence. One of those girls has a bullet 
wound in her leg as a consequence of the terror that has been 
perpetuated on the people of southern Sudan, and I think this 
legislation rightly targets the Sudanese government's horrendous acts.
  The regime in Khartoum has continued its practice of using food as a 
weapon. It has sustained a bombing campaign against civilian targets, 
even international aid sites in southern Sudan; and many of us have 
seen the photographs from constituents of ours who have gone over to 
try to help and have taken pictures of the sites of international aid 
camps, of towns, of villages that have been hit by helicopter gunships, 
that have been shelled, that have been burned.
  This is a government in the past that has supported slavery, and I 
think the Sudan Peace Act rightly condemns the government of Sudan for 
its abysmal human rights record, while recognizing that human rights 
violations occur on all sides of this conflict.
  It threatens punitive measures against the Sudanese government unless 
that government is constructively engaged in the ongoing peace process, 
and this legislation also takes the step of calling on the Secretary of 
State to collect information about incidences that may constitute 
crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes, and other such 
violations of international law.
  I would like to note that in the previous session of Congress the 
House had passed a resolution labeling the Khartoum's government's acts 
as genocide. It is important to build the record.
  This Act commends the efforts also of Senator John Danforth, the 
special presidential envoy to Sudan, to end this long-running conflict. 
It recognizes that the U.S. must play a critical role in promoting 
peace in Sudan, a reality I believe that this administration 
understands.
  This legislation makes a resource commitment to build civil 
institutions and assist suffering people in the south of Sudan; and, in 
these ways, the Sudan Peace Act is Congress' way of bolstering the 
administration's peace push in Sudan. That is why I urge passage.
  Ms. WATSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 7 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California for 
yielding me the time and for working on this bill and certainly the 
gentleman from New Jersey for his continuous work on this bill.
  I come to the floor to support the bill but with the deepest of 
reservations. My reservations, of course, flow from the fact that the 
engine that drove the bill that passed overwhelmingly in this House has 
simply been removed, and that, of course, was denial of access to 
capital markets in order to get at the very oil that drives the economy 
of Sudan.
  I regret that the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) could not be 
here. It is a Monday when he usually would not be in town. He and I in 
April, 2000, came to the floor in a special order at a time when the 
only record of concern in the House was a joint resolution, passed 
overwhelmingly in the House and Senate, condemning the various 
atrocities in Sudan, and I am very pleased to see how this House has 
embraced the notion that resolutions are not enough. Action is all that 
counts when people live under the kind of oppression that is pervasive 
in Sudan, and the kind of oppression we are talking about is almost 
unspeakable.
  It is a litany, a compendium of violations of human rights that is 
unknown in most parts of the world today, slavery, genocidal war, 
bombings of humanitarian workers, forced conversion of Christians and 
animists to Islam. It would be pretty difficult to find a compendium of 
worse violations in any single country.
  In this House, a new caucus has been formed under chairmanship of the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) and the gentleman from Virginia 
(Mr. Wolf). All I can say for this bill is that it is better than 
nothing. That is just how disappointed I am. It at least puts the 
United States Congress in the picture for the first time.
  The original Act, of course, tried to do something that had not been 
done before. If ever it was to be, then surely it was to be now when, 
in fact, already our corporations cannot do business in Sudan, and yet 
they can come here and get the capital to do business in Sudan, and to 
the credit of this House, this House had the strong bill. It is in the 
Senate where this bill was so injured, and the bill does have 
provisions worth noting.
  Our government is strongly on record that if these efforts now 
finally under way toward negotiations for peace do not succeed that the 
United States Government would break our diplomatic ties, and we would 
attempt to cut off IMF, World Bank money. There is a little bit of 
irony in that. We cannot cut off the capital markets, but we can cut 
off the money that goes presumably to the people at the bottom. They do 
not get any of that money I do not think, but, obviously, the bill is 
trying to do something to indicate just how displeased the United 
States Government is with all of this, $100 million over 3 years, the 
State Department investigation of war crimes in Sudan. The more we are 
on the record, the more this Congress and the administration is clear 
where we stand, the closer we will get to some meaningful action.
  I am very concerned about all I hear about the continuing suffering 
of people in Sudan, the notion that so many of these southern Sudanese 
have now come to the north just because they cannot live in the south 
anymore. I want to quote from one southerner, ``We either live in the 
south where there is fighting or starvation or we live in the north 
where there is discrimination and displacement camps. There is no good 
choice.''
  That is no choice at all, of course, and yet 40 percent of Khartoum 
consists now of southerners, southern Sudanese who, of course, work in 
the jobs that are at the bottom. That is not the worst of it, by any 
means. Working in a job at all, I am sure, given what these people have 
gone through, is all to the good.

[[Page H7107]]

                              {time}  1645

  The relief camps to which the southern Sudanese have been forced do 
not get any services from the government. I do not know what we would 
do without the nongovernmental organizations. I am very pleased that 
the President did send an envoy, former Senator Danforth, a good friend 
of mine, a former law school classmate, an Episcopal priest, a man who 
means it.
  Of course, these talks are under way. They get under way and they get 
un-under way. We have had 19 years of civil war. I think Senator 
Danforth's efforts should be credited with having had something to do 
with these new talks that are under way. We have a so-called cessation 
of hostilities that comes on and then goes off. That is because it is 
not a cease-fire. A permanent cease-fire is what is on the agenda now. 
A permanent cease-fire is when you have some verification when one side 
or the other breaks the cease-fire.
  This bill is not what those of us, including those who voted for this 
bill, the great majority of the Members, wished. It is all we can get. 
I can with great disappointment support this bill only if with all of 
the partners, with the new Sudanese Caucus, we pledge to keep pressing 
to find a real way to have a real effect in Sudan. I thank the 
gentleman from New Jersey, and I thank all of those on my side who have 
worked so hard on this bill for keeping it alive and for continuing to 
press forward.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the 
distinguished gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf), chairman of the 
appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary, 
a leader on Sudanese human rights issues, has been to Sudan four times, 
and a great believer and champion in the causes of freedom and 
democracy.
  (Mr. WOLF asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, also keep in mind that Osama bin Laden, the 
source of terrorism, lived in Sudan from 1991 to 1996.
  I rise in strong support of H.R. 5531, the Sudan Peace Act, that will 
be helpful in promoting a just peace in war-ravaged Sudan. The war in 
Sudan has been monumental. Over 2 million people, mainly Christians, 
but some Muslims, have been killed during the last 20 years. The people 
of southern Sudan have borne the brunt of the pain, death and 
destruction of the war while frankly the rest of the world stood by and 
watched. The southerners have been the victims of the Government of 
Sudan's intentional and indiscriminate aerial bombing attacks. 
Government planes have repeatedly dropped bombs on southern civilian 
population centers, hospitals and international humanitarian offices. 
Innocent men, women and children have been blown apart for no reason 
except that they live in southern Sudan.
  The Khartoum regime, which welcomed Osama bin Laden, has routinely 
used food aid as a weapon in its war with the southern-led opposition, 
repeatedly denying much-needed humanitarian and medical assistance to 
millions of its own countrymen. The Khartoum regime has recently yet 
again, just a couple of days ago, shut down the primary and largest 
international humanitarian effort in Sudan, Operation Lifeline Sudan, 
cutting off Sudan's airspace of virtually all flights into southern 
Sudan. This shutdown has resulted in the denial of much-needed food and 
medical assistance to millions of the suffering and needy.
  Oil, as the gentleman from New Jersey said, in southern Sudan is 
being exploited by the Sudanese Government resulting in a scorched 
Earth, death and destruction. Attacks occur on sleeping villages by 
Russian-built, government-flown attack helicopter gunships that ride 
along the route of the pipeline and literally just gun down the women 
and the children. Posses come in and raid and kill the men, rape the 
women, and take the children away.
  The government has also used army soldiers on foot to attack sleeping 
villages early, early in the morning. A humanitarian-aid worker 
interviewed several survivors of these attacks reporting on one attack 
on three villages where more than 6,000 Christian farmers live, located 
on the border between the Southern Blue Nile and Eastern Upper Nile in 
Sudan:
  ``The government set up the attack overnight so that the inhabitants 
were killed at dawn as the village awakened. The solders reportedly 
used .50 caliber machine guns, assault rifles and other heavy caliber 
automatic weapons. Children were gunned down as they ran away, and many 
wives last saw their husbands attacking the machine gun emplacements 
with axes, machetes and hoes in order to buy time for their wives to 
escape. Those women who made it to freedom then walked more than 10 
days through the bush, with only trees to eat, in order to reach the 
safety of a friendly village compound in the Eastern Upper Nile. They 
were severely malnourished, so much so that they could not provide 
their infants with any breast milk. There were no SPLA soldiers 
stationed in the three villages.'' So they were bombing and killing 
civilians.
  This legislation rightly condemns the Government of Sudan for 
condoning slavery. There is slavery in Sudan; and the world, other than 
the United States and a few others, has just sat by and done absolutely 
positively nothing.
  In closing, in summary, I want to thank a number of the Members that 
have really been involved: the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo); 
the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne); the gentleman from Illinois 
(Mr. Hyde); the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos); the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), a champion of this bill working on human 
rights; the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus), who took this issue 
on, who had a better bill than this bill but has pursued and pushed 
this; Senator Brownback; the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), 
chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa; Senator Frist; the gentlewoman 
from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton); and others who have been so 
active. I also want to thank, if it is not a violation of the rules, 
President Bush for taking a personal interest in this and as appointing 
the envoy, former Senator Danforth. I want to thank Secretary Powell 
and the people in the State Department that are working on this.
  Ms. WATSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
this debate be extended by 6 minutes, equally divided between myself 
and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson).
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Petri). Is there objection to the 
request of the gentleman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time 
to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus), the chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, who 
likewise has been indefatigable in promoting human rights and democracy 
in Sudan.
  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, today in Sudan people are given a simple 
choice. They are either told to embrace the state-sponsored faith or 
die. That is the choice. Many of them are dying. You have heard the 
numbers. Several of our Members have gone over there. They can identify 
with what is going on. They have seen it firsthand.
  Can the American people identify with the tragedy that we know as 
Sudan? Yes, they can, because the same kind of hatred was directed at 
them on September 11 when 3,000 of our fellow Americans were killed by 
this same radical Islamic movement that basically said, If you don't 
agree with us, you're an infidel; and if you're an infidel, we'll kill 
you. That is what happened here on September 11. That is what is 
happening every day in Sudan.
  I think Chuck Colson probably summarized it better on how Americans 
can imagine what is going on in Sudan:

       Now, imagine September 11 happening 666 times. Imagine 2 
     million Americans being killed by radical Islam. Then you 
     will have an idea of what the citizens of southern Sudan have 
     endured at the hands of the government in Khartoum.

  That is right, 666 times. If September 11 happened another 666 times, 
we would have the number of innocent people that have been killed in 
Sudan; 4.5 million raped, brutalized, bombed, put in slavery. Yet it 
goes on and on.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend the House. We offered a very strong bill which

[[Page H7108]]

would have helped put an end to this slaughter in Sudan. But I commend 
this bill; and I urge Members to vote for this bill, because we have to 
be practical. We cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the practical. 
This bill has a wonderful chance of passing today; it will go over to 
the Senate, I believe it will be passed in the Senate, and the 
President will sign it. And for the first time, there will be a link 
made officially between the genocide and the slaughter in Sudan and oil 
money. And what this legislation says, it gives President Bush if in 6 
months peace negotiations are not proceeding, there is not a moving 
towards resolution, he can intervene to cut off the flow of money. The 
Sudanese Government has gone to Ukraine, they have bought helicopters, 
they have bought all sorts of weapons from Iran. We will cut off that 
oil money.
  The tie between the genocide and oil is well established. The 
Washington Post, The New York Times, the Weekly Standard, the 
Birmingham News in my own home State, the Financial Times of London, 
they all say cut off the oil and you help cut off the slaughter. This 
bill is the first step in doing that.
  I would like to commend the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith). I 
would like to commend the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson); 
ranking member, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne). I would like 
to commend the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo), who is not here 
with us today. I would like to commend Senator Brownback and Senator 
Frist in the Senate for working on this. I too would like to commend 
President Bush. He recognized soon after he became President that we 
needed to end this slaughter in Sudan. He appointed Senator Danforth, 
and we are working our way towards that.
  I will close simply by saying that the U.S. Holocaust Museum here in 
Washington, they for the first time in 60 years recognized Sudan and 
what is going on there as genocide and named Sudan as a country of 
conscience and said it must be ended. And it must. No wonder that Osama 
bin Laden found refuge in Sudan. It is because he and the government in 
Khartoum share the same twisted logic. With a vote for this bill today, 
we will begin to do what we can here today to end that slaughter.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5531--the Sudan 
Peace Act. I do so with some disappointment. The bill we consider today 
transmitted from the other body was stripped of its most potent 
provisions--full disclosure requirement and potential capital market 
sanctions for corporations doing business in Sudan and thereby 
contributing to the suffering of the people of southern Sudan.
  The United States delegation in Khartoum, ably led be former Senator 
John Danforth, has made tremendous strides in settling this conflict in 
recent months, even bringing the warring parties to the negotiating 
table in Machakos, Kenya. But as diplomats talks, the assaults on 
civilians in the rich oil-producing areas continue. This is appalling. 
The National Islamic Front leaders in Khartoum have mastered the art of 
putting a good face on bad faith negotiations--and the removal of 
capital market sanctions provisions from this bill allows them to 
continue this deadly ruse with impunity. Had the other body approved 
the House version of the Sudan Peace Act and preserved these punitive 
provisions, I believe this could have dealt a major blow to Khartoum's 
ambitions to dominate and impose sharia religious law on the people of 
the South.
  Sudan is suffering through the longest running civil war in the 
world, contributing to the displacement, depravation and death of 
millions of Sudanese. It is estimated that more than two million 
Sudanese have died from war-related causes since 1983. An estimated 
four million Sudanese are internally displaced, with two million living 
in squatter areas of Khartoum. More than three million Sudanese will 
require emergency food aid this year, according to the World Food 
Program. Famine is a constant.
  Desite recent peace efforts, the devastating attacks on southern 
civilians have continued. Aid agencies in southern Sudan reported that, 
in September 2002 alone, government bombing in several key regions 
killed over 32 people including a 13-year old boy, four small children, 
and a family of six. These killings do not even include all bombing 
incidents during the September war.
  Khartoum has been helpful to the U.S. government in tracking down Al 
Qaeda operatives and its financial assets, and through its cooperation 
to combat terrorism, has gained greater prominence with the U.S. 
Nevertheless, Khartoum's cooperation has been accompanied by continued 
bombardment of the southern Sudanese people who simply yearn to live 
freely.
  Khartoum's actions raise doubts about it's honest commitment to 
peace. Last month, the Sudanese government walked away from the 
Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD)-sponsored Machakos 
negotiations in Kenya after accusing the Sudanese People's Liberation 
Army (SPLA) of engaging in offensive military activity. Indeed, in 
retaliation to government bombings and ground offensives in Western 
Upper Nile, the SPLA captured Torit, the capital of Eastern Equatoria.
  Despite its shortcomings, the Sudan Peace Act does contain a number 
of helpful provisions. This new bill authorizes $3 million per year 
over three years to help build civil institutions in non-government 
controlled areas and community services in health and education. It 
also includes a certification program whereby the President is obliged 
to certify in six-month intervals whether the Sudanese government and 
Sudanese People's Liberation Movement are negotiating peace in good 
faith.
  It is necessary that we live up to the terms of the Danforth Report 
and in particular reinforce all efforts to protect civilians from harm. 
In addition to the provisions of this legislation, I strongly urge the 
President to add immediately a human rights monitoring component to the 
U.S. Civilian Protection Monitoring Team based in Khartoum and human 
rights monitors in the Nuba Mountains to monitor the ceasefire and 
access of humanitarian organizations to the Nuba people. We are at a 
critical stage in Sudan's terrible civil war.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my appreciation for the fine 
work of my staffer, Dr. Pearl Alice Marsh, who through her exceptional 
knowledge of African affairs made a substantial and important 
contribution to this bill.
  If the peace talks are allowed to fail, then millions more Sudanese 
will face destruction. We may witness the prospect of yet another 
decade of civil war. We cannot let this happen. I hope the initiatives 
that will come out of H.R. 5531 will move Sudan toward true peace. If 
this fails, the U.S. government will be required to consider taking 
more serious actions toward Khartoum.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Sudan Peace 
Act. In June 2001, the House passed H.R. 2052, the Sudan Peace Act, 
422-2 with a capital market sanctions provision. If passed by the 
Senate, the legislation would have denied foreign oil companies 
currently in Sudan access to our capital markets. Unfortunately, the 
some Senators opposed to this provision stalled the process, 
effectively preventing action on the bill.
  We had to act to salvage this important legislation. Left with no 
choice, we decided to drop the capital market sanction provision in 
exchange for other punitive measures and increased funding for the 
needy in Sudan. This was not an easy decision for many of us and for 
those in the Sudan coalition, who fought hard for several years to pass 
this legislation. We concluded that it was important to have something 
that is meaningful and constructive than nothing at all.
  H.R. 5531 is a compromise legislation accepted by all those 
concerned. H.R. 5531: Condemns the Government of Sudan for its wanton 
disregard for human rights, including the enslaving of its people and 
use of food as a weapon; Authorizes $100 million for each fiscal year 
2003, 2004, and 2005. These funds will help prepare the people of Sudan 
for peace, provide much needed support in education, health care, and 
communication infrastructure; Calls for immediate and sweeping reform 
of Operation Lifeline Sudan, the United Nations-led humanitarian 
operation. The OLS has been consistently manipulated and undermined by 
the NIF regime; and Directs the President to certify in six months, 
after the enactment of this Act, whether the NIF government is 
negotiating in good faith. If the President certifies that the 
Government is NOT negotiating in good faith, then the President shall 
impose a series of sanctions, including: Downgrading of diplomatic 
relations, An arms embargo resolution at the United Nations Security 
Council, and Measures to deny use of oil revenues.
  Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear. The intent of Congress and this 
legislation is to put pressure on the government of Sudan to negotiate 
in good faith and conclude a just peace within six months. The Congress 
expects that if there is no peace agreement within six months of this 
Act and that the SPLM is not negotiating in bad faith, we expect the 
President to impose the sanctions outlined in this legislation. It is 
not our intent to simply

[[Page H7109]]

become recipients of incomplete, inconsistent, and vague certification 
by the President.
  Mr. Speaker, for almost four decades, Sudan has been the scene of 
intermittent conflict. Of course, many have heard by now the number of 
people killed in the Sudan conflict. But how many people have really 
paid careful attention to these numbers. An estimated two million 
people have died from war-related causes and famine in southern Sudan, 
and four million have been displaced.
  Why these many people have to die? Could we have done something to 
prevent the massive loss of life in Sudan. Indeed, the answer is a 
resounding yes. But we chose to ignore it or engage marginally. We are 
the largest provider of humanitarian assistance in Sudan, yet many 
continue to die. In 1998 alone, an estimated 100,000 people died due to 
government refusal to allow United Nations relief aid from going into 
the country.
  Indeed, Mr. Speaker, some have written and others have talked about 
this tragedy as either a religious conflict or tribal conflict. The 
Sudanese conflict, Africa's longest-running civil war, is deeper and 
more complicated than the claims of political leaders and some 
observers. Religion, indeed, is a major factor because of the Islamic 
fundamentalist agenda of the current government, dominated by the 
northern-based National Islamic Front (NIF) government. Southerners, 
who are Christian and animist, reject the Islamization of the country 
and favor a secular arrangement. Social and economic disparities are 
also major contributing factors to the Sudanese conflict.
  But this regime is not merely opposed by Christians or southerners. 
The NIF regime is a minority government led by extremist clique in 
Khartoum. Muslim leaders have also been victims of the NIF over the 
years and are clearly opposed by the majority of northerners inside and 
outside the country. The National Democratic Alliance, a coalition of 
northern and southern opposition groups, has been actively challenging 
NIF's hold to power since it ousted the democratically elected civilian 
government in June 1989. In fact, the NIF came to power precisely to 
abort a peace agreement between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement 
(SPLM) and the major northern parties in 1989.
  Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate, but a sad reality that Slavery has 
reemerged with a vengeance in Sudan, and this inhuman practice is 
directly tied to the civil war in Southern Sudan that has raged 
intermittently for over forty years. The enslavement of innocent 
Southern Sudanese civilians has intensified since the National Islamic 
Front usurped power in 1989. It is now being condoned, if not 
orchestrated, by the NIF government and perpetrated by its Arab militia 
allies. The international community has done little, if anything, to 
prevent this abhorrent practice.
  Mr. Speaker, the war in Sudan is certainly a major factor 
contributing to the increase in slavery in Sudan. The war is 
essentially one of Southern resistance against domination and 
assimilation by the National Islamic Front government. With religion as 
an aggravating factor, the war has become a genocidal zero-sum 
conflict. At the core of this problem is a conflict of identities in 
which the assimilation or elimination of the non-Arab and non-Muslim 
population has increasingly become the objective of the Government.
  The prevalence of slavery in Sudan constitutes a serious challenge 
not only to the Sudanese themselves, but also to the international 
community.


                      Let Us Remember the Victims

  The innocent civilians are the victims in this war. Just the other 
day, the NIF government declared a jihad, intensifying its aerial 
bombardment of the south. Who are those being bombed, of course, the 
children and the helpless. According to the report by U.S. Committee 
for Refugees, the government bombed civilian targets 167 times in 2000 
alone.
  Mr. Speaker, we are well aware of the number of people killed, 
maimed, displaced, and enslaved. Yet, we, as members of the 
international community have failed to do the right thing: End the 
suffering.
  Over the years, I have visited Sudan a number of times. In all these 
visits, I, like many others, promised to do all I can to end their 
suffering. I must say with all sincerity that I can no longer see these 
innocent civilians and promise to end their suffering. I must admit, 
despite all our efforts, we failed the people of Sudan as we did when a 
million people got massacred in Rwanda in 1994.
  We cannot say we did not know. As I speak here before you, more 
people will die, dozens will be forcefully displaced, and many others 
will be enslaved. Just imagine, waking up one morning and you lose 
everything you have--your property, dignity, family, and most 
important--your freedom.
  Mr. Speaker, we cannot afford to wait any longer. The people of south 
Sudan have become an endangered species--a few years from now, there 
will be one left except the barren land. In the past several weeks, 
government forces burned, looted, and destroyed a number of villages, 
displacing tens of thousands of civilians.
  Those who beat the drum of reconciliation must remember the 
sacrifices paid by the millions of Sudanese. There can be no peace if 
it is not a just and lasting peace. Indeed, ending the war must be a 
priority. But we must address the root causes of the war if we are to 
achieve a lasting peace. H.R. 5531 is a token measure to address these 
problems. I urge my colleagues to vote for this measure.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in 
support of H.R. 5531, the Sudan Peace Act. I would like to acknowledge 
the vital role that Representative Payne and other Members of the 
Congressional Black Caucus played in the development of this 
legislation.
  H.R. 5331, while not perfect, represents an important step forward on 
the road to peace for Africa's longest civil war that has already 
killed more than 2 million people and displaced more than 4 million. I 
am disappointed that the capital market sanctions of the original Sudan 
Peace Act were stripped from this legislation. However, the bill before 
us today makes the express link between oil and the Government of 
Sudan's intention to use future revenues to expand the war into areas 
beyond its control. The legislation replaces the capital market 
sanctions with a certification process that instructs the President to 
certify whether the Government of Sudan is making progress towards 
peace. If the Government of Sudan is at fault for obstructing peace 
negotiations, the President is instructed to pursue multilateral 
sanctions through the United Nations. While I would have preferred to 
see the sanctions in the original bill remain in place, an important 
compromise has been reached that enables this legislation to move 
forward.
  Most importantly, the Sudan Peace Act authorizes $300 million over 
three years for assistance to the people of southern Sudan. These 
funds, if appropriated, will lay the groundwork for peace and 
democratic governance, by including support for civil administration, 
communication infrastructure, education, health, and agriculture.
  H.R. 5531 maintains the pressure on warring parties to resolve their 
conflict, demonstrates the continued interest of the United States in 
finding a lasting peace in this troubled nation, and provides 
desperately needed assistance for the people of southern Sudan. I urge 
my colleagues to support this legislation.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 5531, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and 
nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

                          ____________________