[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 107 (Friday, July 18, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1524]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 REGARDING EFFORTS TO ABOLISH SLAVERY AND OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN 
                                 SUDAN

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                               speech of

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 16, 2003

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker I rise today in support of H. Res. 194, a 
resolution condemning slavery and other gross violations of human 
rights that are occurring in Sudan.
  I have been to Sudan four times since 1989. I have seen the 
conditions on the ground first-hand. Women and children continue to die 
daily from starvation and illness. According to the State Department 
Country Report on Human Rights, thousands of Dinka women and children 
have been abducted and sold into slavery, sent to labor camps, and have 
been forced to serve in the military. Nearly two million people have 
died and four million have been displaced as a result of the ongoing 
civil war in Sudan.
  On November 4, 2002, the United Nations concluded that the dire human 
rights situation in Sudan had not significantly changed. Numerous human 
rights organizations, including Christian Solidarity International, 
Freedom House, and the American Anti-Slavery Group have all called for 
an end to slavery in Sudan. The House of Representatives has repeatedly 
denounced human rights abuses in Sudan.
  The Government of Sudan and the SPLA are beginning to take positive 
steps toward reaching lasting peace and we are at a critical moment in 
the peace negotiations between the parties. The war in Sudan must end, 
but it must end in a just peace, a peace in which all of Sudan can 
share in its resources, where all Sudanese can worship freely, and in 
which all Sudanese are treated with respect and dignity. The people of 
Sudan have suffered for too long.
  I urge this body to overwhelmingly pass this resolution and I call on 
the government of Sudan to abolish slavery and respect human rights.

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