[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 63 (Friday, May 7, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5048-S5049]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    OBSERVING THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE RWANDAN GENOCIDE OF 1994

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 490, S. Res. 
332.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The assistant journal clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 332) observing the tenth anniversary 
     of the Rwandan Genocide of 1994.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution 
and preamble be agreed to en bloc, the motions to reconsider be laid 
upon the table en bloc, and that any statements relating thereto be 
printed in the Record, with no intervening action.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 332) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 332

       Whereas 10 years ago, during a 3-month period in 1994, 
     800,000 Rwandans were killed in an organized campaign of 
     genocide that targeted ethnic Tutsis and political moderates;
       Whereas the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda 
     was dramatically scaled back as the genocide occurred;
       Whereas by mid-July 1994, 2,000,000 Rwandans became 
     refugees and another 1,000,000 were internally displaced due 
     to the genocide and civil war;
       Whereas in 1994, the United Nations Security Council 
     established the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to 
     hold accountable those responsible for the atrocities;

[[Page S5049]]

       Whereas in March 1998, President William Jefferson Clinton 
     acknowledged that ``we in the United States and the world 
     community did not do as much as we could have and should have 
     done to try to limit what occurred in Rwanda in 1994'';
       Whereas in 1999, the Independent Inquiry into the Actions 
     of the United Nations during the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda 
     found that ``the failure by the United Nations to prevent, 
     and subsequently, to stop the genocide in Rwanda was a 
     failure by the United Nations system as a whole'';
       Whereas the Rwandan genocide and its aftermath played a 
     significant part in the destabilization of the entire Great 
     Lakes region over the last decade; and
       Whereas today, the vast majority of Rwandan refugees have 
     returned to their country, and the Government of Rwanda is 
     working to address the backlog of genocide-related cases 
     awaiting trial through the formal justice sector and through 
     community-based gacaca courts: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) solemnly observes the tenth anniversary of the Rwandan 
     genocide of 1994;
       (2) recognizes and is saddened by the failure of the 
     international community, including the United States, to 
     prevent the genocide;
       (3) reaffirms its commitment to the Convention on the 
     Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, done at 
     Paris on December 9, 1948;
       (4) supports ongoing efforts to educate the people of the 
     United States and of the world about the Rwandan genocide;
       (5) commits to continuing efforts to strengthen 
     institutions working to bring to justice those responsible 
     for the genocide; and
       (6) urges the President and the international community to 
     seize on the occasion of this anniversary to focus attention 
     on the future of Rwanda, and to support the people of Rwanda 
     so that they may--
       (A) be free from the fear of ethnic violence, mob violence, 
     or state-sponsored violence;
       (B) enjoy full civil and political rights and feel free to 
     voice legitimate disagreements honestly and publicly without 
     fear of violence or intimidation;
       (C) have confidence in the independence of the judiciary 
     and the rule of law in Rwanda; and
       (D) experience sustained economic growth and development 
     that improves the standard of living in Rwanda.

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