[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 103 (Thursday, July 22, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8595-S8596]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           GENOCIDE IN SUDAN

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise to join my colleagues in 
expressing my continued grave concern about the situation in Darfur, 
Sudan. For months now, Members of Congress have come to the floor to 
express their outrage at the situation in Darfur. All credible evidence 
indicates that what is unfolding in Darfur is genocide. Already, an 
estimated 30,000 civilians have been killed. More than 130,000 refugees 
have fled to Chad, and more than 1 million people have been displaced.
  Numerous credible reports document the widespread use of rape as a 
weapon against female civilians. Entire communities have been razed, 
mosques destroyed, and wells poisoned, guaranteeing that a grave 
humanitarian crisis will continue to unfold for many months or even 
years. And now reports indicate that terrified survivors are being 
forced to return to their homes, which have been utterly destroyed, in 
a context of serious insecurity by Government officials who apparently 
view their own suffering citizens as something like a source of 
embarrassment.
  Those of us who have followed developments in Sudan for many years 
see a horrifying familiarity in this crisis. The Government of Sudan 
has deliberately provoked a humanitarian catastrophe before in an 
attempt to repress dissent, and so for months now Members have come to 
the floor to speak out about this crisis.
  I have written and spoken to administration officials, to U.N. 
officials, and to European officials to call for action and a firm 
unified message to Khartoum. I have raised the issue, as have

[[Page S8596]]

many colleagues, in numerous Senate Foreign Relations Committee 
hearings. This April, my colleague, Senator Brownback, and I introduced 
S. Con. Res. 99 condemning the actions of the Sudanese Government. I 
have joined many of my colleagues in supporting Senator DeWine's effort 
to direct urgently needed funds to Darfur for humanitarian relief, and 
I am a cosponsor of S. Con. Res. 124 acknowledging the genocide that is 
unfolding in Darfur, and I commend the leadership of Senators Corzine 
and Brownback, the sponsors of this legislation.
  This is a tremendously difficult and complex situation. I commend the 
Secretary of State for traveling to Darfur to raise the profile on this 
issue. I commend the efforts of the USAID to respond to the urgent 
humanitarian needs in CHAD and IDPs in Darfur.
  The administration can and must do more. First, the President needs 
to put in charge a senior official who can speak authoritatively to 
Khartoum and to key regional players, someone who is focused on Sudan 
exclusively each and every day. It is almost inexplicable that this has 
not been done to date.
  Since our former colleague, Senator Jack Danforth, left his post as 
the President's special envoy for Sudan to serve as U.S. Ambassador to 
the United Nations, it appears that no one has been in charge of this 
issue on a day-to-day basis while this genocide unfolds. What kind of 
signal does this send about our seriousness? We need someone senior, 
with knowledge of the African and Arab worlds, put in place today to 
coordinate U.S. policy and deliver authoritative U.S. messages on a 
daily basis, to seize on fleeting opportunities, eliminate any 
confusion, match available resources with urgent needs, and constantly 
hold the Sudan Government's feet to the fire.
  We also need serious thinking today about how to improve the security 
situation in Darfur. To date, the Government of Sudan has utterly 
failed to honor its commitments to disarm the janjaweed and to stop 
their brutal campaign.
  Our strategy cannot simply consist of waiting for them to act. This 
is the same regime that orchestrated this misery in the first place. We 
cannot leave them in the driver's seat. So even as we push 
diplomatically for meaningful action from Khartoum, even as we do the 
hard work of building a strong, unified multilateral coalition to send 
a clear message about the serious consequences that will result from 
continued intransigence, we must develop plans to help people in spite 
of the Government of Sudan's policies. That means finding a way to 
provide security for Darfur's vulnerable populations and for the 
humanitarian organizations working to assist them.
  We need to be working now to collect testimony and evidence so that 
those responsible for atrocities in Darfur can be held accountable for 
their crimes. This must not be an afterthought. It is a central part of 
our obligation. And in addition to appropriately and sensitively 
collecting testimony, we should be making plans today to develop 
strategies to reach the survivors of rape in Darfur with medical 
assistance, counseling, and community-based support strategies to help 
address issues of stigma.
  Ultimately, we need to think about underlying issues of political 
disenfranchisement that stoked the initial conflict in Darfur. The 
North-South peace process made real progress, and I applaud the efforts 
of the many African, European, and American diplomats who worked so 
hard to help the parties come to agreement. But the process only 
created real political space for two entities, the Government of Sudan 
and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement of the South. Neither the 
South nor the North are monolithic. We need to think today about 
political accommodations that can give the disenfranchised a voice in 
determining their own destiny.
  I share the outrage of my colleagues. But I know that the people of 
Darfur--the malnourished children, the victims of rape, the broken 
families struggling to survive--this people need more than our outrage. 
They need our action.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded and I be permitted to speak as in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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