[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 103 (Thursday, July 22, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1487]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  DECLARING GENOCIDE IN DARFUR, SUDAN

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                               speech of

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 21, 2004

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague, Donald Payne, and 
the members of the Congressional Black Caucus for their leadership in 
bringing H. Con. Res. 467 to the floor so quickly. The resolution, 
which I am proud to co-sponsor, accurately labels the situation in the 
Darfur region of the Sudan as genocide, and calls upon the United 
Nations to take action to prevent it.
  Mr. Speaker, millions of people in Darfur face a life-threatening 
crisis. Through actions of militias supported by the Sudanese 
government, villages have been burned, crops destroyed, and people 
uprooted.
  Tens of thousands of people have already died. Without prompt and 
effective international action, the death toll will soon go much 
higher.
  The Bush Administration has appropriately increased public awareness, 
in the United States and throughout the world, about what is at stake 
in Darfur, and this resolution acknowledges that.
  But it calls upon the Administration to do more. A decade ago, the 
international community did not act quickly enough to prevent the 
horror of Rwanda. We must not see a repeat of that tragedy in Darfur.
  Sustained and effective leadership by the United States will be 
necessary to achieve that goal.
  The rainy season has arrived in Darfur, and the level of misery is 
increasing. The Sudanese are not acting quickly enough to implement 
promises they made to control the militias and facilitate the delivery 
of relief supplies.
  Passage of this resolution should heighten the sense of urgency and 
sharpen the understanding of the Sudanese government of the resolve of 
the United States on this urgent and critical matter.
  I urge the adoption of the resolution.

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