[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 60 (Tuesday, May 10, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4805-S4806]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           GENOCIDE IN DARFUR

  Mr. CORZINE. Mr. President, this morning I rise to speak about the 
tragedy and human crisis--yes, the genocide--in Darfur, Sudan, and the 
failure of our Nation to do everything we can do to stop the killing 
and save the lives of the well over 2 million people who are displaced 
in Darfur. Just a few weeks ago on the Senate floor, we passed the 
Darfur Accountability Act offered by Senator Brownback and myself, an 
amendment to the supplemental appropriations bill which we will be 
voting on, and I will be supporting today, or in the next several days 
as it comes out of conference.
  The Darfur Accountability Act provided the tools and sets out the 
policies needed to confront this grave humanitarian crisis that exists 
in the Sudan. It also had broad bipartisan support and 30 cosponsors 
from both sides of the aisle.
  It passed by unanimous consent on the floor of the Senate. Yet, 
inexplicably, the amendment was stripped from the bill in conference--
all of it, including support for African Union forces, the call for a 
military no-fly zone, the extension of the arms embargo to the 
Government of Sudan, and the authority to freeze the assets and deny 
visas to those responsible for genocide and crimes against humanity. 
Even the Senate's statement that the atrocities in Sudan are genocide 
was removed.
  Mr. President, I find it hard to comprehend how these policies, which 
hold the possibility of saving thousands, if not hundreds of thousands 
of lives, could be opposed by the House, the administration, or 
whoever. Sadly, the people of Darfur will be paying for the 
indifference and, in turn, we will be ignoring the values of the 
American people who hold us accountable for calling genocide what it is 
and pushing to stop it.
  The contrast between our words and deeds seems to grow almost by the 
hour. Just today, in Georgia, President Bush stated:

       We are living in historic times when freedom is advancing, 
     from the Black Sea to the Caspian, and to the Persian Gulf 
     and beyond.

  I guess that is not happening in the Sudan. At the same time we are 
challenging autocrats around the world, it seems we are seeking 
accommodation with what I consider a barbarous government in Sudan.
  At the same time we are saying we are standing with those who stand 
for freedom, we are turning our backs on the human rights of the people 
of Darfur. It is not enough to say that because the Sudanese Government 
shows some signs of cooperation on some fronts, this justifies our 
turning our backs on that Government's criminal attacks on their own 
people. It sounds almost like a speech I heard over the weekend. How 
can we ignore our own values when it comes to Africa? Is not every 
human life of equal worth?
  One of this generation's great moral voices, Elie Wiesel, understood 
that

[[Page S4806]]

our values are universal. Speaking on Darfur last year, he asked:

       How can a citizen of a free country not pay attention? How 
     can anyone, anywhere, not feel outraged? How can a person, 
     whether religious or secular, not be moved by compassion? And 
     above all, how can anyone who remembers remain silent?

  Mr. President, I just returned from the region. Unfortunately, the 
Government of Sudan denied me the visa that I needed to visit the camps 
inside Sudan. Instead, I went to Chad, where there are about 200,000 
displaced refugees from Darfur.

  What do the Sudanese have to hide? Why would they prevent a U.S. 
Senator from visiting. In the camp I visited in Chad, I received 
reports of continued attacks on civilians, as well as a growing fear of 
an imminent humanitarian crisis afflicting the 2 million displaced 
Darfurians. But it is when monitors are denied access, when there are 
no reports, that the atrocities are always the most grave and can 
continue.
  We need transparency. This is not about one Senator. The Sudanese 
have obstructed access by African Union monitors. Human rights 
advocates and journalists have been denied entry. Humanitarian 
organizations have been harassed and, when they actually get there, 
some have actually been killed.
  We need to shine a light on this problem. I visited some of the 
victims last week in eastern Chad. Here is a picture of some of the 
folks in one of the camps. Hundreds of these men and women desperately 
want to go home. They were in Chad because of the brutal violence in 
their own country, brought on by the Sudanese Government. They were 
chased from their villages. None of them felt safe to return. None of 
them would return.
  This sentiment matches what we hear in Darfur, where we were last 
fall. Hundreds of thousands of civilians were in these IDP camps, 
approaching 2 million. Meanwhile, the Darfur refugees in Chad are 
barely getting by. I can tell you that the conditions are difficult. 
U.N. agencies and humanitarian organizations are doing everything they 
can, a heroic job of getting assistance to these camps. But I have to 
tell you, there is a serious shortfall between a quality of life that 
is just sustainable and reality. The terrain in eastern Chad is dry, 
infertile and, frankly, the environment is bleak. It barely supports 
the Chadians who live in the area. There is not enough water and 
certainly limited amounts of food. It needs to change.
  That is why we need to speak out and we have to be forceful. That is 
why one of the provisions in the Darfur Accountability Act I think is 
most important, and that is the appointment of a special envoy.
  Mr. President, stopping genocide is a moral challenge that requires 
courage and resources. But it also requires attention every day--real 
diplomatic engagement to make sure we are moving the ball forward in 
this process. In Chad, I met with President Deby and also with members 
of the joint commission--Chadians engaged in diplomatic negotiations 
between the Government of Sudan and the Darfur rebels. We met with the 
rebels themselves. People want peace. We met with people in the African 
Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
  Bringing these players together--not to mention the parties in the 
north-south agreement in Sudan, the EU, NATO, and U.N. Security Council 
members--is a full time job. It needs the attention of an individual to 
make sure that those negotiations don't go adrift. We need that 
attention now. It is critical. The Darfur Accountability Act asked for 
this, encouraged this, and it is not happening. It is not sufficient 
enough to have a one-time trip by the Deputy Secretary of State to 
Sudan to think that we are paying enough attention or putting on enough 
pressure. In fact, we don't have an ambassador in the Sudan. We don't 
have an official representative to the African Union. We need to be 
paying attention. That is why Senator Brownback and myself offered the 
amendment to the supplemental. That is why we have asked for additional 
funding, some of which was included in the supplemental, and I am 
grateful for the fact that Senators DeWine and Brownback, Durbin, 
Leahy, and Obama were able to provide $50 million more for the African 
Union. But some of the humanitarian assistance was pulled back for 
reasons allocated to other difficult places that also demand need.
  It is essential if we are going to stop this killing, stop the 
genocide, that we react now, that we pay attention, that we do the 
things that will allow the African Union's deployment to be 
successful--only 2,200 people in an area the size of France. We need to 
have a minimum of 6,000, maybe as many as 10,000. That mission needs to 
be financed. The supplemental was where we could do much of this. Some 
of that we stepped back from.
  Our values as a nation and our national security require us to speak 
up and confront these problems.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. All time in morning business has 
now expired.
  Mr. CORZINE. I thank the Presiding Officer. I hope my colleagues will 
consider this legislation when we bring it back to the floor. It needs 
to be fought for.
  I thank the Chair. I yield the floor.

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