[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 100 (Thursday, July 21, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8681-S8682]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BROWNBACK (for himself, Mr. Corzine, Mr. DeWine, Mr. 
        Durbin, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Bingaman, 
        Mr. Coleman, Mr. Talent, Mr. Salazar, Mrs. Dole, and Mr. Bayh):
  S. 1462. A bill to promote peace and accountability in Sudan, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I rise with my colleague Senator 
Corzine and 11 other cosponsors to introduce the Darfur Peace and 
Accountability Act of 2005. I applaud Senator Corzine for his tireless 
work on this issue--he has traveled on several occasions to Sudan, and 
was instrumental in moving the U.S. to declare the atrocities genocide. 
In addition, there is a strong bipartisan coalition forming to address 
one of the greatest moral issues that faces our world today.
  I wish to thank many of my colleagues for their support for the 
Darfur Accountability Act that was introduced in March and passed 
unanimously by this body as an amendment to the Emergency Supplemental. 
Unfortunately, that provision was stripped in conference.
  Since that time, several relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions 
have been passed, NATO has committed to assisting the African Union 
Mission in Sudan (AMIS), and the National Unity Government of Sudan was 
established just two weeks ago on July 9, following the Comprehensive 
Peace Agreement between the North and the South. While we applaud the 
recent peace agreement ending the longest civil war in Africa, we pause 
with great concern that genocide continues in Darfur. There can be no 
comprehensive peace in Sudan until the crisis in Darfur has been 
resolved.
  Just today news reports were swarming about the Sudanese officials 
who manhandled Secretary Rice's staff and reporters during their 
meeting with President Bashir. When a U.S. reporter asked a question 
about the killing of innocent civilians, she was taken by the arm and 
promptly removed from the meeting.
  It is unfortunate that the ``international incident'' not being 
reported is about the hundreds of thousands of lives lost, or the 2 
million refugees who live day to day on inadequate portions of food and 
very little clean water.
  In remarks prior to the G-8 summit on June 30, 2005, President Bush 
declared, ``the violence in Darfur is clearly genocide,'' and ``the 
human cost is beyond calculation.''
  While momentum for international support to end this crisis has been 
building, the violence and humanitarian crisis continues. Rape is still 
being used as weapon against women. Some women who have become pregnant 
due to brutal rape, have been forced to abort their babies and other 
women have been imprisoned for bearing illegitimate children. In 
addition, the government seems to be prepared to raze the Kalma refugee 
camp of 120,000 people against their wishes, sending them back into 
areas where there is no security against these rapes and killings.

  I remind my colleagues that it was one year ago, on July 22, we stood 
together in Congress to denounce the atrocities in Darfur as genocide. 
Twelve long months later is not the time to start thinking about easing 
sanctions or restoring certain diplomatic ties, rather it is time to 
address the needs of the African Union and it is time to sanction those 
responsible for genocide.
  That is why we are joining with colleagues in the House to introduce 
new bipartisan legislation called the Darfur Peace and Accountability 
act of 2005. This bill increases pressure on Khartoum, provides greater 
support to the African Union mission in Darfur to help protect 
civilians, imposes sanctions on individuals responsible for atrocities, 
and encourages the appointment of a U.S. special envoy to help advance 
a peace process for Darfur. I applaud our colleagues in the House, 
including Congressmen Hyde, Tancredo, Payne, Wolf, Smith and others, 
who have diligently worked with us to ensure a strong piece of 
legislation that we hope will move quickly and be enacted so that we 
may provide further relief to the suffering victims.
  I urge my colleagues to support this very important piece of 
legislation. For the first time in history we publicly speak of 
genocide while it is underway, yet we have broken our promise of 
``Never Again.'' We can no longer be indifferent to the suffering 
Africans of Darfur. We have got to move beyond partisan politics, and 
agree on the fundamentals that will help save lives immediately.
  Mr. CORZINE. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Darfur 
Peace and Accountability Act. This bill, which is the latest version of 
legislation Senator Brownback and I have been pushing for almost six 
months, will provide the tools and authorizations and put forth the 
policies necessary to stop the genocide in Darfur. This bill also has 
support in the House, where it has been introduced by Representatives 
Hyde, Payne and others.
  Sudan is in the news today because of Secretary Rice's trip, and 
because of the rough treatment her entourage has received. But let's 
not lose sight of what has happened in Sudan over the last two years, 
and what is still happening. 2 million Darfurian civilians have been 
displaced from their homes. 1.8 million have been forced into camps in 
Darfur. There are 200,000 Darfur refugees in Chad. Hundreds of 
thousands have died, with some estimates up to 400,000. The Government 
of Sudan and the janjaweed militias it supports are responsible for 
systematic, targeted and premeditated violence, including murder and 
rape.
  It was one year ago tomorrow that the Senate recognized these 
atrocities as genocide. One long, horrible, violent, tragic year for 
the people of Darfur.
  We can stop this genocide, and we know how to do it. It just takes 
the will.
  Three months ago, the Senate passed the Darfur Accountability Act as 
an amendment to the Supplemental Appropriations bill. Despite 
overwhelming bipartisan support, it was stripped out in conference. 
Meanwhile, the genocide continued and now we are forced to revisit many 
of the same issues.
  First, it is time we put real pressure on the Government of Sudan. 
While I welcome Secretary Rice's trip to Sudan, and Deputy Secretary 
Zoellick's two trips, diplomacy only goes so far. When the world 
threatens sanctions, Khartoum moderates its behavior. This bill calls 
for a UN Security Council resolution to impose real sanctions on the 
Government of Sudan.
  Second, we need boots on the ground. When I visited Darfur in August 
last year, there were only a couple hundred African Union troops on the 
ground. There are not more than 3,000. But this number is far from 
adequate to patrol a region the size of Texas. There are over 50,000 
police officers in Texas, yet we are still struggling to deploy 7,000 
AU soldiers in Darfur, where genocide and civil war are raging, and 
where transportation and communications are limited.
  The AU has been effective where it is deployed and I applaud the AU's 
leadership on this issue. But we have to be realistic about what they 
are up against. They need an explicit mandate to protect civilians and 
they need much more support.
  It also requires that, 30 days after we learn the names of those the 
UN has identified as having committed atrocities, the President report 
to Congress on whether he is sanctioning those people and the reasons 
for his decision.
  This is not about the past. Those who have committed genocide are 
still

[[Page S8682]]

doing so. While we debate this legislation, brutal killers continue to 
terrorize the people of Darfur with impunity. They must be named, they 
must be sanctioned, and they must be brought to justice.
  Fifth, we need a Special Presidential Envoy. Secretary Rice and 
Deputy Secretary Zoellick simply cannot devote themselves full time to 
this crisis.
  A high-profile envoy will make sustain the pressure on the 
Government, get the UN Security Council to act, keep tract of what the 
African Union really needs to be effective and accelerate NATO 
involvement, and make sure that peace talks with the Darfur rebels 
don't drift. A Special Envoy will be able to visit all of Darfur, not 
just the camps that have been cleaned up for visiting VIPs. And a 
Special Envoy will be able to address related problems, from northern 
Uganda to Sudan's troubled East.
  We can do all of this. We just need the political will But, that has 
always been the problem. From Cambodia to the Balkans to Rwanda, we 
failed to act or acted too late. And this time, we can't even claim not 
to know what is happening. We know all too well.
  We can't claim that we haven't had the time to act. It's been a year 
since we declared the atrocities in Darfur to be genocide. We can't 
claim that we are not responsible. What greater responsibility can 
there be than to stop a genocide?
  We're out of excuses, and we're out of time. I hope this bipartisan 
bill and its House counterpart are quickly passed. I urge my colleagues 
to support this bill.
                                 ______