[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 25 (Thursday, March 2, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1661-S1662]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TO IMPROVE THE SECURITY SITUATION IN DARFUR, SUDAN
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Foreign
Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of and the
Senate now proceed to S. Res. 383.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk
will report the resolution by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 383) calling on the President to take
immediate steps to help improve the security situation in
Darfur, Sudan, with an emphasis on civilian protection.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution.
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution
be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider
be laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The resolution (S. Res. 383) was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to.
The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:
S. Res. 383
Whereas, the April 8, 2004, N'Djamena Ceasefire Agreement,
calling for an end to hostilities in Darfur, Sudan, has been
flagrantly violated by all parties to the agreement;
Whereas the Government of Sudan continues to commit crimes
against humanity and engage in genocidal acts in Darfur;
Whereas the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement
between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's
Liberation Movement/Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLM/
SPLA) on January 9, 2005, has not resulted in an improvement
of the security situation in Darfur;
Whereas United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has
indicated that, ``People in many parts of Darfur continue to
be killed, raped, and driven from their homes by the
thousands.'';
Whereas United Nations officials have stated that at least
70,000 people have died due to violence and insecurity in
Darfur, but that the total may be as high as 400,000 people;
Whereas nearly 2,000,000 people have been internally
displaced, 3,000,000 people are dependant on international
assistance to survive, and over 200,000 people are refugees
in neighboring Chad due to the conflict in Darfur;
Whereas escalating tensions along the border between Chad
and Sudan have increased instability in Darfur;
Whereas neither the mandate nor the troop strength of the
African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) is adequate to protect
civilians in Darfur;
Whereas the United States has demonstrated leadership on
the Sudan issue by having United States Permanent
Representative to the United Nations John Bolton, in his
first action as President of the United Nations Security
Council, request in February 2006 that Secretary-General
Annan initiate contingency planning for a transition from
AMIS to a United Nations peacekeeping operation;
Whereas, although the United Nations Security Council has
concurred with this recommendation and taken steps toward
establishing a United Nations peacekeeping mission for
Darfur, it could take up to a year for such a mission to
deploy fully;
Whereas, as the deteriorating security situation in Darfur
indicates, the people of Darfur cannot wait that long for
security to be reestablished;
Whereas the international community currently has no plan
to address the immediate security needs of the people of
Darfur; and
Whereas all members of the international community must
participate in efforts to stop genocide, war crimes, and
crimes against humanity in Darfur: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) strongly condemns--
(A) the continued attacks on civilians in Darfur by the
Government of Sudan and Government-sponsored militias; and
(B) the continued violations of the N'Djamena Ceasefire
Agreement by the Government of Sudan and rebels in Darfur,
particularly the Sudan Liberation Army;
(2) commends the Africa Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) for
its actions in monitoring the N'Djamena Ceasefire Agreement
in Darfur and its role in diminishing some acts of violence;
(3) calls upon all parties to the N'Djamena Ceasefire
Agreement--
(A) to abide by the terms of the N'Djamena Ceasefire
Agreement; and
(B) to engage in good-faith negotiations to end the
conflict in Darfur;
(4) calls upon the Government of Sudan immediately--
(A) to withdraw all military aircraft from the region;
(B) to cease all support for the Janjaweed militia and
rebels from Chad; and
(C) to disarm the Janjaweed;
(5) calls on the African Union to request assistance from
the United Nations and NATO to strengthen its capacity to
deter violence and instability until a United Nations
peacekeeping force is fully deployed in Darfur;
(6) calls upon the United Nations Security Council to
approve as soon as possible, pursuant to Chapter VII of the
Charter of the United Nations, a peacekeeping force for
Darfur that is well trained and equipped and has an adequate
troop strength;
(7) urges the President to take steps immediately to help
improve the security situation in Darfur, including by--
(A) proposing that NATO--
(i) consider how to implement and enforce a declared no-fly
zone in Darfur; and
(ii) deploy troops to Darfur to support the African Union
Mission in Sudan (AMIS) until a United Nations peacekeeping
mission is fully deployed in the region; and
(B) requesting supplemental funding to support a NATO
mission in Darfur and the African Union Mission in Sudan
(AMIS);
(8) calls upon NATO allies, led by the United States, to
support such a mission; and
(9) calls upon NATO headquarters staff to begin prudent
planning in advance of such a mission.
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, both of these resolutions have to do with
the Sudan, a country where for the last really 23 years there has been
real turmoil in terms of a civil war underway that is addressed in part
under S. Res. 388, the Sudan Peace Agreement, and then, more recently,
over the last 3 years, in a western part of Sudan, the Darfur region,
where we have seen genocide underway, as we have spelled out on the
floor over the last year and talked about.
Both of these resolutions address a human tragedy that has played out
over the last several years. The first, the Sudan Peace Agreement, is a
reaffirmation of a peace agreement which has been made that we need to
support. And it is probably the only way we can reverse what has been a
tragedy that has killed about 2 million people and caused 5 million
people to be displaced from their homes throughout Sudan over the last
23, 24 years.
The Darfur crisis is one that we have described on this floor many
times. And as we have followed it, since February a year and a half
ago, things have gotten better and worse and better and worse. Right
now they are not going very well. So I appreciate Senators Biden and
Lugar putting forth that resolution.
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