[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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