[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 125 (Friday, September 29, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10642-S10643]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  DARFUR PEACE AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, for over 3 years, genocide has been the 
order of the day in Darfur. For nearly as long, from pulpits, from 
street corners, from the world's editorial pages, from the floor of 
Congress, from the rostrum of the United Nations, and from the White 
House, people have decried the killing. But we haven't stopped it.
  Today Darfur is on the edge of an abyss, teetering on the rim of even 
greater catastrophe. Unknown numbers have been killed, raped, and 
butchered. Millions of people have been driven from their homes. An 
estimated half a million people are beyond the reach of humanitarian 
aid today.
  Humanitarian groups themselves are under attack and many are pulling 
back.
  The Khartoum Government is reportedly engaging in indiscriminate 
bombing and massing forces in the region.
  The U.N. Security Council has passed a resolution authorizing a 
20,000 person peacekeeping force, but the Khartoum Government continues 
to reject it and to deny the deaths of hundreds of thousands of its 
citizens and endanger and threaten hundreds of thousands of others.
  Now all of us who have spoken out have an obligation to do what we 
can to make that peacekeeping mission a reality, to help bring an end 
to genocide.
  For the third time now, the Senate has passed a Darfur Peace and 
Accountability Act. I was an original cosponsor of the first of these 
bills and continue to support and work toward enactment of this 
important legislation.
  This bill will impose sanctions against individuals responsible for 
genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity; will support 
measures for the protection of civilians and humanitarian operations; 
and will support peace efforts in the Darfur region.
  Those efforts are in grave jeopardy. The hopes to see the Darfur 
Peace Agreement between the Khartoum Government and one of the 
opposition groups implemented, enforced, and expanded have not been 
fulfilled.
  We must do all that we can to ensure that the peacekeeping mission 
authorized by the nations of the world through the United Nations under 
U.N. Security Resolution 2706 is deployed as soon as possible. This 
mission will build on the efforts of the African Union and will include 
African forces at its core.
  The Darfur Peace and Accountability Act supports these measures. 
Consistent with the goals of this bill, a number of States have already 
acted to do their part to stop genocide.
  My home State of Illinois was the first to enact a law suspending 
State investment in companies that conduct business in Sudan or with 
the Sudanese Government. The law mandates the divestment from all 
Illinois State Pension Systems of securities issued by any company 
doing business in Sudan and prohibits the State from investing in 
foreign government bonds of Sudan.
  Illinois is following a tradition established during the campaign 
against apartheid in South Africa. Like that campaign, the Illinois law 
is a public expression that the citizens of my State and others that 
have passed similar legislation do not want to be party to supporting a 
foreign government that preys upon its own people. It is both symbolic 
and very tangible: the people of Illinois are choosing how they will 
invest their money. That is an act very much within their rights, and I 
salute their efforts.
  Passage of the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act is an important 
and overdue step. But we must do more to ensure that the United Nations 
peacekeeping mission is implemented: the people of Darfur need UN boots 
on the ground, and the world must live up to its promises to end the 
genocide.
  Mr. OBAMA. Because Senator Durbin has hit the major points, I will 
simply say that the atrocities in Darfur are a moral and humanitarian 
emergency, and the people of the United States should be searching for 
effective tools to help end this violence and bloodshed. While not the 
only answer, I believe that divestment by individual States can be a 
part of the solution--it certainly was so during the fight to end 
apartheid in South Africa.
  I strongly support the provision in the House-passed bill on this 
issue. My sense is that there was bipartisan, bicameral support for 
this provision. But because of the objections of a few key members of 
Congress, this provision was dropped in the interest of passing the 
Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, which I believe has some important 
provisions, before the Congress recesses at the end of this month.
  I am wondering if the senior Senator from Illinois, who is also the 
Assistant Democratic Leader, shares this view and if he could comment 
on this issue.
  Mr. DURBIN. I agree with the junior Senator from Illinois. There is a 
very powerful commitment in both Houses to take a meaningful stand 
against the genocide in Sudan. State governments, universities, and 
other institutions from coast to coast have passed divestment measures. 
Those voices have been heard in Congress, and I agree there is strong 
bicameral, bipartisan support for divestment, but that no single 
provision could be allowed to jeopardize passage of this important 
legislation, given the situation on the ground in Darfur.
  Mr. OBAMA. I thank the senior Senator from Illinois. As Senator 
Durbin

[[Page S10643]]

outlined, the State of Illinois has a long and proud history on the 
issue of divestment. I know that we will both continue to engage to 
push our government and the international community to do all it can to 
halt the violence in Darfur and, as part of our efforts, search to 
enact divestment language into law. I hope to draw upon the support, 
just mentioned by Senator Durbin, in pushing this measure forward over 
the coming months.
  I yield the floor.

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