[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 185 (Wednesday, December 5, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2505-E2506]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      COMMENDING TRIANGLE STUDENTS FOR PARTICIPATING IN DARFURFAST

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                          HON. DAVID E. PRICE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 5, 2007

  Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Madam Speaker, I rise to commend the 
students, friends and family members from the Carolina Friends School 
community in Durham, North Carolina who are making a simple, but 
powerful, statement today to raise awareness of a topic that compels 
the attention of this body--the plight of Sudanese citizens driven to 
camps for refugees and internally displaced persons, or IDPs, by the 
horrible genocide occurring in Darfur.
  The Carolina Friends School community members, along with others from 
across the country and around the world, have given up one luxury item 
today--something like a restaurant dinner, a movie, or a cup of 
coffee--and will donate the money they would have spent to the Genocide 
Intervention Network's Civilian Protection program.
  Individually, these are small sacrifices, but collectively, these 
donations will make a tremendous difference. IDP camp residents are 
under tremendous threats, despite the relative protection the camps 
offer. Residents must venture from the camps to obtain simple items, 
such as the firewood needed to cook food. But camp residents have 
routinely been attacked, raped, or killed by Janjaweed militia members 
and others when they leave the confines of the camps.
  Just three dollars--the price of a cup of coffee in many places--can 
fund protection by UN-African Union peacekeepers for firewood gathering 
patrols for one camp resident over the course of an entire year. Just 
one cup of coffee can make a life-saving difference.
  Beyond simply generating donations, the activism of these concerned 
citizens sends a powerful message, a cry for help in confronting a 
horrible tragedy. As their simple actions demonstrate, hundreds of 
thousands of Darfuris are dying for items we often take for granted. 
While the DarfurFast volunteers are asked to give up a luxury item for 
one day, many Darfuris go without food for days at a time. Thousands of 
camp residents have died from malnutrition, from preventable disease, 
and from lack of access to clean water. These victims are just as much 
casualties of the genocide as are the Darfuris killed by marauding 
militias.
  I applaud these students and community members for their message, and 
I urge my colleagues to listen to it closely. Let us ask ourselves, 
what could we, here in Congress, give up for Darfur? Would we be 
willing to give up one day of spending in Iraq--worth about $200 
million--to save lives in Darfur? Would we forego even a few tax cuts 
for the wealthy? What are we willing to sacrifice to stop the genocide 
and save the lives of millions of innocent civilians threatened every 
day by savage militias and a heartless regime in Khartoum that refuses 
to stop them?
  Madam Speaker, once again, let me commend these students and 
community members--and the individuals around the world participating 
in DarfurFast--for their activism. I hope we will all heed their call.

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