[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 25 (Thursday, February 14, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1073-S1074]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           SENATE RESOLUTION 455--CALLING FOR PEACE IN DARFUR

  Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Biden, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Feingold, Mr. 
Coleman, Mr. Voinovich, and Mr. Menendez) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 455

       Whereas, during the past 4 years in Darfur, hundreds of 
     thousands of innocent victims have been murdered, tortured, 
     and raped, with more than 2,000,000 people driven from their 
     homes;
       Whereas some but not all of the parties to the conflict in 
     Darfur participated in the first round of a United Nations-
     African Union peace process launched in October 2007 in 
     Sirte, Libya;
       Whereas the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) reached 
     between the Government of Sudan and the Sudanese People's 
     Liberation Movement (SPLM) in January 2005 has not been fully 
     or evenly implemented;
       Whereas the Government of Sudan has continued to obstruct 
     the deployment of a joint United Nations-African Union 
     peacekeeping force to Darfur that would include non-African 
     elements;
       Whereas elements of armed rebel movements in Darfur, 
     including the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), have made 
     violent threats against the deploying peacekeeping force;
       Whereas 13 former world leaders and current activists, 
     including former president Jimmy Carter, former United 
     Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Bangladeshi 
     microfinance champion Muhammed Yunus, and Archbishop Desmond 
     Tutu, have called for the immediate deployment of the 
     peacekeeping force; and
       Whereas, while these and other issues remain pending, it is 
     the people of Darfur, including those living in refugee 
     camps, who suffer the continuing consequences: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) calls upon the Government of Sudan and other 
     signatories and non-signatories to the May 5, 2006, Darfur 
     Peace Agreement to declare and respect an immediate cessation 
     of hostilities, cease distributing arms to internally 
     displaced persons, and enable humanitarian organizations to 
     have full unfettered access to populations in need;
       (2) calls upon the Government of Sudan to facilitate the 
     immediate and unfettered deployment of the United Nations-
     African Union peacekeeping force, including any and all non-
     African peacekeepers;
       (3) urges all invited individuals and movements to attend 
     the next round of peace negotiations and not set 
     preconditions for such participation;
       (4) calls upon the diverse rebel movements to set aside 
     their differences and work together in order to better 
     represent the people of Darfur and end their continued 
     suffering;
       (5) encourages the participation in future talks of 
     traditional Arab and African leaders from Darfur, women's 
     groups, local nongovernmental organizations, and leaders from 
     internally displaced persons (IDP) camps;
       (6) condemns any intimidation or threats against camp or 
     civil society leaders to discourage them from attending the 
     peace talks, whether by the Government of Sudan or rebel 
     leaders;
       (7) condemns any action by any party, government or rebel, 
     that undermines or delays the peace process in Darfur; and
       (8) calls upon all parties to the Comprehensive Peace 
     Agreement (CPA) to support and respect all terms of the 
     agreement.

  Mr. DUBRIN. Mr. President, time and time again I have come to the 
floor to speak about the ongoing genocide in Darfur.
  For more than 4 years the world has watched this humanitarian crisis 
unfold--thousands murdered, tortured, raped, and chased from their 
homes. Thousands more languishing year after year in refugee camps.
  Many of us on both sides of the aisle have repeatedly called for 
greater U.S. and international action. President Bush has called the 
situation genocide and British Prime Minister Brown said ``Darfur is 
the greatest humanitarian crisis the world faces today.''
  U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has made ending the crisis in 
Darfur one of his top priorities.
  Thirteen former world leaders and current activists--a group of 
``Elders''--including former president Jimmy Carter, former U.N. 
Secretary General Kofi Annan, Bangladeshi microfinance champion 
Muhammed Yunus, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have called for the 
immediate deployment of a peacekeeping force to Darfur.
  Here at home, thousands of students, churches, and other activists 
have helped raise awareness of the horrible human suffering in Darfur.
  Such efforts led to an important vote last year by the U.N. Security 
Council to deploy 26,000 peacekeepers from the U.N. and African Union. 
This peacekeeping force would go to Darfur to halt the violence and 
create conditions for a long-term political settlement.
  Late last year, Congress passed the Sudan Divestment and 
Accountability Act, which will help concerned Americans ensure that 
their investments do not support the murderous regime in Khartoum.
  Yet, despite such overwhelming calls for action, the Sudanese 
government continues to brutalize its own people and thumb its nose at 
the international community.
  Earlier this week Sudanese army and allied militia forces, with the 
help of helicopter gunships and planes, conducted yet another major 
assault in Darfur, burning villages, killing civilians, and forcing 
thousands more to flee into increasingly unstable Chad.
  Equally troubling are blatant efforts by the Sudanese government to 
obstruct deployment of the peacekeeping force. For example, Sudan's 
leaders have balked at deployment of non-African forces. Last month 
government forces fired upon a peacekeeping convoy.
  In recent months the regime has even appointed notorious figures 
complicit in the Darfur genocide to senior government positions. Two 
are wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.
  Incredibly, one such figure, Ahmed Haroun, was actually appointed to 
be Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, ostensibly to assist the very 
people he helped displace.
  It is time to bring an end to the violence and set the conditions for 
a long-term political settlement.

[[Page S1074]]

  Last week Senator Biden led a resolution that called on the President 
to immediately address any equipment shortcomings with the peacekeeping 
force.
  I wholeheartedly agree.
  The White House must not allow a modest shortage of equipment to 
prolong the suffering in Darfur.
  Today I am introducing a resolution, along with Senators Biden, 
Brownback, Coleman, Feingold, Menendez, and Voinovich calling for an 
immediate halt to the violence and a commitment from all sides to 
participate in the next round of peace talks.
  The resolution also calls upon the government of Sudan to facilitate 
the immediate and unfettered deployment of the U.N.-African Union 
peacekeeping force, including any and all non-African peacekeepers.
  The resolution calls upon the diverse rebel movements to set aside 
their differences and work together in order to better represent the 
people of Darfur and end their continued suffering.
  The resolution condemns any action by any party--government or 
rebel--that undermines or delays the peace process.
  The resolution call upon the government of Sudan to enable 
humanitarian organizations to have full unfettered access to 
populations in need; and it calls upon all parties to the Comprehensive 
Peace Agreement between North and South Sudan to support and respect 
all terms of the agreement.
  We have allowed the humanitarian crisis in Darfur to continue for far 
too long. We have allowed a brutal regime to repeatedly obstruct and 
ignore the international community.
  I call on my colleagues to join us as we call on the U.S. to put is 
full weight behind deployment of a peacekeeping force and pushing all 
sides toward a long-term political solution.

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