[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 87 (Thursday, June 11, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1382-E1383]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    FOREIGN RELATIONS AUTHORIZATION ACT, FISCAL YEARS 2010 AND 2011

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 10, 2009

       The House in Committee of this Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration of the bill (H.R. 2410) to 
     authorize appropriations for the Department of State and the 
     Peace Corps for fiscal years 2010 and 2011, to modernize the 
     Foreign Service, and for other purposes:

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Chair, thank you, Madam Speaker and 
thank you Chairman Berman for your efforts on H.R. 2410, Foreign 
Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011.'' The 
Committee has once again produced legislation that will help America 
engage its neighbors and promote national security.
  The primary objective of this legislation is to rebuild the capacity 
of the Department of State to fulfill its core diplomatic mission in 
fulfilling U.S. national security goals. In a recent hearing Secretary 
Clinton stated that the priorities of the State Department and other 
international organizations are clear. Their focus is to deploying the 
tools of diplomacy and development along with military power. We are 
securing historic alliances, working with emerging regional powers, and 
seeking new avenues of engagement. While this may seem like a herculean 
task, I have confidence that these goals can be successfully 
accomplished with the passing of this legislation.
  H.R. 2410 is a wide encompassing bill that will set the tone on how 
we engage other nations and strengthen the use of diplomacy as a tool 
to interact with other countries around the world. This legislation 
will give President Obama and Secretary Clinton the non-military 
support they need to engage other nations and change the view of 
America in the world. President Obama has stated that defense, 
diplomacy and development are the three keys to strengthening our 
national security. In recent years, diplomacy and development have been 
short-changed. Capacity must be rebuilt in these critical areas.
  In addition, I appreciate my Sense of Congress language being 
included in Section 1127, entitled Sense of Congress Sudan, that the 
United States should support efforts to find a stable and lasting peace 
in Sudan in the wake of devastating conflict that led to major 
humanitarian disaster in Darfur and through the Sudan. This conflict 
caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands and continues to cause 
violence in Darfur and throughout Sudan. The language further provides 
that to achieve peace in Darfur, all parties must agree to uphold the 
Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The language provides that the 
United States should support efforts to prepare for the national 
elections and for the referendum. It further provides that the United 
States should support efforts to develop international strategy to 
support the rebuilding of Sudan, with a particular focus on key CPA 
benchmarks including transitional justice, actions addressing the 
perpetrators of war crimes, policies towards, the return of displaced 
Darfuris and other people to their homeland, and management of the 
armed forces, and that U.S. policy toward Darfur should be fully 
integrated with U.S. policy toward the CPA as a full and lasting 
resolution to the Darfur crisis hinges on the resolution of a common 
set of national problems. We must insure the solution to the continued 
genocide in Sudan.

  To understand the importance of my Sense of Congress language, it is 
important to address the history of Sudan. The crisis in Darfur began 
in February 2003, when two rebel groups emerged to challenge the 
National Congress Party (NCP) government in Darfur. The crisis in 
Darfur in western Sudan has led to a major humanitarian disaster, with 
an estimated 2.45 million people displaced, more than 240,000 people 
forced into neighboring Chad, and an estimated 450,000 people killed.
  In July 2004, the House and Senate declared the atrocities in Darfur 
genocide and on May 4, 2006, the Government of National Unity and the 
Sudan Liberation Movement/Army signed the Darfur Peace Agreement after 
almost two years of negotiation. In July 2007, the U.N. Security 
Council passed Resolution 1769, authorizing the deployment of a robust 
peacekeeping force in Darfur. The resolution authorized the United 
Nations African Union force in Darfur to take all necessary measures to 
protect its personnel and humanitarian workers.
  In July 2008, International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor 
Luis Moreno-Ocampo accused President Omar Bashir of Sudan of genocide, 
crimes against humanity, and war crimes and asked ICC judges to issue 
an arrest warrant for President Bashir. On March 4, 2009, the ICC Pre-
Trial Chamber issued a warrant of arrest for President Bashir. On March 
4, 2009, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber issued a warrant of arrest for 
President Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
  It is important that against this backdrop that the U.S. reaffirms 
that genocide is still occurring in Darfur, displaced individuals 
should be resettled in their homeland, and the perpetrators of war 
crimes should be prosecuted.
  This legislation is intended to shore up U.S. diplomacy and 
development efforts. Defense, diplomacy, and development are the three 
pillars of our national security. In recent years, diplomacy and 
development have been short-changed. Capacity must be rebuilt in these 
critical areas.
  The legislation authorizes hiring 1500 additional Foreign Service 
Officers over the next two years and contains provisions on recruitment 
and training of officers to improve the Foreign Service's ability to 
respond to modern challenges. It requires the State Department to 
conduct a quadrennial review of its policies and programs that defines 
objectives, budget requirements and how these programs fit into the 
President's national security strategy.
  Among other significant measures in the bill are provisions that:
  Ensure that the United States will meet its financial commitments to 
the United Nations (U.N.) and other international organizations;
  Allow financing the refurbishment of helicopters for U.N. 
peacekeeping missions in Darfur, the Republic of Congo and Chad;
  Establish the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation as a new 
executive branch corporation to expand dramatically the number and 
economic diversity of U.S. students studying overseas;
  End the long-standing practice of excluding the committed partners of 
Foreign Service officers from the benefits routinely provided to the 
spouses and children of officers serving abroad;
  Support the Administration's plan to double the size of the Peace 
Corps, and authorize a plan to use short-term volunteers to respond to 
humanitarian and development needs worldwide;
  Broaden the Merida anti-drug trafficking initiative to include the 
Caribbean, and improve monitoring and evaluation of Merida programs; 
and
  Increase resources and training for enforcement of intellectual 
property rights, especially in countries identified by the U.S. 
government as lax in enforcing those rights.
  I have also worked tirelessly on incorporating my bill on 
Statelessness in its entirety in Section 1104, entitled 
``Statelessness.'' The purpose of this section is to increase global 
stability and security for the United States and the international 
community and decrease trafficking and discrimination by reducing the 
number of individuals who are de jure or de facto stateless. As a 
consequence of their statelessness, individuals are unable to claim 
right to a nationality and its respective rights and obligations, and 
instead they are excluded from full participation in civil society. The 
framework of this language establishes that the right to a nationality 
is a foundation of human rights, and a deterrent to displacement, since 
the State is the primary vehicle through which people are guaranteed 
their inalienable rights, and are made subject to the rule of law.

[[Page E1383]]

  Additionally, this language ensures that it shall be the policy of 
the United States that the President and the permanent U.S. 
Representative to the United Nations work with the international 
community to increase political and financial support for the work of 
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to prevent 
and resolve problems related to statelessness, and to promote the 
rights of the stateless by taking the following specific actions. The 
language urges U.N. and U.N. Country teams in countries with 
significant stateless populations to devote increasing attention and 
resources to bring about registration and documentation of all 
residents. The language advocates for the creation of an Inter-Agency 
Task Force on Statelessness with UNHCR and UNICEF. With respect to 
improving conditions for Women and children, Section 1104 urges the 
U.N. to devote special attention to restore secured citizenship to 
trafficked women and girls, and to work with Member States to guarantee 
that national legislation gives women full and equal rights regarding 
citizenship, and addressing the needs and rights of stateless children. 
Finally, this important language urges UNICEF to increase its efforts 
to encourage all U.N. Member States to permit full and easy access to 
birth registration for all children born in their territories, and 
promotes the issuance of birth certificates to all children born to 
refugees and displaced persons.
  In conclusion, emerging challenges that will define our century such 
as climate change, weak states, rogue regimes, criminal cartels, 
nuclear proliferation, terrorism, poverty, and disease all must be 
addressed in order to protect our national security. America must work 
with our neighbors around the world to address these challenges and in 
doing so, it is our responsibility as Members of Congress to make sure 
organizations that are dealing with these issues get the resources they 
need to do their jobs safely and effectively.

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