[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 18, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E37-E38]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE ADMINISTRATION'S MIXED MESSAGE ON SUDAN
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HON. FRANK R. WOLF
of virginia
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I submit a copy of a letter I received from
the assistant secretary for legislative affairs at the State Department
in response to a December 13, 2011, letter to President Obama
expressing my disbelief that the administration had granted the
necessary waiver for the genocidal government of Sudan to obtain legal
representation from Mr. Bart Fisher, a lawyer in Washington. I also
submit the December 13 letter to the president.
I have written various administration officials at the State
Department, Treasury and the White House since I learned of this
indefensible development. Every response I have received to date
attempts, unsuccessfully, to put my mind at ease by assuring me that
the U.S. government has a ``firm policy of denying authorization to
U.S. persons who seek to lobby or provide public relations services on
behalf of the Government of Sudan for the lifting of sanctions or for
any other purposes.'' However, the administration argues that ``Our
system allows even the worse actors to receive legal advice on how to
comply with our laws and to challenge sanction enforcement actions in
court.''
I don't agree with their analysis. But even if I did, the
restrictions on representation that the administration claims to have
in place are inconsistent with what Mr. Fisher is actually being
permitted to do. Mr. Fisher wrote me a letter claiming, ``Although the
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has granted my law office a
license, that license does not authorize any lobbying activities, and
my office will engage in none. We will respond (emphasis added),
however, to requests, for information from Members of Congress or the
Obama Administration.''
As I pointed out in a December 15, 2011 letter to Treasury Secretary
Geithner, I never requested information from Mr. Fisher. And yet, in
the letter to my office, he tries to convince me, as a member of
Congress, not anyone involved in court proceedings with the Government
of Sudan, that the current sanctions regime should be altered. How can
this not be understood to be lobbying?
Meanwhile, on Monday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (UN)
Susan Rice sent a strongly worded letter to the president of the UN
Security Council about the tragedy presently unfolding in Sudan--
specifically in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile. Rice wrote, ``It is
clear that the Government of Sudan has instituted a deliberate policy
to prevent humanitarian agencies from reaching vulnerable civilians
impacted by the conflict. She said that the people of these regions
have been pushed to the ``brink of a major humanitarian crisis.'' She
warned of ``famine conditions'' and concluded, ``A humanitarian
disaster of this magnitude is unacceptable in any circumstance. It is
particularly shameful when the path to averting large-scale loss of
innocent lives is so clear. Mr. President, this crisis can be addressed
by the Government of Sudan, if it were to allow the United Nations and
other relied organizations immediate and unimpeded access to vulnerable
civilians across Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile.''
I would argue that that is not the only thing that is shameful. This
administration is splitting hairs. It is blind to its own
inconsistency. I agree wholeheartedly with Ambassador Rice's analysis.
And yet, the administration, in the face of past crimes against
humanity and genocide and present actions which jeopardize the lives of
thousands of people, has given the Government of Sudan the privilege a
legal representation in our nation's capital--representation which
constitutes lobbying.
The administration must reverse course and revoke Mr. Fisher's
license lest Secretary Clinton, Secretary Geithner and President Obama
be complicit in aiding a genocidal government.
U.S. Department of State,
Washington, DC, January 12, 2012.
Hon. Frank R. Wolf,
House of Representatives.
Dear Mr. Wolf: Thank you for your letter of December 13,
2011, to President Obama and your subsequent call to
Secretary Clinton concerning reports that the Government of
Sudan has attempted to retain a lobbyist to represent its
interests in the United States. While we cannot comment on
specific cases, the United States government has a firm
policy of denying authorization to U.S. persons who seek to
lobby or provide public relations services on behalf of the
Government of Sudan for the lifting of sanctions or for any
other purpose. There are no current Office of Foreign Assets
Control (OFAC) licenses allowing U.S. persons to lobby or
provide public relations services on behalf of the Government
of Sudan.
We also recognize the importance of due process and
opportunity for redress under the Sudan sanctions regime. Our
system allows even the worst actors to receive legal advice
on how to comply with our laws and to challenge sanction
enforcement actions in court. However, such legal services do
not include lobbying activities. There are investigation and
enforcement mechanisms in place to ensure compliance with
U.S. sanctions, which include the possibility of civil and
criminal penalties for violations of sanctions regulations.
We hope this information is helpful in addressing your
concerns. Please feel free to contact us further on this or
any matter of concern to you.
Sincerely,
David S. Adams,
Assistant Secretary, Legislative Affairs.
____
House of Representatives,
December 13, 2011.
Hon. Barack H. Obama,
The President,
The White House, Washington DC.
Dear Mr. President: I was appalled to learn yesterday that
the genocidal government of Khartoum has hired a firm to
represent it in Washington for the express purpose of trying
``to lift American sanctions against it,'' according to a
piece which ran in Africa Intelligence, on December 10. This
is an outrage.
The publication reported that the Law Office of Bart S.
Fisher would be paid $20,000 a month plus expenses to
represent this government which literally has blood on its
[[Page E38]]
hands. I have enclosed the article for your reference along
with Mr. Fisher's documentation from the Foreign Agent
Registration Unit which I accessed on the Department of
Justice (DOJ) Web site.
I write today seeking immediate clarification on what
appears to be an indefensible situation. According to this
news report and information available on DOJ's Web site, Mr.
Fisher is providing legal counsel to the government of Sudan
and intends to make ``representations (including petitions) .
. . to U.S. government agencies regarding sanctions against
the Republic of the Sudan.'' Was he granted a license from
the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) at the Treasury
Department to do so? If not, is his representation in
violation of the law? If so, why would the administration
allow this to move forward?
Sudan's president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, is an
internationally indicted war criminal. He is accused by the
International Criminal Court of five counts of crimes against
humanity (murder, rape, torture, extermination, and forceful
transfer of civilian population) and two counts of war crimes
(for directing attacks against the civilian population and
pillaging). In June 2004 I led the first congressional
delegation with Senator Sam Brownback to Darfur, soon after
the world began hearing about the atrocities being committed
against the people of that region. I witnessed the unfolding
nightmare with my own eyes. I saw the scorched villages and
teeming camps of displaced people. I heard the stories of
murder and rape.
But Bashir's assault on his own people is not simply a
thing of the past. My office has received regular reliable
reports from individuals on the ground in the Blue Nile and
Southern Kordofan states of aerial bombardments,
extrajudicial killings, illegal detention, disappearances,
and indiscriminate attacks against civilians.
Furthermore, evidence gathered through satellite imagery by
the Satellite Sentinel Project have found at least eight mass
graves in and around Kadugli, the capital of Southern
Kordofan.
Thousands have fled the violence. More than 20,000 are
living in Yida refugee camp just over the border in South
Sudan. But it turns out they aren't safe there either. Yida
was hit by air strikes in November. A November 16 APP story
reported that, ``. . . an Antonov aircraft flew in from the
north and dropped five bombs in and around Yida.'' This
cross-border assault by the government of Sudan has put
humanitarian assistance to this vulnerable population in
jeopardy. Bear in mind that it appears that this aerial
assault on innocent civilians happened just days after the
Mr. Fisher signed a contract with the government of Sudan.
Mr. Fisher's client has a notorious history of brutalizing
its own people. No amount of ``representation'' can erase the
images seared into the minds of many of charred bodies,
brutalized women and mass graves.
I look forward to a prompt and detailed response from the
administration about this important matter.
Best wishes.
Sincerely,
Frank R. Wolf,
Member of Congress.
____________________