[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 37 (Wednesday, March 7, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H1212-H1213]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              SUDAN PEACE, SECURITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, just yesterday the former top U.N. 
humanitarian official in Sudan, Mukesh Kapila, issued a warning to the 
world. He said that the Government of Sudan's military is carrying out 
crimes against humanity in the country's southern Nuba Mountains in the 
Sudanese state of South Kordofan. He said that these acts remind him of 
Darfur. Kapila said he saw military planes striking villagers, the 
destruction of food stocks, and literally a scorched-earth policy. He 
said the attacks reminded him of what he witnessed in Sudan's Darfur 
region in 2003 and 2004 when the predominantly Arab government in 
Khartoum targeted black tribes. Kapila served as the U.N.'s top 
humanitarian official in Sudan at the time. He said that the world must 
act now to prevent another Darfur-type situation in the Nuba Mountains.
  The people of South Kordofan and Blue Nile, two states inside Sudan 
along its southern border, are facing a hunger crisis. They haven't 
been able to plant because the government of President Bashir is 
bombing them in their fields. Sudan has refused to let humanitarian aid 
into the region. The United States, the United Nations, and other 
governments have condemned these attacks against civilians.
  My good friend and colleague, Congressman Frank Wolf, traveled to 
this border region at the end of February. He interviewed refugees, 
recorded their stories of terror: bombing from the sky and soldiers 
burning villages and shooting defenseless civilians; mothers fleeing 
for their lives with their children, abandoning their homes. I urge my 
colleagues to go to the Web site of the Tom Lantos Human Rights 
Commission and watch the video he has posted there. That's at 
www.tlhrc.house.gov.
 We need to speak out, Mr. Speaker. We need to let our government and 
the world know that people care and that we demand protection for these 
people from Khartoum's murderous policies.
  This is why I and my colleagues, Congressmen Frank Wolf and Mike 
Capuano, are introducing today the Sudan Peace, Security and 
Accountability Act. This bill calls for a comprehensive approach 
towards Sudan to address and

[[Page H1213]]

end the massive human rights violations that are taking place across 
that country. No longer should we allow President Bashir to blackmail 
the international community by threatening humanitarian workers in 
Darfur if the world tries to reach the desperate people in the Nuba 
Mountains with food and relief supplies.
  We need a comprehensive strategy and comprehensive sanctions against 
Khartoum if the violations continue. We need to let other countries 
know that if they welcome and provide comfort to President Bashir and 
members of his government who have been indicted for crimes against 
humanity, including genocide, that they, too, will face sanctions.
  We need to provide the Obama administration with all the tools and 
all the authority it needs to seek a comprehensive peace in Sudan, end 
human rights violations, and bring those guilty of crimes against 
humanity to justice.
  For decades the powers that be in Khartoum have toyed with the 
international community, while its own people paid the price over and 
over again. It has to stop, Mr. Speaker. It simply has to stop.
  Let me end, Mr. Speaker, with a few other remarks.
  No one can come to the House floor today and speak about Sudan and 
protecting the people of Sudan from their murderous government without 
paying tribute to our dear colleague, Donald Payne.
  Congressman Payne passed away yesterday from cancer. He would have 
been an original cosponsor of the bill I'm introducing today. No one 
fought harder for human rights in Sudan. He was among the very first to 
call attention to the genocide taking place in Darfur. He traveled 
there, often alone, with just one or two aides, to talk to refugees 
inside Darfur and in camps along the border and to stand witness to 
their suffering. He was tireless in his commitment to the people of 
Africa and their well-being.
  We all looked to him for leadership, for advice, and for help. He 
extended this same commitment to the people of African descent in our 
own hemisphere. I personally know how much he did to promote the rights 
of Afro-Colombians and to protect their leaders and communities. We 
will miss him and we will miss his leadership.
  Mr. Speaker, he believed that human rights ought to matter. And he 
believed, as we all should believe, that if the United States of 
America stands for anything, it ought to stand out loud and foursquare 
for human rights.

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