[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 149 (Tuesday, December 9, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H8875-H8876]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              SOUTH SUDAN

  (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my deep concern about the 
ongoing situation in South Sudan. Next Monday we will mark the 1-year 
anniversary of the outbreak of civil conflict in that young country, 
which gained its independence in 2011.
  Since that conflict began, as many as 2 million people have been 
displaced, while 1.5 million people are without secure access to food. 
50,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed as a result of the 
fighting between the rival factions.
  Alarmingly, Mr. Speaker, both sides have been stockpiling weapons and 
are expected to launch fresh attacks once the rainy season ends.
  The international community, with strong American leadership, must 
encourage a peaceful resolution before further bloodshed occurs.
  I want to commend the United Nations Mission in South Sudan 
peacekeepers for their hard work bringing aid to those in need, and I 
thank Secretary Kerry for his efforts to achieve a political 
settlement.
  I traveled to Juba in 2007. As a matter of fact, the former chair of 
the Foreign Affairs Committee, the gentlewoman from Florida, was with 
me. I saw a nation full of promise and hope for the future on the cusp 
of its independence. That bright future of possibilities for the people 
of South Sudan ought not to be dimmed by violence, instability, and 
enmity.

[[Page H8876]]

  As Americans, we must exert our diplomatic arsenal to bring an end to 
the fighting and restore that promise of a peaceful and hopeful future 
for South Sudan.

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