[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 115 (Thursday, July 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S4968]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 2653. Mr. RISCH submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2025 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of subtitle A of title XII, add the following:
SEC. 1216. RECOGNIZING GENOCIDE IN DARFUR.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the
``Genocide in Darfur Act of 2024''.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the atrocities occurring in Sudan, including those that
amount to crimes against humanity and genocide being
committed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied
militias against the Masalit people and other non-Arab ethnic
groups in Darfur, and the roles of the RSF and Sudanese Armed
Forces (SAF) in perpetrating atrocities, humanitarian
catastrophe, and the destruction of Sudan are reprehensible;
and
(2) the war and all violence and atrocities in Sudan must
end immediately.
(c) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United
States--
(1) to take urgent steps to work with the international
community, including through multilateral fora, to establish
means to protect civilians, including by--
(A) establishing safe zones and humanitarian corridors;
(B) enforcing the United Nations Security Council arms
embargo on Darfur; and
(C) brokering a comprehensive cease-fire and disarming the
warring parties in Sudan;
(2) to support the consistent and transparent documentation
of atrocities and genocidal acts in Sudan by instituting a
mechanism that will, to the greatest extent possible,
publicly release such documentation on a consistent and
regular basis;
(3) to immediately identify mechanisms through which to
fund local, community-based organizations that are currently
providing humanitarian assistance to the Sudanese people in
conflict-affected areas that traditional implementing
partners cannot reach, including for the delivery of food,
medical aid, and shelter to individuals impacted by the war
in Sudan;
(4) to regularly review and update the atrocities
determination for Sudan;
(5) to support tribunals and international criminal
investigations to hold persons responsible for war crimes,
crimes against humanity, and genocide; and
(6) to conduct a comprehensive review of efforts by the
Atrocity Prevention Task Force to prevent, analyze, and
respond to atrocities in Sudan, in alignment with the 2022
United States Strategy to Anticipate, Prevent, and Respond to
Atrocities.
(d) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report
on United States efforts regarding the tracking, reporting,
and raising awareness of genocide and other atrocity crimes
committed in Sudan.
(2) Contents.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall
include the following:
(A) United States Government efforts to collect, analyze,
and preserve evidence and information related to genocide and
other atrocity crimes committed by the warring parties in
Sudan, including a description of--
(i) the respective roles of various agencies, departments,
and offices, and the interagency mechanism established for
the coordination of such efforts;
(ii) the types of information and evidence that are being
collected, analyzed, and preserved to help identify those
responsible for the commission of genocide or other
atrocities;
(iii) the types and amounts of assistance from the United
States Agency for International Development and the
Department of State dedicated to the collection, analysis,
and preservation of evidence related to acts of genocide or
other atrocities; and
(iv) the steps taken to coordinate with and support the
work of partners, international institutions and
organizations, and nongovernmental organizations in such
efforts.
(B) The legal thresholds met or still unmet regarding the
issuance of an updated atrocities determination that
recognizes members of the RSF have committed genocide in
Sudan.
(C) Any media, public diplomacy, and information operations
bringing global awareness to--
(i) efforts to identify and prosecute the persons
responsible for the commission of genocide or other
atrocities during the conflict in Sudan; and
(ii) the types of acts that may be prosecutable.
(D) The process for a domestic, foreign, or international
court or tribunal to request and obtain from the United
States Government information related to genocide or other
atrocities committed during the conflict in Sudan.
(3) Form.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified
annex.
(e) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this
section, the term ``appropriate congressional committees''
means--
(1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives.
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