[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 66 (Wednesday, April 15, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1768-S1769]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 SUDAN

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I come before you today to mark the third 
anniversary and, unfortunately, the start of the fourth year of 
conflict of the war in Sudan.
  Sudan is home to the largest humanitarian and displacement crisis in 
the whole world. This conflict and the resulting humanitarian crisis 
are largely being ignored by people across the world, including in our 
country, who are best positioned to make a difference.
  The war in Sudan started because a few years back, one of the most 
brutal dictators of the 20th century was actually overthrown by civil 
society and young people in Sudan looking for a better country. It was 
an effort to move toward a democracy, but that move was suddenly halted 
by two generals, each of a separate warring party and, unfortunately, 
fueled by external actors.
  The violence in Sudan has caused upwards of 15 million people to flee 
their homes--a quarter of the population--and has left literally half 
of the country's 50 million people on the brink of starvation and acute 
hunger. Yet, still now 3 years in--and I understand how they feel--the 
Sudanese people feel basically forgotten by the world.
  Now, I have come to the floor previously to speak out on this issue, 
and I rise again today because this conflict cannot continue to be 
ignored. America must lead, not back away, in times like these when 
suffering and terror are at their peak.
  At the heart of this crisis is the ongoing violence between the 
Sudanese Armed Forces--remnants of the previous government--called the 
SAF, and the Rapid Support Forces--another militia group--both fighting 
against each other for control of the country. It is estimated that the 
fighting and resulting food crisis may have killed more than 100,000 
Sudanese and left millions more on the verge of starvation.
  The remarkable thing is that there are no good guys here. Both the 
SAF and the RSF have inflicted horrible atrocities on the people of 
Sudan. The U.S. Government has accused members of both SAF and the RSF 
of war crimes, while in January of last year, the State Department 
issued a determination that genocide had literally been committed by 
the RSF and its allied militias in the Darfur region of Sudan.
  The World Food Programme, which we are huge supporters of, has 
declared a famine in parts of southern and western Sudan, and there is 
a high risk of this famine condition spreading across the balance of 
the country.
  Sudan's economy has collapsed. Unemployment now is close to 50 
percent of the whole population. A generation of children risk being 
denied education because of how dangerous it is to even go to school.
  Conditions, unfortunately, may actually get worse. We have seen the 
war in Iran dramatically disrupt fuel and fertilizer shipments--
particularly devastating as Sudan enters what should be its planting 
season in coming months. Globally, the United Nations has warned that 
the impacts stemming from these fuel, fertilizer, and supply chain 
disruptions would place more than, again, 45 million people in Sudan at 
risk of acute hunger.
  Let's be clear. This is a catastrophe. In fact, more people die every 
day in Sudan than Gaza and Ukraine combined.
  It is not a new issue. I pushed the Biden administration repeatedly. 
But the U.S. response in addressing the scale of suffering that we see 
remains, unfortunately, woefully inadequate.
  First and foremost, the Sudanese people need humanitarian aid. They 
need aid workers, humanitarian organizations. And the local Sudanese 
volunteers, many who put their lives at risk on a daily basis, need the 
access to respond.
  Unfortunately, the current administration dismantled USAID and the 
broader U.S. foreign assistance infrastructure, so there is no clear 
and coordinated diplomatic strategy for addressing this conflict, for 
rallying the international community, for coordinating with local 
responders and organizations on the ground.
  Now, because of the war with Iran, foreign policy choices risk 
dramatically worsened conditions. When we dismantled USAID and the 
funding of the administration, we literally had a situation where 
American food and medicine that we had paid for were sitting on ships 
in the port of Sudan, and the workers that were literally paid a dollar 
or two a day to take that food and distribute it, because we shut down 
USAID, were left without any distribution network. So in some cases, 
this

[[Page S1769]]

extraordinarily valuable food and medicine literally rotted on the 
ships.
  Due to the absence of strong U.S. leadership in addressing this 
conflict and the fact that the international bodies have not been 
coordinated, there has been an opening here for outside influence. 
Foreign entities and governments are backing their surrogates on each 
side in a way that is, again, chilling.
  In my State, in Virginia, we have a large Sudanese diaspora. Since 
the conflict began, I have sat with and heard from many members of that 
community, and it is clear what must be done.
  I still remember a young family. Literally, they were in their late 
twenties. They had to rush and leave the country because the civil war 
was breaking out. They left behind at that point, I think, their 6-
month-old daughter. Three years later, their aging parents are not 
really able to take care of that daughter, who is now 3\1/2\ years old. 
The parents have not seen the daughter in 3 years, and they have no 
idea what will happen to her on a going-forward basis.
  The Sudanese people did not ask for this war. As I mentioned at the 
outset, the outbreak of this violence and this civil war between these 
warring generals, warring groups trying to divide the spoils of the 
country, came literally 4 years after pro-democracy protests swept 
parts of Sudan in 2019.
  In 2019, literally the young people of Sudan overthrew al-Bashir, the 
previous dictator who had been around for close to 40 years. What 
happened was there were literally hundreds of civic, professional, and 
political organizations that came together at that moment in the 
revolution--this was a people's revolution--and they thought that after 
the long term of this dictator, they might finally have civil liberties 
and an actual democracy.
  I believe very strongly that the Sudanese people deserve an 
opportunity to live in peace and to have a responsive, democratically 
elected government that incorporates civil society, women, and youth. 
Instead, we have some of our allies in the region--Saudi Arabia backing 
one side and the Emirates backing another. Because of this divide, you 
now have other countries, like Russia and Iran, coming in to try to 
make more mischief and try to bring about more hardships.
  Again, I urge all of us on both sides of the aisle to do more about 
this crisis in Sudan. I urge the administration to go forward and 
choose an envoy in the way the Biden administration had chosen former 
Congressman Tom Perriello. Please choose an envoy that can represent 
the President. This is a conflict by which the President of the United 
States, with the enormous influence he has with countries in the gulf, 
could use that power to, frankly, cut off the aid that funds this civil 
war tomorrow.
  As we enter the fourth year of this conflict, please, regardless of 
partisan affiliation, we all ought to urge President Trump to make sure 
this conflict comes to an end so that, at the end of the day, the 
Sudanese people, whether they are in Sudan or are part of the diaspora 
around the world, can actually live in peace, have a government that 
reflects their needs, have a country that is blessed with lots of 
natural resources, and can actually enjoy the potential prosperity that 
was promised--that held out that hope--back in 2019 when young people 
overthrew the prior dictatorship. We should no longer allow this crisis 
to go unheard or unrecognized. Part of the problem is that, 
unfortunately, the country has barred a lot of the international press.
  I urge any of my colleagues, as there are Sudanese diasporas in every 
State in our country, to meet with those communities, to hear their 
stories, to hear their struggles.
  You know, again, there are no good guys in this battle between these 
warring factions. American leadership could bring this war to an end. 
It would go a great deal toward restoring people's trust around the 
world of the value of strong, moral American leadership.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.

                          ____________________