[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12822-12826]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



         CONDEMNING THE NATIONAL ISLAMIC FRONT (NIF) GOVERNMENT

  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
concurrent resolution (H.Con.Res. 75) condemning the National Islamic 
Front (NIF) government for its genocidal war in southern Sudan, support 
for terrorism, and continued human rights violations, and for other 
purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 75

       Whereas according to the United States Committee for 
     Refugees (USCR) an estimated 1,900,000 people have died over 
     the past decade due to war and war-related causes and famine, 
     while millions have been displaced from their homes and 
     separated from their families;
       Whereas the National Islamic Front (NIF) government's war 
     policy in southern Sudan, the Nuba Mountains, and the 
     Ingessena Hills has brought untold suffering to innocent 
     civilians and is threatening the very survival of a whole 
     generation of southern Sudanese;
       Whereas the people of the Nuba Mountains and the Ingessena 
     Hills are at particular risk, having been specifically 
     targeted through a deliberate prohibition of international 
     food aid, inducing manmade famine, and by routinely bombing 
     civilian centers, including religious services, schools, and 
     hospitals;
       Whereas the National Islamic Front government is 
     deliberately and systematically committing genocide in 
     southern Sudan, the Nuba Mountains, and the Ingessena Hills;
       Whereas the Convention for the Prevention and the 
     Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by the United 
     Nations General Assembly in 1948, defines ``genocide'' as 
     official acts committed by a government with the intent to 
     destroy a national, ethnic, or religious group, and this 
     definition also includes ``deliberately inflicting on the 
     group conditions of life calculated to bring about its 
     physical destruction, in whole or in part'';
       Whereas the National Islamic Front government 
     systematically and repeatedly obstructed peace efforts of the 
     Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) over the 
     past several years;
       Whereas the Declaration of Principles (DOP) put forth by 
     the Intergovernmental Authority for Development mediators is 
     the most viable negotiating framework to resolve the problems 
     in Sudan and to bring lasting peace;
       Whereas humanitarian conditions in southern Sudan, 
     especially in Bahr al-Ghazal and the Nuba Mountains, 
     deteriorated in 1998, largely due to the National Islamic 
     Front government's decision to ban United Nation's relief 
     flights from February through the end of April in 1998 and 
     the government continues to deny access in certain locations;
       Whereas an estimated 2,600,000 southern Sudanese were at 
     risk of starvation late last year in southern Sudan and the 
     World Food Program currently estimates that 4,000,000 people 
     are in need of emergency assistance;
       Whereas the United Nations-coordinated relief effort, 
     Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS), failed to respond in time at 
     the height of the humanitarian crisis last year and has 
     allowed the National Islamic Front government to manipulate 
     and obstruct the relief efforts;
       Whereas the relief work in the affected areas is further 
     complicated by the National Islamic Front's repeated aerial 
     attacks on feeding centers, clinics, and other civilian 
     targets;
       Whereas relief efforts are further exacerbated by looting, 
     bombing, and killing of innocent civilians and relief workers 
     by government-sponsored militias in the affected areas;
       Whereas these government-sponsored militias have carried 
     out violent raids in Aweil West, Twic, and Gogrial counties 
     in Bahr el Ghazal/Lakes Region, killing hundreds of civilians 
     and displacing thousands;
       Whereas the National Islamic Front government has 
     perpetrated a prolonged campaign of human rights abuses and 
     discrimination throughout the country;
       Whereas the National Islamic Front government-sponsored 
     militias have been engaged in the enslavement of innocent 
     civilians, including children, women, and the elderly;
       Whereas the now common slave raids being carried out by the 
     government's Popular Defense Force (PDF) militias are 
     undertaken as part of the government's self-declared jihad 
     (holy war) against the predominantly traditional and 
     Christian south;
       Whereas, according to the American Anti-Slavery Group of 
     Boston, there are tens of thousands of women and children now 
     living as chattel slaves in Sudan;
       Whereas these women and children were captured in slave 
     raids taking place over a decade by militia armed and 
     controlled by the National Islamic Front regime in Khartoum--
     they are bought, sold, branded, and bred;
       Whereas the Department of State, in its report on Human 
     Rights Practices for 1997, affirmed that ``reports and 
     information from a variety of sources after February 1994 
     indicate that the number of cases of slavery, servitude, 
     slave trade, and forced labor have increased alarmingly'';
       Whereas the enslavement of people is considered in 
     international law as ``crime against humanity'';
       Whereas observers estimate the number of people enslaved by 
     government-sponsored militias to be in the tens of thousands;
       Whereas former United Nations Special Rapporteur for Sudan, 
     Gaspar Biro, and his successor, Leonardo Franco, reported on 
     a number of occasions the routine practice of

[[Page 12823]]

     slavery and the complicity of the Government of Sudan;
       Whereas the National Islamic Front government abuses and 
     tortures political opponents and innocent civilians in the 
     North and that many northerners have been killed by this 
     regime over the years;
       Whereas the vast majority of Muslims in Sudan do not 
     subscribe to the National Islamic Front's extremist and 
     politicized practice of Islam and moderate Muslims have been 
     specifically targeted by the regime;
       Whereas the National Islamic Front government is considered 
     by much of the world community to be a rogue state because of 
     its support for international terrorism and its campaign of 
     terrorism against its own people;
       Whereas according to the Department of State's Patterns of 
     Global Terrorism Report, ``Sudan's support to terrorist 
     organizations has included paramilitary training, 
     indoctrination, money, travel documentation, safe passage, 
     and refuge in Sudan'';
       Whereas the National Islamic Front government has been 
     implicated in the assassination attempt of Egyptian President 
     Hosni Mubarak in Ethiopia in 1995 and the World Trade Center 
     bombing in 1993;
       Whereas the National Islamic Front government has permitted 
     Sudan to be used by well-known terrorist organizations as a 
     refuge and training hub over the years;
       Whereas the Saudi-born financier of extremist groups and 
     the mastermind of the United States embassy bombings in Kenya 
     and Tanzania, Osama bin-Laden, used Sudan as a base of 
     operations for several years and continues to maintain 
     economic interests there;
       Whereas on August 20, 1998, United States Naval forces 
     struck a suspected chemical weapons facility in Khartoum, the 
     capital of Sudan, in retaliation for the United States 
     embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam;
       Whereas relations between the United States and Sudan 
     continue to deteriorate because of human rights violations, 
     the government's war policy in southern Sudan, and the 
     National Islamic Front's support for international terrorism;
       Whereas the United States Government placed Sudan in 1993 
     on the list of seven states in the world that sponsor 
     terrorism and imposed comprehensive sanctions on the National 
     Islamic Front government in November 1997; and
       Whereas the struggle by the people of Sudan and opposition 
     forces is a just struggle for freedom and democracy against 
     the extremist regime in Khartoum: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That the Congress--
       (1) strongly condemns the National Islamic Front government 
     for its genocidal war in southern Sudan, support for 
     terrorism, and continued human rights violations;
       (2) strongly deplores the government-sponsored and 
     tolerated slave raids in southern Sudan and calls on the 
     government to immediately end the practice of slavery;
       (3) calls on the United Nations Security Council to condemn 
     the slave raids and bring to justice those responsible for 
     these crimes against humanity;
       (4) calls on the President--
       (A) to increase support for relief organizations that are 
     working outside the United Nations-coordinated relief effort, 
     Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS), in opposition-controlled 
     areas;
       (B) to instruct the Administrator of the United States 
     Agency for International Development (USAID) and the heads of 
     other relevant agencies to significantly increase and better 
     coordinate with nongovernmental organizations outside the 
     Operation Lifeline Sudan system involved in relief work in 
     Sudan;
       (C) to instruct the Administrator of USAID and the 
     Secretary of State to work to strengthen the independence of 
     Operation Lifeline Sudan from the National Islamic Front 
     government;
       (D) to substantially increase development funds for 
     capacity building, democracy promotion, civil administration, 
     judiciary, and infrastructure support in opposition-
     controlled areas, and to report on a quarterly basis to the 
     Congress on the progress made under this subparagraph;
       (E) to instruct appropriate agencies to provide 
     humanitarian assistance directly, including food, to the 
     Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), its NDA allies, and 
     other indigenous groups in southern Sudan and the Nuba 
     Mountains;
       (F) to intensify and expand United States diplomatic and 
     economic pressures on the National Islamic Front government 
     by maintaining the current unilateral sanctions regime and by 
     increasing efforts for multilateral sanctions;
       (G) to provide the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) 
     and its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies with 
     political and material support;
       (H) to take the lead to strengthen the Intergovernmental 
     Authority for Development's (IGAD) peace process; and
       (I) not later than 3 months after the adoption of this 
     resolution, to report to the Congress about the 
     administration's efforts or plans to end slavery in Sudan;
       (5) calls on the United Nations Security Council--
       (A) to impose an arms embargo on the Government of Sudan;
       (B) to condemn the enslavement of innocent civilians and 
     take appropriate measures against the perpetrators of this 
     crime;
       (C) to swiftly implement reforms within the Operation 
     Lifeline Sudan to enhance independence from the National 
     Islamic Front regime;
       (D) to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 
     1070 relating to an air embargo;
       (E) to make a determination that the National Islamic 
     Front's war policy in southern Sudan and the Nuba Mountains 
     constitutes genocide or ethnic cleansing; and
       (F) to protect innocent civilians from aerial bombardment 
     by the National Islamic Front's air force;
       (6) urges the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development 
     (IGAD) partners under the leadership of President Daniel Arap 
     Moi to call on the Government of Sudan to immediately stop 
     the indiscriminate bombings in southern Sudan;
       (7) strongly condemns any government that financially 
     supports the Government of Sudan;
       (8) calls on the President to transmit to the Congress not 
     later than 90 days after the date of the adoption of this 
     concurrent resolution, and not later than every 90 days 
     thereafter, a report regarding flight suspensions for 
     humanitarian purposes concerning Operation Lifeline Sudan; 
     and
       (9) urges the President to increase by 100 percent the 
     allocation of funds that are made available through the 
     Sudanese Transition Assistance for Rehabilitation Program 
     (commonly referred to as the ``STAR Program'') for the 
     promotion of the rule of law to advance democracy, civil 
     administration and judiciary, and the enhancement of 
     infrastructure, in the areas in Sudan that are controlled by 
     the opposition to the National Islamic Front government.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce).
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
on H. Con. Res. 75.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, this resolution brings much needed attention 
to the terrible situation in Sudan where war incredibly has led to the 
death of 1.9 million Sudanese over the past decade. The vast majority 
of these Sudanese have not been combatants. They have been innocent 
women and children in the south who have been cruelly subjected to 
starvation and disease as food has been used as a weapon against them.

                              {time}  1115

  As the Subcommittee on Africa and the Subcommittee on International 
Operations and Human Rights of the Committee on International Relations 
heard 3 weeks ago, the humanitarian crisis in Sudan remains severe and 
a process of slavery still exists. We heard the personal experiences of 
southern Sudanese who have lost family members to the horrific process 
of slavery.
  This resolution pulls no punch. The Sudanese government, it states, 
is committing genocide. The Sudanese government has also engaged in 
slavery. This is consistent with its international behavior. Sudan is 
classified as a terrorist state by the State Department.
  This resolution condemns the Sudanese government for its genocidal 
war in southern Sudan and its support for terrorism. It deplores the 
government-supported slave trade in Sudan, and it calls for increased 
and more effective aid efforts in southern Sudan. The United States, 
this resolution suggests, must play a key role in attempting to bring 
peace to southern Sudan.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), the 
author of this resolution, and I urge its passage.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, 
and I rise in strong support of this resolution.

[[Page 12824]]

  Mr. Speaker, once again let me commend the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Royce), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, for bringing 
this very important resolution to the floor; and also to the ranking 
member of the full committee, the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Gejdenson); and the chairman of the full committee, the gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Gilman), for the work that they have done on this very 
important issue.
  The issue has been an issue that has been very important to me for 
many, many years: The question of Sudan and the horrendous quality of 
life that people, in particular in the south of Sudan, must go through 
in their daily lives simply to exist.
  My first visit to Sudan was in 1993, and since then I have traveled 
several times to the region. Just last week I was joined by my 
colleagues, Senator Brownback from Kansas and the gentleman from 
Colorado (Mr. Tancredo), and it was great to have those Congress 
persons, as a matter of fact, the largest congressional delegation to 
go to the south of Sudan perhaps in decades.
  Our trip took us to Loki in Kenya, to southern Sudan, to Yei and 
Labone, and at each of these places we saw thousands and thousands of 
refugees who are living in substandard conditions. Let me say that the 
war in Sudan is currently Africa's longest running Civil War. It is 
estimated that two million people have died, and as a direct result of 
this war many others have been misplaced, close to four million. The 
Sudanese conflict is often one of the major causes of famine and misery 
in southern Sudan.
  The National Islamic Front government in Khartoum has systematically 
and militarily tried to wipe out the people in the south by genocidal 
means. The NIF government of the north has supported international 
terrorist activities and has even attempted to destabilize neighbors in 
East Africa. They have supported the Lord's Resistance Army in northern 
Kenya, an army of people who brutalize, kidnap children and maim and 
kill innocent people.
  H.Con.Res. 75 condemns the NIF government for its genocidal war in 
southern Sudan, its support of terrorism and continued human rights 
violations.
  H.Con.Res. 75 deplores the slave raids into southern Sudan where 
women and children are captured and sold as chattel slaves by a 
military controlled by the Khartoum government.
  The resolution calls upon the United States Government to increase 
aid to relief organizations working outside of Operation Lifeline 
Sudan, the OLS, and it instructs USAID to better coordinate the 
delivery of aid and relief materials.
  The State Department is called upon to increase the diplomatic 
pressure on the NIF government and to provide greater leadership by 
strengthening the Intergovernmental Authority for Development, the IGAD 
process, and we urge President Moi from Kenya, who chairs IGAD, to even 
work more diligently at coming up with a solution.
  Finally, H. Con. Res. 75 calls upon the U.N. Security Council to 
impose an arms embargo against the Sudanese Government, condemn slavery 
and reform OLS to strengthen its independence from the NIF government.
  All Members of the House are encouraged to vote for this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo), who along with the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) recently toured Sudan and had an 
opportunity to visit sites recently bombed, such as the hospital in 
Yei.
  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time. It is accurate that my colleagues, the gentleman from New Jersey 
(Mr. Payne), and Senator Brownback, and I just returned from the Sudan 
where we witnessed the events described in this resolution, as 
described on the floor. We witnessed them firsthand, and witness them 
we did. Not only did we witness the effects, the physical effects of 
the bombing, the physical effects of the terror being imposed on the 
people of south Sudan by the government in the north, or the government 
in Khartoum, but we also witnessed the terror in the eyes of the people 
in south Sudan who came to us time after time after time, village after 
village, and asked us to do something, to do anything, as 
representatives of the greatest Nation on earth, as representatives of 
the most powerful Nation on the planet. They asked us to do something 
about the horror that they face day in and day out and that they have 
faced now for lo these many years.
  As my colleague, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) has 
indicated, it is the longest running battle, war, conflict, whatever we 
wish to call it, on the continent. It has now killed more people than 
any conflict since the Second World War. Two million dead, 4 million 
displaced. All of this has happened and the world has been silent.
  My colleague, and the chairman the distinguished chairman of our 
committee, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), has offered and 
will offer a statement for the Record in its entirety, but I would like 
to just excerpt one part of it because I think it is extremely poignant 
and needs to be stressed. It says: ``Sudan has had a long history of 
suffering. For many years, it has gone largely unnoticed by the rest of 
the world. I am reminded of the Book of Isaiah, where in chapter 40 the 
prophet speaks of a `voice crying out in the wilderness.' A few of our 
colleagues, like the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf), and the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) have cried out again and again at 
the pain and suffering of the people of south Sudan. But for too long, 
they have been the lone voices in the wilderness.''
  I am here to say, Mr. Speaker, that I will add my voice willingly to 
the voices of the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), the gentleman 
from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and others who have been crying out in this 
wilderness for some time.
  Hard as it is to believe, Mr. Speaker, there are still places on this 
earth where people can be abducted from their own homes, placed in 
chains, taken to a foreign land, branded, and forced to live out their 
lives as slaves. Hard as it is to believe, Mr. Speaker, these things 
are happening to people, and their own government is a culprit in the 
crime.
  There are many issues, of course, being addressed in the resolution. 
I certainly want to add my support to all of them. But this particular 
issue needs to be brought to the attention of the American public 
because maybe this is the thing that will get someone to pay attention 
to this horrible situation in Sudan and bring some relief to these 
people.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that a vast majority of 
northern Sudanese citizens are not complicit in this oppression. To the 
contrary, many northerners are suffering under the regime and they 
would like to see it end also. As with most abusive regimes, a small 
minority of military extremists are driving the government's policies. 
Far from condemning all of the people of the north, we express our 
sympathy and solidarity with them.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Meeks), a member of the Subcommittee on Africa.
  Mr. MEEKS of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. 
Con. Res. 75, and let me thank the Chairman of the Subcommittee on 
Africa, the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) for bringing this resolution to the floor. 
I think that it is time that we really pay attention to what is going 
on in the Sudan.
  Mr. Speaker, 1.9 million people are dead. These are human beings, 
people who have flesh and blood just like us. How can we turn our backs 
on what is happening there? People taken from their homes and put into 
slavery. Our own dark history in this country knows the evils of 
slavery, and surely this is a chance for us in this country to redeem 
ourselves from what happened in our dark past, to make sure that that 
should never, ever happen on the face of the earth today.

[[Page 12825]]

  How can we talk about going into the 21st century when slavery is 
still going on? How can we allow such a shameful act to continue? We 
must, as this resolution begins to do, do something and show that we 
care about human life; we care about people who may not be our 
immediate neighbors but they are our brothers in this world.
  So I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) and the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Gilman) for having the wisdom to bring this forward to the 
American public, and I think that we as a House and this administration 
need to surely focus on it as we do any other world crisis.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 75, 
and I want to thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) and the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) and (Mr. Payne) for bringing this 
to not only the committee's attention but to the country's attention.
  The war in the Sudan is currently Africa's longest running Civil War. 
It is estimated that 2 million people have died as a result of this 
war. The Sudanese conflict has caused major famine and misery for the 
people of southern Sudan.
  This resolution condemns the National Islamic Front government for 
its genocidal war in southern Sudan and its support of terrorism and 
continued human rights violations.
  The State Department is called upon to increase the diplomatic 
pressure on the NIF government and to provide greater leadership by 
strengthening the Intergovernmental Authority Development process.
  The United States must take the moral high ground in addressing 
genocide throughout the world wherever it is occurring. The recent 
attention on the terror and the death and destruction in Yugoslavia 
causes many of us to question why there has been no attention and 
outrage over the 2 million people dying in the Sudan or over the 
800,000 people who died in Rwanda.
  Mr. Speaker, during the hearings on this resolution we heard some 
very sobering testimony about the lack of our own country's response to 
this human tragedy. There is an abolitionist movement taking place in 
this country here in 1999. Imagine, an abolitionist movement to free 
the slaves of Sudan. How tragic it is that in 1999 there must be in the 
United States of America an abolitionist movement. But we need this 
movement to assist us to help the public become aware of the great 
contributions and discrepancies in our policies toward Africa.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to once again thank all of the leadership on this 
issue and hope that we get a unanimous aye vote for this resolution.

                              {time}  1130

  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. McNulty).
  Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. And I 
thank the chairman and ranking member and all of the sponsors for 
bringing this resolution to the floor. I strongly support it.
  I traveled to Sudan in 1989. I did not know much about the Horn of 
Africa at the time. But I knew this: 280,000 people starved to death 
the year before, not because there was not enough food. There was a 
tremendous outpouring of support from people all over the world, and, I 
am proud to say, it came primarily from the United States of America. 
But that food did not get through to the innocent civilian populations 
because of this civil war.
  I went to Sudan with the late Mickey Leland and the late Bill Emerson 
and my colleague Gary Ackerman. I watched in awe as Mickey Leland 
negotiated with the tyrant Sadiq al-Mahdi and with the leader of the 
SPLA John Garang, and even that unsavory character next door President 
Mengistu in Ethiopia to create these ``corridors for peace.'' He was 
successful that year. And in that following year, deaths due to 
starvation dropped dramatically.
  But in the time since then, we have focused our attention elsewhere. 
We have looked away from this tragedy and the situation today under 
Colonel Bashir is as bad as it has ever been.
  As my friend and colleague the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks) 
pointed out, 1.9 million people have already died in Sudan because of 
this civil war; 4 million people are internally displaced--more than 
any other nation on the face of the Earth. And we look the other way.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to get our priorities straight; stop this war, 
secure the peace, end this human suffering. And we can start by passing 
and then implementing the provisions of this resolution.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), the distinguished chairman of the 
Committee on International Relations.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to cosponsor this resolution on Sudan, 
along with the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), and rise today in 
strong support of the measure.
  Sudan has had a long history of suffering. For many years, it has 
gone virtually unnoticed by the rest of the world. I am reminded that 
in the Book of Isaiah, where in chapter 40 the prophet speaks of ``a 
voice crying out in the wilderness.''
  A few of our colleagues, like the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) 
and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) have cried out again and 
again at the pain and suffering of the people of southern Sudan. But 
for far too long, they have been the lone voices in the wilderness.
  This resolution conveys the sadness and the frustration of this 
Congress with Sudan's government. The National Islamic Front, led by 
Dr. Hassan al-Turabi, has mounted a consistent, methodical campaign to 
eliminate their southern problem by any means necessary. It is 
chillingly reminiscent of the apartheid strategies launched by the 
National Party of South Africa in 1948 to eliminate the so-called 
``black problem.''
  Eventually, the National Party in South Africa learned the futility 
of apartheid, and tomorrow that country is going to celebrate the 
inauguration of its second democratically elected President. The 
National Islamic Front of Sudan will also learn, eventually, hopefully, 
the futility of its efforts to suppress the human spirit. But we wonder 
how many more lives are going to have to be lost before that lesson is 
truly learned.
  One final but important note, Mr. Speaker: The vast majority of 
northern Sudanese citizens are not complicit in this oppression. To the 
contrary, many northerners are suffering under this regime and want to 
see it come to an end quickly. And as most abusive regimes, a small 
majority of militant extremists are driving the government's policies. 
Far from condemning all the people of the North, we express our 
sympathy and solidarity with them.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Payne) and the other members of the committee for their work on this 
resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, once again, I would like to thank everyone for the 
support.
  Finally, the question of Sudan is starting to become an issue that 
people in this country and around the world are starting to focus on. 
We have seen Somalia. We have seen Haiti. We have seen Kosovo. But as 
these things were going on, Sudanese were still suffering. For the last 
40 years, they have been suffering. So finally, I think enough is 
enough. The time is now for us to act.
  I would also like to thank people like Barbara Vogel, who is a 
teacher out in Colorado whose youngsters have written letters about 
slavery, and they call themselves ``The Little Abolitionists,'' and 
they have raised close to a $100,000

[[Page 12826]]

to buy back people who have been in bondage in Sudan; and Father Dan 
Ethal, who is with the Norwegian People's Aid, who has worked so long 
in southern Sudan; and Roger Winters from the Refugee International; 
and Charles Jacobs, who heads the anti-Africa Slavery Committee.
  When I concluded at a church service on our last day in southern 
Sudan, I simply told the people there that I had been there many years, 
as it was interpreted, but I said the next time I return to southern 
Sudan, I would hope to visit them in their own homes. There was a 
tremendous cheer that went out. So, hopefully, this resolution will 
move us toward that day where those people who have been suffering for 
decades and decades can go back to their own homes.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 75, a 
resolution condemning the National Islamic Front government in Sudan 
for its support for terrorism, its human rights abuses and its 
genocidal war in Southern Sudan. I commend Representatives Don Payne 
for his leadership in sponsoring this resolution.
  I also want to applaud Mr. Payne and Representative Tom Tancredo for 
taking the time to visit Sudan during the Memorial Day recess. It is 
not an easy trip--it is in fact one of the most difficult places to 
visit in the entire world. But, people need to go there and see for 
themselves the suffering of the people. Once you have seen it--the 
desperate looks in their eyes, their utter destitution, the starvation, 
homelessness and disease--you cannot forget it. The willingness of 
Representative Payne and Tancredo to go to Sudan gave the people there 
hope that they are not forgotten. This resolution is another message of 
hope.
  The war in Sudan has gone on longer than almost any current conflict 
today. It has killed more people than in any war since the second World 
War--more than in Kosovo, Somalia, Rwanda, Chechnya and Bosnia 
combined. Some 2 million people or more have died in Sudan since the 
current phase of the war began in 1983. Most of the fallen are black 
Southern Sudanese. They have lost an entire generation to the 
fighting--probably two generations by now.
  The January edition of the New York magazine contained an excellent 
article about the war in Sudan. It was titled The invisible War--an 
appropriate way to describe this conflict. At the end, the author 
William Finnegan asks a question we should all be asking ourselves: 
``The hard question is why the international community--the Western 
powers, really, led by the United States--is willing to invest so 
heavily in humanitartian relief and, at the same time, invest almost 
nothing in the diplomatic effort that might compel the warring parties 
to make peace.'' The war in Sudan has gone on for over 15 years, 
virtually unnoticed by the international community.
  The United States has been and continue to be one of the largest 
country donors to the United Nations humanitarian relief effort in 
Sudan, Operation Lifeline Sudan. In FY 1998 along, the United States 
provided $110 million in aid to humanitarian agencies providing 
assistance in Sudan and additional $150 million in surplus wheat. I 
applaud these efforts.
  But, what has been lacking on the part of the U.S. government and the 
international community is the political will to engage itself in a 
substantive and aggressive effort to promote peace in Sudan. That is 
what is needed--peace in Sudan.
  H. Con. Res. 75 describes the atrocities taking place--slavery; 
religious persecution; genocide against the Muslims and Christians in 
the Nuba Mountains and the people of Southern Sudan; high-altitude 
bombing of civilian targets like hospitals, churches and feeding 
centers.
  The government restricts humanitarian groups to desperately needy 
areas of the country, thereby allowing hungry people to become starving 
people. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of people have died of 
starvation in the war years. The government of Sudan has banned all 
international aid groups from going into the Nuba Mountains region 
since 1989. Meanwhile, government troops have slashed and burned the 
entire region, leaving thousands homeless, naked, starving, orphaned, 
diseased and without hope.
  Sudan is a humanitarian nightmare and a human rights disaster. The 
majority of the suffering is caused by the government of Sudan's war 
policy, its intransigence in negotiations, it radical philosophy and 
its brutal tactics.
  The real problem is the war and the United States must turn its 
attention to bringing peace to Sudan. If it does so, many of these 
other issues will take care of themselves.
  I support all the provisions in H. Con. Res. 75. The United States 
must increase support for non-governmental agencies working outside 
Operation Lifeline Sudan. It must provide aid for capacity-building in 
Southern Sudan so the areas outside the government of Sudan's control 
can learn to administer themselves and create some semblance of order. 
It must work to strengthen the independence of Operation Lifeline Sudan 
to prevent Khartoum from using aid as a weapon against people it 
opposes. These provisions will help save lives and make the lives of 
people of Southern Sudan a little better.
  The United States must do more to support the National Democratic 
Alliance--the coalition of northern and southern parties in opposition 
to the NIF government.
  The time has also come for the U.S. to provide diplomatic and 
material support for the Southern People's Liberation Army (SPLA).
  However, I also believe strongly that the United States must appoint 
a special envoy for Sudan. It should be a person of stature such as 
former Senator Paul Simon or Nancy Kassebaum or a similar kind of 
person. Former Senator George Mitchell want to Northern Ireland some 60 
times in pursuit of peace in that region. Aren't the people of Sudan 
worth the same kind of effort?
  Achieving a just peace in Sudan should be the goal of the U.S. 
government and the international community.
  I want to be clear on one point. I believe that the government of 
Sudan is one of the most evil governments of earth. Its policies have 
devastated the lives of the people of Northern and Southern Sudan 
alike. It sponsors international terrorism, allows slavery to take 
place, uses food as a weapon, engages in coercive practices to force 
people to change their religion, tortures political opponents and 
commits many other egregious human rights abuses.
  The NIF government has done very little to show themselves serious 
about peace and have thus made themselves one of them most isolated 
regimes on earth. The government of Sudan must understand that it will 
never become a full-fledged and respected member of the international 
community unless it gets serious about peace and stops its support for 
international terrorism.
  But, the international community has continued to hide behind a 
flawed peace process, called the Inter-governmental Authority on 
Development (IGAD), which has produced a laudable Declaration of 
Principles but very little other real progress.
  All the parties in Sudan must work for peace, but the International 
community must do more to force them to the table.
  It's time to do more. For the sake of the people of Sudan, we must do 
more.
  I urge this administration to appoint a special envoy for Sudan. We 
must get serious about peace in Sudan and put some diplomatic muscle 
into it.
  In my office I have a picture of a young boy from Southern Sudan. It 
was taken 10 years ago by a member of my staff during my very first 
trip to Sudan in 1989. The boy is probably dead by now. But if he is 
not, what kind of life do you think he has been living?
  This resolution lays out some excellent steps which must be taken 
immediately by the United States, the United Nations and the government 
of Sudan. I hope they will be taken seriously and implemented as soon 
as possible.
  But, I hope the administration will go one step further and appoint a 
special envoy for Sudan.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Shimkus). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 
75, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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