[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 10520-10542]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



       PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2052, SUDAN PEACE ACT

  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, 
I call up House Resolution 162 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 162

       Resolved, That at any time after the adoption of this 
     resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule 
     XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the 
     Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of 
     the bill (H.R. 2052) to facilitate famine relief efforts and 
     a comprehensive solution to the war in Sudan. The first 
     reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. Points of order 
     against consideration of the bill for failure to comply with 
     clause 4(a) of rule XIII are waived. General debate shall be 
     confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally 
     divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority 
     member of the Committee on International Relations. After 
     general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment 
     under the five-minute rule. Each section of the bill shall be 
     considered as read. During consideration of the bill for 
     amendment, the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole may 
     accord priority in recognition on the basis of whether the 
     Member offering an amendment has caused it to be printed in 
     the portion of the Congressional Record designated for that 
     purpose in clause 8 of rule XVIII. Amendments so printed 
     shall be considered as read. At the conclusion of 
     consideration of the bill for amendment the Committee shall 
     rise and report the bill to the House with such amendments as 
     may have been adopted. The previous question shall be 
     considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to 
     final passage without intervening motion except one motion to 
     recommit with or without instructions.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart) 
is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield 
the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hall), pending 
which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration 
of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.
  Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 162 is an open rule providing for the 
consideration of H.R. 2052, the Sudan Peace Act. The rule provides for 
1 hour of general debate, evenly divided and controlled by the chairman 
and ranking minority member of the Committee on International 
Relations. This is a completely fair rule. In fact, as I stated before, 
it is an open rule allowing all Members the opportunity to present 
amendments and, obviously, to debate this very important issue.
  The current situation in Sudan, Mr. Speaker, is extremely grave. More 
than 2 million men, women, and children have perished due to war-
related causes; and more than 3 million men, women, and children have 
been forced from their homes. Thousands of children have been abducted 
and forcibly converted to practices that they reject, and slavery has 
become an institution of the so-called National Islamic Front. Many of 
these same men, women, and children have suffered harsh beatings and 
torture.
  In the face of this horrific tragedy, the Government of Sudan has 
continually blocked the efforts to provide aid to the people who need 
it most. Famine has been a constant, and the World Food Program has 
record that 3 million Sudanese will require emergency food aid this 
year alone. The situation is clearly intolerable, and we should do what 
we can to provide relief to the millions of displaced people in Sudan.

[[Page 10521]]

  In addition to the human rights abuses in their own region, the 
Government of Sudan has also, rightfully so, been considered a rogue 
state by much of the international community because of its support for 
international terrorism. The Government of Sudan has supported acts of 
international terrorism and allows the use of its territory for 
terrorist groups. The government there has been a safe haven for major 
terrorist figures. To preserve the safety of our Nation and to help 
with the safety and the security of the world, the international 
community, we must continue to send the message that support for 
terrorist activities is simply unacceptable.
  The underlying legislation, the Sudan Peace Act, condemns the 
prosecution of the war by the National Islamic Front government and the 
associated human rights abuses. The legislation also acknowledges the 
role that oil has played in the war, expresses this Congress' support 
for an internationally sanctioned peace process, and urges the 
President to make previously appropriated funds available to the 
National Democratic Alliance. Additionally, the legislation requires 
businesses engaged in commercial activity in Sudan to publicly disclose 
the extent of their activities before raising money in American capital 
markets.
  The underlying legislation has broad bipartisan support. The Bush 
administration has made Sudan a priority by announcing its intent to 
dispatch a special envoy; and I believe that now it is our turn, 
Congress' turn, to make Sudan a priority by passing this important 
piece of legislation.
  I would like to thank the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo) and 
all those who have worked so hard to bring this important piece of 
legislation to the floor. I urge my colleagues in the strongest 
possible terms to support both this open rule and the underlying 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume, and I want to thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-
Balart) for yielding me the customary time.
  This is an open rule. It will allow for consideration of the Sudan 
Peace Act. As my colleague has described, this rule will provide 1 hour 
of general debate to be equally divided and controlled by the chairman 
and ranking minority member of the Committee on International 
Relations. The rule permits amendments under the 5-minute rule. This is 
the normal amending process in the House.
  Mr. Speaker, at a recent hearing of the Committee on International 
Relations, Secretary of State Colin Powell described Sudan as one of 
the world's greatest tragedies. Sudan is a nation of about 35 million 
people. It is on the northeast coast of Africa, south of Egypt and 
north of Kenya. It is blessed with rich natural resources. However, an 
18-year-old civil war and a very oppressive government have conspired 
to create widespread hunger, famine, and suffering.

                              {time}  1230

  Mr. Speaker, I have been to Sudan three times. There are Members of 
this Congress who have been there more, such as my colleague and 
friend, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf).
  My last trip was in May of 1998. During that trip, I witnessed a 
level of human misery as great as any I have ever seen. I saw vultures 
cleaning the bones of cattle and people killed by slave raiders. I saw 
a man who had just buried his entire murdered family. I saw people who 
had nothing to eat but the roots of water lilies in malaria-infested 
swamps. I saw children in aid stations who were too weak to cry.
  Mr. Speaker, in some ways conditions have worsened since that trip; 
although it is hard to imagine that could be possible. Famine still 
threatens a large part of the population. Human rights conditions are 
shocking, and the practice of slavery continues. What has happened is 
that the development of oil fields in the southern part of Sudan has 
contributed to more suffering as people and whole villages are removed 
to make way for oil drilling and the oil revenues to fuel the war 
machine.
  Mr. Speaker, the Sudan Peace Act takes a series of steps to promote 
peace in this land of tragedy. It requires companies that trade their 
securities on U.S. stock exchanges to disclose information about their 
business dealings in Sudan. It also urges the administration to take 
steps to relieve suffering and to end the civil war in Sudan.
  Although I support the purpose of the bill, I am concerned about some 
of the language, especially the language that criticizes the efforts of 
Operation Lifeline Sudan. This is a food relief effort that is carried 
out by UNICEF, the World Food Program, and other organizations.
  The bill proposes cutting U.S. assistance to Operation Lifeline Sudan 
and redirects funds to other relief efforts. Operation Lifeline Sudan 
serves about 90 aid stations every month. The government of Sudan bans 
flights to air strips in about one-fifth of the areas that need help. 
However, Operation Lifeline Sudan is able to gain access to most of 
these areas by road or by using permitted air strips. The ban actually 
blocks delivery to only four out of 90 destinations on an average of 
every month. The real access problem is the result of ongoing fighting 
and poor road infrastructure.
  I am afraid that directing U.S. support away from Operation Lifeline 
Sudan to other agencies without the experience and the ability of the 
United Nations food relief organizations would not improve food 
delivery to Sudan and could make matters worse. These organizations are 
doing an outstanding job under very, very difficult conditions.
  Finally, I wish to offer my support for an amendment which will be 
offered by the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) and the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) and myself. This amendment would block 
businesses that develop oil or gas in Sudan from raising capital or 
trading securities in the United States. Threatening Sudan's oil 
development should provide an immediate incentive to bring all warring 
parties to the negotiating table. This concept was recommended by the 
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this open rule. Despite my concerns, I support 
the bill and I urge its adoption.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Florida for 
yielding me this time. The widespread, systematic, heinous, and brutal 
crimes committed against the Sudanese people, the rape, the slavery, 
the mutilation, the systematic killing of millions throughout the years 
in what many assert is a deliberate campaign of genocide by the regime 
in Khartoum demands action by the U.S. Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to render their full support to the 
Sudan Peace Act before us today. When the question is posed: What can 
the people of the free world and, in particular, the U.S. Government do 
about one of the world's most tragic situations? What can be done about 
slavery and genocide in Sudan? We should start by calling things as 
they are for what they are.
  This is why the Sudan Peace Act condemns the gross violations of 
human rights, the ongoing slave trade in Sudan, and the pivotal role 
played by the Sudanese regime in aiding and abetting these practices. 
There are those who may be willing to initiate and expand oil 
operations in southern Sudan that will generate billions of dollars in 
annual revenue for the terrorist regime in Khartoum. However, the U.S. 
must stand firm in the face of egregious violations of international 
legal and moral standards.
  The Sudan Peace Act seeks to deter the financing of the regime from 
access to U.S. capital markets by establishing disclosure requirements 
on business activities in Sudan, and prohibiting securities trading in 
the U.S. until such requirements are met. The information to be 
provided to the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the

[[Page 10522]]

nature and the extent of the commercial activity with this pariah 
state, the identity of Sudanese government agencies involved in such 
businesses, and the linkage to religious persecution and other human 
rights violations shall be made available to the public. All of this, 
in conjunction with reporting requirements detailing the sources and 
the status of Sudan's financing and the construction of the 
infrastructure and the pipelines for oil exploitation, will put the 
spotlight on those who help to prolong the oppression and the 
suffering. We will finally place the spotlight on those oppressors.
  These are the people who help to propagate slavery, those who 
persecute the religious movement, and other religious human rights 
abuses. We are going to stop providing a financial lifeline to the 
Sudanese regime.
  The U.S. must also help ensure that the humanitarian assistance sent 
to Sudan is not being manipulated and is in fact reaching the intended 
recipients so we can help alleviate some of the suffering in this war-
torn nation.
  The Sudan Peace Act has various provisions to address this critical 
issue, including reporting requirements and the development of 
contingency plans for the distribution of aid to the affected areas 
should the Sudanese regime impose any type of ban on air transport 
relief flights.
  This bill seeks to provide a comprehensive approach to the war in 
Sudan and to facilitate a process which will help bring justice to the 
victims of the genocide and achieve this much-desired goal of peace. I, 
therefore, ask my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 2052.
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez).
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Sudan 
Peace Act. The National Islamic Front, which rules the Sudan, is one of 
the most degenerate and depraved regimes this world has ever known. It 
kidnaps, rapes, tortures, bombards; and yes, in this 21st century, 
enslaves its own civilians. It manipulates, blocks, and even bombs 
relief flights to advance its war aims. It attempts to destabilize the 
governments of its neighbors, including by assassination. And it 
sponsors terrorism abroad, including against the United States.
  The situation in the Sudan is not only a humanitarian crisis, it is a 
crisis of humanity. Its extreme severity and sheer depravity call for 
international action. And it calls especially for United States 
leadership, which this bill provides.
  While I support the appointment of a diplomatic envoy to advance the 
peace process, let me underscore that only international pressure has 
moved the thugs of Khartoum to make even the slightest gesture towards 
peace. They have been mostly empty gestures and lies at that.
  This bill has it right. Only international sanctions and pressures 
can affect this regime's unconscionable behavior. This bill will also 
have the Secretary of State report on war crimes from all sides. In my 
view, it is evident that the Sudanese regime are genocidal war 
criminals.
  The disclosure requirement on business activities make it clear that 
the line has to be drawn somewhere, and I fully support it. National 
interests cannot be determined simply by the color of money. But let us 
be realistic about any prospects for progress.
  On May 25, the regime said they will cease bombing, and within a week 
they were bombing in the south and the western Nuba mountains. In the 
last couple of days, the government came close to hitting two World 
Food Program food planes, and bombed the civilian areas that were 
intended recipients of that aid in Bahr al-Gazal.
  Mr. Speaker, we are morally obliged to do what we can to help the 
hungry, the abused, the besieged, and enslaved people of the Sudan. Let 
us have no illusions as to their intent, but let us do what we can. Let 
us pass the Sudan Peace Act.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to my distinguished 
colleague, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Weldon).
  Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this rule 
and in support of the underlying bill. I just want to say a few numbers 
loud and clear for everyone to hear. Over 2 million people are dead. 
Over 4 million people have been displaced.
  Mr. Speaker, these are not just numbers. These are individuals. These 
are people: women, children, mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters. 
We hear these numbers from far away, from Africa here in Washington; 
and for too long the plight of these oppressed people in the Sudan has 
just been ignored. It is imperative that we recognize the total 
devastation that has been going on and that we take serious action 
against these oppressors.
  This is a civil war in the Sudan that has been going on for 14 years 
and wreaking devastation on the Sudanese people. The National Islamic 
Front government of the Sudan has been on a rampant campaign against 
its own people. The Sudan Islamic fundamentalist regime has brought 
killings, evictions, and slavery to its own people. The regime is on a 
deliberate campaign of genocide against the black Christians and other 
non-Islamic people in southern Sudan. Eyewitnesses have testified over 
and over again before Congress about the Sudanese government's active 
efforts to promote slavery, torture, rape, mutilation, and killing.
  Mr. Speaker, myself and other House Members have been taking action 
to bring this genocide into the limelight and focusing our efforts on 
stopping this brutality. H.R. 2052 is a good bipartisan measure that 
will facilitate famine relief efforts and a comprehensive solution to 
the war in the Sudan.
  Mr. Speaker, although the Islamic government has claimed that they 
will end the bombing of civilian targets, as was previously stated by 
the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), the evidence is directly 
in conflict with that claim.
  The impending famine in the south and the improved military 
technology of the government threaten millions more of these poor, 
defenseless civilians in southern Sudan.
  Mr. Speaker, we need this bill, and I encourage all my colleagues to 
vote for the rule and to vote in support of the underlying bill. Most 
importantly, I encourage my colleagues to continue their engagement on 
this issue. To simply vote for this bill and forget about the problem 
is not doing enough. We must remain engaged.
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman 
from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support not only of 
the rule but the underlying bill. I rise to support as well the 
leadership of the ranking member of the Committee on Rules who I know 
has had a long-standing history on this issue; as has the gentleman 
from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart) on the majority side.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this particular legislation 
sponsored by the gentleman from (Mr. Tancredo) and the gentleman from 
New Jersey (Mr. Payne).

                              {time}  1245

  I thank them both for their leadership, because this is a vital 
legislative initiative. I am gratified that the House will consider an 
important piece of legislation that condemns slavery and human rights 
abuses in Sudan, human rights that have been violated time and time 
again.
  Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that Sudan and the Sudanese people 
have chosen not to listen, and when I say the Sudanese people, those 
who are governing, because there are those who have been put upon and 
who have been brutalized because of the failure to understand that all 
people are created equal. I am thankful that the legislation sets 
conditions of genocide as it relates to the Convention on Genocide. 
Genocide and war crimes must be addressed by the international judicial 
entities to ensure that justice is achieved. I am delighted that this 
legislation calls for the United Nations to be used as a tool for peace 
and condemns slavery by all combatants. It permits a revision of 
Operation Lifeline Sudan; encourages support for an internationally 
sanctioned peace process authorized by the Secretary of

[[Page 10523]]

State to support the peace process; provides transparency for foreign 
companies operating in Sudan that have capital markets in the United 
States; and it condemns the bombing of innocent civilians.
  As the ranking member of the full committee and the chairman of the 
full committee, both the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) and the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde) have been on the forefront of human 
rights. They realize that we have tried to work continuously to be able 
to address the issue of what is going on in Sudan, the violence in 
Sudan. Numbers of Congresspersons have visited Sudan, including the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), who have gone in on foot, by 
plane, bus and train, attempting to work with those and attempting to 
create peace. Yet no one is listening.
  Tens of thousands of people have died a slow and painful death by 
starvation as a result of the actions by the government in Khartoum 
preventing food from getting to the people in need. Will anyone listen? 
Do they realize that families are being destroyed? That children are 
dying? That Christians who want nothing else but to be able to practice 
their faith and live in peace are being destroyed and killed? Not only 
is the government of Sudan a terrorist regime but also a genocidal one, 
responsible for slavery, bombing raids against humanitarian targets, 
massacres and deliberate starvation in the southern part of the country 
where Sudan's religious and racial minorities reside. Two million 
people have died, Mr. Speaker.
  I would simply say as I was able to pass legislation dealing with 
children soldiers, prohibiting them and requiring a study by the State 
Department authorization bill, H.R. 1646, this bill sends a loud and 
resounding sign, no more, no more. No more brutalization, no more loss 
of life. Peace in the valley. The Sudanese people must be free and the 
Sudanese government must be taught a lesson.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2052, The Sudan 
Peace Act. I am gratified that the House will consider an important 
piece of legislation that condemns slavery and human rights abuses in 
Sudan. I am a cosponsor of this critical legislative initiative because 
I believe we must confront the atrocities being committed in the Sudan.
  Let me be clear on what the Act does do. First we must be thankful 
that the legislation sets the conditions of genocide as it relates to 
the Convention on Genocide. Genocide and war crimes must be addressed 
by the international judicial entities to ensure that justice is 
achieved. But the bill does a great deal more to ensure peace. It calls 
for the United Nations to be used as a tool for peace; condemns slavery 
by all combatants; it permits a revision of Operation Lifeline Sudan; 
encourages support for internationally sanctioned peace process 
authorized by the Secretary of State to support the peace process; 
provides transparency for foreign companies operating in Sudan that 
have capital markets in the United States; and it condemns the bombing 
of innocent civilians.
  The bill does not amend our Federal securities laws or call for 
capital market sanctions, or importing sanctions. It does not address 
those issues because we are focused on stopping the atrocities from 
continuing in the Sudan.
  The staggering scale of atrocities in Sudan has caused me and several 
other Members of Congress to support this measure. Tens of thousands of 
people have died a slow and painful death by starvation as a result of 
the actions by the Khartoum preventing food from getting to the people 
in need. Not only is the Government of Sudan a terrorist regime but 
also a genocidal one responsible for slavery, bombing raids against 
humanitarian targets, massacres, and deliberate starvation in the 
southern part of the country where Sudan's religious and racial 
minorities reside. An estimated 1.9 million people have died of causes 
linked to Sudan's 17-year-old civil war. Over 4.3 million have been 
uprooted. These are simply egregious human rights abuses that must be 
addressed by the United States together with the international 
community.
  While the current stage of this conflict, being waged primarily 
between the National Islamic Front (NIF) and other warring factions. 
The Government of Sudan has waged a brutal campaign against civilians. 
Although the National Islamic Front government recently pledged to end 
bombing of civilian targets, there is little evidence that the conflict 
is nearing resolution. Indeed, the improved military technology of the 
government, combined with an impending famine in the south, threaten to 
virtually destroy the population of southern Sudan by the year's end.
  H.R. 2052 addresses this situation in a comprehensive manner. The 
legislation actually requires the Secretary of State to reinvigorate 
international diplomatic peace efforts that are desperately needed to 
bring closure to the fighting and an end to the atrocities. We need the 
foreign policy team of America to help play a constructive role in the 
Sudan.
  The legislation also creatively requires all businesses trading 
securities in the United States capital markets and operating in Sudan 
to disclose fully the extent of their involvement in Sudan. This will 
provide transparency to the nature of business being done in the Sudan. 
This is an important step, Mr. Speaker.
  Let me just add that we must rid the use of child soldiers in 
conflict. Children used as soldiers are unacceptable. As a result of an 
amendment that I offered and was adopted during consideration of the 
H.R. 1646, the State Department authorization bill, the United States 
will now begin to collect specific information on those nations that 
use children as children soldiers. If children continue to be used in 
this conflict as soldiers, the world community will not only know but 
the United States will formally have the opportunity to raise this 
matter with the Sudanese government.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2052, the Sudan Peace Act, reflects bipartisan 
support to end the atrocities being committed in the Sudan. I strongly 
urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the bill.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns).
  Mr. STEARNS. I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, Edmund Burke, who was a distinguished politician in 
England, said it best when he said that the only thing necessary for 
the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. So, Mr. Speaker, let 
us not be idle this afternoon.
  The size of Sudan's population is about 35 million people. This event 
has been going on, off and on, since 1955. This is something that we 
should take quite seriously and try to come to grips with in this House 
to do something constructively. The humanitarian crisis in southern 
Sudan is considered one of the worst in decades. Efforts at national, 
regional and international levels to bring peace and stability to the 
region have so far been unsuccessful, and outbreaks of fighting and 
mass population displacements continue to occur. This vicious operation 
against citizens has resulted, as mentioned before, in the loss of 2 
million souls and left 4 million homeless.
  These statistics fall in this House, but they are so meaningful. The 
14-year recent civil war has also brought drought and raids that have 
been backed by the government. They back these militias. They have 
disrupted the distribution of food aid and obstructed assessments of 
need in severely affected areas. In short, we are not able to discern 
the exact need. We only know as we stand on the House floor today that 
it is great.
  The Sudan Peace Act does several things that attempt to address the 
many complicated issues that are facing the people of Sudan. First of 
all, the reporting requirement included in this bill would serve as a 
deterrent to foreign companies raising money in United States markets 
for oil development activities in Sudan, activities which undoubtedly 
have an effect on human rights and religious freedom. The thriving oil 
industry in Sudan, according to the International Monetary Fund, has 
allowed the Sudanese government to double its military budget. Some 
believe that because of the prosperity of the oil export, the National 
Islamic Front, NIF, which is the controlling governmental authority, is 
not interested in negotiating seriously to end this war.
  More importantly, it condemns the war being waged by the NIF 
government in Khartoum. The NIF views itself as the protector of Islam 
in Sudan. Any political dissent is seen as being anti-Islam and any 
action against religious opposition is understood as justified in what 
the NIF believes is a holy war.
  According to a March 2001 report by the congressionally established 
U.S. Commission on International Religious

[[Page 10524]]

Freedom, quote, the government of Sudan continues to commit egregious 
human rights abuses, including widespread bombing of civilian and 
humanitarian targets, abduction and enslavement by government-sponsored 
militias, manipulation of humanitarian assistance as a weapon of war 
and severe restrictions on religious freedom.
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation is not the total solution to the 
humanitarian crisis in Sudan, but, rather, in a small way, it is a 
contribution to a larger effort which we should embark on here in 
Congress, an effort that will bring a long-term commitment to a 
suffering people whom we do not know but whose human freedom we take 
seriously today.
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. McNulty).
  Mr. McNULTY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Ohio for yielding me 
the time. I rise in support of the rule and the Sudan Peace Act. But I 
submit, Mr. Speaker, that this is not enough.
  I traveled to Sudan in the year 1989 with our late colleague Mickey 
Leland, with our late colleague Bill Emerson, and with Gary Ackerman. I 
saw firsthand the human devastation in that country. And here we are in 
the year 2001 witnessing the same civil war, the same devastation and 
basically the same participants. Sadiq al-Mahdi was in charge in 
Khartoum when we were there, but he was replaced later that year by 
Lieutenant Colonel Bashir, who is still in power. John Garang was then 
and is now the leader of the SPLA.
  We traveled, after we left Khartoum, to the south to Muglad and Waw, 
a couple of the refuge camps. I cannot describe to you the feeling of 
looking out at a crowd of thousands and thousands of people who are not 
sure where their next meal is going to come from. One of the NGO 
officials at the time said, ``Congressman, would you like to see our 
hospital?'' I became encouraged for a moment. I was going to see a 
medical facility. They took me to their medical facility, which was a 
great big tent. It was large, and it was air-conditioned, just to keep 
people alive, but the medical facility was primitive at best. It became 
clear to me why it was so difficult to get medical personnel from the 
continent and elsewhere in the world to donate their time and to go 
there. The NGO officials explained to me that initially they had an 
outpouring of support from volunteer medical personnel from around the 
world but once they got there, the situation was so primitive as far as 
what they had to work with that they would get discouraged and leave.
  Now, I am suggesting, Mr. Speaker, that we do something more than 
just pass the Sudan Peace Act. I think that the United States role has 
to be much more, and I am not talking about military intervention. We 
have become involved in negotiations for peace in many other areas of 
the world where there is much less human devastation. We became heavily 
involved in the situation in Ireland, and especially because of my 
heritage I am very happy that we did that. We have made significant 
progress with the Good Friday Accords. We are not where we want to be 
but we are making progress. That is because the President of the United 
States got directly involved and got people together and we made 
significant progress.
  We have been doing that for years in the Middle East. We are not 
where we want to be in the Middle East, but we have made significant 
progress--most notably starting with the Camp David Accords back during 
the Carter administration. We have moved step by step. We are much 
better off today than we were a generation ago, but we still have a lot 
of work to do.
  Bosnia, etc. We keep going down the list. We got directly involved.
  Why is Africa the forgotten continent when there is so much more 
human devastation there? Compare it, for example, to the situation in 
Ireland, which I feel very deeply about. From the time that the current 
troubles started in 1969, 3,000 innocent people have died. That bothers 
me a lot. But in this one nation on the forgotten continent of Africa, 
in a shorter period of time, less than two decades, 2 million people 
have died. Two million innocent men, women and children have died. The 
year before Mickey led that delegation in 1989, 280,000 people starved 
to death in that one country in that one year.
  Why is this the forgotten continent? Why can we not become more 
directly involved? Members might ask me, what am I suggesting? I am 
suggesting that the President of the United States make this a 
priority. When I say that, I am not directing anything at the current 
President. He just started his term, so this is a new suggestion to 
him. Other Presidents, Democratic and Republican before, have not done 
that. I am suggesting that he do that and focus on this international 
issue, get Bashir and Garang to the negotiating table, and get a cease-
fire. I think if we have the leadership of the President of the United 
States, the leader of this country and the leader of the free world, we 
can get the international attention that we need to stop the human 
devastation in Sudan.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence).
  Mr. PENCE. I thank the gentleman from Florida for yielding me this 
time and for his leadership on this issue.
  Mr. Speaker, the United States Department of State released a 
statement on Friday to report that the National Islamic Front 
government of Sudan launched a series of aerial bombings in southern 
Sudan 1 week ago. These attacks clearly targeted civilian areas, an act 
Khartoum pledged not to do only 2 weeks prior to the bombings.
  Mr. Speaker, while the Sudan Peace Act condemns human rights 
violations by all sides of this four-decade-old conflict, it is 
important to note that it recognizes that the NIF government bears the 
greatest responsibility for the violations. The NIF has continually 
blocked humanitarian relief efforts and apparently now bombs civilian 
areas.
  Mr. Speaker, it is important that the American people know that the 
heart of this conflict has deep religious origins. As the gentlewoman 
from Texas said only moments ago, last year the State Department 
designated Sudan as a country of particular concern because the NIF 
commits what is commonly believed to be the world's worst acts of 
religious persecution.
  As a Christian, Mr. Speaker, it particularly grieves me to report 
that the worst of these acts of persecutions are against Christian 
believers in Sudan. Christian southern Sudanese are sexually abused, 
beaten and forced into religious conversion. Matthias Akabd was 
arrested in January of 1995 along with his wife and his infant son. 
They have not been heard from since. The Akabd family is merely one 
example of tens of thousands of persecuted Christians in southern Sudan 
who are discriminated against, stripped of their freedom, enslaved, 
imprisoned, tortured and even killed.
  As the Good Book says, Mr. Speaker, ``Remember those who are in 
prison as if we were their fellow prisoners and those who are 
mistreated as if we ourselves were suffering.''
  Mr. Speaker, by supporting the Sudan Peace Act, the Congress will do 
much today to fulfill this noble commission.

                              {time}  1300

  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman 
from Iowa (Mr. Boswell).
  Mr. BOSWELL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlemen who have worked on 
this very, very important piece of legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the rule and the passage of the bill, 
and I am thankful for this opportunity to give my support. The 
situation in Sudan came to my personal attention as a result of 
constituent case work, diligently completed by Karen Kinkel of my Iowa 
district office staff.
  In April of 1999, we received a letter from a constituent, Paula 
Friederich of Ames, regarding her passionate concern for a group of 
children now commonly referred to as the ``Lost Boys of the Sudan.'' 
Paula and her husband, Dr. Jim Friederich, expressed their desire and 
their commitment to assist financially the plight of two of these lost 
boys in particular.

[[Page 10525]]

  The Friederichs had recently learned of the war in the Sudan from a 
young man named Madul Aguan, who is currently a senior at Iowa State 
University. I submit for the Record today a copy of the experience of 
how he escaped as a young lad of 8 years old. His father had been 
killed, who was a Dinka chief, when the war that raged separated him 
from his mother. Then they came back and were going to take the 
children, and he escaped over into Ethiopia into a refugee camp.
  The experience of what he went through is just heartrending. By force 
he was returned to the Sudan and then he was shot, broken ribs and 
wounded severely, and he survived that. Then he went to another refugee 
camp. To make a long story short, he finally landed in the United 
States with help from the State Department and many other entities. So 
he landed there and as a youngster was going to school in Kansas City, 
sleeping on a mattress in a leaky basement but kept pushing on. He 
said, I have freedom. It is okay. I have freedom.
  Then he landed up in Ames. Now he is in the State University where he 
met the Friederichs and told them of his brother and his nephew that 
were having a similar situation. So the Friederichs set out to help. 
They worked with us and we worked with them, and the work went on and 
on and on.
  Last winter, on a cold night in Des Moines, Iowa, off the airplane 
came the brother and the nephew. The brother and the nephew, which I 
will show here, Aguan in the middle, had not seen each other for 15 
years, little children at the time, and here they were. They came and 
they were reunited in the United States. They are in a warm home with 
loving care, getting an education and moving forward in their lives.
  That experience to me and for all of us should be a reminder that 
being in Congress is a lot more than just casting a vote here and 
there. Sometimes the most rewarding experiences that we can have are 
for our constituents and the positive role that plays, and such an 
important factor in their life. I am hopeful today we will not only 
pass this rule and this bill that will help bring this to an end, I 
would encourage everybody that is listening and thinking about it, give 
it their whole-hearted support. It is the right thing to do.
  In 1986, when Aguan was 8 years old, Northern Sudanese troops 
attacked his village of Lou Mawein in Southern Sudan. Aguan's father, a 
Dinka chief, had been assassinated in 1983. In the confusion of this 
battle, Aguan was separated from his mother. After two days of attacks 
from the northern troops, the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA), 
in Aguan's words, ``came into the village to bury the dead, tend to the 
wounded and gather up the children who parents were killed or lost''. 
At this time, Aguan began walking, barefoot, to an Ethiopian refuge 
camp. It is my understanding that many other children did not survive 
the journey to Ethiopia, dying when attacked by crocodiles as they 
passed through the Gilo river. During the last three days of his 
journey, Aguan had no food or water. Aguan stayed in an Ethiopian 
refuge camp for five years, until Ethiopia had it's own civil war. As a 
result of this war, Aguan was forced to return to southern Sudan, which 
was once again attacked by northern troops. With the assistance of the 
United Nations, Aguan went to Kapoeta to be protected by the SPLA. 
However Kapoeta was attacked, and Aguan was short. The bullet broke his 
ribs, collapsed his lung and caused internal bleeding. He was taken by 
the Red Cross to Lokichoggio, Kenya for surgery. At this time, Aguan 
was placed in the Kakuma refuge camp, in northern Kenya.
  According to Aguan the conditions in the camp were inhumane. The 
water was polluted and there was little food. The tents were 
overcrowded. After two years, Aguan went to Nairobi for medical exams. 
Following results of the exam, he began the process of obtaining a 
referral as a refugee for resettlement. When he was approved for 
resettlement as a refugee by the Immigration and Naturalization 
Service, Aguan immigrated to the United States. This was made possible 
through the primary assistance of the Joint Voluntary Agency and the 
Red Cross. Aguan worked to put himself through high school in Kansas 
City, Missouri, sleeping on a mattress in a leaky basement for three 
years. Aguan told the Friederich's he was just ``happy to be free''.
  Following high school graduation, Aguan attended the Des Moines Area 
Community College for one year before transferring to Iowa State 
University, where he now majors in International Law. Aguan plans to 
attend law school following graduation.
  This story of Aguan's escape from the Sudan was shared with Jim and 
Paula Friederich. Aguan then asked the Friederich's if there was any 
way they could help him bring two surviving family members, a brother 
and a nephew, to the United States for the purpose of family 
reunification.
  I brought this inquiry to the attention of the appropriate African 
Population, Refugee and Migration Bureau (PRM) representative of the 
State Department which coordinates overall United States Government 
policy on assistance, protection and resettlement of refugees. Refugee 
resettlement involves the White House, National Security Council, U.S. 
Immigration and Naturalization Service, Department of State, Department 
of Health and Human Service, the International Organization for 
Migration, the Joint Voluntary Agency (Lutheran Immigration and Refugee 
Service), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the 
United States Congress.
  After working for over two years to facilitate communication with the 
Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the State Department on 
behalf of Aguan and the Friederich's, Aguan's brother and nephew were 
located, and were granted approval for refugee resettlement in 
September 2000. They arrived at the Des Moines International Airport in 
January of 2001. Aguan had not seen his brother in over fifteen years. 
He last saw his nephew eight years ago. Aguan's brother and nephew have 
similar stories of how they survived and escaped and the war in 
southern Sudan.
  I believe that this reunion would not have been possible without the 
assistance of the aforementioned federal agencies, coupled with the 
concern and involvement of the Friederich's, and the persistent work of 
my casework staff.
  Members on both sides of the aisle, there is a civil war in the Sudan 
that has been raging for the past 18 years. As a result of this war, 
children are lost from their families, and many are sold into slavery. 
The fortunate ones escape to surrounding countries, but often with 
little hope for a future. I have been touched by this story. It is my 
desire to bring an end to this war, and now is the time to take action 
on behalf of the helpless who remain in Sudan. Please join me in 
support of H.R. 2052.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), a man who has spent a lot of time on this 
issue. He has traveled to Sudan. He is an expert on so many countries 
in Africa.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I stand in strong support of the rule and 
would like to commend the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hall), who chairs a 
hunger committee, for his tireless work not only in Africa but around 
the world where he travels at his own danger in some instances to 
investigate and bring back the report of what is going on.
  I would also certainly like to commend the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Lantos), who has given all of the support that we need for issues 
in the continent of Africa. I would also like to mention the work of 
the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo), who is the sponsor of the 
Sudan Peace Act.
  The first congressional delegation that the gentleman from Colorado 
(Mr. Tancredo) went on was a trip with me and Senator Brownback to 
southern Sudan. It was quite a way to initiate congressional travel. I 
told him that it was not always like this when Congresspeople travel.
  His interest, his curiosity, his want to learn inspired him to move 
this bill.
  Also a long-time warrior, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf), has 
spent many, many, many hours and days and months traveling, working for 
the benefit of people throughout the world and in Sierra Leone and in 
Sudan.
  The gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), the chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Africa, has done an outstanding job. So I think this is 
a great opportunity for a bipartisan move to talk about probably the 
worst scourge on the Earth today, a pariah government, a government 
which bombs its own people, starves its own people, tortures its own 
people.
  There are other people, too, like Charles Jacobs from the anti-
slavery

[[Page 10526]]

movement and Nina Shay from a commission to deal with religious 
discrimination.
  What I think is finally happening is that America, the world, is 
starting to see about this tragedy of Sudan: 1.9 million people dead, 
4.4 million people displaced. Finally, it has been too long but I hope 
that the new administration will have vigor to see us change the pariah 
government in Khartoum so people can have the ability to live a normal 
life.
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Tennessee (Mr. Clement).
  Mr. CLEMENT. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank several people that have 
worked so hard concerning the Sudan Peace Act. I do support the rule.
  I want to congratulate the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hall), the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf), the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Payne), the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo), and the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Lantos) for their leadership and strong support. I 
was one of the authors of the International Religious Freedom Act of 
1998, which set in place the framework for U.S. action against 
violations of religious freedom around the world.
  The Sudan Peace Act is a worthy successor to that act, and I am proud 
to be an original cosponsor. The tragedies of Sudan are truly 
unspeakable, though we must attempt to make them clear to the world. 
Some 2 million people dead in the war, millions more displaced; women 
and children abducted and raped by government-backed militia; torture 
of dissidents; bombing of hospitals and schools. It is an endless 
litany of suffering.
  This act clearly condemns these atrocities perpetrated by an 
extremist and heartless regime. This act strengthens our ability to 
provide assistance to the suffering civilians of Sudan, particularly in 
areas barred from relief by the government. It reinforces our 
commitment to negotiating peace; and of tremendous importance, it 
requires that businesses that want to raise capital from American 
investors disclose any dealings in oil development in Sudan. That oil 
is blood oil. It has enriched the war machine of the government and 
emboldened Khartoum to believe that it will enjoy limitless funds to 
crush its own people into submission.
  I urge all my colleagues to denounce these atrocities and vote for 
the Sudan Peace Act.
  Mr. HALL of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would simply say that the rule is a good rule. It is 
in good shape. It is open. The bill is not a perfect bill. It is very 
hard to pass a perfect bill on an issue like Sudan, where millions of 
people have died. They have fought for years. I am particularly 
impressed and glad that in the bill when it talks about the broad 
bipartisan support of this bill from the House of Representatives, it 
condemns violations of human rights by all sides to the conflict.
  I know that for the most part today, what we have heard is the very, 
very serious and very troubling human rights violations coming from the 
north and coming from the government, but there is blood in the south 
as well. Tribes fight tribes. Leaders use innocent people, and there is 
blood on both sides. I hope that this bill will not only address some 
of those issues but will go a long way in helping bring this terrible 
war to an end.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend all of my colleagues who have spoken so 
eloquently on this very, very important subject and join them in urging 
the House to obviously support this open rule, but also the underlying 
legislation.
  We, I hope, speak on this moral issue in a very united fashion this 
afternoon.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the 
previous question on the resolution.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.


                             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 
and to include extraneous material on H.R. 2052.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). Is there objection to the 
request of the gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Diaz-Balart). Pursuant to House 
Resolution 162 and rule XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the 
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for the 
consideration of the bill, H.R. 2052.

                              {time}  1313


                     In the Committee of the Whole

  Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the 
Whole House on the State of the Union for the consideration of the bill 
(H.R. 2052) to facilitate famine relief efforts and a comprehensive 
solution to the war in Sudan, with Mr. Simpson in the chair.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered as having 
been read the first time.
  Under the rule, the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) and the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce).
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, firstly I would like to thank the gentleman from 
Colorado (Mr. Tancredo), a member of the Subcommittee on Africa that I 
chair, for introducing the Sudan Peace Act.
  The ranking member of the Subcommittee on Africa, the gentleman from 
New Jersey (Mr. Payne), has been a strong supporter of this 
legislation, as has the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos). I want 
to thank them for their assistance.
  I would also like to thank the chairman of the Committee on 
International Relations, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), for 
his efforts on behalf of this bipartisan bill.
  As we have heard during the debate on the rule, Sudan is suffering 
through what is probably today the longest civil war in the world. The 
fighting between the radical government in the north and forces in the 
south has led to suffering on such a massive scale that it is estimated 
today that close to 2 million Sudanese have died of war-related causes 
since 1983.
  There are 4 million Sudanese internally displaced in that country, 2 
million living in squatter areas in Khartoum. Over 3 million Sudanese 
will require emergency food aid this year if they are to survive.

                              {time}  1315

  Famine is a constant in Sudan. At a March hearing of the Committee on 
International Relations, Secretary of State Colin Powell said that 
Sudan is one of the greatest tragedies on the face of the Earth. There 
is no greater tragedy, he said.
  Well, I think Secretary Powell is right. He recently traveled to 
Africa, where Secretary Powell consulted with African leaders about the 
crisis in Sudan. Early signs indicate a strong administration 
commitment to addressing this crisis, and this legislation is designed 
to bolster the administration's effort.
  The Sudan Peace Act condemns violations of human rights on all sides 
of the conflict. However, it recognizes that it is the Sudanese 
government and groups under its control that bears by far the greatest 
responsibility for human rights violations.
  The Sudanese regime regularly blocks humanitarian relief efforts and 
bombs humanitarian and civilian centers. Southern Sudanese are 
victimized by slave raids, which this legislation recognizes as 
government-backed, as well as by religious persecution, which is 
commonly believed to be the worst religious persecution in the world.
  Last year, the State Department again designated Sudan as a country 
of

[[Page 10527]]

particular concern due to its systematic and egregious violations of 
religious freedom. Sudanese forced into slavery are subject to all 
forms of physical abuse, including beatings and sexual abuse, and 
forced religious conversions.
  Congress has gone on record before expressing concern over the strife 
and human suffering that is occurring there in this country. In 1999, 
the House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the 
Sudanese government for ``its genocidal war'' in southern Sudan. The 
Sudan Peace Act condemns the government of Sudan in the strongest 
possible terms, finding again that its acts constitute what we term 
genocide.
  Here are some of the particulars in the bill. The bill requires 
companies with operations in Sudan to disclose the nature of their 
Sudanese operations before they are permitted to trade their securities 
in U.S. capital markets. This disclosure includes the nature of those 
operations and their relationship to violations of religious freedom 
and other human rights in Sudan. This should prove to be a useful tool 
in alerting American investors to the troubling nature of their 
potential investment, particularly in the energy sector.
  Over the last several years, non-U.S. companies have raised money in 
the U.S. to develop Sudanese oil fields, located primarily in the 
south. Oil reserves have allowed Khartoum to double its military 
expenditures, giving it the means to prosecute its war more 
aggressively.
  The second thing the bill does is it urges the administration to make 
available to the National Democratic Alliance $10 million in previously 
appropriated funds. This funding should be used to help build the civil 
society that has been devastated in the south and which is essential to 
the region's long-term future.
  The third aspect of the legislation is that it requires the 
administration to develop a contingency plan to operate its 
humanitarian relief efforts outside Operation Lifeline Sudan, and that 
is the United Nations sponsored humanitarian aid operation that has 
been shamelessly manipulated by the government of Sudan to advance its 
war aims, leading to widespread death by starvation and other causes. 
So what has in fact happened with Operation Lifeline Sudan, the 
government in Sudan has directed do not bring this relief into the 
south; we will direct you as to where you are allowed to take the food 
aid. So, again, this will develop a contingency plan to operate outside 
and around that Operation Lifeline Sudan.
  The Subcommittee on Africa has held several hearings on Sudan over 
the last few years. This crisis has increasingly caught the attention 
of the American people. The Sudan Peace Act is an effort to bring 
further attention to the suffering in Sudan and help along a resolution 
to this long-running conflict.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Sudan Peace Act. I 
first would like to thank my colleague, the gentleman from Colorado 
(Mr. Tancredo), for introducing the measure. I want to express my 
special appreciation to my colleague and friend, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Payne), the ranking Democratic member of the Subcommittee 
on Africa, for his many years of tireless efforts to bring to the 
attention of the Congress and the American people the Sudanese crisis. 
I also want to commend my friends, the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Royce) and the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Hyde), for moving this 
legislation forward and for their deep commitment to the issues.
  Mr. Chairman, it appears unreal that at the beginning of the 21st 
century we again are talking about genocide and slavery, but it is 
genocide and slavery which characterizes the situation in the Sudan. 
This is a long-standing crisis. It originated in the early 1950s, and 
it became particularly severe since the mid-1980s.
  The Islamic government of Sudan is perpetrating genocide on its own 
people. This crisis represents the most comprehensive attack against 
Christians any place on the face of this planet today; mass rapes, 
large scale forced starvation, kidnapping, and, as has been stated time 
and time again in this debate, we have over 2 million innocent men, 
women, and children who have been killed in this process, over 4 
million internally displaced.
  This legislation, which I hope will get the unanimous support of this 
body, calls for our Secretary of State to collect evidence on war 
crimes and crimes against humanity. It is inconceivable that the 
perpetrators of these gigantic scale atrocities should escape 
appropriate punishment.
  A special word needs to be said, Mr. Chairman, about the oil 
companies that play a significant role in this nightmare. I am pleased 
to say that there are no American oil companies involved, but it pains 
me to no end to indicate that an oil company from Sweden, an oil 
company from Canada, and, much less surprisingly, oil companies owned 
by Malaysia and Communist China, are providing the funds to this 
outrageous government to pursue and perpetrate its atrocities.
  We will bring the light of day on the activities of these companies, 
and we will make it very clear for any potential American investors 
what the nature of their investments would be buying in atrocities in 
the Sudan.
  I truly believe that Congress acts never more nobly than when it 
rises to deal with human rights abuses anywhere on this planet. The 
Sudan Peace Act is one such example, and I strongly urge all of my 
colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith), the vice chairman of the Committee on International 
Relations.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I thank my good friend, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), the chairman of the African 
subcommittee, for yielding and commend him for his outstanding 
leadership on behalf of the suffering individuals, not just in Sudan, 
but in other countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, who have 
been victimized by human rights abuse.
  I want to especially thank on this bill, my good friend, the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo), and all of the bipartisan 
sponsors of this Sudanese Peace Act. It is clearly a step in the right 
direction. It is an outstanding bill. It tries to advance the ball so 
that there will be peace.
  We have lost 2 million Sudanese people, many of them women and 
children who have been slaughtered. Food has been used as a weapon in 
Sudan by the Khartoum government. We know that with Operation Lifeline, 
very often efforts to feed those in the south have been vetoed by 
Khartoum because they wanted to deny access to food and medicines.
  Back in 1996, Mr. Chairman, we had a series of hearings on what 
really was happening in Sudan, the first hearing of its kind on 
slavery. At that point, people objected and said what are you talking 
about? Shadow slavery, the buying and selling of people, not unlike 
what we had in the United States and in other western countries before 
the civil war. A horrific practice. Yet it was going on in modern day 
Sudan. Thankfully, there is an effort. At least there is exposure now. 
People understand that this has occurred.
  The gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) mentioned this forced 
religious conversion. I have met people who have lost their children 
through forced Islamization, where their young men, their young boys, 
have been literally abducted out of their homes and brought to these 
camps where they are brainwashed, for want of a better word, day in and 
day out, to accept Islam. That is not what conversion is all about.
  But this civil war is being financed, and it is not a civil war, it 
is a slaughter, increasingly by oil monies. I just bring to the 
attention of members that the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) will 
be offering an amendment

[[Page 10528]]

at the appropriate time that will deny the access of those companies to 
the capital markets of the United States, like Talisman.
  Talisman is an oil company that, unfortunately, like some of the 
others coming out of China and elsewhere, that are building up the 
capability of the Sudanese government to get real dollars, hard 
currency, which is now funding this slaughter of women and children and 
men. They have doubled their military spending. For example, since 1998 
much of the oil revenues have amounted to about $500 million, and that 
is going to grow as a direct result of their ability to get cash at the 
New York Stock Exchange and elsewhere to fund this slaughter of 
innocent people.
  This war might have been over; it certainly would have been much 
reduced, had it not been for oil money. If we really want to be 
peacemakers, it seems to me we need to deny the access, turning off 
that spigot to the best of our ability to deny the killers, the 
murderers, the rapists, the ability to do business as usual.
  Again I want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo), the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Lantos), who has done great work on this, and the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Hyde). Of course, the Bachus amendment, which will be 
coming up shortly, is deserving of my colleagues' support.
  Mr. Chairman, I thank my good friend, the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Royce), the chairman of the African subcommittee, for yielding and 
commend him for his outstanding leadership on behalf of the suffering 
individuals, not just in Sudan, but in other countries, particularly in 
sub-Saharan Africa, who have been victimized by human rights abuse. I 
want to thank Chairman Hyde for his leadership in pushing this 
legislation.
  And I want to especially thank my good friend, the gentleman from 
Colorado (Mr. Tancredo) the prime sponsor of the bill and all of the 
bipartisan sponsors of the pending Sudanese Peace Act. It is clearly a 
step in the right direction. It is an outstanding bill. It tries to 
advance the ball so that there will be peace.
  We have lost 2 million Sudanese people, many of them women and 
children who have been slaughtered. Food has been used as a weapon in 
Sudan by the Khartoum government. We know that Operation Lifeline has 
often been stymied in efforts to feed those in the south. Amazingly the 
dictatorship has veto power over both where and whom humanitarian 
relief and food disbursements can be made. Khartoum is guilty of 
denying access to food and medicines by untold numbers of starving and 
emaciated people.
  Back in 1996, Mr. Chairman, I chaired a series of hearings on Sudan. 
We convened the first hearing of its kind on slavery in Sudan. At that 
point, some people objected, were in disbelief and denial and said what 
are you talking about? Chattel slavery--the buying and selling and 
ownership of people, not unlike what we had in the United States and in 
other western countries before the civil war was--is--thriving in 
Sudan.
  The gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) mentioned forced religious 
conversion and at hearings I chaired we heard from victims of the 
egregious practice. I have met mothers who have lost their children 
through forced Islamization, where their young children were literally 
abducted out of their homes and brought to camps where they were 
brainwashed. That is not what conversion is all about. Now we know that 
the Sudanese genocide is being financed by oil--petrol dollars. I just 
bring to the attention of members that the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. 
Bachus) will be offering an amendment at the appropriate time that will 
deny the access of oil companies to our capital markets of the United 
States, if they are doing business in Sudan.
  Talisman of Canada is an oil company that, unfortunately, like some 
of the others based in China are building up the capability of the 
Sudanese government to get boatloads of money, hard currency, which is 
now funding the slaughter of women and children and men. As a direct 
result of oil revenue, Sudan has doubled its military spending. Since 
1998 the oil revenues per year have amounted to about $500 million, and 
that is going to grow as a direct result of Sudan's oil revenue and its 
ability to procure funds from U.S. equity sources.
  Had it not been for oil revenues, the Sudanese genocide might have 
been over. It almost certainly would have been less lethal had it not 
been for oil money. If we really want to be peacemakers, it seems to me 
we need to deny Sudanese access to cash. We must turn off that spigot. 
We must deny the killers, the murderers, the rapists, the ability to 
conduct the business of genocide.
  Again I want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), the 
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo). The Chairman of the Full 
Committee, Mr. Hyde, always a champion of human rights and the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), who has also done great work on 
this vital cause.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am delighted to yield 5 minutes to the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), one of our colleagues who has 
devoted years of his life to this issue and who has been a nationally 
recognized leader on the subject of Sudan.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for that very kind 
introduction. I appreciate the support that the gentleman has given 
this issue.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the Sudan Peace Act, H.R. 
2052. I certainly would like to thank my colleague, the gentleman from 
Colorado (Mr. Tancredo), for introducing this legislation. He has 
traveled, as I mentioned, to Sudan with me a year or so ago, with 
Senator Brownback, and saw firsthand the conditions and has been a 
strong advocate for change there.
  As you know, it is a very sad situation in Sudan, and we have many 
people, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) and the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Royce) and the chairman, the gentleman from Illinois 
(Mr. Hyde). We have on our side, the gentlewoman from the District of 
Columbia (Ms. Norton) and others who have fought.
  But we also have people outside the anti-slavery organization, 
Charles Jacobs and Mrs. Nina Shay and others. But I also would like to 
commend the NAACP that at its last several conventions talked about 
this problem of slavery and has opposed the government of Sudan, and 
for the talk show host, Joe Madison, who has really given his listening 
audience an opportunity to hear about the Sudan and has gotten a great 
new constituency, and Reverend Fauntroy here in Washington, Reverend 
Jessie Jackson, who intends to go to Sudan soon, and Reverend Al 
Sharpton, who has been there.

                              {time}  1330

  We have seen more people become involved.
  But this issue is not a simple issue of north versus the south. There 
are many very good Northerners who want to see the end of this war, 
also. We have many people in the Muslim faith who do not support the 
National Islamic Front government. The fact is that it is a bad 
government. They are really perpetrating misery on their people, and it 
is a strong, small group of people who have just been holding power 
against people of good will.
  So the bombings continue, and aerial bombings were reintroduced just 
last week. The government made an official statement that they were 
going to end aerial bombings 2 weeks ago, and last week said they have 
rescinded that and they are starting bombing again.
  They take these Antonovs, these Soviet-built planes, and it disrupts 
the community because the community hear the planes and they keep 
wondering, when are the planes coming, therefore making it difficult to 
have a normal life. The planes on occasions hit churches and schools 
and hospitals.
  Another thing that is happening is many of the educated south 
Sudanese, many are lacking education now. The schools are not adequate. 
Therefore, the people of the south are losing out on education.
  This is a horrible, horrible situation, beginning back in 1956 when 
it was the first African country to receive its independence; a proud 
country, a country that fought victoriously against Egypt and the 
British to retain its independence.
  The people there are good people, but they are being treated horribly 
by a terrible government. Slavery still goes on. People are still being 
starved as a weapon. We need to have a strong reassertion that this 
government must be changed.
  We must ask the Bush administration and Secretary Powell, who has 
spoken out against this, and he has

[[Page 10529]]

spoken out about Sudan more than any other area in Africa, we want him 
to continue to push. We want to see capital market access cut off from 
foreign countries trying to get funds from our capital markets to 
continue to use this blood money.
  We would like to see the end to slavery, and youngsters like Ms. 
Vogel's class out in Colorado who raise funds and send them over with 
church groups to repatriate slaves with their families.
  So we have a lot of work to do. We have heard the statistics: close 
to 2 million dead, and as a result, there have been over 4.3 million 
people displaced. We need to have a strong envoy to go there and to 
tell the Khartoum government that time has run out. We no longer will 
allow this to go on. It has gone on too long.
  There is no reason in this new millennium, when we have supersonic 
transports and people going to outer space and living in outer space, 
that we would have on Earth a country that uses weapons of war against 
its own people, primarily women and children.
  We must have a movement in this country to focus on Sudan. We must 
make this a number one priority. I would urge my colleagues to vote in 
favor of this peace act.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Paul), a member of the Committee on International Relations.
  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this bill, although I 
do not contest for 1 minute the sincerity and the good intentions of 
the many, many cosponsors. I do not question the problems that exist in 
Sudan. There is no doubt that it is probably one of the most horrible 
tales in human history.
  But I do question a few things. First, I question whether this is a 
proper function for our government. I raised this question in the 
committee, suggesting that it could not be for national security 
reasons, and it more or less was conceded this has nothing to do with 
national security but it had to do with America's soul. I was 
fascinated that we are in the business of saving souls these days.
  But I do have serious concerns about its effectiveness, because we 
have a history of having done these kinds of programs many times in the 
past, and even in Africa. It was not too many years ago that we were in 
Somalia and we lost men. Our soldiers were dragged in the streets. It 
was called nation-building. This is, in a way, very much nation-
building, because we support one faction over the thugs that are in 
charge.
  I certainly have all the sympathy and empathy for those individuals 
who are being abused, but the real question is whether or not this will 
work. It did not work in Somalia. We sent troops into Haiti. Haiti is 
not better off. How many men did we lose in Vietnam in an effort to 
make sure the people we want in power were in power?
  So often these well-intended programs just do not work and frequently 
do the opposite by our aid ending up in the hands of the supposed 
enemy. I seriously question whether this one will, either. Maybe in a 
year or 2 from now we will realize that this is an effort that did not 
produce the results that we wanted. It is a $10 million appropriation, 
small for what we do around here, but we also know that this is only 
the beginning, and there will be many more tens of millions of dollars 
that will be sent in hopes that we will satisfy this problem.
  Members can look for more problems to solve, because right now there 
are 800,000 children serving in the military in 41 countries of the 
world. That is another big job we would have to take upon ourselves to 
solve considering our justification to be involved in Sudan.
  Mr. Chairman, with HR 2052, the Sudan Peace Act, we embark upon 
another episode of interventionism, in continuing our illegitimate and 
ill-advised mission to ``police'' the world. It seemingly matters 
little to this body that it proceeds neither with any constitutional 
authority nor with the blessings of such historical figures such as 
Jefferson who, in his first inaugural address, argued for ``Peace, 
commerce and honest friendship with all nations--entangling alliances 
with none.'' Unfortunately, this is not the only bit of history which 
seemingly is lost on this Congress.
  Apparently, it is also lost on this Congress that the Constitution 
was a grant of limited power to the federal government from the 
citizens or, in other words, the Constitution was not designed to allow 
the government to restrain the people, but to allow the people to 
restrain the government. Of course, the customary lip service is given 
to the Constitution insofar as the committee report for this bill 
follows the rule of citing Constitutional authority and cites Art. I, 
Section 8, which is where one might look to find a specific enumerated 
power. However, the report cites only Clause 18 which begs some further 
citation. While Clause 18 contains the ``necessary and proper'' clause, 
it limits Congress to enacting laws ``necessary and proper'' to some 
more specifically (i.e., foregoing) enumerated power. Naturally, no 
such ``foregoing'' authority is cited by the advocates of this bill.
  Without Constitutional authority, this bill goes on to encourage the 
spending of $10 million of U.S. taxpayers hard-earned money in Sudan 
but for what purpose? From the text of the bill, we learn that ``The 
United States should use all means of pressure available to facilitate 
a comprehensive solution to the war in Sudan, including (A) the 
multilateralization of economic and diplomatic tools to compel the 
Government of Sudan to enter into a good faith peace process; [note 
that it says ``compel . . . good faith peace''] and (B) the support or 
creation of viable democratic civil authority and institutions in areas 
of Sudan outside of government control.'' I believe we used to call 
that nation-building before that term became impolitic. How self-
righteous a government is ours which legally prohibits foreign campaign 
contributions yet assumes it knows best and, hence, supports dissident 
and insurgent groups in places like Cuba, Sudan and around the world. 
The practical problem here is that we have funded dissidents in such 
places as Somalia who ultimately turned out to be worse than the 
incumbent governments. Small wonder the U.S. is the prime target of 
citizen-terrorists from countries with no real ability to retaliate 
militarily for our illegitimate and immoral interventions.
  The legislative ``tools'' to be used to ``facilitate'' this 
aforementioned ``comprehensive solution'' are as frightening as the 
nation-building tactics. For example, ``It is the sense of the Congress 
that . . . the United Nations should be used as a tool to facilitate 
peace and recovery in Sudan.''
  One can only assume this is the same United Nations which booted the 
United States off its Human Rights Commission in favor of, as Canadian 
Sen. Jerahmiel S. Grafstein, called them recently, ``those exemplars of 
human rights nations . . . Algeria, China, Saudi Arabia, Uganda, 
Armenia, Pakistan, Syria and Vietnam.''
  The bill does not stop there, however, in intervening in the civil 
war in Sudan. It appears that this Congress has found a new mission for 
the Securities and Exchange Commission who are now tasked with 
investigating ``the nature and extent of . . . commercial activity in 
Sudan'' as it relates to ``any violations of religious freedom and 
human rights in Sudan.'' It seems we have finally found a way to spend 
those excessive fees the SEC has been collecting from mutual fund 
investors despite the fact we cannot seem to bring to the floor a bill 
to actually reduce those fees which have been collected in multiples 
above what is necessary to fund this agencies' previous (and again 
unconstitutional) mission.
  There is more, however. Buried deep within the bill in Section 9 we 
find what may be the real motivation for the intervention--Oil. It 
seems the bill also tasks the Secretary of State with generating a 
report detailing ``a description of the sources and current status of 
Sudan's financing and construction of infrastructure and pipelines for 
oil exploitation, the effects of such financing and construction on the 
inhabitants of the regions in which the oil fields are located.'' Talk 
about corporate welfare and the ability to socialize the costs of 
foreign competitive market research on the U.S. taxpayer!
  Yes, Mr. Chairman, this bill truly has it all--an unconstitutional 
purpose, the morally bankrupt intervention in dealings between the 
affairs of foreign governments and their respective citizens in our 
attempt to police the world, more involvement by a United Nations 
proven inept at resolving civil conflicts abroad, the expansion of the 
SEC into State Department functions and a little corporate welfare for 
big oil, to boot. How can one not support these legislative efforts?
  Mr. Chairman, I oppose this bill for each of the above-mentioned 
reasons and leave to the ingenuity, generosity, and conscience of each 
individual in this country to make their own private decision as to how 
best render help to citizens of Sudan and all countries where human 
rights violations run rampant.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to yield 5 minutes to my

[[Page 10530]]

good friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from the District of 
Columbia (Ms. Norton).
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Chairman, I very much appreciate the gentleman 
yielding time to me, and I am grateful to him and to the sponsor of the 
bill, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo).
  I thank the ranking member, and I must knowledge the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Lantos) as a one-man watchdog for human rights in the 
world, for which this body and our country are both grateful.
  Mr. Chairman, here we have in this bill the first forward movement to 
do more than condemn. The unspeakable litany of violations in Sudan 
leave out none. I do not, therefore, want to go down them.
  I do want to take issue with the last speaker. I am not sure about 
our national security, but I do believe that doing something about 
Khartoum is vital to the strategic U.S. interests in the world. Oil is 
the engine that is driving the war in the north against the southern 
Sudanese. They are winning the war. This war is almost over, if we do 
not do something about it. The southern Sudanese have been so weakened 
that time is running out.
  In Khartoum, we see a regime that will soon be a mid-sized oil 
exporter at a time when the U.S. and the world have escalated oil 
needs. It is very important to build on the Clinton sanctions that have 
been in place since 1997.
  I support the amendment, but minimally it seems to me we have to 
begin to focus, to scrutinize access to our markets. One way to do that 
is if we say that if they want access to our markets, tell us about 
their business operations in Sudan. If they want to get access, at 
least tell us. If we can deny them access constitutionally and legally, 
I would be for that.
  Investors need to be forewarned that indeed we are trying to have 
significant impact on investments, and since we have reached our own 
folks, we ought to reach the multinationals, if for no other reason 
than to level the playing field.
  Let me speak to another strategic interest. When is terrorism in the 
world not a strategic interest of the United States of America? Here we 
have a major supporter and exporter of international terrorism in 
Sudan, and we have felt Sudan in our own country. The region has felt 
Sudan in multiple ways. Ask the President of Egypt, Mr. Mubarak, whose 
life was attempted on from the exporting of terrorism from this regime. 
We have very important strategic interests.
  In fact, the last time the world gathered in this way, the last time 
we confronted a nation and tried to get worldwide support, was of 
course the sanctions against South Africa, which significantly weakened 
apartheid. Mr. Chairman, what is happening in Sudan is far more 
complicated, and if I may say so, far worse than the despotism we saw 
in South Africa.
  When the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) and I came to the 
floor just over a year ago, we were the only two on a special order 
trying to kind of wake up the consciousness not so much of this body, 
which had already passed a resolution of condemnation, but hoping that 
the world out there was looking at us somehow.
  I want to simply praise the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) for 
pioneering leadership when absolutely nobody was listening. Since then, 
since that special order, there have been hearings, press conferences 
involving the leadership on both sides of the aisle. There have been 
Sudanese, southern Sudanese ex-slaves who had come to the House of 
Representatives. We are getting somewhere if we take the leadership for 
which our Nation is known in the world.
  Therefore, we must minimally pass this bill and go on to pass the 
amendment, if we possibly can. Let us make this start now. Let us 
signify by this bill that we have only begun to fight for southern 
Sudanese freedom.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from 
Colorado (Mr. Tancredo), who authored this legislation and who, along 
with the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), wrote the Sudan Peace 
Act.
  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman for 
yielding time to me. I thank the committee chairman for bringing this 
bill forward. I thank the leadership for allowing this bill to come 
forward. I also want to thank the thousands and thousands of people 
that have communicated with Members of this body from all across this 
land in support of this piece of legislation.
  It is amazing to me, as the gentlewoman just said a minute ago, how 
things have changed in such a short period of time; how hard it was a 
few years ago, and I know how hard it must have been for the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) years before that, because of course he was 
involved with this before any of us were. But I know how hard it was 
just a short 2\1/2\ years ago to get anybody to pay the slightest bit 
of attention to the issues in Sudan.
  It is undeniably true what many of my colleagues have said, that the 
problems there are incredibly difficult problems to deal with; very 
intricate, very interwoven, and many-many-facetted. It is not a simple 
solution by any stretch of the imagination, nor do I believe in all 
honesty, Mr. Chairman, that if we were to pass this bill today, which I 
certainly hope we do, that peace will break out tomorrow in Sudan.
  What this bill is is simply another arrow in the quiver; our 
accumulation of power, if you will, resources, leverages, whatever we 
want to call it, to bring to bear in this country to force peace to 
occur. That is really what we have to do.
  Many colleagues have come to me, not just colleagues here on the 
floor but certainly people in my own district, and asked the question, 
why now? What is the deal? What is the issue with Sudan? Why are we 
concerned about Sudan? Frankly, I do not have an awful lot of 
constituents who have Sudan on the top of their plate, so I do get 
questions about this.
  I first of all try to explain the effect of going over there and the 
effect that trip had on me. When the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Payne) and Senator Brownback and I landed in a little town called Yei 
and walked through this village, we had literally hundreds of people 
surrounding us and trying to get closer and closer to us because they 
thought, they hoped, they prayed, that if they stayed close enough to 
us, close to these American Congressmen who were there, that somehow 
perhaps the bombs would not fall on them, that the Antonovs would not 
come and bomb them at the time.
  Of course, the look in their eyes, this look of desperation, of 
course that affected me, absolutely. I am a human being. My heart went 
out to them. I said then at that time to myself and to them, ``I will 
do everything I can. I will do what I can.''
  This bill is I guess the end result. It will not be the end result, 
but it is a result of that promise I made. But beyond that, Mr. 
Chairman, when people ask, why Sudan, why now, I only refer them to the 
comment made to General Colin Powell. Secretary Powell, when I did ask 
him in the Committee on International Relations what the administration 
was prepared to do to bring peace to this troubled land, he responded 
that he did not have a plan at his disposal, since he had only been in 
his position a relatively short time.

                              {time}  1345

  He said, and I quote, I believe there to be no greater human tragedy 
being played out on the face of the Earth.
  What more do we need to answer the question, why Sudan? Why now? The 
greatest human tragedy being played out on the face of the Earth.
  There are many issues with which we can become involved in Sudan in a 
more technical way than even this bill lays out. I hope and I pray 
that, in fact, we can encourage the leadership in both the north and 
the south to earnestly begin discussions leading to peace, because I 
fear in my heart of hearts that the people, I know the people of Sudan 
both north and south want peace.
  Mr. Chairman, I am not sure that the leadership in the north or the 
south want peace, because, in fact, you know,

[[Page 10531]]

a war that has gone on this long establishes the status quo and in it 
people begin to achieve positions of power.
  It is difficult to conceive a world in which war is not going on and, 
therefore, the power they wield is not able to be wielded. So we must 
be fearful of this reticence on the part of both the north and the 
south to move toward peace.
  We must force that. We must force that movement, and we can do so 
with this bill and with the appointment of a special envoy, which I 
believe is in the offering.
  I sincerely hope that my colleagues will support this piece of 
legislation as just one more step in the road to peace, so we can all 
answer our constituents and others when they say to us, why Sudan, why 
now. Just tell me if not now, when? How many more dead before you act?
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Chairman, I have no additional speakers, but I would like to say 
a few words before we close debate on this issue. I was profoundly 
disturbed by my colleague's remark who asked why do we deal with this 
issue? Well, we deal with this issue because, as so many other issues 
in this century, it is a fundamental issue of human rights.
  I predict that the issue of human rights will be the dominant issue 
of the 21st century. Not long ago, we were dealing with hundreds of 
thousands of innocent civilians being pushed out of their ancestral 
homes in Kosovo, and there were people on the floor of this body who 
questioned the relevance of our involvement in trying to see to it that 
these people, little children, old women, young families, were just 
pushed out of their home, because of their ethnicity and because of 
their religion.
  In that case, it was Muslims who were persecuted by Milosevic and his 
thugs. In this instance, it is principally Christians who are being 
persecuted, harassed, raped, killed on a large scale by fundamental 
lifts Muslims.
  I cannot think of a more noble cause for the Congress of the United 
States than to debate these issues and perhaps to try to help in 
whatever way we can. Now, there are some who are particularly 
preoccupied with the minutiae and the complexities of our tax 
legislation. And that is an appropriate subject for us to discuss. But 
to question on the floor of the House of Representatives the 
appropriateness of dealing with a genocide, a genocide means the 
killing of whole peoples.
  We are talking about the killing of 2 million black citizens of the 
Sudan, men, women and children, whose sole crime is that they are not 
Muslims. We are dealing with the displacement of 4 million black 
citizens of Sudan who are pushed out of their villages and are in many 
instances on the verge of starvation.
  To ask whether it is appropriate for the Congress of the United 
States to deal with these issues boggles the mind. I suggest, Mr. 
Chairman, that this is an issue of very high priority for this body.
  It would be high priority only if it would be a human rights issue, 
but as the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton) so 
correctly pointed out, the Sudanese government is one of the prime 
sponsors of international terrorism.
  Is there anybody in this body who does not feel, in the wake of the 
bombing of American embassies, that international terrorism is not a 
concern of this body? I want to again commend the people who have 
played a key role in this measure. I want to encourage all my 
colleagues to vote for this legislation.
  Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Gilman), chairman of the Subcommittee on Middle East and 
South Asia.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Royce) for yielding the time to me.
  Mr. Chairman, I want to commend the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Royce), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa; the gentleman from 
Colorado (Mr. Tancredo); and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) 
for their leadership; and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), 
the ranking member of the Committee on International Relations, for his 
poignant expressions in regard to this bill and for their persistent 
attention and energy, for bringing the deplorable situation in Sudan to 
our attention.
  This bill makes funds available for humanitarian assistance to the 
Sudanese people, to facilitate our State Department and U.N. efforts to 
help the Sudanese government and opposition forces in reaching a 
settlement and in sanctioning belligerents who continue to engage in 
crimes against humanity.
  The civil war in the Sudan continues to be a slow-motion genocide. 
Southern Sudanese are dying each and every day, while hundreds of 
thousands are at risk from famine and malnutrition.
  There are no winners in the Sudan, north or south. If a young man 
from Sudan wishes to be admitted to a university, he must first join 
the army. And in the army, he has a good chance of being killed in an 
immoral, pointless war. And even if the young man survives, he may have 
to live with memories of atrocities that he has seen or in some cases 
even been involved in. Either way, this war in the Sudan is a cancer 
that is destroying the once vibrant culture of Arab Sudan at the same 
time that it wreaks havoc in the African south.
  Accordingly, I urge our colleagues to support this measure. I want to 
commend Secretary Powell for his recent trip to Africa and for his 
intention to devote considerable more attention to the Sudan.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Cantor), a member of the Committee on International 
Relations.
  Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Chairman, I would like to again to salute the 
chairman of the Committee on International Relations (Mr. Royce) and 
the subcommittees, as well as the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. 
Tancredo) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) and, of course, 
the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), the ranking member of the 
Committee on International Relations, for the fine work they have done 
in bringing this measure to the floor.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise today also in support of the Sudan Peace Act. 
Sudan has been ravaged by civil war for over 30 years. And an estimated 
2 million people have died; and as has been said before, millions more 
displaced due to war-related causes.
  As my colleague, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo), has 
said, there is no greater human tragedy being played out on the Earth 
today, and thus we turn our attention to Sudan. As if this is not bad 
enough, as if the famine, the slavery, and the death is not bad enough, 
there is a particularly troubling situation in the evidence of 
religious persecution that prevails in Sudan today.
  Unfortunately, we know all too well the results of religious 
persecution just looking back to last century with Nazi Germany. The 
Sudanese government policies promote Islam as the state religion and 
make non-Muslims unwelcome.
  According to a State Department report on International Religious 
Freedom for 2000, the status of respect for religious freedom has not 
changed fundamentally in recent years, and particularly in the South, 
the government continues to enforce numerous restrictions.
  Authorities continue to restrict the activities of Christians, 
followers of traditional indigenous beliefs and other non-Muslims. 
Though the government says it respects all religions, the 1994 
Societies Registration Act gives churches more freedom, Islam 
influences all laws and policies.
  According to the State Department, the Government of Sudan denies 
permission to build churches, and there have been claims of harassment 
and arrest of citizens because of their religious beliefs and 
practices.
  The law prevents the building of new churches or proselytizing by 
non-Muslims. Missionaries claim to be harassed continually and 
prevented from doing the work. The atrocities in Sudan cannot and 
should not be tolerated.

[[Page 10532]]

  The individual freedoms familiar to us in America embodied in the 
Jeffersonian principles of religious freedom and individual dignity 
must be restored to the Sudanese people.
  Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for the Sudan 
Peace Act.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey), the majority leader.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Chairman, let me begin by thanking the committee for 
bringing this bill to the floor; thanking my colleagues that have risen 
to speak on this bill today.
  Mr. Chairman, we are a great Nation. We are a Nation of people that 
have led the world in compassion and concern. We are a Nation of people 
that have always raised our voice for freedom, fair and decent 
treatment, safety and security for all the nations and all the people's 
of the world.
  It comes as no surprise to anybody in this Chamber to be reminded of 
the times when we raised our voice on behalf of the people that were 
victimized in Bosnia, Kosovo, Rwanda, and Somalia, but the over 2 
million people in Sudan who have been slaughtered represents more 
victims than all of those nations combined.
  The horror, the torture, the terror, and the slavery is unspeakable. 
We are counseled too many times to not speak about them.
  How do we draw a picture of this violence and its scope and its 
breadth? How do we tell a world that it must not tolerate the horrible 
petrifying insanity of it all?
  I have selected one story of one victim. Mr. Chairman, this story is 
going to break your heart; but the story is true. It is true in the 
lives of millions of people in Sudan. It will illustrate to you why we 
must demand, intercede, and prevent this from continuing.
  The young woman saw her baby's throat slit by an intruder. She then 
saw the baby's head severed completely from its body. After she was 
raped, she was forced to carry the baby's head on a march north and was 
eventually ordered to throw her child's head into a fire before she was 
forced into slavery.

                              {time}  1400

  She eventually escaped that bondage and found a way to freedom and 
safety. But can one know, can one imagine the horror of the memories, 
the fear in her heart for others that she left behind that she loved so 
much who she must know are going through these same experiences.
  This cannot be tolerated. No nation on this Earth can fail to raise 
its voice. We must raise our voice today, and we do. Mr. Chairman, I am 
going to predict that every person in this Chamber today is going to 
cast a vote that is going to be a vote on behalf of these families, 
these babies, these mothers, and these people.
  I pray, Mr. Chairman, with all my heart that we need never again be 
required to revisit this issue on behalf of these poor souls.
  Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma. Mr. Chairman, I would first like to thank 
Chairmen Henry Hyde and Ed Royce, Congressmen Tom Tancredo, Tony Hall 
and all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who have fought so 
hard to bring national and international attention to the heinous, on-
going crisis in the Sudan.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2052, the Sudan 
Peace Act. In America, our problems pale in significance to the war, 
slavery and famine in the largest country in Africa. Two million men, 
women and children have died in a war that has no end in sight. 
Millions more are displaced from their homes, often hungry and poor--
searching for new homes and not knowing where their next meal will come 
from. They are refugees within their own country and surrounding 
nations. They cry for help. They beg for mercy. They look for any aid 
anyone can offer.
  Secretary of State Colin Powell testified to Congress this past 
March, saying the Sudan is ``the greatest tragedy on the face of the 
earth.''
  Can any one of us here in this chamber picture himself captured and 
forced into slavery, traded for pennies or food? We are so blessed in 
this great land of ours--it is impossible to envision ourselves as 
captive slaves. But slavery is a way of life for people in southern 
Sudan who must live every day in fear of government-sanctioned raiding 
parties.
  Abraham Lincoln once said: ``Whenever I hear anyone arguing for 
slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.'' 
President Lincoln knew the evils of slavery in America, and the 
hypocrisy connected with those who would argue in its favor. But the 
end of slavery within our borders has not transcended to the Sudan--
where slavery plagues society.
  The National Islamic Front government's unrelenting efforts to 
oppress and even eliminate the predominantly black, Christian and 
southern Sudanese people must be stopped. They have consistently 
interfered with the delivery of food and medicine into southern Sudan. 
Government troops have repeatedly bombed international relief sites, 
schools and other civilian areas in an attempt to disrupt distribution 
of desperately-needed humanitarian supplies. This is unconscionable. 
The Sudan Peace Act before us today encourages the development of 
alternative means to get food and medicine to the people of these 
regions. It also requires business disclosures so investors will be 
informed of exactly who and what they are supporting.
  My colleagues, we must work to ensure that every effort is made to 
get humanitarian aid to an oppressed and starving populace. The peace 
process must be encouraged. Slavery must be condemned in no uncertain 
terms. The Sudan Peace Act does all of this--and more. I urge passage 
of this bill to help the men, women and children in the Sudan who cry 
unceasingly, day by day, for help.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in tremendous 
support of H.R. 2052, The Sudan Peace Act. This bill will decrease the 
suffering in which the terrible atrocities are inflicting on the people 
of The Sudan.
  The Sudan Peace Act declares that Congress denounces any human right 
violations by all sides of the conflict in Sudan (including the 
Government of Sudan). It directs the U.S. representative to the United 
Nations to seek to end the veto power of the Sudanese government over 
the relief programs to Sudanese civilians. Further, it revises 
Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS); provide additional support for 
internationally sanctioned peace process written by the secretary of 
state to support the peace process, and condemns the bombing of 
innocent civilian targets.
  Mr. Chairman, this legislation requires all businesses that operate 
in Sudan and trade securities in the U.S. to file disclosure forms with 
the Securities and Exchange Commission. Thus if these businesses fail 
to file disclosure forms, the Securities and Exchange Commission will 
prohibit them from trading securities in U.S. markets. In addition, the 
State Department, is required within six months of enactment, to report 
to Congress on income generated by the development of Sudan's oil-
producing sector. Finally, the act urges the use of $10 million 
provided in the FY 2001 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act.



  The civil war in Sudan has raged for nearly twenty years, mainly 
between the National Islamic Front government in the north and 
Christians and animist rebels in the south, killing more than two 
million Sudanese directly or through malnutrition and starvation.
  In particular, by regularly outlawing relief flights of the United 
Nations' Operation Lifeline Sudan, the Sudanese government has 
manipulated the receipt of food and use starvation as a weapon of war. 
The government also has been accused of supporting raiding and 
enslaving parties to disrupt areas of the country outside its direct 
control. As a result, millions have been rendered homeless thereby 
creating one of the world's largest refugee problems.
  Mr. Chairman, I therefore strongly encourage my colleagues to support 
H.R. 2052, the Sudan Peace Act. With thousands of Sudanese people 
suffering due to starvation, lack of malnutrition, enslavement, and 
wide scale bombing of civilian targets, it is my sincere hope that 
through legislation we will establish peace in The Sudan.
  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to speak out against the 
horrible atrocities taking place daily in the Sudan as a result of the 
eighteen-year civil war and in support of H.R. 2052, the Sudan Peace 
Act. I would like to commend my colleague, Mr. Tancredo, and others for 
introducing this very important legislation.
  Under the Sudan Peace Act, Congress condemns violations of human 
rights abuses on all sides of the conflict in Sudan, and calls on the 
President to make funds available for humanitarian assistance. This 
legislation expresses the sense of Congress that the United Nations 
should be used as a tool to facilitate peace and recovery in Sudan. It 
calls for an investigation into the practice of slavery, condemns the 
aerial bombardment of civilians, and prohibits business entities 
engaged in commercial activities in Sudan from trading

[[Page 10533]]

their securities in U.S. capital markets unless they make public 
disclosure of their activities in Sudan.
  It is time for the United States to take a strong stand against this 
egregious situation in the Sudan and work together with the 
international community to bring peace to the region. Slavery, aerial 
bombardment of civilians, and other human rights abuses victimize the 
people of Sudan. I believe that the United States must use diplomatic 
means to bring an end to the civil war and these serious human rights 
abuses.
  Since the current conflict erupted in 1983, Sudan has been at war 
intermittently from the time its independence was obtained in 1956. An 
estimated 2.2 million people have died as a result of war-related 
causes, such as, oil production and religious persecution. More than 4 
million people, mostly southern Sudanese, have been displaced from 
their homes.
  I commend President Bush on his appointment of Andrew Natsios, as 
special humanitarian coordinator for Sudan to facilitate U.S. 
assistance. But I again urge the President to appoint a Special Envoy 
to Sudan, who will be afforded the independence necessary to do the 
required job of facilitating the peace process. Mr. Natsios' 
appointment demonstrates that the United States is taking a leadership 
role in resolving the situation in the Sudan, however we as a nation 
must continue our efforts to bring an end to the atrocities in the 
Sudan.
  Also, I applaud Secretary of State Powell for recognizing the tragedy 
that is underway in Sudan and for ordering a review of Administration 
policy. To begin with, the U.S. should use every means at its disposal 
to bring the military hostilities to an immediate end.
  At the same time, we should apply every bit of moral persuasion and 
condemn in the loudest possible voice the unspeakable violations of 
human rights being perpetrated against the weakest members of that 
society.
  No one has done more to express the outrage of Americans or worked 
harder to end the suffering in the Sudan than my dear friend Joe 
Madison who has worked endlessly to end the pain and suffering of 
slavery in Sudan. Joe along with others has diligently worked to inform 
the American public about the human rights abuses taking place in 
Sudan. He has traveled to the Sudan region many times on slave 
redemption missions freeing slaves and working to end slavery. Mr. 
Madison is truly a freedom fighter and I commend him on his efforts.
  In the Sudan the world is faced with a human rights nightmare of the 
first order. We have the opportunity, indeed the responsibility, to use 
our international leadership to bring peace to the region by ending 
both the civil war and the heartbreaking enslavement of women and 
children which has intensified as a result of the hostilities.
  As a nation with first-hand knowledge of the savagery of slavery, of 
the misery to its victims, and the suffering of future generations, we 
must recoil in horror at the practice of slavery in Sudan. Our ultimate 
goal must be to work with the international community to end the brutal 
civil war, which is the root cause of these atrocities and bring peace 
to the country of Sudan.
  Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer support for H.R. 2052, 
the Sudan Peace Act, which will help facilitate solutions to the 
problems of famine and war in Sudan. First, let me say a special thanks 
to all the sponsors, especially Tom Tancredo, and the Committee on 
International Relations as well as the Subcommittee on Africa, for 
their hard work and leadership in developing this bill. I would like to 
also commend House leadership for bringing this bill to the House 
floor.
  The crisis in Sudan has resulted in two million casualties due to 
famine and the continuing war. The 18-year civil war in Sudan has 
fueled an on-going religious conflict between Muslins and Christians 
and has challenged our relations with Sudan due to its human rights 
violations and support of international terrorism. Despite this, I am 
hopeful this bill can help to address the problems and bring forth a 
peaceful resolution to the current situation. With that said, H.R. 2052 
should be supported by the House and Senate chambers.
  In fiscal year 2000, the United States provided a total of $93.7 
million in assistance to Sudan. These funds go to help create a civil 
administration, assist in conflict resolution and provide support for 
non-governmental organizations. Our financial assistance has eased the 
hardship for those in need of food assistance.
  Congress should adopt this legislation so we can help Sudan and 
improve our relationship with them as well.
  Again, I want to express my thanks to Tom Tancredo, and the Committee 
on International Relations, and the Subcommittee on Africa for their 
dedication and effort on this bill, and I encourage my colleagues to 
vote in support of H.R. 2052.
  Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support for H.R. 
2052, the Sudan Peace Act. The atrocities in the Sudan deserve 
immediate attention and aid from the United States. It is our duty as 
the ``world's only superpower'' to stand up for those who cannot stand 
up for themselves.
  Many articles have been written in recent months regarding the 
growing support for U.S. intervention in the Sudan. What struck me most 
about these articles was their emphasis on how this cause has attracted 
broad support across political lines. As Newsweek noted:

       The Muslim government's alleged persecution of southern 
     Christians is the key issue for many of the rebels' fiercest 
     U.S. supporters. For prominent African-Americans like Coretta 
     Scott King, the hot button is Khartoum's toleration of 
     slavery and the use of slave-raiding privateers as 
     paramilitary forces in the war against the south. For other 
     activists the overriding concern is the government's ethnic-
     cleansing campaign against southern peoples such as the 
     Dinka. Late last year the United States Holocaust Memorial 
     Museum joined the fight, declaring through its ``committee on 
     conscience'' that Khartoum's atrocities against the 
     southerners warranted an unprecedented ``genocide warning.''

  It is not surprising that the fighting in Sudan has attracted 
attention from such divergent populations. All humans should be 
outraged by the 18 year war that has taken over 2 million lives and 
destroyed countless homes, crops, medical facilities, and churches. 
Equally appalling is the Khartoum's refusal to allow humanitarian aid. 
They have even gone so far as to directly target international 
humanitarian relief agencies such as the Red Cross and Doctors Without 
Borders by aerial bombings.
  Christians have been persecuted, thousands of non-Muslims have been 
forced into slavery, the destruction of crops has caused thousands more 
to starve. Additionally, the areas north and south of the oil 
development center have been the site of the most heinous crimes. In 
order to clear the region to facilitate oil production and thus bring 
in money for their government, the military annihilates whole villages. 
According to one report the Sudanese military first attacks a village 
with bombs to scatter villagers. Then troops and helicopter gunships 
enter--torching homes and foodstuffs and killing all they come across. 
It is not uncommon for the elderly and young to burn alive in their 
homes.
  I am ashamed that our wonderful, caring nation has not taken a large 
role in stopping this barbarism. Apparently former Secretary of State 
Madeline Albright's reasoning was that the cause was ``not marketable 
to the American people.'' Marketable or not, this does not excuse our 
relative indifference as a nation to our fellow men and women being 
tortured and slain in the Sudan. I am proud that today we are taking a 
stand--facilitating humanitarian aid, holding businesses accountable 
for their activities in the Sudan oil trade that funds the government's 
heinous behavior, and most importantly directing the State Department 
to take an active role in implementing peace in Sudan.
  I am happy that so many of my colleagues and fellow Americans are in 
such strong support of this legislation, but even if they weren't it 
would still be the right thing to do. ``Marketable'' or not, the United 
States must work towards ending the atrocities in the Sudan.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the 
legislation before us, H.R. 2052, which, among other things, condemns 
the National Islamic Front Government of Sudan; calls for increased 
diplomatic peace efforts including the appointment of a Special Envoy; 
supports the famine relief efforts of Operation Lifeline Sudan; and 
requires foreign companies doing business in Sudan to publicly disclose 
their activities if they seek access to U.S. capital markets.
  Mr. Chairman, I congratulate the distinguished gentleman from 
Colorado, Mr. Tancredo, for introducing this important measure. I also 
wish to recognize the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey, Mr. 
Payne, the Ranking Democrat of the House International Relations Africa 
Subcommittee, for his longtime leadership and extensive work to bring 
peace to Sudan, as well as other nations in the region. I further 
commend the Chairman and the Ranking Democratic Member of the House 
International Relations Committee, Mr. Hyde and Mr. Lantos, for 
bringing this matter to the floor. I am honored to join my colleagues 
in support of this bi-partisan legislation.
  Mr. Chairman, we must do all that we can to stop the senseless 
tragedy in Sudan. Although the civil war has gone on for four decades, 
since 1983 the conflict has heightened and resulted in a humanitarian 
disaster. The

[[Page 10534]]

Government of Sudan is responsible and must be condemned in the 
strongest terms of committing genocide against its own people.
  By aerial bombardment of civilians, mass slavery, rape, unspeakable 
war crimes and obstruction of humanitarian relief efforts--over two 
million Sudanese have died at the hands of the government in Khartoum. 
These atrocities have been compounded by the displacement of four 
million other Sudanese, who have been driven from their homes.
  Mr. Chairman, last month Secretary of State Colin Powell visited 
Sudan, committing the United States to make peace in that nation a 
priority.
  The legislation before us will significantly assist those efforts by 
holding the Government of Sudan accountable for its humanitarian 
violations and calling for their immediate end; urging U.S. leadership 
of multilateral and bilateral peace processes in Sudan; and encouraging 
disinvestment in foreign firms doing business in Sudan, particularly 
those oil companies whose activities are directly contributing to the 
escalation of war in Sudan.
  Mr. Chairman, I strongly urge our colleagues to adopt this important 
legislation.
  Mr. HYDE. Mr. Chairman, three weeks ago, I received two conflicting 
messages regarding the situation in Sudan. One was a May 24 press 
release from the Sudanese embassy announcing, with great fanfare, that 
the Government of Sudan had taken ``a unilateral step toward peace'' by 
declaring an immediate halt to aerial bombing attacks in the south and 
the Nuba Mountains.
  The other message, from Catholic clergy members, reported that the 
priests living in southern parts of the El Obeid Diocese had been 
driven into the bush by ``ferocious assaults by Sudanese government 
forces.''
  As additional reports filtered out of this remote area of the Nuba 
Mountains from a variety of sources, it became clear that the 
Government of Sudan had launched a massive ground and air attack while 
it was simultaneously issuing press releases about its commitment to 
peace.
  Government forces burned more than 2,000 homes during this attack. 
They apparently hope to starve the local population, still at large, 
into concentration camps called, in the best Orwellian tradition, 
``Peace Villages.''
  This contrast between word and deed underlines the importance of 
today's consideration of the Sudan Peace Act. I am grateful to Mr. 
Tancredo for introducing it, and also to Mr. Royce and Mr. Payne for 
their excellent leadership of the Africa Subcommittee. The Committee on 
International Relations ordered the bill favorably reported on June 6, 
2001.
  I would also like to call attention to the tireless work of the 
Catholic Bishops Conference, the Commission on International Religious 
Freedom, the NAACP, and countless individuals and organizations across 
the country that have given this matter the profile and attention it 
deserves.
  The measure before us is more than symbolic. It will give the 
President the discretion he needs to reprogram and reallocate quickly 
any portion of humanitarian resources the United States currently gives 
to Operation Lifeline Sudan. Despite efforts to carry out its 
humanitarian mission without interference, Operation Lifeline Sudan has 
frequently been manipulated by the government of Sudan. We should make 
no mistake: the denial of food is used as a weapon of war in Sudan. 
This provision suspends our government's standard but often time-
consuming notification procedures if the President deems it necessary 
to deliver life-saving assistance by other means.
  In addition, this measure will shed light on those international 
companies doing business in Sudan as well as how that business may 
support the government's war-fighting ability. This is not a sanction, 
but a beam of light directed at some of the hidden aspects of the 
global economy.
  Given the nationwide, grassroots effort by Americans of all political 
parties and races to raise awareness about the suffering of the people 
of Sudan, it is only proper that investors should know whether a 
particular company is doing business in Sudan.
  The Sudan Peace Act is important in what it does, but also in what it 
does not do. It does not in any way hinder the executive branch in its 
responsibility to conduct the foreign affairs of this nation.
  In his first appearance before this Committee as Secretary of State, 
Secretary Powell stated that Sudan was a tragedy that would command his 
full attention. In characteristic fashion, the Secretary appears to be 
backing up what he said.
  Against expectations from some in the media, Secretary Powell has 
taken an early trip to Africa and has focused to a considerable extent 
on the conflict in Sudan. He has indicated that the Administration will 
soon appoint an experienced and capable special envoy. He has been 
unequivocal in his remarks regarding the ongoing abuses in Sudan. He 
has committed $3 million to improve the capabilities of the rebel 
alliance to hold its own at the bargaining table.
  In short, we are beginning to see the attention we have urged. This 
measure supports and encourages those efforts without being unduly 
prescriptive to Administration officials, some of whom already know a 
thing or two about dealing with rogue nations.
  I urge my colleagues to support this measure.
  Mr. Chairman, I submit for the Record an exchange of letters between 
Chairman Oxley and myself concerning the bill under consideration, H.R. 
2052, the Sudan Peace Act.

                                         House of Representatives,


                              Committee on Financial Services,

                                     Washington, DC, June 6, 2001.
     Hon. Henry J. Hyde,
     Chairman, Committee on International Relations, Washington, 
         DC.
       Dear Henry: I understand that the Committee on 
     International Relations today ordered H.R. 2052, the Sudan 
     Peace Act, reported to the House. As you know, the Committee 
     on Financial Services was granted an additional referral upon 
     the resolution's introduction pursuant to the Committee's 
     jurisdiction over securities and exchanges under Rule X of 
     the Rules of the House of Representatives.
       Because of the importance of this matter, I recognize your 
     desire to bring this legislation before the House in an 
     expeditious manner and will waive consideration of the 
     resolution by the Financial Services Committee. By agreeing 
     to waive its consideration of the resolution, the Financial 
     Services Committee does not waive its jurisdiction over H.R. 
     2052. In addition, the Committee on Financial Services 
     reserves its authority to seek conferees on any provisions of 
     the resolution that are within the Financial Services 
     Committee's jurisdiction during any House-Senate conference 
     that may be convened on this legislation. I ask your 
     commitment to support any request by the Committee on 
     Financial Services for conferees on H.R. 2052 or related 
     legislation.
       I request that you include this letter and your response as 
     part of the Congressional Record during consideration of the 
     legislation on the House floor.
       Thank you for your attention to these matters.
           Sincerely,
                                                 Michael G. Oxley,
     Chairman.
                                  ____

                                         House of Representatives,


                         Committee on International Relations,

                                     Washington, DC, June 6, 2001.
     Hon. Michael Oxley,
     Chairman, Committee on Financial Services, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mike: I have received your letter concerning H.R. 
     2052, the Sudan Peace Act. It is our intention to take this 
     bill to the floor in an expeditious manner. We understand 
     that language in the bill, as ordered reported, falls within 
     the Rule X jurisdiction of the Committee on Financial 
     Services.
       We recognize your jurisdiction over this subject matter, 
     and appreciate your willingness to waive your right to 
     consider this bill without waiving your jurisdiction over the 
     general subject matter. I will support the Speaker's naming 
     members of your committee as conferees on the matter should 
     it proceed to conference.
       As you have requested, I will include this exchange of 
     letters in the Record during consideration of the bill.
       I appreciate your assistance in getting this important bill 
     to the floor.
           Sincerely,
                                                    Henry J. Hyde,
                                                         Chairman.

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of the Sudan 
Peace Act (H.R. 2052). I would like to thank Congressman Tancredo for 
introducing this important legislation and Representatives Donald 
Payne, Tom Lantos, and Frank Wolf for their active roles in pushing 
Sudan to the top of the foreign policy agenda. It is important for 
Members of Congress, on both sides of the aisle, to speak out in a 
collective voice against the suffering of the people of Sudan.
  Sudan's civil war and the Sudanese Government's genocidal policies 
have taken a terrible toll on the civilians of that country. The horror 
that afflicts Sudan is staggering: over 2 million people have been 
killed and another 5 million driven from their homes. The situation in 
Sudan is rapidly getting worse and must be seriously addressed before 
the scale of death and destruction increases. Clearly, there must be 
international pressure to promote a just and lasting peace to this 
tragic conflict.
  Sudan has one of the worst human rights records in the world. 
According to the U.S. State Department, the Government of Sudan 
continues to abuse human rights including the bombing of civilian and 
humanitarian targets, abduction and enslavement by government-sponsored 
militias, and manipulation of humanitarian assistance as a weapon of 
war.

[[Page 10535]]

  The Sudan Peace Act offers the beginning of a framework for a 
solution to ending the crisis. The bill requires all businesses trading 
securities in the United States capital markets and operations in Sudan 
to disclose fully the extent and nature of their operations, 
particularly oil operations, which are fueling the constant attacks 
against the southern Sudanese. The legislation also strongly condemns 
the human rights abuses committed by the Government of Sudan, continues 
support for humanitarian assistance distribution through Operation 
Lifeline Sudan, and urges the President to use $10 million appropriated 
last year to assist the Sudanese opposition, the National Democratic 
Alliance (NDA).
  I am encouraged by the Bush administration's recent statements that 
it will soon appoint a high-profile Special Envoy to Sudan to serve as 
a catalyst in the stalled peace talks. The appointment of an envoy 
could be the difference in bringing peace to Sudan.
  I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this bipartisan legislation 
to help end the campaign of violence against the people of Sudan.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The CHAIRMAN. All time for general debate has expired.
  The bill shall be considered by section as an original bill for the 
purpose of amendment; and pursuant to the rule, each section is 
considered read.
  During consideration of the bill for amendment, the Chair may accord 
priority in recognition to a Member offering an amendment that he has 
printed in the designated place in the Congressional Record. Those 
amendments will be considered read.
  The Clerk will designate section 1.
  The text of section 1 is as follows:

                               H.R. 2052

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Sudan Peace Act''.

  The CHAIRMAN. Are there any amendments to section 1?
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the remainder 
of the bill be printed in the Record and open to amendment at any 
point.
  The CHAIRMAN. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from 
California?
  There was no objection.
  The text of the remainder of the bill is as follows:

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       The Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) The Government of Sudan has intensified its prosecution 
     of the war against areas outside of its control, which has 
     already cost more than 2,000,000 lives and has displaced more 
     than 4,000,000 people.
       (2) A viable, comprehensive, and internationally sponsored 
     peace process, protected from manipulation, presents the best 
     chance for a permanent resolution of the war, protection of 
     human rights, and a self-sustaining Sudan.
       (3) Continued strengthening and reform of humanitarian 
     relief operations in Sudan is an essential element in the 
     effort to bring an end to the war.
       (4) Continued leadership by the United States is critical.
       (5) Regardless of the future political status of the areas 
     of Sudan outside of the control of the Government of Sudan, 
     the absence of credible civil authority and institutions is a 
     major impediment to achieving self-sustenance by the Sudanese 
     people and to meaningful progress toward a viable peace 
     process.
       (6) Through the manipulation of traditional rivalries among 
     peoples in areas outside of its full control, the Government 
     of Sudan has used divide-and-conquer techniques effectively 
     to subjugate its population. However, internationally 
     sponsored reconciliation efforts have played a critical role 
     in reducing human suffering and the effectiveness of this 
     tactic.
       (7) The Government of Sudan utilizes and organizes 
     militias, Popular Defense Forces, and other irregular units 
     for raiding and enslaving parties in areas outside of the 
     control of the Government of Sudan in an effort to disrupt 
     severely the ability of the populations in those areas to 
     sustain themselves. The tactic helps minimize the Government 
     of Sudan's accountability internationally.
       (8) The Government of Sudan has repeatedly stated that it 
     intends to use the expected proceeds from future oil sales to 
     increase the tempo and lethality of the war against the areas 
     outside of its control.
       (9) By regularly banning air transport relief flights by 
     the United Nations relief operation, Operation Lifeline Sudan 
     (OLS), the Government of Sudan has been able to manipulate 
     the receipt of food aid by the Sudanese people from the 
     United States and other donor countries as a devastating 
     weapon of war in the ongoing effort by the Government of 
     Sudan to starve targeted groups and subdue areas of Sudan 
     outside of the Government's control.
       (10) The acts of the Government of Sudan, including the 
     acts described in this section, constitute genocide as 
     defined by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of 
     the Crime of Genocide (78 U.N.T.S. 277).
       (11) The efforts of the United States and other donors in 
     delivering relief and assistance through means outside of OLS 
     have played a critical role in addressing the deficiencies in 
     OLS and offset the Government of Sudan's manipulation of food 
     donations to advantage in the civil war in Sudan.
       (12) While the immediate needs of selected areas in Sudan 
     facing starvation have been addressed in the near term, the 
     population in areas of Sudan outside of the control of the 
     Government of Sudan are still in danger of extreme disruption 
     of their ability to sustain themselves.
       (13) The Nuba Mountains and many areas in Bahr al Ghazal 
     and the Upper Nile and the Blue Nile regions have been 
     excluded completely from relief distribution by OLS, 
     consequently placing their populations at increased risk of 
     famine.
       (14) At a cost which has sometimes exceeded $1,000,000 per 
     day, and with a primary focus on providing only for the 
     immediate food needs of the recipients, the current 
     international relief operations are neither sustainable nor 
     desirable in the long term.
       (15) The ability of populations to defend themselves 
     against attack in areas outside of the control of the 
     Government of Sudan has been severely compromised by the 
     disengagement of the front-line states of Ethiopia, Eritrea, 
     and Uganda, fostering the belief among officials of the 
     Government of Sudan that success on the battlefield can be 
     achieved.
       (16) The United States should use all means of pressure 
     available to facilitate a comprehensive solution to the war 
     in Sudan, including--
       (A) the multilateralization of economic and diplomatic 
     tools to compel the Government of Sudan to enter into a good 
     faith peace process;
       (B) the support or creation of viable democratic civil 
     authority and institutions in areas of Sudan outside of 
     government control;
       (C) continued active support of people-to-people 
     reconciliation mechanisms and efforts in areas outside of 
     government control;
       (D) the strengthening of the mechanisms to provide 
     humanitarian relief to those areas; and
       (E) cooperation among the trading partners of the United 
     States and within multilateral institutions toward those 
     ends.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
     ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee 
     on International Relations of the House of Representatives 
     and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
       (2) Government of sudan.--The term ``Government of Sudan'' 
     means the National Islamic Front government in Khartoum, 
     Sudan.
       (3) OLS.--The term ``OLS'' means the United Nations relief 
     operation carried out by UNICEF, the World Food Program, and 
     participating relief organizations known as ``Operation 
     Lifeline Sudan''.

     SEC. 4. CONDEMNATION OF SLAVERY, OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES, 
                   AND TACTICS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF SUDAN.

       The Congress hereby--
       (1) condemns--
       (A) violations of human rights on all sides of the conflict 
     in Sudan;
       (B) the Government of Sudan's overall human rights record, 
     with regard to both the prosecution of the war and the denial 
     of basic human and political rights to all Sudanese;
       (C) the ongoing slave trade in Sudan and the role of the 
     Government of Sudan in abetting and tolerating the practice;
       (D) the Government of Sudan's use and organization of 
     ``murahalliin'' or ``mujahadeen'', Popular Defense Forces 
     (PDF), and regular Sudanese Army units into organized and 
     coordinated raiding and slaving parties in Bahr al Ghazal, 
     the Nuba Mountains, and the Upper Nile and the Blue Nile 
     regions; and
       (E) aerial bombardment of civilian targets that is 
     sponsored by the Government of Sudan; and
       (2) recognizes that, along with selective bans on air 
     transport relief flights by the Government of Sudan, the use 
     of raiding and slaving parties is a tool for creating food 
     shortages and is used as a systematic means to destroy the 
     societies, culture, and economies of the Dinka, Nuer, and 
     Nuba peoples in a policy of low-intensity ethnic cleansing.

     SEC. 5. USE OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS.

       The Congress urges the President to promptly make available 
     to the National Democratic Alliance the $10,000,000 in funds 
     appropriated for assistance to such group under the heading 
     ``Other Bilateral Economic Assistance, economic support 
     fund'' in title I of H.R. 5526 of the 106th Congress, as 
     enacted into law by section 101(a) of Public Law 106-429.

[[Page 10536]]



     SEC. 6. SUPPORT FOR AN INTERNATIONALLY SANCTIONED PEACE 
                   PROCESS.

       (a) Findings.--The Congress hereby recognizes that--
       (1) a single viable, internationally and regionally 
     sanctioned peace process holds the greatest opportunity to 
     promote a negotiated, peaceful settlement to the war in 
     Sudan; and
       (2) resolution of the conflict in Sudan is best made 
     through a peace process based on the Declaration of 
     Principles reached in Nairobi, Kenya, on July 20, 1994.
       (b) United States Diplomatic Support.--The Secretary of 
     State is authorized to utilize the personnel of the 
     Department of State for the support of--
       (1) the ongoing negotiations between the Government of 
     Sudan and opposition forces;
       (2) any necessary peace settlement planning or 
     implementation; and
       (3) other United States diplomatic efforts supporting a 
     peace process in Sudan.

     SEC. 7. MULTILATERAL PRESSURE ON COMBATANTS.

       It is the sense of the Congress that--
       (1) the United Nations should be used as a tool to 
     facilitate peace and recovery in Sudan; and
       (2) the President, acting through the United States 
     Permanent Representative to the United Nations, should seek 
     to--
       (A) revise the terms of OLS to end the veto power of the 
     Government of Sudan over the plans by OLS for air transport 
     relief flights and, by doing so, to end the manipulation of 
     the delivery of relief supplies to the advantage of the 
     Government of Sudan on the battlefield;
       (B) investigate the practice of slavery in Sudan and 
     provide mechanisms for its elimination; and
       (C) sponsor a condemnation of the Government of Sudan each 
     time it subjects civilians to aerial bombardment.

     SEC. 8. DISCLOSURE OF BUSINESS ACTIVITIES IN SUDAN.

       (a) Disclosure Requirements.--No entity that is engaged in 
     any commercial activity in Sudan may trade any of its 
     securities (or depository receipts with respect to its 
     securities) in any capital market in the United States unless 
     that entity has disclosed, in such form as the Securities and 
     Exchange Commission shall prescribe--
       (1) the nature and extent of that commercial activity in 
     Sudan, including any plans for expansion or diversification;
       (2) the identity of all agencies of the Sudanese Government 
     with which the entity is doing business;
       (3) the relationship of the commercial activity to any 
     violations of religious freedom and other human rights in 
     Sudan; and
       (4) the contribution that the proceeds raised in the 
     capital markets in the United States will make to the 
     entity's commercial activity in Sudan.
       (b) Disclosure to the Public.--The Securities and Exchange 
     Commission shall take the necessary steps to ensure that 
     disclosures under subsection (a) are published or otherwise 
     made available to the public.
       (c) Enforcement Authority.--The President may exercise the 
     authorities he has under the International Emergency Economic 
     Powers Act to assist the Securities and Exchange Commission 
     in carrying out this section.

     SEC. 9. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

       Not later than six months after the date of the enactment 
     of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State 
     shall prepare and submit to the appropriate congressional 
     committees a report regarding the conflict in Sudan. Such 
     report shall include--
       (1) a description of the sources and current status of 
     Sudan's financing and construction of infrastructure and 
     pipelines for oil exploitation, the effects of such financing 
     and construction on the inhabitants of the regions in which 
     the oil fields are located, and the ability of the Government 
     of Sudan to finance the war in Sudan with the proceeds of the 
     oil exploitation;
       (2) a description of the extent to which that financing was 
     secured in the United States or with involvement of United 
     States citizens;
       (3) the best estimates of the extent of aerial bombardment 
     by the Government of Sudan, including targets, frequency, and 
     best estimates of damage; and
       (4) a description of the extent to which humanitarian 
     relief has been obstructed or manipulated by the Government 
     of Sudan or other forces.

     SEC. 10. CONTINUED USE OF NON-OLS ORGANIZATIONS FOR RELIEF 
                   EFFORTS.

       (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress 
     that the President should continue to increase the use of 
     non-OLS agencies in the distribution of relief supplies in 
     southern Sudan.
       (b) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the 
     appropriate congressional committees a detailed report 
     describing the progress made toward carrying out subsection 
     (a).

     SEC. 11. CONTINGENCY PLAN FOR ANY BAN ON AIR TRANSPORT RELIEF 
                   FLIGHTS.

       (a) Plan.--The President shall develop a contingency plan 
     to provide, outside the auspices of the United Nations if 
     necessary, the greatest possible amount of United States 
     Government and privately donated relief to all affected areas 
     in Sudan, including the Nuba Mountains and the Upper Nile and 
     the Blue Nile regions, in the event that the Government of 
     Sudan imposes a total, partial, or incremental ban on OLS air 
     transport relief flights.
       (b) Reprogramming Authority.--Notwithstanding any other 
     provision of law, in carrying out the plan developed under 
     subsection (a), the President may reprogram up to 100 percent 
     of the funds available for support of OLS operations (but for 
     this subsection) for the purposes of the plan.

     SEC. 12. INVESTIGATION OF WAR CRIMES.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall collect 
     information about incidents which may constitute crimes 
     against humanity, genocide, war crimes, and other violations 
     of international humanitarian law by all parties to the 
     conflict in Sudan, including slavery, rape, and aerial 
     bombardment of civilian targets.
       (b) Report.--Not later than six months after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the 
     Secretary of State shall prepare and submit to the 
     appropriate congressional committees a detailed report on the 
     information that the Secretary of State has collected under 
     subsection (a) and any findings or determinations made by the 
     Secretary on the basis of that information. The report under 
     this subsection may be submitted as part of the report 
     required under section 9.
       (c) Consultations With Other Departments.--In preparing the 
     report required by this section, the Secretary of State shall 
     consult and coordinate with all other Government officials 
     who have information necessary to complete the report. 
     Nothing contained in this section shall require the 
     disclosure, on a classified or unclassified basis, of 
     information that would jeopardize sensitive sources and 
     methods or other vital national security interests.

  The CHAIRMAN. Are there amendments to other sections of the bill?


                 Amendment No. 1 Offered by Mr. Bachus

  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.
  The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
  The text of the amendment is as follows:

       Amendment No. 1 offered by Mr. Bachus:
       Insert the following after section 8 and redesignate the 
     succeeding sections, and references thereto, accordingly:

     SEC. 9. PROHIBITION ON TRADING IN U.S. CAPITAL MARKETS.

       (a) Prohibition.--The President shall exercise the 
     authorities he has under the International Emergency Economic 
     Powers Act to prohibit any entity engaged in the development 
     of oil or gas in Sudan--
       (1) from raising capital in the United States; or
       (2) from trading its securities (or depository receipts 
     with respect to its securities) in any capital market in the 
     United States.
       (b) Definition.--For purposes of this section, an entity is 
     ``engaged in the development of oil or gas in Sudan'' if that 
     entity is directly engaged in the exploration, production, 
     transportation (by pipeline or otherwise), or refining of 
     petroleum, natural gas, or petroleum products in Sudan.

  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Chairman, there was an article on the front page of 
the Washington Post on Monday, and it says, ``Oil money is fueling 
Sudan's war''. It goes on to say that Arab is killing non-Arab or 
African and Muslims are killing Christians. But one thing is in common, 
and that is that, and it says, Nile Blend crude is fueling this entire 
war.
  It talks about the four oil companies that are in Sudan drilling for 
oil, turning the proceeds of that development over to the government. 
The government is hiring guns and arms and airplanes and helicopter 
gunships, and they are bombing the people of Sudan.
  The quote in that article is the fighting follows the oil. If you can 
stop the oil revenue, you have a chance at stopping the fighting. That 
is exactly what this amendment does.
  In fact, I offered this amendment to the Foreign Relations 
Authorization Act, this amendment and a disclosure amendment, which the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) offered; and he got the 
disclosure amendment included in this bill.
  I will introduce at this time a report of the United States 
Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan commission. 
They recommended that this Congress do two things. One is require 
disclosure, and that is in the bill; and, number two, that we stop 
these five oil companies from raising funds in the United States to 
develop these oil fields. They said that both would be necessary. So 
with

[[Page 10537]]

this amendment, we will add the other half of what is a necessary 
action.
  Mr. Chairman, I include for the Record pages 131 and 132 of that 
report, as follows:

   Report of the United States Commission on International Religious 
                                Freedom

       The U.S. government should strengthen economic sanctions 
     against Sudan and should urge other countries to adopt 
     similar policies. The United States should prohibit any 
     foreign company from raising capital or listing its 
     securities in U.S. markets as long as it is engaged in the 
     development of oil and gas fields in Sudan. The U.S. 
     government should not issue licenses permitting the import of 
     gum arabic from Sudan to the United States.
       U.S. economic sanctions against Sudan should be 
     strengthened and not reduced. They should be strengthened by 
     (a) prohibiting access to U.S. capital markets for those non-
     U.S. companies engaged in the development of the Sudanese oil 
     and gas fields, and (b) not issuing further licenses for the 
     import of gum arabic to the United States.
       The Commission is aware of the current debate both 
     internationally and in the United States on the effectiveness 
     of economic sanctions generally. Unilateral economic 
     sanctions by the United States have not prevented foreign 
     investment in Sudan's oil business, which has, in turn, 
     provided the Sudanese government with significant financial 
     support for its egregious human rights and humanitarian 
     abuses. However, it has not been established that U.S. 
     sanctions have been completely ineffective. They can 
     continue, for example, to slow the rate of increase of 
     foreign investment in Sudan and oil revenues to the Sudanese 
     government. One way to increase the potential effectiveness 
     of the sanctions is to convince other economic powers to 
     adopt similar policies. In this regard, the Commission urges 
     the U.S. government to encourage economic pressure on the 
     Sudanese government in its bilateral relations at all levels 
     with countries that engage in substantial trade with or 
     provide significant foreign investment in Sudan.
       Current sanctions prohibit investment by U.S. companies in 
     Sudan. They also prohibit transactions between U.S. companies 
     and the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (Sudan's oil 
     consortium) or Sudapet (Sudan's petroleum company).
       In the absence of multilateral economic sanctions, however, 
     preventing access to U.S. capital markets by foreign 
     companies engaged in the oil-development business in Sudan 
     targets a specific weakness in the current U.S. sanctions 
     regime. The Commission recommends that foreign corporations 
     doing business with Sudan's petroleum industry be prohibited 
     from issuing or listing its securities on U.S. capital 
     markets.
       The Commission does not lightly recommend these significant 
     restrictions on U.S. capital markets access, but believes 
     that the specific conditions in Sudan warrant them. The 
     government of Sudan is committing genocidal humanitarian and 
     human rights abuses. There is a direct connection between oil 
     production and those abuses. Foreign investment is critical 
     to the development of Sudan's oil fields and maintaining oil 
     revenues. Expanding U.S. sanctions in the area of capital 
     markets access specifically targets what is likely the most 
     significant resource that the Sudanese government has to 
     prosecute the war.
       Moreover, the issue of continuing economic sanctions 
     against Sudan is one of principle as well as effectiveness. 
     Reducing sanctions against Sudan at this time--after the 
     Sudanese government has made no concessions but rather has 
     increased its civilian bombings and other atrocities--would 
     be to reward it for worsening behavior. This will send the 
     wrong message to the government of Sudan and the 
     international community.
       With respect to licenses granted in 1999 and 2000 to permit 
     U.S. imports of gum Arabic, the purpose of granting those 
     licenses was to allow U.S. importers time to identify 
     alternative sources of supply. Because a reasonable amount of 
     time has elapsed, no further licenses should be granted, and 
     efforts should be continued to identify alternate suppliers 
     of this product.
       If the government of Sudan demonstrates substantial, 
     sustained, and comprehensive improvement in the human rights 
     conditions for people throughout the country, the U.S. 
     government should seriously re-evaluate its sanctions regime.
       Companies that are doing business in Sudan should be 
     required to disclose the nature and extent of that business 
     in connection with their access to U.S. capital markets.
       There is a significant, undesirable gap in U.S. law 
     regarding Sudan and other CPC countries: In many cases, 
     foreign companies that are doing business in Sudan can sell 
     securities on U.S. markets without having to disclose fully 
     (1) the details of the particular business activities in 
     Sudan, including plans for expansion or diversification; (2) 
     the identity of all agencies of the Sudanese government with 
     which the companies are doing business; (3) the relationship 
     of the business activities to violations of religious freedom 
     and other human rights in Sudan; or (4) the contribution that 
     the proceeds raised in the U.S. debt and equity markets will 
     make to these business activities and hence, potentially to 
     those violations. Across-the-board full disclosure of these 
     details would prompt corporate managers to work to prevent 
     their companies from supporting or facilitating these 
     violations. It also would aid (1) U.S. investors in deciding 
     whether to purchase the securities; (2) shareholders in 
     exercising their ownership rights (including proposing 
     shareholder resolutions for annual meetings and proxy 
     statements); (3) the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign 
     Assets Control in enforcing existing sanctions; and (4) U.S. 
     policymakers in formulating sound policy with resect to Sudan 
     and U.S. capital markets. The Commission recommends that the 
     United States require such disclosure.

  Mr. Chairman, let me say this, the question was asked, should we get 
involved? I would like to remind my colleagues of a story in the book 
of Esther where Esther is asked by Mordecai, ``Do you think if you hold 
your peace at a time like this that you shall escape judgment?'' Let me 
tell, my colleagues, it is a time such as this. It is a time when 
millions of people are being slain, where genocide is going on.
  Mordecai also reminded Esther that she had been placed in a position 
of leadership and just to make such decisions as this. I believe that. 
I believe that those who serve here have been placed in a position of 
trust and leadership, and I think that, if we do not act, and we do not 
act decisively, I do not think that we can expect to escape. We have 
been placed here for a reason. We ought to undertake that obligation. 
That trust has been placed in us.
  People have said to me, well, what will this interfere with? What 
will this do? We deny U.S. oil companies the right, and we should, to 
go over to Sudan and drill. We say, if you go over there, we will put 
you in jail. If you go over there, we will fine you. You should not be 
engaged in that activity.
  But the paradox is that a foreign oil company can go over there. They 
can develop these oil fields. What they do with helicopter gunships and 
jet planes, they clear the land of people. They burn down the houses on 
the oil concessions and kill the people that live there and develop the 
oil. We need to say to those five oil companies, if they are going to 
do that, they are not going to raise money in the United States capital 
markets.
  This will be a meaningful, positive step. I commend the gentleman 
from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo). I commend the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Royce). I commend the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos). Let 
me say that by putting this amendment in the bill, it will be another 
decisive case in drying up the flow of oil revenue, which is blood 
money, which is resulting in the death of millions of people.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.
  Mr. Chairman, first of all, I want to thank the gentleman from 
Alabama (Mr. Bachus) for this very important amendment, which I 
strongly support and urge all of our colleagues to support.
  This amendment deals with the operation of foreign oil companies in 
the Sudan. The complicity of the foreign oil industry in this human 
destruction is one of the most shameful factors in this 17-year-old 
slaughter.
  Canadian-owned Talisman Oil Company has publicly admitted that, in 
the year 2000, its Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company's airstrips 
were used for offensive military purposes by military aircraft of the 
government of Sudan against innocent men, women and children who live 
in the south of the country.
  We should not allow oil companies that are helping to prolong this 
bloody slaughter to raise capital or trade securities in the United 
States.
  The call for sanctions in this amendment, Mr. Chairman, is consistent 
with efforts by the American people to send a strong message to oil 
companies doing business in Sudan. Major public institutional 
investors, such as the City of New York or the Texas Teachers Pension 
Fund, have divested themselves from Talisman Oil in protest of its 
explicit dealings with the Sudanese government.
  Recently, a European coalition on oil in Sudan was launched, 
indicating that the campaign has now reached Europe to end the role of 
oil companies in the ongoing destruction of the Sudanese people.

[[Page 10538]]

  Mr. Chairman, I strongly urge all Members to support this amendment, 
because it would be shameful to allow foreign oil companies to raise 
funds which are ultimately used for the genocide of the Sudanese 
people.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  Mr. Chairman, we are in a full committee markup, and I ran out 
because I wanted to be here when this bill came up. One, I rise in 
strong support of the bill. I want to thank the gentleman from Colorado 
(Mr. Tancredo) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) and the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) and the gentleman from New Jersey 
(Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) and also 
Senators Brownback and Frist and the others over in the Senate for 
their good work.
  I also rise in strong support of the amendment because oil is 
basically fueling this, bringing about death. There have been 2.2 
million people that died in Sudan in the last 15 to 16 years. Every 
major terrorist group operating in the Middle East has an operation, a 
training camp outside of Khartoum. Disease, the sleeping sickness and 
so many of the diseases are running rampant in Sudan, particularly in 
the southern Sudan.
  So the passage of this bill will send a message that the American 
people and the Congress care deeply about stopping the fighting, 
stopping the death, stopping the oil and stopping slavery. This is one 
of two or three countries in the world today where there is actually 
organized slavery.
  So I just want to thank the committee and both sides of the aisle for 
bringing this up and for the good work. When the people in Sudan find 
out tomorrow, through whatever sources that they find out, that this 
bill passed, hopefully by an overwhelming vote, hopefully with almost 
no ``no'' votes, it will send a message that the American Congress and 
the American Government cares, and we are committed to doing everything 
we can.
  The Tancredo bill and this bill will do it, and the amendment, to 
bring about a just, and I stress the word ``just'', and a lasting 
peace.
  Mr. Chairman, I want to thank my colleague from Colorado, Mr. 
Tancredo, for his hard work on this legislation. We are considering 
this legislation today because of his leadership and persistence. He 
has been solid on Sudan issues and it is a pleasure to work with him to 
help bring a just peace to Sudan.
  I also want to thank my colleague from New Jersey, Mr. Payne, the 
ranking member of the Africa subcommittee. I know he and Mr. Tancredo 
worked together on this legislation and his commitment on Sudan 
throughout the years' has been outstanding.
  I also want to thank Mr. Royce, the chairman of the Africa 
subcommittee, and Mr. Hyde, chairman of the International Relations 
Committee, for bringing the Sudan Peace Act to the floor for a vote 
today.
  The Sudan Peace Act is good legislation and I believe that passing 
this legislation today will be a step forward in helping to end the 
suffering, death and destruction in Sudan.
  I have been to Sudan four times since 1989, most recently visiting 
southern Sudan in January of this year. I have seen the conditions on 
the ground first-hand.
  Since 1983, the government of Sudan has been waging a brutal war 
against factions in the south who are fighting for self-determination 
and religious freedom. More people have died in Sudan than in Kosovo, 
Bosnia, Somalia and Rwanda combined with the war resulting in over 2 
million deaths and 4 million displaced people. Most of the dead are 
civilians--women and children--who die from starvation and disease 
caused by the war.
  The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has issued a genocide warning for 
Sudan. The Holocaust Museum's warning is a hallowed reminder of our 
very moral standing as human beings and compels us to never again be 
silent witnesses to the mass enslavement, mass starvation, mass murder 
of a people.
  The Sudanese Government routinely attacks civilian targets, such as 
hospitals, churches, feeding centers, and uses aerial bombings to 
intimidate and kill the southern population. In the past several 
months, numerous hospitals, schools and feeding areas in the south have 
been bombed by the government, killing numerous innocent men, women and 
children.
  By conservative estimates, the U.S. Committee on Refugees (USCR) 
confirms that the Government of Sudan bombed innocent civilians in 
southern Sudan over 167 times last year.
  This year alone, the USCR confirms 20 bombings of civilians in 
southern Sudan, although this number now is certainly much higher. 
Recently, a Sudanese Government Antonov bomber dropped at least 16 
bombs on the town of Narus, killing a 9-year-old child.
  This year during the Easter holiday, the Government of Sudan bombed 
innocent civilians in the Nuba Mountains. The Roman Catholic Bishop of 
the area, Bishop Maccram Gassis, was on the ground and witnessed the 
attack. Bishop Gassis writes on the attack:

       It was Easter Monday, and I had just completed my Easter 
     pastoral visit to my parishes in the Nuba Mountains--among 
     the most important of my periodic visits during the year. At 
     the airstrip, my personnel were loading our plane for 
     departure when the Antonov bomber was spotted above the 
     field. Everyone scattered and fell to the ground as four to 
     six shells (by our calculations) fell some 500 feet from the 
     end of the runway.
     . . .

  And the bombing continues. According to the Associated Press, just a 
few days ago, the Khartoum regime reportedly killed 4 people in a 
bombing attack during a delivery of aid by the World Food Program. The 
bombing and killing of innocent civilians must stop and this 
legislation rightly condemns the Government of Sudan for its wanton 
bombardment of civilians.
  Fueling Khartoum's ability to conduct its genocide against southern 
Sudan is oil. Today, major international oil companies are generating 
billions of dollars of annual revenue for the Khartoum regime. Khartoum 
has openly pledged to use this revenue for modern bombers, helicopter 
gun ships and other weapons in its war against the people of southern 
Sudan. Indeed, the June 11, 2001, Washington Post reports that because 
of its new oil revenue, the Government of Sudan has doubled its 
military spending since 1998 totaling $327 million in 2000.
  In a recent speech I made at the U.S. Holocaust Museum, I said:

       The U.S. Commission on Religious Liberty has bravely called 
     on the President to limit oil companies that finance the 
     regime from access to U.S. capital markets. Here in this 
     museum, in the literal shadow of exhibits of the slave labor 
     practices of many German companies, in the face of what we 
     know about the victimization of Jews at the hands of European 
     banks, insurance companies, art galleries and other 
     institutions, a clear message must be sent to the following 
     oil companies: Talisman of Canada, the China National 
     Petroleum Company, Petronas of Malaysia, Lundin of Sweden, 
     Total/Fina/Elf of France, OMV of Austria--Enter into oil 
     contracts with the genocidal regime in Sudan, and produce 
     revenue for it, only at grave risk of losing--financially and 
     otherwise--far more than you can possibly gain from those 
     contracts.

  This legislation takes a significant step in addressing the 
connection between oil and the Sudan Government's atrocities by stating 
that no company can list securities on U.S. exchanges unless a company 
fulfills comprehensive disclosure requirements about its business 
activities in Sudan.
  While the acting chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission 
(SEC), Laura Unger, has initiated several new disclosure requirements 
applying to companies invested in Sudan, the SEC requirements in this 
legislation go a long way toward ensuring the world knows what 
companies are aiding and abetting the regime in Khartoum.
  Slavery exists today in the 21st century and this legislation rightly 
condemns the Government of Sudan's role in the ongoing slave trade. The 
Sudanese government has done nothing to stop the slavery. Slave traders 
from the north sweep down into southern villages and kidnap women and 
children who are then sold for use as domestic servants, concubines or 
other purposes. This is real life chattel slavery.
  The Department of State 2000 Human Rights report describes slavery in 
Sudan, stating:

       . . . slavery persists, particularly affecting women and 
     children. The taking of slaves, particularly in war zones, 
     and their transport to parts of central and northern Sudan, 
     continued. Credible reports persist of practices such as the 
     sale and purchase of children, some in alleged slave markets 
     . . . 10,000 to 12,000 slaves remain in captivity at year's 
     end.

  The Sudanese regime is also involved in the support of global 
terrorism. The National Commission on Terrorism reported in June 2000 
that Sudan continues to support global terrorism by providing funding, 
refuge, training bases, and weapons to terrorists. The Sudan government 
was implicated in the 1995 assassination attempt on Egyptian President 
Hosni Mubarak. Nearly every major terrorist organization in the world 
is welcomed in Sudan.

[[Page 10539]]

  Over the past decade, the U.S. has contributed over a billion dollars 
for relief and humanitarian aid for Sudan. I am glad that this 
legislation urges President Bush to promptly make available to the 
National Democratic Alliance $10 million in non-lethal, non-military 
aid previously authorized by Congress.
  The Bush Administration is making the right moves on Sudan, 
appointing USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios as special coordinator 
for humanitarian assistance, approving more aid for the suffering in 
Sudan, and indicating a willingness to make bringing a just peace to 
Sudan a priority. As the appointment of a special envoy for Sudan by 
the Bush Administration is imminent, I am hopeful that the U.S. will 
play a more aggressive and assertive role in achieving a real and just 
peace. But we also need to bear down on the Khartoum government to stop 
its aggression against the south and reach a lasting peace.
  The actions of the Sudanese government regarding human rights abuses 
and religious persecution toward its own people cannot be tolerated. 
Far too long and in too many circumstances the repressive and 
intolerable governments of the world have been allowed to engage--
unopposed--in widespread human rights and religious freedom violations 
that strike at the core of being evil. We in Congress have an 
obligation not to let these governments or regimes go unopposed.
  The Sudan Peace Act addresses one of the greatest humanitarian issues 
of our day--over 2 million have died--and yet it is tough on the regime 
in Khartoum. I strongly support this legislation and urge a unanimous 
vote.
  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise, not only as a member of the Committee on 
International Relations, but as a member of the Committee on Financial 
Services.
  Just a few weeks ago, I had a chance to tour both NASDAQ and the New 
York Stock Exchange. These exchanges are not only the center of 
American capitalism and the American securities market, they will soon 
be the unchallenged center for a world capital market. They are 
critical to the large international oil companies, not just those based 
in the United States, but those based in Europe and Japan as well. In 
fact, I think we will soon have a seamless market in which one invests 
through the two great exchanges of the United States in companies based 
anywhere in the world.
  As others have said, it would simply be immoral if this great 
resource of the United States, our great securities markets, were to be 
used to raise capital, not just to do business from Sudan, but actually 
to support the Sudanese government. Because as others have pointed out, 
this is the source of money for this repressive regime. In fact, this 
is not just a repressive regime. This is the worst government in the 
world that benefits from substantial international investment. It is a 
country that practices a form of genocide and slavery, and that should 
not taint the American financial markets.
  I will be back on this floor tomorrow to try to do everything I can 
to strengthen the American financial markets by reducing the fees that 
are imposed on each securities transaction. But as we strengthen these 
markets financially, we must also make them stronger morally and 
ethically. We can do that today by making sure that those companies 
that invest in the Sudanese oil sector do not take advantage of these 
increasingly important financial markets.
  So I would hope that all of those who are concerned with the brutal 
mass murders and genocide in Sudan and all of those who are concerned 
with building the strongest possible financial markets in the United 
States would be here on this floor if a recorded vote is called to vote 
in favor of this amendment.

                              {time}  1415

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment, mainly because 
I do not think it is a good move to have the SEC internationalized to 
begin with, and to further internationalize it does not seem to make a 
whole lot of sense.
  For one thing, cracking down more on foreign oil companies that are 
doing business in Sudan will not necessarily prohibit the benefits that 
may flow to the American oil companies if there is a change in 
government. We should not ignore that. We go to war over oil. We went 
to war over oil in the Persian Gulf, and certainly we had oil as an 
influence to send in many dollars and much equipment down into 
Colombia.
  But just let me read from the bill. It says the Secretary of State 
will report back on a description of the sources and the current status 
of Sudan's financing and construction of infrastructure and pipelines 
for oil exploitation; the effects of such financing and construction of 
the inhabitants of the region. It goes on, which in a way does a lot of 
research and benefit for our oil companies that may benefit. So I think 
oil is involved, but in quite a different way than I think we should be 
involved in dealing with the foreign oil companies today. So I am not 
going to support this amendment.
  I would like to take another moment to mention something which is 
considered an esoteric point, but I consider very important, and that 
has to do with the authority to do these kinds of things that we are 
doing today, no matter how well intended. The committee report explains 
the authority, and the supporters of the bill says the authority comes 
from article one, section 8, clause 18. And they look to the right 
place. Article one, section 8 gives us our 18 enumerated powers that we 
are permitted to do. The clause 18 is the necessary and proper clause: 
to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into 
execution the foregoing powers.
  The foregoing powers were those 18 issued. To use this in a 
generalized sense means there is no constitution left. That means any 
power we want, we can do whatever we want. That was specifically 
designed to pass laws to enforce those 18 enumerated powers. So this 
bill, in spite of all the good intentions that we hope it will do, 
really undermines the whole concept of the Doctrine of Enumerated 
Powers.
  And we should not take that lightly, although this generally is not 
of much interest to so many people because we do so much and we have 
such great hopes that it will always do so much good. From just 
observing history, recent history, the last 20, 30, 40 years since 
World War II, so often when we get involved and we send money to help 
the good guys, it is not infrequent the good things that we send in, 
goods and services and weapons, end up in the hands of the opposition 
and the enemy. So that is always a possibility once again. These 
commodities and services and the things that we send and the money may 
well end up literally being used against the people we are trying to 
help.
  The other thing that we tend to ignore here is we concentrate on the 
good things that we are going to accomplish. Miraculously, we are going 
to solve this problem by putting $10 million in today and $100 million 
in the next 5 years, and everything is going to be solved. We do not 
think about it failing, because that would be a negative, and we do not 
want to think about that. We do not think about the Constitution, and 
we do not think about who pays. Somebody always has to pay. This is 
token. Who cares about $10 million? When we take $10 million out of the 
economy, there is somebody who suffered; somebody did not get a house 
or somebody lost a job. But they are not identifiable. They do not have 
a lobbyist. They are lost. But they are penalized. There is always a 
cost.
  And even if we assume we have a surplus and the money is already in 
the budget, we still should be concerned because we are making a 
choice. We are saying that we are going to take this money and take the 
risk of sending it over there. Maybe it will help. Maybe I am right, 
maybe it will not do quite as much good as we think, but we make a 
trade-off. We say today that we will send this money with the hope that 
it will do good at the expense of a domestic program. Do my colleagues 
think every poor person in this country has been taken care of, their 
medical care needs or housing? So we do make choices continuously, but 
we forget about that.
  We never really think about the choices that we make, and there is 
always a trade-off. And we generally always forget about finding the 
point in

[[Page 10540]]

the Constitution that gives us authority. In this case, this is the 
wrong authority, and it is not a proper interpretation of the 
Constitution as described in the committee report.
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  Mr. Chairman, I stand in strong support of the Bachus amendment, the 
amendment to prohibit any foreign company from raising capital or 
listing its securities in the U.S. markets as long as the company is 
engaged in oil and gas development in Sudan. Currently, the China 
National Petroleum Company, through its PetroChina subsidy; Talisman 
Oil of Canada; Royal Dutch Shell, Netherlands; Lundin Oil, Sudan; and 
TOTAL NEL from France all list their stocks on the New York Stock 
Exchange or NASDAQ.
  We have been talking about what more can we do. As we know, it is not 
the policy any longer to send U.S. troops abroad. If this were 50 years 
ago, 40 years ago, with the atrocities of this nature, we may have sent 
in an intervention group. We did it in Haiti, we did it in the 
Dominican Republic, we have done it around the world. But today is a 
different time, a different day, and we do not do that. So our 
resources are limited as to how we can force a dictatorial regime to 
change its ways.
  I think we should cut off access to capital markets in this country. 
This country is the world's power economically, and the next war is 
going to be an economic war. We have moved ahead of the Euro, where it 
is 20 percent, 15 percent stronger than the Euro. This is where 
everyone is coming to get the money.
  I wonder why some people serve in Congress. To hear a person talk 
about $10 million as too much to spend, when if it was not for the 
Marshall Plan the world would still be trying to come out of the 
degradation of World War II. We spent billions and billions and 
billions of dollars to do the right thing because it was the right 
thing to do. When someone questions $10 million that might go in to try 
to help a country build a social society or that a vehicle may be taken 
by the enemy, that is absolutely ludicrous, makes no sense; and I do 
not know why some people even spend time in this House, because they 
have absolutely nothing to offer.
  So I just think that it is imperative upon us to try to use the 
weapons that we have. We do not have military weapons any longer to go 
into countries. People wonder, well, why should we do this. Well, 
because this is supposed to be the land of the free, the home of the 
brave. We have the Statute of Liberty still standing there. We have to 
stand for something. When I hear people say why should we be concerned 
about the new independent states in Central Europe, it is because there 
has to be someone who is the moral leader of the world. We are in the 
responsible position.
  It is like a basketball player. When I speak to young men like 
Iverson, who plays for the 76ers or a Carter, who plays with the 
Toronto Raptors, I say whether you like it or not, you are a role 
model. Young people look up to you; therefore you have a responsibility 
to act right, to do the right thing. Whether you like it or not, you 
are looked upon as something that other people want to follow. And this 
country is the one country in the world that other countries want to 
follow. We have a moral responsibility whether we like it or not.
  We cannot move back from the world. We are the world, and we have a 
responsibility to remain the world's leader. If we cannot do any more 
than to cut a couple of oil companies off from Wall Street, then what 
can we do? This is a small thing we are acting on. It will not even 
have an impact on that trillion dollar industry that trades hundreds of 
billions of dollars daily, but it will have a massive impact on those 
companies who come here with blood dripping off their hands to get more 
money so that more blood will come dripping as they continue to push 
people from their lands so that they can fill their pockets with 
dollars.
  At some point we have a moral obligation and a responsibility. The 
time is now. I urge support of the Bachus amendment.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  Mr. Chairman, I do want to stress that this legislation is not 
directed against Islam. This legislation is directed against religious 
persecution, and this includes the issue of forced conversion. Again, I 
think we need to be clear. Congress is saying nothing here against the 
religion of Islam, which is an increasingly important part of our 
national fabric.
  I think we need to be clear that what we are saying here with this 
bill and with this amendment that we are adding to the bill is that we 
are bringing attention to Sudan, we are addressing shortcomings in the 
delivery of humanitarian relief, and we are providing tools to the 
administration and the American public to attempt to end the massive 
suffering of the Sudanese people.
  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. ROYCE. I yield to the gentleman from Alabama.
  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Chairman, when someone stands in the well and 
questions the constitutionality of an amendment, then I think the 
Members ought to listen. I think they ought to take note, because that 
is a serious charge.
  It would be a convincing argument if one was not familiar with the 
history of legislation in this body. If one was, they would know one of 
our first Congresses, which contained many men who signed the original 
constitution, that drafted it, imposed sanctions of a financial and 
capital nature against foreign fur trading companies. So the folks that 
drafted that and enumerated those powers then stood in this Congress 
and imposed such sanctions, and these sanctions have been imposed 
during several war periods.
  It is particularly ironic that we would defend four foreign oil 
companies when we have in this body passed legislation, including fines 
and terms of imprisonment, if our oil companies go over there and 
drill. So it is quite ironic that we would impose these restrictions on 
our own oil companies for going overseas, and do that with a clear 
conscience, which I have, and yet allow their competition to go over 
there, kill innocent men, women and children, strafe hospitals, engage 
in all sorts of atrocities, and then not only look the other way when 
that happens, but we will allow them to raise the money to finance 
their operations in our capital markets, those same markets which 
restrict Americans from participating in and would not restrict the 
very bad actors who avoid the sanctions that we have now imposed. Truly 
an argument that I will never accept.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite 
number of words.
  First of all, Mr. Chairman, let me again say that the underlying bill 
is a good bill. This is a strengthening amendment, and I rise in very 
strong support of it. This amendment is about stopping genocide, Mr. 
Chairman, the deliberate and systematic attempt to eliminate an entire 
people in southern Sudan, by cutting off the flow of U.S. dollars to 
entities that are making genocide possible.
  The whole world knows, Mr. Chairman, that the Khartoum regime 
routinely bombs schools and hospitals, and uses enslavement, mass rape, 
and starvation as weapons of war against black Christians and animists 
in the south. The good news, until 1997, was that the south was likely 
to win its independence and an end to the bloodshed. However, then 
Khartoum got foreign companies from China, Malaysia, and even Canada to 
develop oil fields and build a pipeline.

                              {time}  1430

  The equation is simple: By selling oil to the west, Khartoum can buy 
an army that can destroy the south and is destroying the south. We all 
know that the devastation is absolutely numbing and frightful. Two 
million people have been killed. Millions more have been wounded, and 
over 4 million people have been displaced.
  Oil revenues have enabled the government to double spending on its 
war machine since 1998. The government

[[Page 10541]]

has used roads and air strips built for oil projects to launch military 
attacks. As one Sudanese victim put it, ``Oil has done nothing but 
bring us death.''
  Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) and I have 
worked very hard to get New Jersey out of the mix with Talisman, which 
is a Canadian company. We held over 60,000 equities in that Talisman 
company as part of our New Jersey commitment to our State employees. 
Thankfully they got out of it, at some point kicking and screaming; but 
they are only one of many. There are many individual shareholders who 
will never read the disclosure information sent to them and maybe will 
not even care.
  Mr. Chairman, we need to act in a collective manner that will have a 
high utility to say we want out. We want no part of this killing 
machine going on in Sudan. It is worth pointing out that the speaker of 
the Sudanese parliament does not make any bones about it. He said that 
the oil revenues will be used to buy war weapons. They are taking this 
oil revenue and buying guns and planes, and all kinds of other 
implements of destruction that are used against innocent men, women, 
and children.
  The Talisman chief executive said that 70 percent of the oil revenue 
from the partnership will be going to the government. We are talking 
about a massive amount of money, $500 million per year, being put into 
the coffers of this war machine.
  Finally, let me say the Bachus-Hall-Smith amendment prohibits any 
foreign company from raising capital or listing its securities in U.S. 
markets as long as the company is engaged in oil development in Sudan. 
We have trade sanctions in place against Sudan, but foreign companies 
continue to invest in Sudan, and then they freely and openly raise 
money in the U.S. stock market and bond market to finance these 
activities.
  Shame on us, Mr. Chairman, if we do not realize that we are 
facilitating the deaths of so many innocent children. The gentleman 
from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) should be commended as should the gentleman 
from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) and all of us who are trying to make some 
difference here to stop this facilitation.
  Mr. Chairman, we can make a difference; and hopefully our European 
and other allies will follow suit. We must lead by example. That is 
what this amendment does.
  Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of words.
  First of all, Mr. Chairman, let me again say that the underlying bill 
is a excellent piece of legislation. The Bachus-Hall-Smith 
strengthening amendment improves the Sudan Peace Act. This amendment is 
about stopping genocide, Mr. Chairman, the deliberate and systematic 
attempt to eliminate an entire people in southern Sudan, by cutting off 
the flow of U.S. dollars to entities that are making genocide possible.
  The whole world knows, Mr. Chairman, that the Khartoum regime 
routinely bombs schools and hospitals, and uses enslavement, mass rape, 
and starvation as weapons of war against black Christians and animists 
in the south.
  The good news, until 1997, was that the south was likely to win its 
independence and an end to the bloodshed. However, then Khartoum got 
foreign companies from China, Malaysia, and even Canada to develop oil 
fields and build a pipeline.
  The equation is simple: By selling oil to the west, Khartoum can buy 
an army that can destroy the south and is indeed destroying the south. 
We all know that the devastation is absolutely numbing and frightful. 
Two million people have been killed. Millions more have been wounded, 
and over 4 million people have been displaced.
  Oil revenues have enabled the government to double spending on its 
war machine since 1998. The government has used roads and air strips 
built for oil projects to launch military attacks. As one Sudanese 
victim put it, ``Oil has done nothing but bring us death.''
  Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) and I worked 
very hard a couple of years ago to get New Jersey out of complicity 
with genocide. We worked--and succeeded--in convincing state officials 
to divest its stock holdings of Talisman, which is a Canadian oil 
company. Before divestiture, New Jersey owned over 600,000 shares of 
Talisman. Thankfully, New Jersey got out, but New Jersey is only one of 
many institutional holders of this stock. There are many individual 
shareholders who own Talisman oblivious to its facilitation of 
genocide. Some argue mere disclosure is adequate. I respectfully 
disagree. Disclosure information sent to shareholders or potential 
buyers of the stock may or may not make any difference.
  Mr. Chairman, we need to act in a collective manner in unison, if we 
are to help end this horrific slaughter. We want no part of this 
killing machine. It is worth pointing out that the speaker of the 
Sudanese parliament does not make any bones how oil money equals a more 
lethal military force. He has said that the oil revenues will be used 
to buy war weapons. The Sudanese dictatorship is taking oil revenues 
and buying weapons of every stripe to be used against innocent men, 
women, and children. We are talking about a massive amount of money, 
$500 million per year, being put into the coffers of this war machine.
  The bottom line is this I say to my distinguished colleagues. The 
Bachus-Hall-Smith amendment prohibits any foreign company from raising 
capital or listing its securities in U.S. markets as long as the 
company is engaged in oil development in Sudan. We have trade sanctions 
in place against Sudan, but foreign companies continue to invest in 
Sudan, and then they freely and openly raise money in the U.S. stock 
market and bond market to finance these activities.
  Shame on us, Mr. Chairman, if we do not realize that we are 
facilitating the deaths of so many innocent children. The gentleman 
from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) should be commended for crafting this 
humanitarian amendment.
  Mr. Chairman, we can make a difference; and hopefully our European 
and other allies will follow suit. We must lead by example. We must be 
serious about ending the nightmare endured by the Sudanese people.
  Mr. TERRY. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the requisite number of 
words.
  Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of the Bachus amendment and the 
underlying Sudan Peace Act. I come from Omaha, Nebraska, Mr. Chairman, 
and we have been blessed with new folks who have immigrated from Sudan. 
They have come to my office, and we have spent several hours together 
talking about the tragedies that these folks have lived through, 
escaped from and come to America, come to my hometown, and are now 
integral parts of our community of Omaha, Nebraska.
  These stories, they are true. These people have suffered. Over the 
past 18 years, Sudan's Khartoum government has killed more than 2 
million of its own citizens through this civilian war. This is more 
than the entire population of Nebraska. This is almost four times the 
population of this city that we stand in right now. Men, women, 
children, some of these folks that have come to my office that I have 
sat down with are young men, and to hear their stories of what they had 
to escape: starved, beaten, friends taken for slavery, executed because 
of their beliefs, whether they are Christian or a different sect of 
Islam. And the people they are escaping are those with the government-
sponsored guns. The National Islamic Front has bombed civilian centers, 
camps, relief hospitals. They have blocked humanitarian aid such as 
food and medical supplies, tortured and killed those who refuse to 
convert to their brand of religion. These appalling attacks on human 
rights have created one of the greatest tragedies in the history of 
mankind.
  Now this government is using profits from new oil development to 
accelerate this genocidal war. That is why I came here today to support 
the Bachus amendment. I stand up here in full support of it. This act, 
the Sudan Peace Act, will send a clear signal to the leaders of Sudan 
and those who wonder whether we care more about oil than people. It 
will tell the other civilized nations of the world that we also care 
about religious freedom, and to follow our example and stop financing 
this extremism.
  It will open up those doing business with the Khartoum government to 
the crucible of public pressure and help ensure that humanitarian aid 
ends up in the hands of the people, not the government officials waging 
this war. I hope this legislation will help end the bloodshed and 
provide relief to those suffering Sudanese people.
  Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to vote in support of this 
amendment and support the Sudan Peace Act.

[[Page 10542]]

  The CHAIRMAN. The question is on the amendment offered by the 
gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus).
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The CHAIRMAN. If there are no further amendments, under the rule, the 
Committee rises.
  Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. 
Shaw) having assumed the chair, Mr. Simpson, Chairman of the Committee 
of the Whole House on the State of the Union, reported that that 
Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2052) to 
facilitate famine relief efforts and a comprehensive solution to the 
war in Sudan, pursuant to House Resolution 162, he reported the bill 
back to the House with an amendment adopted by the Committee of the 
Whole.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the rule, the previous question is 
ordered.
  The question is on the amendment.
  The amendment was agreed to.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the engrossment and third 
reading of the bill.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was 
read the third time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. TANCREDO. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Evidently a quorum is not present.
  The Sergeant at Arms will notify absent Members.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 422, 
nays 2, not voting 8, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 160]

                               YEAS--422

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Akin
     Andrews
     Armey
     Baca
     Bachus
     Baird
     Baker
     Baldacci
     Baldwin
     Ballenger
     Barcia
     Barr
     Barrett
     Bartlett
     Barton
     Bass
     Becerra
     Bentsen
     Bereuter
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bilirakis
     Bishop
     Blagojevich
     Blumenauer
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonior
     Bono
     Borski
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (FL)
     Brown (OH)
     Brown (SC)
     Bryant
     Burr
     Burton
     Buyer
     Callahan
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardin
     Carson (IN)
     Carson (OK)
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chambliss
     Clay
     Clayton
     Clement
     Clyburn
     Coble
     Collins
     Combest
     Condit
     Conyers
     Cooksey
     Costello
     Cox
     Coyne
     Cramer
     Crane
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Cubin
     Culberson
     Cummings
     Cunningham
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Davis, Tom
     Deal
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     DeLay
     DeMint
     Deutsch
     Diaz-Balart
     Dicks
     Doggett
     Dooley
     Doolittle
     Doyle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Ehrlich
     Emerson
     Engel
     English
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Everett
     Farr
     Fattah
     Fletcher
     Foley
     Ford
     Frank
     Frelinghuysen
     Frost
     Gallegly
     Ganske
     Gekas
     Gephardt
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gilman
     Gonzalez
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Gordon
     Goss
     Graham
     Granger
     Graves
     Green (TX)
     Green (WI)
     Greenwood
     Grucci
     Gutierrez
     Gutknecht
     Hall (OH)
     Hall (TX)
     Hansen
     Harman
     Hart
     Hastings (FL)
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Herger
     Hill
     Hilleary
     Hilliard
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hobson
     Hoeffel
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hooley
     Horn
     Hostettler
     Houghton
     Hoyer
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Hutchinson
     Hyde
     Inslee
     Isakson
     Israel
     Issa
     Istook
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Jefferson
     Jenkins
     John
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Jones (OH)
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Keller
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MN)
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kerns
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind (WI)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kleczka
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     Kucinich
     LaFalce
     LaHood
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Lantos
     Largent
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Leach
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (GA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Lucas (KY)
     Lucas (OK)
     Luther
     Maloney (CT)
     Maloney (NY)
     Manzullo
     Markey
     Mascara
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McCrery
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McKinney
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Menendez
     Mica
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (FL)
     Miller, Gary
     Miller, George
     Mink
     Mollohan
     Moore
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Murtha
     Myrick
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Nethercutt
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nussle
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Osborne
     Ose
     Otter
     Owens
     Oxley
     Pallone
     Pascrell
     Pastor
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Pence
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Phelps
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Pombo
     Pomeroy
     Portman
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Rangel
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Reyes
     Reynolds
     Riley
     Rivers
     Rodriguez
     Roemer
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Ross
     Rothman
     Roukema
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Ryan (WI)
     Ryun (KS)
     Sabo
     Sanchez
     Sanders
     Sandlin
     Sawyer
     Saxton
     Scarborough
     Schaffer
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schrock
     Scott
     Sensenbrenner
     Serrano
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherman
     Sherwood
     Shimkus
     Shows
     Shuster
     Simmons
     Simpson
     Skeen
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Souder
     Spence
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stearns
     Stenholm
     Strickland
     Stump
     Stupak
     Sununu
     Sweeney
     Tancredo
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Tauzin
     Taylor (MS)
     Taylor (NC)
     Terry
     Thomas
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Thornberry
     Thune
     Thurman
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Toomey
     Towns
     Traficant
     Turner
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Vitter
     Walden
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Waters
     Watkins (OK)
     Watson (CA)
     Watt (NC)
     Watts (OK)
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Wexler
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                                NAYS--2

     Flake
     Paul
       

                             NOT VOTING--8

     Allen
     Dingell
     Ferguson
     Filner
     Fossella
     Johnson, E. B.
     Morella
     Rush

                              {time}  1502

  So the bill was passed.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
  Stated for:
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, on rollcall No. 160, I was unavoidably 
detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea.''

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