[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 13768-13769]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          NOMINATION OF JACK DANFORTH AND THE CRISIS IN SUDAN

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I know we will be moving to other business 
in a few minutes. We have completed voting on Senator Danforth's 
nomination, but I wanted to come to the floor and speak to that 
nomination.
  Senator Danforth has had a long and distinguished career in the 
Senate, and he has served this Nation capably, ably, and nobly since 
the time of that service. In particular, as has been mentioned over the 
course of the morning, he has served as President Bush's envoy to Sudan 
and has worked tirelessly to bring peace to that war-torn nation.
  I focus on the Sudan because it is a country on a continent that 
means a lot to me personally. I was in the Sudan in September. I was 
there the year before that and the year before that and the year before 
that. I have been to Sudan many times and spent most of my time in the 
south of Sudan, a war-torn nation with 2 million people who have died 
and 5 million people displaced by an ongoing, still long-term civil 
war. I say ``ongoing still,'' and I say that with the qualification 
that because of Senator Danforth's commitment, his noble service, we 
are much further along that road to having a long, established peace as 
we look to the future.
  It has not been an easy mission. Senator Danforth, in spite of it not 
being an easy mission, has made huge progress. We are much closer to 
ending that terrible conflict of the civil war that has been ongoing 
now for over two decades than we were before Senator Danforth became 
involved.
  On June 11, the United Nations Security Council endorsed the peace 
process and committed to taking those steps

[[Page 13769]]

outlined to assist the parties in implementing a final comprehensive 
peace package once the agreement itself is reached, and that is real 
progress.
  During my trips to Sudan, I had the opportunity to not go as a U.S. 
Senator--in fact, I have never been in the country as an official U.S. 
Senator--but as part of a medical mission group where I have had the 
opportunity to interact with the Sudanese people from many different 
tribes in the south of Sudan.
  I have had the opportunity and the blessing--blessing for me because 
of the understanding it gives me--to have treated patients with war 
injuries. In fact, even in late August, early September of this year, I 
treated a patient who suffered a gunshot wound to the upper part of his 
leg. I treated that injury. And the time before that, I treated a 
patient who stepped on a landmine. There are still landmines throughout 
southern Sudan. We are making real progress on that issue.
  But today, as the Sudan works toward a settlement, with the progress 
that has been made, we face a growing humanitarian emergency that was 
not thought about a year ago at all, and even today we are struggling 
to put the spotlight on and the purpose on--and it is not entirely a 
separate issue, but it is a separate issue from the traditional thought 
about civil war: north versus south, black versus white, or Muslim 
versus Christian, all the ways people have thought about a civil war in 
the past. This crisis is a relatively new one. It is the direct result 
of the actions taken by the government in Khartoum and their proxies, 
the government-supported militias against the Fur, Zaghawa, and the 
Masaalit peoples of Darfur. Members of this body have spoken to this 
issue over the last several days. We need to speak a lot more about 
this crisis.
  Government-sponsored militias systematically attack African Muslim 
villages but leave Arab Muslim villages untouched. Government planes--
and these planes are Antinov planes. I do not know how many there are, 
but they are government-sponsored, government-owned planes that 
historically have bombed indiscriminately in the south. In fact, they 
have bombed the very church and hospital in southern Sudan where I go 
each year.
  These same planes seem to be bombing indiscriminately in this Darfur 
region, and these are government-owned planes. Crops are burned and 
wells are being poisoned, irrigation systems destroyed, houses are 
burned, and then the earth is left scorched and barren, and the 
population is being decimated.
  There is an estimated population of about 6.5 million people in 
Sudan, and as many as 2.2 million people have been directly affected by 
this crisis. More than 1 million people have become displaced.
  That is such a dry word. What does ``displaced'' mean? It means they 
had a home, and they had to leave that home and struggle to make their 
way in other regions, not having their occupation, their job, their 
land they tilled before. This is 1 million people.
  Mr. President, 158,000 people have fled to neighboring Chad, and more 
than 30,000 have lost their lives.
  The World Health Organization recently reported an alarming 
reemergence of polio in Darfur, a disease that has not been seen in 
years. Should polio get a foothold there this autumn, the polio high 
season will see thousands of children who could be struck, and that 
means struck with paralysis or even worse.
  At this point in time, we need to make sure--and it is our 
responsibility--that Khartoum understands there cannot be peace in the 
south at the same time they have an ongoing war--many people have used 
the word ``genocide''--in the west, which is where the Darfur region 
is. War anywhere in Sudan will lead to war everywhere.
  Khartoum agreed to a cease-fire on April 11. The cease-fire was 
renewed on May 22. This agreement committed Khartoum to disbanding the 
Jingaweit militias.
  The agreement included a protocol binding Khartoum to allow 
humanitarian access. Jingaweit militias continue to ravage the 
countryside while aid workers are turned away. Until we get aid workers 
in to deliver aid, to shine the spotlight, to report back on the 
travesty, I see no end to this problem, and that is where the 
international community must step up.
  Khartoum claims to have lifted travel restrictions but, at the same 
time, Khartoum still places obstacles to the delivery of aid. That aid, 
I am convinced, will flow if those channels are opened.
  Khartoum places difficulties on obtaining visas for relief personnel. 
Khartoum restricts the movement of relief workers within Darfur. 
Khartoum places obstacles to clearing relief supplies through customs. 
Khartoum interferes with relief workers seeking to protect civilians 
from harm.
  Khartoum's actions simply cannot be tolerated. Khartoum's actions 
will not be tolerated. The United States must respond. The world 
community must respond. We should continue to pressure Khartoum to see 
that the government will find itself increasingly isolated in the world 
community if it continues to block the delivery of aid and relief, and 
that is food and health care supplies.
  This administration has been working tirelessly over the last year to 
deliver aid to those in dire need in Darfur. Two more relief flights 
landed in Nyala last Saturday and Sunday, and a third flight was 
scheduled to land yesterday.
  Since February of last year, USAID has done other things. It has 
dispatched plastic sheeting to build shelters for more than 160,000 
people. It has provided 117,000 blankets, 2 water purification systems. 
The administration has provided 87,000 metric tons of food. The 
administration has devoted considerable resources and committed a great 
deal of political capital to assisting the southern Sudanese.
  President Bush has played an active role in the peace process. We 
have engaged the United Nations and will continue to do so, to pressure 
Khartoum into ending its support for the militias in Darfur, to assist 
in the delivery of aid, and to rally the international community to 
come to Sudan's assistance. It is our responsibility. We must do it.
  In closing, I do commend Senator Danforth for all of his work to help 
the people of Sudan. It has been tireless. It has been bold. He has 
done a superb job in the Senate and in all of his years of public 
service, especially in Sudan. I am delighted he has accepted and that 
we have approved his position at the United Nations. He is a great 
friend to us in the Senate and a great friend to the United States of 
America.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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