[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 15893-15894]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           GENOCIDE IN SUDAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, we have just had a very 
vigorous debate on the foreign policy of America. There are many issues 
that drew the attention of Members. Many of those issues centered 
around the issues of human rights and even genocide. But as we end this 
week I think it is important to remind Americans again that genocide 
does exist, and it is actively being implemented in the nation of Sudan 
in Africa.
  Many of us have been meeting over a series of days and weeks to find 
an immediate resolution to this horrible and horrific crisis. I am 
gratified that a resolution sponsored by the gentleman from New Jersey 
(Mr. Payne) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) have now been 
offered in the Senate by Senators Brownback and Corzine.

                              {time}  2300

  The other body is speaking, and we are likewise seeking an immediate 
response in the House. But even these actions are not enough, and I 
would hope next week that my colleagues would have the opportunity to 
vote on a resolution that declares that the government of Sudan is 
implementing and perpetrating genocide.
  What is the crux of the crisis, and why do I come to the floor of the 
House to continuously remind Members along with others who have been in 
the leadership role on this issue that we cannot forget? Why? Because 
just a few short years ago we are reminded of the million-plus that 
died in Rwanda while the world simply watched. So many of us have said, 
``Not on my clock.''
  With every fabric of our bodies, we are refusing to allow the 
murderous act of the Janjaweed in Sudan and the Khartoum government to 
continue without impunity. People are dying, and we must cease and have 
them cease and desist.
  Allow me to share some of the words of John Prendergast, who was 
formerly with African affairs in the Clinton administration and now 
with the International Crisis Group. He had a unique experience. Making 
note of the fact that many Members of Congress have gone to Sudan, 
others will be going. Secretary of State Powell has gone. Secretary 
General Kofi Annan has gone, but they along with others have been in 
areas controlled by the government. Mr. Prendergast was able to cross 
over to areas not controlled by the government, and this is what he 
saw.
  He said, ``Indeed, I saw numbing evidence of such a campaign in this 
Muslim region of Sudan which is populated by Arabs and non-Arabs. 
Burned villages confirmed harrowing stories we heard from Darfurians 
who were lucky enough to make it to the refugee camps in Chad. About 
1.5 million people have been left homeless and as many as 300,000 may 
be dead by year's end. In village after village that I visited, the 
painstakingly accumulated wealth of the non-Arab population of

[[Page 15894]]

Darfur, their livestock, their homes, their grain stock, have been 
destroyed in a matter of minutes. I was not prepared for the far more 
sinister scene that I encountered in a ravine deep in the Darfur 
desert. Bodies of young men were lined up in ditches, eerily preserved 
by the 130 degree desert heat. The story the rebels told us seemed 
plausible. The dead were civilians who had been marched up a hill and 
executed by the Arab-led government before its troops abandoned the 
area the previous month. The rebels assert that there were many, many 
other such scenes.''
  The government's deadly portfolio in Darfur already includes the 
wanton burning and bombing of villages, the raping of women and girls, 
and denial of humanitarian aid. We know this is government and this is 
Arab Muslims against non-Arab Muslims, black Africans.
  We realize that it is, plain and simple, genocide. And so we ask that 
there be more than tough talk. There has to be tough action. The United 
Nations Security Council must pass a resolution that has teeth. It must 
demand the immediate disarming of those Muslims or those Arab Muslims 
and others who are fostering this deadly attack on the black Muslims in 
Sudan.
  The settlement of the previous actions between the West should not 
counter what is going on here in Darfur. It is important to note that, 
though we are visiting camps and refugees, we must understand that 
there are areas that have not yet been viewed and violence continues. 
We must ensure that this resolution calls for peacekeeping troops, and 
we must ensure that the humanitarian aid begins to flow. We must 
protect the humanitarian workers. We must stop the raping and killing 
of women, young men and boys.
  We must have these individuals returned to their villages. They are 
frightened and refusing to return because they believe they will not be 
provided for. Hundreds of thousands of survivors have fallen through 
the cracks. Some of them say they are afraid to travel to government-
controlled camps and unable to make it to the border. They are running 
out of food.
  We can imagine 300,000 today; 400,000 tomorrow; 500,000 next month; 
and a million in a couple of months.
  Mr. Speaker, this is now a crisis beyond our appreciation, 
apprehension, and maybe even recognition. But we do have a backdrop to 
compare this to. We have the deadly silence of Rwanda. The 
speechlessness, the wonderment of what to do.
  We can do something now. We look forward, hopefully, with great hope, 
meeting with the administration to craft out the advocacy before the 
United Nations Security Council and all nations that sit on the 
Security Council, that have the privilege of sitting. None of them will 
be given a pass on this vote. They must join with us who believe in a 
civilized world to stamp out the genocide occurring in Sudan. We must 
do it now. The resolution must be passed, and we must stand up and send 
in the kind of help to provide the safety necessary to protect the 
people in Sudan.

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