[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 828-829]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       REPORT ON EVENTS IN SUDAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, this month we witnessed the signing of the 
peace agreement in Nairobi, Kenya, between the Government of Sudan and 
the Sudan People's Liberation Army. The signing of this agreement has 
ended Africa's longest running war, a brutal civil war that spanned 21 
years where 2 million people died. I congratulate the parties for 
reaching this agreement.

[[Page 829]]

  I also want to commend President Bush, Secretary of State Powell and 
his team, Ambassador Danforth and all the outside groups for their 
unrelenting efforts in the support of peace.
  I also want to commend all the countries that played a critical role 
in the peace, particularly Norway and Kenya. Now all parties have to 
live up to the agreement and begin the task of rebuilding the lives of 
millions of people.
  This would be a good time for the administration to appoint a strong 
acting ambassador to immediately go to Khartoum to help implement the 
peace agreement. This would not be to reward Khartoum, but to keep 
pressure on all parties to make sure the agreement sticks and to speak 
out on the issue of Darfur. There is nothing like being on the scene 
every day, all day. So much has gone into getting this agreement. We 
must do everything to make sure that it lasts.
  It is also important as we look forward that we do not forget the 
tragedy still unfolding in Sudan. As I speak, women continue to be 
raped, children die from hunger and disease, men continue to be 
murdered by the government-sponsored Janjaweed, and new attacks 
continue to be launched against defenseless villages.
  Many of these people have been huddled in camps for over a year. Put 
yourself in their shoes for a minute. You are uprooted from your home. 
You live in a refugee camp where conditions are terrible. You do not 
know if your family members are dead or alive. You are sick, weak, 
watching people die all around you from hunger and disease. Now picture 
you have been there for over a year.
  The tsunami in South Asia demonstrates how quickly and effectively 
the world can respond to such terrible disasters. Once again, we are 
reminded that the world has failed the people of Darfur. I commend the 
quick and generous response to the tsunami, but we must not only focus 
on disasters as they occur, but also to respond to disasters like in 
Darfur that have gone on for decades.
  The peace agreement between the north and south opens new doors for a 
comprehensive peace throughout the country; and Dr. John Garang, who 
will now be vice president of Sudan, has an opportunity to play a 
positive role and should go to Darfur to help bring about peace.
  I have strongly supported the United States commitment to the United 
Nations. Since I became chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, 
Justice, State, Judiciary and Related Agencies of the Committee on 
Appropriations, all U.S. assessments to the U.N. have been paid in 
full. But over the past year, we have seen the United Nations fight an 
uphill battle on Darfur. Resolution after resolution has failed to have 
any impact. At least two Security Council members, China and Russia, 
have threatened to veto strong resolutions from being passed.
  Secretary General Kofi Annan continues to report that the situation 
in Darfur continues to deteriorate and the Government of Sudan has 
violated the previous Security Council resolutions by failing to disarm 
and prosecute the Janjaweed.
  NGOs are leaving the region. Secretary General Annan has sent a 
Commission on Inquiry to Darfur to investigate if genocide has 
occurred, and he has the report in his hands as I speak. Most people 
believe there is genocide. But whether or not they use that term, it 
still is horrible what is taking place. And no matter what you call it, 
the facts remain, innocent civilians are systematically being murdered, 
raped and displaced; and the world has failed to stop it.
  It is time for the United Nations and the international community to 
respond in a meaningful way. I ask Secretary General Annan to go to 
Darfur to confirm with his own eyes that the situation has not 
improved. Then Secretary General Annan should make bold recommendations 
and call on the Security Council to immediately implement them, because 
a strong, meaningful resolution should be put forward and could make a 
difference.
  It is now time for Secretary General Annan to use his strong moral 
leadership. He is a Nobel Peace Prize recipient and surely the Security 
Council would take his recommendations. He should use his power and 
prestige to plead for the people of Darfur. And if the Security Council 
fails to take meaningful action, Secretary General Annan should resign 
in protest.
  I am not blaming Kofi Annan for Darfur. He does not control the 
Security Council. But I ask him to use his leadership to demand a new 
course of action from them. I believe these actions could turn the 
attention of the world back to what is taking place in Darfur.
  Resigning under protest is an act of great moral leadership, and this 
world would respect his actions. Great men in history have given up 
their posts to force change. In 1973 at the height of the Watergate 
scandal, President Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliott Richardson to 
fire the special prosecutor. He refused and resigned in protest and 
later got the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
  William Wilberforce, a member of the British Parliament, he could 
have been Prime Minister, but spoke out to abolish the slave trade, and 
gave up being Prime Minister of England. Anything Kofi Annan can do to 
get the world to focus on Darfur would be greatly admired.
  Mr. Speaker, if in the year 2005 the Security Council cannot deal 
with genocide, the raping of women and the systematic burning of 
villages now occurring, then I believe it is fair to ask, what purpose 
is the United Nations serving in the 21st century?
  Mr. Speaker, I close by adding that just yesterday the New York Times 
reported that villages continue to burn and that civilians are bearing 
the brunt of the violence in Darfur. Just last week fresh attacks 
killed over 100 people and drove thousands more from their homes.
  Where is the international community? Something needs to be done now.
  This past weekend I watched the movie ``Hotel Rwanda.'' I urge you 
all to go see it. It is a movie about how the world stood by as almost 
a million people were slaughtered in Rwanda. The lead actor, Don 
Cheadle is nominated for an Oscar and the movie is nominated as best 
original screen play.
  No one who sees that movie can leave not thinking about what is 
happening in Darfur. I end by asking the question . . . Who will play 
the leading role in Hotel Sudan?

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