[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 18793-18794]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 DARFUR

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to speak out of 
order for 5 minutes.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentlewoman from 
California is recognized for 5 minutes.

[[Page 18794]]

  There was no objection.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, how many times can people say, ``Never 
again,'' and then proceed to observe the systematic elimination of a 
people, of genocide? When it happened in Rwanda, we were shocked, 
horrified. While it was happening and after it happened, we all 
examined our consciences and said, how could we have let that happen? 
Never again. That had been said after Bosnia; of course, after the 
Holocaust, which was the ultimate, of course, genocide.
  So here we are with a very well-documented genocide where the people 
of the world are appalled by it. There is great sadness about the loss 
of life and displacement of people, much dismay about the fact that the 
humanitarian assistance cannot be delivered. In fact, some of the 
humanitarian deliverers of that aid are being killed in the Sudan and 
Darfur region now. And yet, for some reason, as a country, as a world, 
we seem incapable of taking the necessary action.
  I want to commend Donald Payne for his tremendous leadership on this 
important issue. With that leadership, some of us went to the Darfur 
region earlier in the spring of this year. We saw the children. The 
little ones still sort of had a bright spark in their eyes, the little 
babies, but as the children got a little bit older, you could see that 
pall come over them. They had seen too much, pillaging of villages, 
kidnapping of their fathers, and murder perhaps of their parents, the 
raping of their mothers; just unthinkable, unimaginable horrible acts 
of violence right in front of the children. And in their cases, some of 
them, too, were victims of the same atrocities that I just named.
  We had a great delegation. Congresswoman Barbara Lee was a very 
important part of it, and she brought her significant knowledge of 
Africa and of poverty and of divestment in her initiative to lead the 
divestment movement in this country, and I hope that in the Senate 
version of the Darfur Accountability Act that the divestment language 
will be as written by Congresswoman Barbara Lee.
  The chair of our Congressional Black Cause, Congressman Mel Watt, was 
on our trip. The chair of our caucus, Chairman Clyburn, Maxine Waters. 
It was a very distinguished delegation, and we went there with the idea 
that we would make a difference, that our voices would be heard with 
much greater authority when we came home.
  When we came home, we went to the United Nations and we met with Kofi 
Annan and said how urgent the situation was and that something had to 
be done, and we had hoped that it would be just a matter of weeks, that 
was in March, that something would be done. We met with the President 
of the United States and offered to work together on the issue of the 
resolving this terrible, terrible genocide in the Sudan.
  But the time has gone by. And we said at the time, we can't wait 6 
months. They said, well, we probably can't get a U.N. force in there 
until 6 months. And we said, no, we can't wait 6 months. These children 
will be gone by then.
  We were in a camp that had 100,000 people. These children, these 
beautiful little children, were living in huts that were made of just 
discarded materials. And I couldn't help but think that when we send 
our aid, whether it is grain or rice or whatever foodstuffs we send in 
those bags that say ``Made in the U.S.A.,'' you wouldn't have thought 
that you would see those same bags as huts. That is what people lived 
in, these bags draped over sticks.
  The conditions were unhealthy, contributed to the health problems and 
the loss of life. The situation was desperate. And still, 6 months 
later, we are still looking for the answer.
  Everybody bears a responsibility for this. The American people 
certainly care, and they have voiced their concern. College campuses 
across the country are the scene of rallies for Darfur. Central Park on 
Sunday and other places throughout the country, people turned out for 
Darfur. Here in Washington a few months ago, an incredible record-
breaking crowd came out. The Jewish community, God bless them, has 
taken the lead. Rabbi David Sapperstein and others have come together, 
brought the Jewish community to be a major part of this because they 
knew and they know what ``never again'' means.
  So let us, in making these statements that we are making tonight, be 
part of a resolve that this is a top priority for our country. Last 
week our delegation, we come together regularly to see how we are 
doing, where we can make a difference, where we go from here, we met 
with many of the humanitarian groups that minister to the needs of the 
people in the Darfur region. They told us that 14 humanitarian 
deliverers of aid had been killed, as I mentioned. They told us about 
the horrendous conditions and how it all worsened and how difficult it 
was to deliver the aid. And we promised them that we would make an even 
more concerted effort.
  So we wrote to the President, talked about the deteriorating 
situation in Darfur, and we did ask him to appoint a special envoy, and 
we are very pleased that he made that announcement at the U.N. this 
week and that there would be an extension, a request to the African 
Union to renew its mandate until a U.N. force can take over. And that 
seems to be the course of action that will be taken.
  It is not enough. The African Union force is doing a good job for the 
resources that they have, but they have no mobility, they have no 
charge to really keep the peace. But they are a presence and a 
respected one, and I admire the work that they are doing. But they 
can't do the job without funds, without mobility, the trucks, whatever, 
to move around quickly, because they are covering an area the size of 
Texas. This small band is covering an area the size of Texas. Mr. Green 
knows a lot about the size of Texas and the size of Darfur.
  We also want to be able to bring our delegation, our delegation was a 
bipartisan group, together hopefully to meet with the President to set 
some goals, state the resolve, get the job done.
  But this behavior that we saw in Darfur, the treatment of these 
people, was outside the circle of civilized human behavior.
  What we saw from the authorities in the Sudan was denial of what was 
happening in Darfur. So that makes the challenge even greater. But if 
our word is to mean anything and our credibility is to be intact, we 
can't really say never again when we see the horrors of a genocide and 
the look in the eyes of the children to whom we owe more.
  Many of us are very committed to our faith, whatever religion we 
espouse, and we are taught that we are all God's children and every 
person is made in the image and likeness of God and that we all carry a 
spark, a spark of divinity within us; and every person, therefore, is 
worthy of respect. I believe that is the case.
  So what is the justice in these children and their families being at 
the mercy of the brutality that is being exacted upon them, without the 
whole world not only saying it but acting upon the words ``never 
again.''
  So in that spirit I express my appreciation to Mr. Payne for his 
leadership. Nobody knows more on the subject, has more dedication, and 
has been more courageous in going into places that have been a danger 
to him personally in order to represent the American people with great 
distinction and effectiveness. I thank you, Mr. Payne, and look to you 
for your ongoing leadership on this important issue.

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