[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1542]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           DARFUR RESOLUTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, this evening I introduced a bipartisan 
resolution expressing the disapproval of the Arab League's decision to 
hold its 2006 summit in Khartoum, Sudan. The resolution also calls on 
the Arab League, the government of Sudan, the Sudanese rebels and the 
world community to do all they can to end acts of genocide in the 
Darfur region of Sudan.
  Recently, the Arab League announced its decision to hold its annual 
summit in Khartoum. Doing so will only lend credibility to a country 
that is currently under sanction by the United States. The Sudanese 
government continues to allow acts of genocide to occur in the Darfur 
region and deliberately obstructs the African Union's ability to 
stabilize the region.
  Mr. Speaker, the current situation in the Darfur region of Sudan is 
dire. The U.N. estimates that as many as 180,000 have died, many of 
starvation and disease, and up to 2 million have been displaced.
  The Darfur conflict is an ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of 
western Sudan, mainly between the Janjaweed, a government-supported 
militia recruited from local Arab tribes, and the non-Arab rebels in 
the region. The Janjaweed has been implicated in a campaign of murder, 
rape and intimidation sponsored by the government of Sudan.
  Mr. Speaker, I do not need to remind this House of the horrors that 
we have turned a blind eye to in the past. The U.S. still will not 
recognize the Ottoman Empire's genocide of over a million Armenians 
from 1914 to 1921.
  It took us far too long to join the fight against the systematic 
state-sponsored persecution and genocide of the Jews of Europe during 
World War II by Nazi Germany. And of course our shameful disregard for 
the 937,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus that died at the hands of 
organized bands of militias during the Rwandan genocide.
  As the leader of the free world, we have a moral obligation to do all 
we can to stop genocide in all its forms. It was in 1998 when President 
Clinton said, and I quote, never again must we be shy in the face of 
evidence describing the failed U.S. response to the Rwandan genocide. 
Well, here we are, 8 years later, standing on the sidelines once again 
in the face of undisputable evidence.
  So in light of the current situation, why would the Arab League 
decide to have their annual summit in Sudan? I understand that the site 
of the Arab League summit is determined by an alphabetical order 
rotation. However, genocide calls for more than business as usual, and 
that is the attitude that the Arab League is now using.
  If there is one organization that has influence over the Sudanese 
government it is the Arab League. Member countries have a 
responsibility to rein in the Sudanese government and to do everything 
in their power to stop this genocide now.
  I believe the Arab League's decision to hold this 2006 summit in 
Khartoum constitutes an economic and symbolic reward and could even 
encourage the government of Sudan to continue to allow acts of genocide 
and other mistreatment against the people of Darfur.
  Mr. Speaker, the Arab League has a choice to make. Ignore a genocide 
and go forward with their planned summit or break the alphabetical 
tradition and send a message to Khartoum to do all it can to end the 
acts of genocide, to allow international peacekeepers to protect the 
innocent and to hold the Arab militia responsible for these acts 
accountable. This is an opportunity for the Arab League to lead. It is 
time for them to send the right message to the Sudanese government.
  I would urge my colleagues to join my resolution. It is bipartisan, 
expressing disapproval of the Arab League's decision to hold its 2006 
summit in Khartoum. It is time to send a strong message that the 
Sudanese government should be reprimanded, not rewarded for their 
support of genocide.

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