[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 10282-10290]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  CALLING ON THE LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE GENOCIDE IN 
                                 DARFUR

  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to 
the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 7) calling on the League of 
Arab States to acknowledge the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan 
and to step up their efforts to stop the genocide in Darfur, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
  The text of the concurrent resolution is as follows:

                             H. Con. Res. 7

       Whereas in July 2004, the House of Representatives and the 
     Senate declared that the atrocities in the Darfur region of 
     Sudan constitute genocide, and the Bush administration 
     reached the same conclusion in September 2004, when then 
     Secretary of State Colin Powell stated that ``the evidence 
     leads us to the conclusion that genocide has occurred and may 
     still be occurring in Darfur'';
       Whereas estimates indicate that 400,000 people may have 
     been killed by the Government of Sudan and its Janjaweed 
     allies since the crisis began in 2003, more than 2,000,000 
     people have been displaced from their homes, and more than 
     250,000 people from Darfur remain in refugee camps in Chad;
       Whereas the former United Nations Under-Secretary-General 
     for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland, in late August 2006 
     stated that ``[i]nsecurity is at its highest level since 
     2004, access at its lowest levels since that date, and we may 
     well be on the brink of a return to all-out war'';
       Whereas despite the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement 
     in May 2006, violence against civilians, peacekeepers, and 
     humanitarian workers continues unabated, including the 
     killing of an estimated 12 humanitarian workers and 16 
     African Union Mission in Sudan peacekeepers;
       Whereas in August 2006, the Government of Sudan began to 
     deploy thousands of government troops for a major offensive 
     in Darfur, once again threatening a major humanitarian 
     catastrophe and risking the safety and security of millions 
     of civilians;

[[Page 10283]]

       Whereas, according to the Government of Sudan's plan, in a 
     document submitted to the United Nations Secretary-General, 
     Kofi Annan, the Government of Sudan planned to deploy 
     approximately 26,500 additional troops and 7,050 additional 
     police to Darfur;
       Whereas the objectives of this deployment were ``to deal 
     with the threats posed by the activities of groups that have 
     rejected the Darfur Peace Agreement and to gain control over 
     the security situation and achieve stability in Darfur'';
       Whereas on August 31, 2006, the United Nations Security 
     Council passed Resolution 1706, expanding the mandate of the 
     United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) for the additional 
     deployment of 17,300 peacekeeping troops and 3,300 civilian 
     police personnel as well as 16 formed police units to Darfur;
       Whereas implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement 
     (CPA) between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's 
     Liberation Movement (SPLM) is slow, raising serious concern 
     about the commitment of the Government of Sudan to fulfill 
     its responsibilities;
       Whereas President Omar Hassan El-Bashir of Sudan rejected 
     the deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping force to 
     Darfur, even as First Vice President Salva Kiir publicly 
     stated his support for the deployment of a United Nations 
     peacekeeping mission to Darfur;
       Whereas in March 2006, at the Khartoum summit, Arab leaders 
     worked against a plan to transform the African Union Mission 
     in Sudan (AMIS) into a United Nations protection force with a 
     mandate to protect civilians;
       Whereas on August 20, 2006, in Cairo, Egypt, the League of 
     Arab States met and backed Sudan's refusal of a United 
     Nations peacekeeping force in the war-wracked Darfur region;
       Whereas in September 2006, a resolution passed by the 
     League of Arab States Council of Foreign Ministers called for 
     the United Nations Security Council to give the Sudanese 
     Government more time to implement its ``plan to improve 
     conditions and preserve security'' in Darfur;
       Whereas on November 30, 2006, the Peace and Security 
     Council of the African Union approved a decision to extend 
     the mandate of AMIS in Darfur through July 2007;
       Whereas, although the United Nations was authorized and 
     prepared to send peacekeeping forces to Darfur under United 
     Nations Security Council Resolution 1706 (2006), the League 
     of Arab States worked to obstruct the deployment of such 
     forces or had sought to reduce their mandate;
       Whereas the November 30, 2006, Abuja Communique of the 
     Peace and Security Council of the African Union endorsed the 
     deployment of a hybrid United Nations-African Union 
     peacekeeping force and stated the following:
       (1) The Special Representative shall be jointly appointed 
     by the Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union and 
     the Secretary-General of the United Nations, after 
     appropriate consultations as per the practice.
       (2) The Force Commander, who should be an African, shall be 
     appointed by the Chairperson of the Commission in 
     consultation with the Secretary-General of the United 
     Nations.
       (3) The Mission shall benefit from United Nations 
     backstopping and command and control structures and systems.
       (4) The size of the force shall be determined by the 
     African Union and the United Nations, taking into account all 
     relevant factors and the situation on the ground, as well as 
     the requirements for it to effectively discharge its mandate.
       Whereas in March 2007, ongoing negotiations between the 
     United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, and President 
     Omar Hassan El-Bashir of Sudan took place under the auspices 
     of the League of Arab States Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 
     and with the encouragement of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the 
     Secretary General of the League of Arab States;
       Whereas on April 16, 2007, Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam 
     Akol announced that Sudan fully accepts a ``heavy support'' 
     package from the United Nations, including significant 
     additional logistical and military support, which represents 
     the second phase of a three-step plan to create a hybrid 
     United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force of 
     approximately 17,000 troops and 3,000 police; and
       Whereas the support of the League of Arab States and each 
     Member State individually will be critical to end the 
     genocide in Darfur: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring),  That Congress--
       (1) strongly urges the League of Arab States and each 
     Member State individually to declare the systematic torture, 
     rape, and displacement of Darfurians a genocide;
       (2) strongly urges the League of Arab States and each 
     Member State individually to agree and pass a resolution at 
     their next meeting to support and accept a robust hybrid 
     United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force, as agreed to 
     by all parties to the Abuja Communique on November 30, 2006, 
     to enforce the ceasefire, protect civilians, and ensure 
     access to humanitarian assistance in Darfur; and
       (3) strongly urges the League of Arab States to continue to 
     work with the United Nations, the African Union and the 
     United States Presidential Special Envoy for Sudan, Andrew 
     Natsios, to bring about real and lasting peace and stability 
     in Darfur, the refugee camps, and along the Chadian border.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Ackerman) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this 
resolution, and yield myself as much time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, let me first thank the sponsor of this resolution, our 
friend and colleague from the Bay Area, Barbara Lee, for introducing 
this important measure. Let me also acknowledge the leadership on the 
Darfur issue of our distinguished majority leader, our friend and 
colleague, Steny Hoyer, who recently returned from a very important and 
timely mission to the region.
  Madam Speaker, we are still haunted by the echoes of the Holocaust, 
which Congress commemorated last week in the Capitol rotunda. The 
message from that horrific time is fresh in our minds as we consider 
another terrible genocide, the slaughter in the Darfur region of the 
Sudan.
  Despite that profound message, the international community has 
allowed as many as 450,000 people to be killed, by some estimates, in 
Darfur. The Sudanese Government has been allowed to perpetuate a 
shocking campaign of terror for too long. And complacent governments 
around the world have stood on the side lines for too long.
  So today, the question faces us, will we again fail to heed the 
message of the Holocaust? Will we allow Khartoum to keep terrorizing 
the impoverished and desperate minority there into extinction?
  Slight signs of progress have emerged over the past few weeks, even 
if it has come too late for the dead. The Sudanese Government agreed to 
let a 3,000 person strong United Nations peacekeeping force to enter 
the country and join the African Union troops already there. This is 
meant to be a stepping stone to a larger and more robust force.
  But the Sudanese Government made the decision under pressure and only 
after months of excruciating backtracking and delay. But the Sudanese 
Government has resisted the U.N.'s efforts to send 20,000 peacekeepers 
to Darfur. The U.N. has deemed this larger force necessary to protect 
civilians and to enforce a peace.
  I have no doubt that Khartoum will continue to play games until they 
once again feel the pain of international pressure. As we speak, the 
government there is deliberately intimidating aid workers in Darfur. 
Let me be clear: The difference between a small, targeted force and a 
very substantial deployment is no mere sticking point. It is absolutely 
essential.
  It is essential to stopping the Arab militias from continuing to 
carry out the government's dirty deeds. It is essential to clearing the 
path for crucial food and water and health supplies to reach the 
refugee camps. And it is essential because injustice is only really 
addressed when it is obliterated, not when it is slowed to a painful 
trickle of displacement, harassment and disrupted lives. We must have 
that bigger U.N. force in the Sudan.
  Now, finally, the international community has spoken with one voice. 
But more pressure needs to be applied. They cannot be allowed to slide 
backward this time.
  The resolution before the House today urges those who may have the 
most influence, the Arab League and

[[Page 10284]]

its member states, to take dramatic steps to help bring peace to 
Darfur.
  The resolution urges the Arab states to declare the systematic 
torture, rape and displacement of Darfurians a genocide, and to support 
and accept U.N. peacekeepers. It also urges the Arab League to work 
with the United Nations, the African Union and the United States 
Presidential Special Envoy for the Sudan, Andrew Natsios, to bring 
about peace and stability to Darfur, the refugee camps, and along the 
Chadian border.
  I believe it is the solemn duty of all who have said ``never again'' 
to speak out about genocide, especially this brutal one in Darfur. More 
importantly, I believe it is our duty in this Congress to do something 
about it without any delay.
  I ask all of our colleagues to vote for this important and timely 
resolution.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in very strong support of H. Con. Res. 7, and 
congratulate Congresswoman Jackson-Lee for authoring this important 
measure. It sends a very clear and nonambiguous message to the Arab 
League to recognize the killing fields of Darfur as ``genocide'' and to 
support the deployment of the hybrid U.N. peacekeeping force pursuant 
to U.N. Resolution 1706.
  It is timely that we consider this resolution today as leaders and 
activists around the world unite to raise awareness and urge action to 
stop the genocide during this week's Global Days for Darfur.
  Madam Speaker, no other people on Earth have suffered more than the 
people of Sudan. Tragically, they have been victimized by not one, but 
two genocides. In the south, over the course of 2 decades, some 2 
million people were murdered by the Khartoum regime, and only a robust 
peacemaking effort, backed by the military efforts on the ground by Dr. 
Garang, resulted in a comprehensive peace agreement that was very ably 
brokered by Senator Danforth as the Special Envoy appointed by 
President Bush. Indeed, President Bush, I think, made the crucial 
difference in bringing peace to southern Sudan.
  But just as that peace was breaking out, in February of 2003, 
hostilities began in Darfur, and now we have, regrettably, another 
genocide, in excess of 400,000 people dead and 2 million people 
displaced.
  Several months ago, Madam Speaker, I traveled to Darfur and met some 
of the heroic survivors of genocide at two camps, at Mukjar and at 
Kalma camp. When our old Soviet era helicopter landed at the remote 
Mukjar camp, thousands of women and children danced, clapped and sang 
beautiful traditional African songs. The people of Darfur, as we all 
know, have a remarkable generosity and spirit. And it was awe inspiring 
and heart breaking at the same time.

                              {time}  1045

  At first glance most of the people had a superficial glow of physical 
wellness, thanks in large part to the brave NGOs bearing food, 
clothing, shelter, and medicine. However, even those necessities are 
now at risk due to the insecurity in Darfur caused by a lack of 
protection of humanitarian aid workers.
  As the H. Con. Res. 7 points out, Khartoum is now targeting relief 
agencies and NGOs, and at least 12 humanitarian workers have been 
killed in Darfur.
  It profoundly troubles me, and troubled me especially on the trip, to 
look at the appalling fear and trepidation. It is ever-present. Trauma, 
posttraumatic stress disorder is everywhere. I spoke with many women 
who told me personal stories of rape, senseless beatings and massacres 
by the Janjaweed and the Sudanese militias. Among the refugees and 
IDPs, emotional woundedness and brokenness is everywhere. Like you and 
me, Madam Speaker, all that the wonderful people of Darfur really want 
is to love God and their families and their friends and to earn a 
living and to live in peace, and yet they have had atrocities imposed 
upon them that no human should have to bear.
  On that same trip, Madam Speaker, I also had a lengthy meeting with 
President Bashir at his presidential suite in Khartoum. All Bashir 
wanted to talk about was ending United States trade sanctions, not the 
horrific loss of life in Darfur. For me the exchange was eerily 
reminiscent of a conversation I had had in Serbia with the late 
Slobodan Milosevic after he invaded Croatia, then Bosnia, and unleashed 
the Balkan genocide. He too, like Bashir, was unmoved by the plight of 
suffering people.
  On October 5 of 2006, I wrote a letter, cosigned by 175 Members of 
Congress, to the Secretary General of The League of Arab States, asking 
him to use his authority to employ all diplomatic means available to 
encourage Bashir to halt Sudan's military offensive in North Darfur, to 
withdraw Sudanese troops from the area, and to reverse the Arab 
League's opposition to the U.N. deployment of peacekeepers. I believe, 
and this resolution makes absolutely clear, that the UN-AU hybrid force 
is today the best option to enforce a cease-fire, protect civilians, 
ensure access to humanitarian assistance, and begin the path to 
reconstruction and reconciliation in Darfur. We pointed out in the 
October letter that the collective voice of the Arab League could 
clearly help save thousands of lives and bring peace and security to 
Darfur. Right now they are part of the problem. It is time the Arab 
League became part of the solution.
  Finally, this legislation strongly urges the League of Arab States to 
declare that the systematic torture, rape, and displacement of 
Darfurians is a genocide, and strongly urges the Arab League to agree 
and pass a resolution to accept and support the U.N. peacekeepers, 
again, as the best option to enforce that cease-fire and to give the 
people of Darfur what they so desperately need: peace and 
reconciliation.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield 8\1/2\ minutes to the 
gentlewoman from California (Barbara Lee), member of the Committee on 
Appropriations and the main sponsor of this resolution now before us.
  Ms. LEE. Madam Speaker, let me thank the gentleman for yielding and 
for his leadership on so many issues relating to human rights and 
genocide and our foreign policy.
  I also want to thank Chairman Lantos. I want to thank Speaker Pelosi. 
I want to thank our majority leader, Mr. Hoyer, and I want to thank 
Congressman Don Payne, who for so long was the lone voice in the 
wilderness speaking out against the horrific genocide that is taking 
place in Darfur. Also I want to thank Congressman Smith and all of our 
Republican colleagues, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen; our staff, Joan 
Condon, Pearl Alice Marsh, Christos Tsentos, all of you who have not 
only worked so diligently with your expertise and your clarity but also 
because you all are committed to the work that we are doing to try to 
end this genocide.
  Let me thank our cosponsors of this resolution. We have over 115 
cosponsors, bipartisan cosponsors.
  This is a very important moment for this House of Representatives and 
for the world. Thirteen years ago the world did stand by as nearly 1 
million people were slaughtered in the genocide of Rwanda. The best our 
country could do then, the best we could do, was apologize, and that 
was after the fact. Many of us swore that another Rwanda would never 
happen again, would never take place on our watch. But, today, Madam 
Speaker, it is happening again.
  Nearly 3 years ago, on July 22, 2004, Congress formally declared that 
genocide was taking place in Darfur. Estimates indicate that nearly 
450,000 people now, 450,000 people, have been killed and 2.5 million 
innocent civilians have been displaced to this date. That is mind-
boggling.
  I witnessed this ongoing tragedy in January of 2005, when I first 
visited the refugee camps in Chad and in Darfur, led by another leader 
against this genocide, Congressman Ed Royce; also with two great 
humanitarian leaders,

[[Page 10285]]

Don Cheadle, Academy Award nominee for ``Hotel Rwanda''; and Paul 
Rusesabagina, who also is a hero who was in Rwanda and led many people 
out of that tragedy.
  In February 2006, once again under the leadership of our great 
Speaker, Speaker  Nancy Pelosi, I visited the refugee camps with a 
bipartisan delegation in Darfur. And just 2 weeks ago, we returned from 
Darfur again. This was my third visit, again a bipartisan congressional 
delegation under the leadership of our leader, our majority leader, 
Congressman Steny Hoyer.
  I say this to say that I have seen this now three times, this 
tragedy, and it is quickly, quickly, continuing to deteriorate very 
rapidly. More and more people are dying. Regardless of what you hear, 
we know that more and more people are dying. We heard now that 1,500 to 
2,000 a week are dying, and even humanitarian aid workers are at risk. 
Cars are being hijacked. The day before our delegation arrived, five 
African Union soldiers from Senegal were killed. They were killed. And 
the general, the head of the African Union, he begged us to send more 
peacekeepers. He begged us to send more logistical support and to help 
with what they need so that they can provide the civilian protection 
against this slaughter. Unfortunately, for many Darfurians, the 
situation is still very, very grim.
  As part of our visit this time, we also went to Egypt and met with 
President Mubarak. He indicated that Egypt had deployed 900 troops to 
help implement the comprehensive peace agreement in southern Sudan. 
Additionally, Egypt had sent about 150 military observers and police to 
Darfur and was supporting a field hospital that was serving 200,000 
people. These efforts are extremely, extremely important. But we urged 
him to do more and to use his influence with the Sudanese Government to 
help stop the atrocities.
  News reports last week indicate that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the 
League of Arab States and the United Nations were all instrumental in 
pressuring President Bashir of the Sudan to accept the second phase of 
the three-part agreement to implement an African Union-United Nations 
hybrid peacekeeping force. If true, this agreement to deploy the so-
called ``heavy support package'' would provide for an additional 3,000 
peacekeepers, helicopters, and significant logistical and military 
support for the hybrid force. But as the African Union told us, they 
need at least 22,000-plus troops.
  So whether or not we see this 3,000 force come into Darfur remains to 
be seen. Past experience has taught us that we can never take President 
Bashir at his word. News reports the very next day detailed a United 
Nations investigation that caught Khartoum disguising military supply 
planes in United Nations colors in order to supply weapons to their 
janjaweed allies.
  The international community and our friends in the League of Arab 
States cannot allow this sort of double-dealing to take place. We have 
all got to keep the pressure on Khartoum, and that is why we have got 
to pass this bipartisan resolution today.
  The thrust of this resolution is very simple. It calls on the League 
of Arab States and each member state to be our partners for peace by 
stepping up their efforts to end the genocide in Darfur. For too long 
the world has been silent in this struggle. I remember in my trips to 
Algeria, meeting with the President of Algeria, and a previous visit to 
Egypt several years ago that the government officials were very 
reluctant to call the ongoing atrocities in Darfur genocide, and some 
even denied that genocide was taking place. But we know that it is.
  Even just last week, Egypt expressed its opposition to further United 
Nations sanctions against Sudan, urging that we give President Bashir 
more time. More time for what? To allow more innocent people to get 
killed?
  While it appears today that in some cases those outlooks are changing 
of some of the Arab states, there is still much more that they can do 
and that we can do. We must demand that President Bashir follow through 
on the full deployment of the AU-UN hybrid force; and we must urge all 
parties, the rebels and the government, to end the violence and come to 
the table to negotiate a political solution. But we cannot and we 
should not hold a cease-fire declaration hostage to a peace agreement 
or vice versa. We cannot wait for a peace agreement to stop the 
slaughter. We must do both at the same time. And we must insist that 
Darfurians return to their homes, figure out a way so they can get home 
quickly to their villages and reclaim their lives.
  Our own efforts to stop this genocide must intensify also. We must 
pursue divestment to remove all United States funding from any business 
that is supporting the Sudanese Government and the ongoing genocide. 
And we have got to explore further sanctions and legislation that I 
know my colleague Congressman Don Payne is working on.
  Lastly, we must engage with the Chinese to leverage their influence 
on the Sudanese Government and help put a stop to this violence. As the 
principal buyer of oil from the Sudan, the Chinese have the ability to 
exert political and financial pressure on President Bashir. We need 
their help to end the genocide.
  I salute the faith community and our young people around the country 
who are organizing and speaking out and working day and night to end 
this genocide. This week they are conducting a series of ``Darfur 
Days'' as they continue to say ``not on our watch.'' We hope that our 
friends in the Arab world join these young people in saying not on 
their watch, never will this happen again.
  I just want to mention that our beloved colleague Congresswoman 
Juanita Millender-McDonald, who passed away this weekend, worked 
tirelessly to end this genocide in Darfur. So I am asking for a strong 
bipartisan vote on this resolution in her honor. And for the young 
people, the men and the women whom we have seen and whose lives we know 
have been destroyed, and for those who have died, let us say to the 
entire world and let us ask our partners for peace in the Arab world to 
end this genocide now.

                              {time}  1100

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the 
distinguished gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte).
  Mr. GOODLATTE. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this 
legislation.
  Earlier this month, I had the invaluable opportunity to travel to the 
war torn country of Sudan as part of a bipartisan congressional 
delegation led by our distinguished majority leader, Mr. Hoyer. We 
journeyed to the besieged African nation to meet with the government 
and humanitarian leaders to discuss issues related to the ongoing 
atrocities in Darfur. What I saw was horrendous, and I am pleased that 
we have once again joined together here in this Congress to call for an 
end to this genocide.
  The ongoing crisis in Darfur and western Sudan has led to a major 
humanitarian disaster. At the core of the current conflict is a 
struggle for control of political power and resources, with an 
estimated 1.9 million people displaced, and more than 213,000 people 
forced into neighboring Chad. Observers estimate that up to 450,000 
people have been killed over the course of this violence.
  It is deplorable that any government would use the systematic 
dislocation of its own people and the disease and starvation that 
inevitably follow as a weapon, not to mention the outright violence 
that the Government of Sudan has helped foster in Darfur. The situation 
there is clearly one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent times. 
As a Nation dedicated to freedom and the rights of the individual, we 
have a responsibility to speak out when those rights are violated, 
whether at home or abroad. This House has already taken action 
condemning the situation in Sudan, but still more must be done to end 
this humanitarian crisis. That is why I am joining with my colleagues 
in supporting this resolution.
  The resolution calls on the League of Arab States, Sudan's neighbors, 
to acknowledge the genocide in Darfur and step up their efforts to end 
this genocide. This crisis has cast an international spotlight on 
Darfur and the

[[Page 10286]]

region, and we must urge the Arab League to step up their efforts and 
join with the world in ending genocide.
  While I have never seen anything like what I saw in Darfur, the 
situation is not completely hopeless. The humanitarian assistance the 
United States is providing is helping millions of people in desperate 
circumstances, but we must continue using international sanctions to 
force access for additional peacekeeping and humanitarian missions in 
order to stabilize this volatile place and prevent further genocide.
  Madam Speaker, while I was in Darfur, we had the opportunity to visit 
the Alsalom Internally Displaced Persons Camp, where some 47,000 people 
live in the most humble of conditions, some in huts made of twigs 
barely the size of a pup tent, with perhaps a piece of cloth or plastic 
to provide some additional protection. This is one of a hundred such 
camps spread across Darfur containing nearly 2 million people.
  While there, we had the opportunity to meet some very wonderful and 
very desperate people. We had the opportunity to look into the eyes of 
children, children who have the same hopes and expectations that all 
young children have, and yet, as I stood there, I realized how 
uncertain their future was.
  As long as that condition exists, the United States must continue to 
be the leader in shining a spotlight on what is going on in Sudan and 
working together to bring an end to this atrocity, and to bring hope, 
real hope, to those children.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
New Jersey, Congressman Bill Pascrell, a member of the Committee on 
Ways and Means.
  Mr. PASCRELL. Madam Speaker, I rise to speak on an issue on which our 
Nation is united and the House is united, an issue upon which people 
from different political parties, people from all races and religious 
faiths agree upon, and that is the issue of Darfur. It should be a 
lesson for the rest of the day, what Ms. Lee and what Mr. Smith are 
doing here.
  So I stand today as a proud cosponsor of this legislation, the Darfur 
Partners for Peace for 2007. And I wish to thank both Congresswoman Lee 
and Congressman Smith, and all the rest who had anything to do with 
this, my good friend, Congressman Payne, your personal experiences are 
heart wrenching, and America is listening.
  America and much of the world stands united on the fact that more 
needs to be done to end the ongoing genocide in Darfur and finally 
address the dire humanitarian situation in the region. I have never 
seen an issue affect young Americans more than this issue on Darfur. We 
need to tap that. They are engaged.
  A few nations, including China, have stood in the way of applying 
real pressure to the Sudanese Government to allow a real U.N. 
peacekeeping force so that the people of Darfur can finally have a 
sense of security, like every human being desires.
  Among those who arguably have not done enough to end this horrendous 
genocide are the nations of the Arab League. I ask the Arab League to 
hear our voices, not only in Darfur, but also in the northern part of 
the continent, also in the Middle East. They must come forward and have 
the courage and the guts to speak up and do something.
  The bill before us today would call upon that league to recognize the 
conflict in Darfur as genocide, the past resolution supporting and 
accepting a robust hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping 
force, and to work with all the parties involved in the region.
  There can be no excuse for inaction. By most estimates, over 400,000 
people in Darfur have died, and an astounding 2.5 million people have 
been made into refugees, creating a humanitarian crisis of shocking 
proportions.
  Terror comes in many forms, none of which are convenient. Many worry 
that the relative inaction of the Arab League to this crisis is subject 
to fuel the following falsehoods:
  The fact is that this conflict is not about Muslims versus non-
Muslims because the people of Darfur are predominantly Muslim. This 
conflict is not about Arabs versus non-Arabs because the Arabs of 
Darfur have stood against the Sudanese Government's war.
  Quite simply, this conflict is about the Sudanese Government's 
attempt to subjugate and brutalize the innocent people of Darfur. 
President Bashir is not in denial. He is allowing the genocide.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may 
consume to the distinguished gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moran).
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. I appreciate the gentleman from New Jersey 
yielding time. He has been a leader on this and other issues for so 
long, and I am honored to be here with him here today.
  Madam Speaker, often on this floor, way too often from my 
perspective, we see a divisive, partisan discussion and debate. But, 
Madam Speaker, today we speak about an issue in which there is no 
partisanship and there is no political divide, and that, Madam Speaker, 
is what is transpiring and has transpired over the last several years 
in Darfur.
  We know that there have been 2 million citizens of Sudan who no 
longer live in their homes or villages. We know that there has been 
450,000 people killed in Sudan. It is something that demands our 
attention. It is something that we as Congress, we as a country, we as 
a world, must come together to bring the death and destruction, the 
inhumanity and the hunger and violence to an end.
  Madam Speaker, I had the opportunity several weeks ago to join the 
honorable majority leader (Mr. Hoyer), the distinguished majority 
leader of this House, along with the ranking Republican of the House 
Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, to visit Darfur. And 
there, of course, we had the opportunity to visit with government 
officials, as we in Congress often do. But we also had the opportunity 
to see for ourselves the conditions that human beings are living in 
today. And while I hope our meetings with government officials were 
useful, I know the view I saw, the scenes that were brought to my 
attention, the people of Darfur I met transcend any meeting I could 
have had with a government official to discuss what is going on. But it 
was an opportunity for me to see my life change as a human being, and 
to see that we all have a cause to see that life prevails and justice 
endures.
  Upon my return, Madam Speaker, last Tuesday I took the opportunity to 
visit the Holocaust Museum. That week was the Week of Remembrance of 
the Holocaust. And while there, I saw the quote from Isaiah, Isaiah 
43:10, ``You are my witness.'' Madam Speaker, that speaks to me and 
should speak to all of us. We are the witnesses of a holocaust today.
  Many Members of Congress, much more so than me and for much longer 
periods of time, have paid attention to this issue and have been trying 
to rise to the occasion and bring awareness to the world, and I commend 
those colleagues who have been outspoken on this issue for a long, long 
time, and today I join them.
  Recently, I returned back to the Holocaust Museum where President 
Bush spoke. He spoke certainly about the remembrance of the death and 
destruction of the Jewish community, the people of Jewish faith who 
have suffered, but he also brought home the importance of addressing 
genocide and death today.
  I commend the President for his demands that the Sudanese Government 
allow the African Union and the United Nations peacekeeping force, that 
they be allowed to reach out and be increased in their force, that they 
reach out to rebel leaders, that the Sudanese Government end its 
support for violent janjaweed militia and they permit humanitarian aid 
workers to do their work. President Bush outlined some steps that we as 
a country are willing to take and requests that we will make to the 
United Nations.
  Congress designated last week as The Days of Remembrance in order to 
commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. While at the Holocaust 
Museum,

[[Page 10287]]

I learned much about the reach of the Holocaust and saw the images of 
death and dehumanization.
  As I reflected upon the Jews' past and considered the future of 
African tribes in Darfur, I have a question to ask: Are we going to 
wait until the proportions of death are similar to the Holocaust before 
we take action?
  The part of the exhibit that moved me the most, Madam Speaker, was 
the list of 10,000 individuals who took action during the Holocaust. 
They have been identified by the Israelis as ``the Righteous Among the 
Nations,'' those who risked their lives to save innocent Jews during 
Nazi rule.
  When the conflict in Darfur has ended, everyone will feel sorrow for 
the unnecessary loss of life. But will our Nation be among those, will 
we, as individuals, be among those who feel shame for inaction, or will 
we have the opportunity to have pride for standing up for justice in 
Darfur?
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Illinois, the Honorable Bobby Rush, chairman of the Energy and Commerce 
Subcommittee on Commerce Trade and Consumer Protection.
  Mr. RUSH. I want to thank the gentleman for yielding, and I want to 
commend you and all the others, my colleague from California, my other 
colleagues and friends who have worked so tirelessly on this particular 
issue, and on other issues.
  Congresswoman Lee, you are an inspiration to all of us because of the 
stance that you take on these and other humanitarian issues.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today to show my strongest support for the 
Darfur Partners for Peace Act. We must continue to put pressure on the 
international community to intervene on behalf of the hundreds of 
thousands of men, women and children who are being brutally slaughtered 
even as we speak in the killing fields called Darfur. With over 2 
million people displaced, and more than 400,000 people murdered, we 
cannot allow the world to become numb to the tragedy that is taking 
place in the Sudan.
  Madam Speaker, after Rwanda we said ``Never again. Never again. Never 
again.'' Well, Madam Speaker, never is now. This is a genocide, and now 
is the time to act. Now is the time to speak out, and now is the time 
to stand up against this viciousness and cruelty.
  Madam Speaker, we can do no less than to use all of the resources, 
every resource at our command, every fiber in our body, every moral 
indignation that we can find in our humanity. We can do no less than to 
stand up now and to speak out against the killing of women, men and 
children in Darfur. Our future as a nation will be predicated on the 
issues and on how we react and stop this genocide.
  Madam Speaker, a year from now, 2 years from now, 10 years from now, 
20 years from now an apology should not be necessary and an apology 
should not be appropriate for this kind of tragedy. Never is now. Speak 
out now.

                              {time}  1115

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, to the Tenth District of Ohio, the 
Honorable Dennis J. Kucinich, chairman of the Oversight and Government 
Reform Subcommittee on Domestic Policy, I yield 1 minute.
  Mr. KUCINICH. I thank the gentleman.
  Madam Speaker, it has been long recognized that the Government of 
Sudan has tremendous responsibility to protect human rights and to 
maintain law and order. However, I would submit that the policies of 
the United States, since the Government of Sudan has said to be 
cooperating in the dubious war on terrorism, the Government of the 
United States has not been aggressive enough in causing Sudan to assert 
its responsibility for matters affecting Darfur in the first place.
  Furthermore, there has to be a commitment obtained by that government 
to, first of all, investigate any of the war crimes and to see them 
taken to the ICC.
  I think that it is imperative that this Congress not just pass this 
resolution but makes this the beginning of an ongoing effort to address 
the issues in Darfur.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, it is now my distinct honor to yield to 
the gentleman from Maryland, the distinguished majority leader of the 
House of Representatives, recently returned from leading the delegation 
in this House personally to see the suffering going on, Mr. Steny 
Hoyer.
  Mr. HOYER. I thank my friend Mr. Ackerman for yielding, and I thank 
him for his leadership and commitment for decades to issues of human 
rights, humanitarian concerns, and peace.
  I thank my friend Barbara Lee who has been such an extraordinary 
leader. She worked for a gentleman that is a great hero of mine, Ron 
Dellums, who, when he was on this floor raised his voice for peace, 
raised his voice on behalf of the dispossessed, raised his voice on 
behalf of those who were under attack. Barbara Lee has continued that 
very strong voice in representing that district. She is one of the 
experts in this House on issues relating to Africa, issues relating to 
AIDS, and on efforts to attain peace and securing this world for the 
citizens of this world.
  I am also, Madam Speaker, very pleased to join my friend Chris Smith. 
I had the privilege of cochairing the Helsinki Commission with Mr. 
Smith for a number of years and serving with him for 15 years on the 
Helsinki Commission before I became the minority whip and took leave 
from the commission. I want to thank him. Not only in a collegial sense 
does he participate in these matters, but probably as much as any 
Member in this House of the 435 and the literally, probably, 2,000 that 
he and I have served with over the years has personally, individually, 
gone to some of the most troubled spots in the world. No publicity, no 
large delegation, no Air Force plane; I am going to speak briefly about 
the fact that we were able, but on his own.
  He and Frank Wolf, two of our Members who have gone to people in 
trouble and at risk and taken their hand and heard their story and 
brought it back and exposed it to the light of day. I thank Mr. Smith 
for his leadership over the more than two decades, almost a quarter of 
a century that he and I have served together in this House.
  This is a serious issue.
  I want to congratulate Jerry Moran. Jerry Moran had not been on many 
codels or traveled. Barbara Lee came over to me as he was speaking and 
said he got the message.
  That is why we travel. Sometimes the public thinks that traveling is 
just a junket. Going to Darfur is no junket. Living in Darfur is much 
worse.
  When I determined that I was going to take a delegation overseas as 
my first trip as majority leader of this House, I thought that I wanted 
to go to someplace where it was important that we tell the world that 
we thought they ought to be paying attention to. The world has been 
paying attention to it, so many people have gone to Darfur. But we went 
to Darfur, 11 of us went to Darfur, myself, Barbara Lee from 
California, Jerry Moran from Kansas, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen as the ranking 
Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Greg Meeks from New York, 
Brad Miller from North Carolina, G.K. Butterfield from North Carolina, 
Bob Goodlatte from Virginia, Ray LaHood from Illinois, John Barrow from 
Georgia, and Jim Costa from California. A delegation of Democrats and 
Republicans who, when the plane took off from Andrews Air Force Base, 
flew not as Republicans or Democrats, but flew as Americans, flew as 
Americans who were concerned about humanitarian distress.
  Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from California, 
Congresswoman Lee, for her hard work in bringing this important 
bipartisan resolution to the floor this morning and for her dedicated 
leadership in focusing attention on the continuing genocide in the 
Darfur region of Sudan.
  Jerry Moran is correct; all of us know that we talk about never 
forgetting, but never forgetting is not enough. Remembering is the 
first step,

[[Page 10288]]

but acting is the absolutely essential step.
  Since 2003, more than 400,000 people have been killed in Darfur, and 
an estimated 2\1/2\ million people have been displaced, mothers, 
sisters, brothers, old and feebled, sick.
  Our delegation, as I know you have, Mr. Smith, Mr. Ackerman, I know 
you as well, have had the opportunity to visit in the camps, in the 
medical facilities, talked to the mothers, talked to the children. I 
talked to a grandmother who had been forced away from her home by 
somebody. Was it the government? Was it a rebel group? Was it simply a 
band of thieves and criminals? Whatever it was, she was homeless. Her 
family was dispossessed, and she had nowhere to go except a displaced 
person's camp. That calls out to us to us in this House, it calls out 
to everybody in this globe to respond in a positive way to relieve that 
suffering.
  The United Nations has identified the situation in Darfur as the 
worst current humanitarian and human rights crisis in the world. The 
United States calls it genocide.
  Simply stated, the international community must not turn a blind eye 
to the suffering of innocents as has happened far too often throughout 
human history.
  The international community's plaintive cry ``never again'' requires 
real collective action in Darfur now. There are people acting now, but 
they do not have enough help. This time we must prove that we mean it: 
Not now, never again.
  House Concurrent Resolution 7 has 115 cosponsors on both sides of the 
aisle, and it is my hope that it will get 433, we have two Members who 
are no longer with us, 433 votes. This is an important step in this 
cause.
  Congresswoman Lee's resolution calls on the League of Arab States to 
acknowledge the genocide in Darfur, to support and accept the United 
Nations peacekeepers as the best option to enforce a cease-fire, 
protect civilians, and ensure access for humanitarian workers, to work 
with the international community to bring about a lasting peace in 
Darfur.
  In fact, Madam Speaker, during the recent bipartisan congressional 
delegation that I have spoken of to Sudan, a codel which included, as I 
said, Congresswoman Lee and the others, we also went to Egypt. Egypt is 
one, of course, of the most important members of the arab League, the 
largest Arab state, an important member in the league. I have been told 
that President Mubarak, at our request when we met with him, followed 
up on his pledge to our delegation to reach out to Sudanese President 
Bashir who has, unfortunately and tragically, been part of the problem, 
not part of the solution, deemed by the international community as 
someone who has facilitated and, yes, even participated in the 
humanitarian crisis that exists. We urged his government and President 
Mubarak says that he has urged Bashir to accept and facilitate 
humanitarian workers' work, to make their visas acceptable, make their 
travel around the country easier. I also understand that Foreign 
Minister Gheit, with whom we met, is currently in Sudan, and it is my 
hope that he is delivering the same message that we spoke of.
  Now is not the time to offer a full report of our codel; however, I 
do want to briefly highlight the five specific steps that I believe 
must be taken in Darfur without delay.
  First, it is imperative that we continue to ensure humanitarian 
access in Darfur.
  Second, the international community must insist that the Bashir 
government accept more peacekeeping troops.
  Third, we must initiate a process by which a political solution 
between the warring factions can be reached.
  Fourth, we must make a stronger effort to engage Sudan's neighbors in 
the peace process, which was what this resolution is designed to do.
  And, fifth, we must work with the Sudanese Government to help forge a 
comprehensive plan for stability and reconstruction across the whole of 
the country. North Sudan was mentioned by my friend Bill Pascrell, as 
well as South Sudan which we visited.
  Madam Speaker, I again want to thank Congresswoman Lee, Congressman 
Ackerman, Congressman Smith, and all of our colleagues for this effort 
today. They continue to focus on Darfur. I urge all of my colleagues to 
unanimously support this very important resolution, a call to action, a 
call to humanitarian relief.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes.
  First, let me say to the distinguished majority leader, I want to 
thank him for his leadership on a broad range of human rights issues. 
And I think it speaks volumes that the first trip as majority leader 
that you put together was to Darfur to try to promote peace and 
reconciliation. So I very much want to commend you for that.
  I also thank you for your compliments to Frank Wolf and I; but I 
would add to that, when you talk about going to remote places, that 
also applies to you. I think Members should know that there were a 
number of trips that we undertook during the dark days of the Soviet 
Union when human rights were being crushed daily. I will never forget a 
trip we took to Lithuania, led by then Chairman Hoyer when Lansbergis, 
the President, was under siege, was literally surrounded by Soviet 
Black Berets. And we went there, to be a presence, to be a deterrent. 
Just prior to our arrival, more than a dozen people were murdered at TV 
tower, the gentleman will recall, but he nevertheless led our 
delegation to Vilnius and I do believe it had an impact in trying to 
mitigate further bloodshed. That's just one example. So I want to 
commend the distinguished majority leader for his leadership on Darfur.
  Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to Ms. Sheila Jackson-Lee.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I can rise enthusiastically to thank both 
Mr. Ackerman for managing this bill and his leadership and certainly 
sensitivity to these issues. I thank my good friend and colleague, 
Ranking Member Smith, who has much roadway in front of him and behind 
him on these issues dealing with human rights. I am very proud to be a 
strong member of the Human Rights Caucus that has worked consistently 
on addressing these issues. And, I thank my friend and colleague, 
Congresswoman Barbara Lee. We have worked on many, many issues 
together.
  I am reminded of our first Presidential congressional trip to Africa, 
three women who went to address then, some almost 10 years ago, the 
devastation of HIV/AIDS, and we have pursued these issues of 
empowerment.

                              {time}  1130

  There is no doubt, there is no quarreling with the fact that 450,000 
have died. The janjaweed is alive and well. It is important that 
Members of Congress have been to the Darfur region and the south.
  I am reminded of the time that I sat on the ground in Chad with 
refugees fleeing from the Sudan, and looked in the faces of women who 
had been brutalized and raped only because they left their village to 
get firewood to survive. That is what is going on today in 2007.
  I also remember the time I can say on the floor of the House that I 
was banished, and not as some Members have been over the years, given 
visas to enter into Darfur and had to be utilizing extraordinary means. 
This is inhuman. This is not civil. This is not a nation that is part 
of the world family.
  This resolution is very straightforward: Get your friends to talk to 
you about ensuring the United Nations can do its work. I ask that this 
resolution be supported so the raped women can have relief and 
response.
  Madam Speaker, the current crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan is of 
paramount importance. Although Americans may differ greatly on many 
issues, there is a widespread and broad-based consensus among Democrats 
and Republicans alike that the ongoing genocide in Darfur is 
intolerable and must be ended. Today we are presented with a great 
opportunity to work in a bipartisan fashion to achieve a humanitarian 
result in responding to the overwhelming suffering in Darfur.
  Not since the Rwandan genocide of 1994 has the world seen such a 
systematic campaign of displacement, starvation, rape, mass

[[Page 10289]]

murder, and terror as we are witnessing in Darfur for the last three 
years. At least 400,000 people have been killed; more than 2 million 
innocent civilians have been forced to flee their homes and now live in 
displaced-persons camps in Sudan or in refugee camps in neighboring 
Chad; and more than 3.5 million men, women, and children are completely 
reliant on international aid for survival.
  Unless the world stirs from its slumber and takes concerted and 
decisive action to relieve this suffering, the ongoing genocide in 
Darfur will stand as one of the blackest marks on humankind for 
centuries to come. The people of Darfur cannot wait. The time has come 
for decisive leadership from the United States.
  It has been more than 2 years since my colleagues and I in the 
Congressional Black Caucus Darfur Task Force met with Secretary Colin 
Powell. We pressed successfully for the Administration to declare that 
the campaign of ethnic cleansing and atrocities against civilians in 
Sudan is genocide. The atrocities are committed primarily by the 
government of Sudan and its allied Janjaweed militias.
  It has been more than a year since I flew to Chad, walked across the 
border to Sudan, and met with African Union troops who pleaded for more 
peacekeeping authority and the resources to protect the refugees from 
violence, rather than merely monitor it. After returning from that 
Congressional delegation, I worked with other Members of Congress to 
secure increased funding to aid the thousands of Sudanese displaced to 
refugee camps in Chad and to provide additional funding to assist Chad 
in responding to the humanitarian crisis.
  It has been almost two years since the UN Security Council adopted 
Resolution 1556 demanding that the government of Sudan disarm the 
Janjaweed. This demand was later followed by Resolution 1706, which 
authorizes a 20,000 strong U.N. peacekeeping force.
  It has been 9 months since the Darfur Peace Agreement was brokered in 
May 2006 between the government of Sudan and one faction of Darfur 
rebels.
  However, signs of progress have recently emerged, even if it has come 
too late for the dead. The Sudanese government agreed to let a 3,500-
person-strong United Nations peacekeeping force enter the country and 
join the African Union troops already there. It made the decision under 
pressure and only after months of unwarranted backtracking and delay.
  But the Sudanese government has resisted the U.N.'s efforts to send 
20,000 peacekeepers to Darfur. Let me be clear: the difference between 
a small, targeted force and a substantial deployment is no mere 
sticking point. It is absolutely essential.
  It is essential to stopping the Arab militias from continuing to 
perpetuate a genocide. It is essential to clearing the path for crucial 
food and water and health supplies to reach refugee camps. And it is 
essential because injustice is only really addressed when it is 
obliterated, not when it is slowed to an excruciating trickle of 
displacement, harassment, and disrupted lives. We must have that larger 
U.N. force in Sudan. The international community has spoken with one 
voice but more pressure needs to be applied on Khartoum.
  This resolution urges those who may have the most influence, the Arab 
League and its member states, to declare the systematic torture, rape, 
and displacement of Darfurians a genocide; to support and accept U.N. 
peacekeepers to enforce the ceasefire, protect civilians, and ensure 
access to humanitarian assistance in Darfur; and to work with the 
United Nations, the African Union and the United States Presidential 
Special Envoy for Sudan, Andrew Natsios, to bring about peace and 
stability to Darfur, the refugee camps, and along the Chadian border.
  H. Con. Res. 7 urges the League of Arab States to: (1) declare the 
systematic torture, rape, and displacement of Darfurians a genocide; 
(2) pass a resolution to support and accept U.N. peacekeepers to 
enforce the ceasefire, protect civilians, and ensure access to 
humanitarian assistance in Darfur; and (3) work with the United 
Nations, the African Union and the United States Presidential Special 
Envoy for Sudan, Andrew Natsios, to bring about peace and stability to 
Darfur, the refugee camps, and along the Chadian border.
  Nevertheless the violence continues; indeed, the violence is 
escalating. This violence is making it even more dangerous, if not 
impossible, for most of the millions of displaced persons to return to 
their homes and for humanitarian relief agencies to bring food and 
medical aid. According to Jan Egeland, the U.N.'s top humanitarian 
official, the situation in Darfur is ``going from real bad to 
catastrophic.''
  We have come full circle. Violence is increasing, peace treaties and 
resolutions are not being implemented, and action must be taken.
  We must increase pressure on Sudan President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of 
Sudan to allow in U.N. peacekeepers, or alternatively, a peacekeeping 
force of similar size comprised of Arab and Muslim troops under the 
auspices of the Arab League. As with any government, dialogue is the 
best way to attempt a solution to the issue at hand. However, previous 
engagements have too often yielded poor results--the government of 
Sudan has been all too willing to cooperate on the surface level by 
signing agreements and the like and all too willing to fail to 
implement them.
  In 1997, the Clinton Administration imposed trade and economic 
sanctions on Sudan, an approach which I feel is likely to yield the 
best results. However, sanctions imposed by a limited number of 
countries do not pressure the government of Sudan adequately enough. It 
must be noted that no just and lasting peace in Sudan can be achieved 
without the responsible intervention of China.
  For too long, China, which is Sudan's biggest oil consumer, has also 
served as Khartoum's enabler and protector by preventing the U.N. 
Security Council from imposing more serious sanctions on Sudan in 
response to the genocide and crimes against humanity committed in 
Darfur. As former Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick stated in a 
major policy speech on China a year ago: ``China should take more than 
oil from Sudan--it should take some responsibility for resolving 
Sudan's human crisis.'' It is my hope that China may be persuaded to 
provide the type of constructive leadership in Sudan befitting a great 
power.
  These are the kind of constructive efforts that I feel will best 
represent the interests of the people of Darfur to bring an end to this 
horrible crisis. I am in favor of deploying U.N. peacekeeping troops to 
the region, and the U.N. needs to move swiftly. In addition, any 
options regarding United States military intervention should be 
carefully considered and not ruled out.
  As we consider these options, Madam Speaker, I would like to remind 
you that it is not too early to begin the planning efforts needed to 
transform the Darfur region from a killing field to an economically, 
politically, and socially viable community. This work will, of course, 
require the active and purposeful engagement of the United States and 
other key stakeholders, such as China, and the Arab League.
  Finally, we must be bold and imaginative in fashioning a solution 
commensurate with the scale of the problem. The way to do that is to 
develop a Marshall Plan for the Sudan. But the United Nations, and the 
international community, must draw a line in the sand and act to stop 
the genocide in Darfur. The words of President Lincoln speak to us from 
the ages:

       [W]e cannot escape history. We, of this Congress and this 
     administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No 
     personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or 
     another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will 
     light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest 
     generation.

  It speaks volumes that H. Con. Res. 7 has 111 co-sponsors, and I urge 
all of my colleagues to support this resolution.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to 
yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Ackerman), and that 
he may control that time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. I thank the gentleman for accommodating our Members on 
the majority side.
  Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York 
(Ms. Clarke), the newest member of our delegation.
  Ms. CLARKE. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 7, 
a resolution offered by the gentlelady from California calling on the 
League of Arab States to recognize the genocide that is currently 
taking place in Darfur, Sudan. The facts regarding the situation on the 
ground are indisputable. The Government of Sudan, through its proxy 
militia, the janjaweed, have been launching a scorched earth campaign 
in Darfur. More than 400,000 people have been murdered, and more than 2 
million have been forcefully displaced.
  This resolution calls upon the League of Arab States to acknowledge 
the genocide in Darfur and to pressure the Sudanese Government to take 
steps to bring the killings to an end.
  The purpose of the League of Arab States is to coordinate the 
cultural and securities policies of its member states, of which Sudan 
is a member. If

[[Page 10290]]

genocide or any atrocity is taking place in one member state, the other 
member states have a duty to recognize and act to end it.
  Sudan has not moved to end the slaughter of its innocent civilians in 
Darfur. The international community, in particular the League of Arab 
States, must be united in its call for Sudan to end the genocide, stop 
the pillaging, stop the rape of women and girls, disarm the janjaweed 
and prosecute those responsible.
  Mr. SHAYS. Madam Speaker, I strongly support this resolution calling 
on the Arab League to acknowledge the genocide in the Darfur region of 
Sudan and to step up their efforts to end it. The world collectively 
agreed to ``never again'' allow genocide after the 1994 mass murders in 
Rwanda. Tragically, genocide is again taking place.
  The security, human rights and humanitarian situation in Darfur has 
continued to deteriorate since the Darfur Peace Agreement was signed in 
May 2006. Until a more effective U.N. peacekeeping force can be 
deployed to Sudan, we must continue to expand our support for the 
existing African Union forces on the ground in Darfur.
  It is also critical the international community begin implementing 
and expanding the reach of some of the measures that have already been 
agreed in the Security Council including targeted sanctions, asset 
freezes and travel bans for Sudanese government leaders.
  Unfortunately the concerns of the United States and many of our 
allies have fallen on deaf ears within the Sudanese government. It is 
especially difficult to convince a regime as callous and apathetic as 
Sudan of our determination to see the genocide end when other nations 
are not supporting our efforts. I am very concerned China, Russia and 
Arab League states have thwarted attempts to enact stronger sanctions 
and more quickly deploy international peacekeepers. There is a genocide 
occurring in Sudan, and all Nations are duty-bound to end it.
  In August of last year the Arab League supported Sudan's refusal of a 
U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur, and then passed a resolution calling 
for more time for the Sudanese government to improve conditions there. 
Madam Speaker, how much time should we give them? How many lives will 
be lost in the meantime?
  Stronger action to end the genocide must be swift and resolving this 
crisis must be one of our world's highest priorities. Having the 
assistance, or at least ending the willful neglect of the genocide by 
Sudan's Arab League neighbors, would be extremely helpful.
  I thank Congresswoman Barbara Lee, as well as other members who have 
championed this issue, including Frank Wolf and Tom Lantos, for 
bringing this important resolution to the floor, and urge its passage.
  Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I rise to support H. Con Res. 7, which 
strongly urges the League of Arab States to step up their diplomatic 
efforts to stop the genocide in Darfur. This resolution urges the 
League of Arab States and each individual Member State to:
  (1) Declare the systematic torture, rape, and displacement of the 
people of Darfur a genocide;
  (2) Pass a resolution at their next meeting to support and accept a 
United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force to enforce the 
ceasefire, protect civilians, and ensure access to humanitarian 
assistance in Darfur; and
  (3) Work with the United Nations, the African Union and the United 
States Presidential Special Envoy for Sudan, Andrew Natsios, to bring 
about real and lasting peace and stability in Darfur, the refugee 
camps, and along the Chadian border.
  On August 20 of last year, the League of Arab States met in Egypt and 
supported Sudan's refusal to allow a United Nations peacekeeping force 
in Darfur. The following month, the League of Arab States called for 
the United Nations Security Council to give the government of Sudan 
more time to improve security conditions in Darfur. By that time, it 
had already been estimated that over 450,000 people had died as a 
result of genocide in Darfur. Since then the death toll has continued 
to mount.
  Last year, I visited the Darfur region with my good friend, Speaker 
Nancy Pelosi, and I was deeply disturbed by what I saw. As far as the 
eyes could see, there were crowds of displaced people who had been 
driven from their homes, living literally on the ground with little 
tarps just covering them. It is unconscionable that this has been 
allowed to continue for yet another year.
  There can be no doubt that what is taking place in Darfur is 
genocide, and the government of Sudan is responsible. The League of 
Arab States should tell the government of Sudan that their time is up. 
I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this resolution, and I urge 
the League of Arab States to take a firm stand against the crime of 
genocide in Darfur.
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Con. 
Res. 7, which calls on the League of Arab States to acknowledge the 
genocide in Darfur and step up its effort to stop the genocide. I would 
like to thank my friend and colleague, Rep. Barbara Lee, for bringing 
this important resolution to the House floor.
  Since 2003, more than 400,000 people have been killed in Darfur and 
an estimated 2.5 million have been displaced. More than 3 million other 
Darfurians depend today on international aid for their survival. The 
United Nations has identified the situation in Darfur as the worst 
current humanitarian and human rights crisis in the world. The United 
States has officially labeled it genocide.
  As we learned last week on Holocaust Remembrance Day, the 
international community must not turn a blind eye to the suffering of 
innocents. When we say we must ``never forget,'' we must demonstrate 
that we mean it. H. Con. Res. 7, which has 115 co-sponsors on both 
sides of the aisle, is an important step in this cause.
  This important legislation calls on the League of Arab States to 
support and accept United Nations peacekeepers as the best option to 
enforce a cease-fire, protect civilians, and ensure access for 
humanitarian aid workers; and to work with the international community 
to bring about a lasting peace in Darfur.
  I hope that the Arab League will play a constructive role in ensuring 
humanitarian assistance in Darfur, insisting that the Bashir government 
accept more peacekeeping troops, and make a stronger effort to engage 
Sudan's neighbors in the peace process--which is what this Resolution 
is designed to do. Finally, the Arab League must work with the United 
States and the United Nations to work with the Sudanese government to 
help forge a comprehensive plan for stability and reconstruction across 
the whole of the country.
  I am proud to be a cosponsor of H. Con. Res. 7 and I hope all of my 
colleagues will lend it their support.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Ackerman) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 7, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will 
be postponed.

                          ____________________