[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 4416]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       DARFUR: RETURNING TO HELL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, 3 months after the United Nations took 
over peacekeeping and joined forces with African Union peacekeepers, 
the situation in Darfur has entered a new and deadly phase of conflict. 
There has been an upsurge of violence in western Darfur, and the 
Sudanese government launched an offensive at the beginning of February. 
A number of villages have been bombed by government planes, and there 
have been ground attacks by the Sudanese army and its allies, the 
Janjaweed militias. According to the United Nations, more than 100 
people have been killed and thousands more left homeless.
  A March 12 article in the UK Independent describes recent events in 
Darfur as ``a return to hell,'' with another ``scorched earth policy'' 
being unleashed by the Sudanese government, reminiscent of the worst 
waves of government-backed violence 5 years ago, actions that led the 
United States to declare what was happening in Darfur as genocide.
  Darfur is home to the world's largest humanitarian operation, but the 
World Food Program reports that 45 of its trucks have been hijacked 
already this year. WFP now transports about half as much food into 
Darfur as it normally would.
  Tensions also run high between neighboring Chad and Sudan, and 
eastern Chad is receiving a new influx of refugees from Darfur at a 
time when Chad itself is facing instability and displacement.
  The new commander of the U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force said 
it would not be fully deployed until the end of this year, possibly not 
until the beginning of 2009. The peacekeeping mission, which is 
supposed to deploy 26,000 peacekeepers, currently has only about 9,000 
soldiers on the ground.
  The Sudanese government, President Al-Bashir, is defying the world. 
The government is blocking new deployments of U.N. peacekeepers at 
every turn, vetoing non-African troops, blocking supplies, and refusing 
to provide land for bases.
  But the international community is also to blame for the obstacles 
confronting the peacekeeping mission. Nations have failed to make good 
on their pledges of support, from soldiers to equipment to funds. The 
mission requires 18 troop-carrying helicopters and six armored attack 
helicopters. So far, they have none. U.N. officials say they could have 
responded to last month's attack if they had the right equipment.
  Mr. Speaker, why haven't the United States and our Western European 
allies provided these helicopters to the U.N.-AU peacekeeping mission? 
Why aren't we working collectively and with Russia and China to make 
sure this force has the helicopters, equipment, manpower and funding 
necessary to protect the people in Darfur and the refugees? Why hasn't 
the U.N. Security Council called an emergency session and targeted new 
sanctions at Sudan's highest officials, including President Bashir? Why 
isn't the international community working together to make sure 
peacekeeping missions are fully equipped and deployed to eastern Chad 
and the Central African Republic? Why haven't we lived up to our word 
to stop the genocide in Darfur?
  Mr. Speaker, words are not enough. It is action that is needed. And 
while we remain silent, while we refrain from taking action and 
fulfilling our promises, women and children are raped. Homes are being 
looted. Villages are being burned to the ground. People are dying of 
hunger and exposure.
  Darfur is returning to hell.

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