[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 17776-17777]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  0915
                          SOUTH SUDAN CONFLICT

  (Ms. LEE of California asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, December 15 will mark the 1-year 
anniversary of the conflict in South Sudan. Since fighting broke out 
last December, a humanitarian crisis has plagued this young nation. 
Almost 2 million people have been displaced, and an estimated 50,000 
civilian deaths have occurred. And the situation is only likely to get 
worse in the coming months.
  The United States has played a vital role in supporting an 
independent South Sudan, and we have a vital role moving forward to 
ensure that the conflict does not deteriorate.
  As we have seen in protracted crises around the world, such as in 
Sudan and

[[Page 17777]]

the Democratic Republic of Congo, the longer that a conflict continues 
and tears at the social fabric of a country, the more difficult 
reconciliation becomes.
  As cochairs of the bipartisan Caucus on Sudan and South Sudan, Mr. 
McCaul of Texas, Mr. Capuano of Massachusetts, and myself are urging 
Members to sign a letter with us to the administration requesting the 
President to increase his political and diplomatic efforts to help 
bring this conflict to an end and to prevent further bloodshed.
  With 1.5 million people experiencing food insecurity in South Sudan, 
now is the time to ensure that we use diplomacy to bring this crisis to 
an end. So we are asking you to join us in this effort because we must 
continue to work in a bipartisan way with the administration to 
increase our political and diplomatic efforts.

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