[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 16 (Monday, April 23, 2007)]
[Pages 458-462]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

April 18, 2007

    Thank you all. Please be seated. Thank you all very much. I 
appreciate your hospitality, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much for the 
fine job you're doing. I am honored to have just taken a tour of this 
important museum with Sara Bloomfield, who arguably is one of the best 
museum directors in the country--[applause]--particularly if you can put 
up with the board of directors that I've named. [Laughter]
    I thank you all for serving. I appreciate you taking on this 
important assignment. For--my friends on the board will tell you that I 
hold the Holocaust Museum dear to

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my heart. You will hear me express my appreciation for the work that is 
being done here, and I mean it sincerely.
    I thank very much Elie Wiesel for joining us. He's a big figure in 
the life of the world, as he should be. He speaks with moral clarity. 
And I can't thank you enough for being a leader of talking about what is 
right. And I'm honored to be in your presence.
    I am traveling with some members of my administration, starting with 
the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. Thank you for being here. 
Presidential Special Envoy to Sudan, Andrew Natsios--thank you for 
coming, Andrew. And the newly minted--or newly sworn in U.N. Ambassador 
Zal Khalilzad--Mr. Ambassador, thanks for coming.
    I want to thank the Members of Congress who have joined us; 
appreciate you taking time. I thank the members of the diplomatic 
community who have joined us. I'm honored that you are here. I thank the 
survivors of the Holocaust who have graced us with your presence.
    We meet at a time of sorrow for our Nation. Our flags fly at half-
mast in memory of 32 souls whose lives were taken at Virginia Tech on 
Monday morning. That day we saw horror, but we also saw quiet acts of 
courage. We saw this courage in a teacher named Liviu Librescu. With the 
gunman set to enter his class, this brave professor blocked the door 
with his body while his students fled to safety. On the Day of 
Remembrance, this Holocaust survivor gave his own life so that others 
may live. And this morning we honor his memory, and we take strength 
from his example.
    This is a place devoted to memory. Inside this building are etched 
the words of the Prophet Isaiah: ``You are my witness.'' As part of this 
witness, these walls show how one of the world's most advanced nations 
embraced a policy aimed at the annihilation of the Jewish people. These 
walls help restore the humanity of the millions who were loaded into 
trains and murdered by men who considered themselves cultured. And these 
walls remind us that the Holocaust was not inevitable; it was allowed to 
gather strength and force only because of the world's weakness and 
appeasement in the face of evil.
    Today, we call what happened ``genocide,'' but when the Holocaust 
started, this word did not yet exist. In a 1941 radio address, Churchill 
spoke of the horrors the Nazis were visiting on innocent civilians in 
Russia. He said, ``We are in the presence of a crime without a name.'' 
It is an apt description of the evil that followed the swastika. Mankind 
had long experience with savagery and slaughter before. Yet in places 
such as Auschwitz and Dachau and Buchenwald, the world saw something new 
and terrible: the state-sanctioned extermination of a people, carried 
out with the chilling industrial efficiency of a so-called modern 
nation.
    Some may be tempted to ask: Why have a museum dedicated to such a 
dark subject? The men and women who built this museum will tell you: 
Because evil is not just a chapter in history; it is a reality in the 
human heart. So this museum serves as a living reminder of what happens 
when good and decent people avert their eyes from hatred and murder. It 
honors those who died by serving as the conscience for those who live. 
And it reminds us that the words ``never again'' do not refer to the 
past; they refer to the future.
    You who are survivors know why the Holocaust must be taught to every 
generation. You who lost your families to the gas chambers of Europe 
watch as Jewish cemeteries and synagogues across that continent are 
defaced and defiled. You who bear the tattoos of death camps hear the 
leader of Iran declare that the Holocaust is a myth. You who have found 
refuge in a Jewish homeland know that tyrants and terrorists have vowed 
to wipe it from the map. And you who have survived evil know that the 
only way to defeat it is to look it in the face and not back down.
    It is evil we are now seeing in Sudan--and we're not going to back 
down. For 22 years, Sudan was plagued by a civil war between the north 
and south that claimed more than 2 million lives. That war came to an 
end in January 2005, when Sudan's Government and rebels in the south 
signed a comprehensive peace agreement that the United States helped to 
broker. Under this historic accord, Sudan established a Government of 
National Unity that includes a First Vice President and other cabinet 
members from

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the country's south. It also established a government for Southern Sudan 
that the United States is providing with aid and other assistance.
    Unfortunately, just as peace was coming to the south, another 
conflict broke out in the west, where rebel groups in Darfur attacked 
government outposts. To fight this rebellion, the Government in Khartoum 
unleashed a horse-mounted militia called the Janjaweed, which carried 
out systematic assaults against innocent civilians.
    The human toll has been staggering. More than 200,000 people have 
died from the conflict or from malnutrition and disease that have spread 
in its wake. And more than 2 million people have been forced from their 
homes and villages into camps both inside and outside their country.
    Ending the violence in Darfur requires better security for the 
people of Darfur; it requires progress toward political reconciliation. 
Today, more than 7,000 African Union troops have been deployed to 
Darfur, and they serve courageously. The problem is, the area they 
patrol is the size of Texas--7,000 people is not enough to provide the 
security the people of Darfur need. Ultimately the violence will 
continue until Sudan's Government and the rebel groups reach a political 
settlement that includes traditional community leaders, representatives 
of civil society, and African and Arab tribes in the region.
    This museum cannot stop the violence, but through your good work, 
you're making it impossible for the world to turn a blind eye. Earlier I 
saw an exhibit that puts faces on the millions of men, women, and 
children who have been killed or driven into the desert. I also saw an 
interesting new venture that you've arranged with Google Earth. As a 
result of this partnership, millions of Internet users around the world 
will be able to zoom in and see satellite images of the burnt-out 
villages and mosques and schools. No one who sees these pictures can 
doubt that genocide is the only word for what is happening in Darfur and 
that we have a moral obligation to stop it.
    The United States is helping to lead the effort. Last May, I 
announced an agreement for Darfur that we helped broker between the 
Sudanese Government and the largest rebel group. It's a positive 
agreement. It gave us some sense of optimism that we could help stop the 
genocide. Under this agreement, Sudan's Government promised to disarm 
the Janjaweed and punish all those who violated the cease-fire. The main 
rebel group agreed to withdraw into specified areas.
    In August, the United Nations followed up this agreement with a new 
Security Council resolution. This resolution authorized the U.N. Mission 
in Sudan to extend its forces to Darfur and to transform the existing AU 
forces into a larger, better equipped U.N. peacekeeping mission. The 
U.N. recognized there were not enough forces in Darfur to bring security 
and peace.
    In November, the United Nations, the African Union, the EU, the Arab 
League, the Government of Sudan, the United States, and 12 other nations 
reached another important agreement at a meeting in Addis Ababa. This 
agreement strengthened the terms of the cease-fire. It reenergized the 
political process and called for the joint U.N.-AU peacekeeping force to 
go into action, a force that would be nearly three times the size of the 
existing AU force.
    These are all good agreements. They represent a clear path to end 
the conflict. And if implemented, they would allow the people of Darfur 
to return home to their villages safely, and begin to rebuild their 
lives in peace.
    Unfortunately, these agreements have been routinely violated. 
Sudan's Government has moved arms to Darfur, conducted bombing raids on 
villages. They've used military vehicles and aircraft that are painted 
white, which makes them look like those deployed by humanitarian 
agencies and peacekeeping forces.
    Many rebel groups have also pursued violence instead of peace. The 
groups who have not signed onto last May's peace accord have splintered, 
and they're roaming the Darfur's countryside pillaging and stealing at 
will. They have killed civilians. They've plundered vehicles and 
plundered supplies from international aid workers. They've added to the 
lawlessness. The Government in Khartoum has been able--unable to control 
the problem, and they made it even worse last fall

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with a failed military campaign designed to crush the groups.
    While there is now a temporary lull in the fighting between the 
government and militias and rebel groups, millions of displaced people 
remain highly vulnerable to attack. The increased lawlessness and 
instability has made it difficult for aid workers to deliver relief to 
those who need it--some organizations have been forced to evacuate their 
staff for safety reasons. Once again, the consequences are being borne 
by defenseless men, women, and children. That is the story being told 
here at the Holocaust Museum, and I appreciate what you're doing.
    The brutal treatment of innocent civilians in Darfur is 
unacceptable. It is unacceptable to me; it is unacceptable to Americans; 
it's unacceptable to the United Nations--at least that's what they've 
said. This status quo must not continue.
    Just this week, Sudan's Government reached an agreement with the 
United Nations to allow 3,000 U.N. troops and their equipment into the 
country to support the AU force. The world has heard these promises from 
Sudan before. President Bashir's record has been to promise cooperation 
while finding new ways to subvert and obstruct the U.N.'s efforts to 
bring peace to his country. The time for promises is over; President 
Bashir must act.
    The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, is now in 
discussions with President Bashir to get the Government of Sudan to meet 
all its commitments. President Bashir should take the last chance by 
responding to the Secretary-General's efforts--and to meet the just 
demands of the international community. He must follow through on the 
deployment of the U.N. support forces. He must allow the deployment of 
the full, joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force and take every 
necessary step to facilitate its deployment. He must end support for the 
Janjaweed. He must reach out to the rebel leaders and allow humanitarian 
aid to reach the people of Darfur. And he must stop his pattern of 
obstruction once and for all.
    I have made a decision to allow the Secretary-General more time to 
pursue his diplomacy. However, if President Bashir does not fulfill the 
steps I outlined above, in a short period of time, my administration 
will take the following steps.
    First, the Department of Treasury will tighten U.S. economic 
sanctions on Sudan. This new effort will allow the United States to 
enforce more aggressively existing sanctions against Sudan's Government 
by blocking any of its dollar transactions within the U.S. financial 
system. As part of this effort, the Treasury Department will add 29 
companies owned or controlled by the Government of Sudan to its list of 
Specially Designated Nationals. This designation will bar these 
companies from the U.S. financial system and make it a crime for U.S.--
American companies and individuals to willfully do business with them.
    Second, we will also target sanctions against individuals 
responsible for the violence. These sanctions will isolate designated 
individuals by cutting them off from the U.S. financial system, 
preventing them from doing business with any American citizen or 
company, and calling the world's attention to their crimes.
    Third, I will direct the Secretary of State to prepare a new United 
Nations Security Council resolution. This resolution will apply new 
sanctions against the Government of Sudan and against individuals found 
to be violating human rights or obstructing the peace process. It will 
impose an expanded embargo on arms sales to the Government of Sudan. It 
will prohibit Sudan's Government from conducting any offensive military 
flights over Darfur. It will strengthen our ability to monitor and 
report any violations. And in the next days, we will begin consulting 
with other Security Council members on the terms of such a resolution.
    If Sudan's obstruction continues despite these measures, we will 
also consider other options. Last week, I sent Deputy Secretary of State 
Negroponte to the region. He informed Sudan's Government and rebel 
groups that our patience is limited, that we care deeply about the human 
condition in Darfur, that it matters to the United States that people 
are suffering.
    I have spoken in the past about the need to end Sudan's use of 
military aircraft to attack innocent civilians. We're also are looking

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at what steps the international community could take to deny Sudan's 
Government the ability to fly its military aircraft over Darfur. And if 
we do not begin to see signs of good faith and commitments, we will hear 
calls for even sterner measures.
    The situation doesn't have to come to that. I urge the United 
Nations Security Council and the African Union and all members of the 
international community to stand behind the Addis Ababa framework and 
reject efforts to obstruct its implementation. The world needs to act. 
If President Bashir does not meet his obligations to the United States 
of America, we'll act.
    As we continue to pressure the Government of Sudan to meet its 
commitments, we will continue our engagement in support of the people of 
Darfur. My administration is increasing support for the Transitional 
Darfur Regional Authority. It's an interim authority designed to help 
the people of Darfur improve local government and build foundations for 
a healthy economy. We are increasing support for Sudan's First Vice 
President and the United Nations and African Union special envoys, who 
are working to bring the rebel groups together and get them to sign in 
to the peace process.
    We're continuing our humanitarian assistance to the people of 
Darfur. Since 2005, the United States has devoted more than $2 billion 
to humanitarian relief and development, and I thank the American people 
for their generosity. We'll continue to bring relief to the people of 
Darfur. We'll continue to insist that rebel groups and the Sudanese 
Government allow international workers to deliver this relief to the 
people who depend on it.
    All the people in this room and people in this country have a vital 
role to play. Everyone ought to raise their voice. We ought to continue 
to demand that the genocide in Sudan be stopped.
    During my tour of the Darfur exhibits this morning, I was shown a 
photo of a one-year-old girl who had been shot as her mother fled the 
Janjaweed. Although the mother had tried to protect her baby, it was to 
no avail. When the photo was taken, an observer nearby began to shout: 
``This is what they do! This is what happens here! Now you know! Now you 
see!''
    Thanks to the efforts of the people in this room, the world knows 
and the world sees. And now the world must act.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 10:32 a.m. In his remarks, he referred to 
Fred S. Zeidman, Chairman, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council; Sara J. 
Bloomfield, director, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum; Nobel Prize winner 
and author Elie Wiesel; President Mahmud Ahmadi-nejad of Iran; President 
Umar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir and First Vice President Salva Kiir Mayardit 
of Sudan; United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Darfur 
Jan Eliasson; and African Union Special Envoy for the Darfur Talks and 
Chief Mediator Salim Ahmed Salim.