[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 22 (Monday, June 4, 2007)]
[Pages 689-691]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the Situation in Darfur, Sudan

May 29, 2007

    Good morning. For too long, the people of Darfur have suffered at 
the hands of a

[[Page 690]]

Government that is complicit in the bombing, murder, and rape of 
innocent civilians. My administration has called these actions by their 
rightful name: genocide. The world has a responsibility to help put an 
end to it.
    Last month, I announced that the United States was prepared to take 
new steps if the Government of Sudan did not allow the full deployment 
of a U.N. peacekeeping force, if the Government did not begin living up 
to its many commitments, that the United States would act. I made clear 
that the time for promises was over, and that President Bashir had to do 
something to end the suffering.
    I held off implementing these steps because the United Nations 
believed that President Bashir could meet his obligations to stop the 
killing and would meet his obligations to stop the killing. 
Unfortunately, he hasn't met those obligations. President Bashir's 
actions over the past few weeks follow a long pattern of promising 
cooperation while finding new methods for obstruction.
    One day after I spoke, the military bombed a meeting of rebel 
commanders designed to discuss a possible peace deal with the 
Government. In the following weeks, he used his army and Government-
sponsored militias to attack rebels and civilians in south Darfur. He's 
taken no steps to disarm these militias in the year since the Darfur 
Peace Agreement was signed. Senior officials continue to oppose the 
deployment of the U.N. peacekeeping force.
    The result is that the dire security situation on the ground in 
Darfur has not changed. And so today, at my instruction, the United 
States has taken the steps I announced in April.
    First, the Department of Treasury is tightening U.S. economic 
sanctions on Sudan. With this new effort, the United States will more 
aggressively enforce existing sanctions against Sudan's Government.
    As part of this effort, the Treasury Department will add 30 
companies owned or controlled by the Government of Sudan to its list of 
Specially Designated Nationals. We're also adding an additional company 
to the list, a company that has been transporting weapons to the 
Sudanese Government and militia forces in Darfur. All these companies 
are now barred from the U.S. financial system. It is a crime for 
American companies and individuals to knowingly do business with them.
    Second, we're targeting sanctions against individuals responsible 
for violence. These sanctions will isolate these persons by cutting them 
off from the U.S. financial system, barring them from doing business 
with any American citizen or company, and calling the world's attention 
to their crimes.
    Third, I'm directing the Secretary of State to consult with the 
United Kingdom and other allies on a new United Nations Security Council 
resolution. This resolution will apply new sanctions against the 
Government of Sudan, 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 the 
Sudanese Government from conducting any offensive military flights over 
Darfur. It will strengthen our ability to monitor and report any 
violations.
    At the same time, we will continue to push for U.N. support, 
including funding for the African Union peacekeepers, who remain the 
only force in Darfur that is protecting the people. We will continue to 
work for the deployment of a larger, hybrid force of AU and U.N. 
peacekeeping troops. We will continue to support the diplomacy of U.N. 
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. We will continue to insist on the full 
implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement. We will continue to 
promote a broadly supported and inclusive political settlement that is 
the only long-term solution to the crisis in Darfur.
    America's commitment is clear. Since this conflict began, we have 
provided more than $1.7 billion in humanitarian and peacekeeping 
assistance for Darfur. We are the world's largest single donor to the 
people of Darfur. We're working for the day when the families of this 
troubled region are allowed to return safely to their homes and rebuild 
their lives in peace.
    The people of Darfur are crying out for help, and they deserve it. I 
urge the United Nations Security Council, the African Union,

[[Page 691]]

and all members of the international community to reject any efforts to 
obstruct implementation of the agreements that would bring peace to 
Darfur and Sudan.
    I call on President Bashir to stop his obstruction and to allow the 
peacekeepers in and to end the campaign of violence that continues to 
target innocent men, women, and children. And I promise this to the 
people of Darfur: The United States will not avert our eyes from a 
crisis that challenges the conscience of the world.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 8:01 a.m. in the Diplomatic Reception Room 
at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to President Umar Hassan 
Ahmad al-Bashir of Sudan.