Darfur Resolution
DARFUR RESOLUTION -- (House of Representatives - February 14, 2006)
02/14/06
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, this evening I introduced a bipartisan resolution expressing the disapproval of the Arab League's decision to hold its 2006 summit in Khartoum, Sudan. The resolution also calls on the Arab League, the government of Sudan, the Sudanese rebels and the world community to do all they can to end acts of genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.
Recently, the Arab League announced its decision to hold its annual summit in Khartoum. Doing so will only lend credibility to a country that is currently under sanction by the United States. The Sudanese government continues to allow acts of genocide to occur in the Darfur region and deliberately obstructs the African Union's ability to stabilize the region.
Mr. Speaker, the current situation in the Darfur region of Sudan is dire. The U.N. estimates that as many as 180,000 have died, many of starvation and disease, and up to 2 million have been displaced.
The Darfur conflict is an ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan, mainly between the Janjaweed, a government-supported militia recruited from local Arab tribes, and the non-Arab rebels in the region. The Janjaweed has been implicated in a campaign of murder, rape and intimidation sponsored by the government of Sudan.
Mr. Speaker, I do not need to remind this House of the horrors that we have turned a blind eye to in the past. The U.S. still will not recognize the Ottoman Empire's genocide of over a million Armenians from 1914 to 1921.
It took us far too long to join the fight against the systematic state-sponsored persecution and genocide of the Jews of Europe during World War II by Nazi Germany. And of course our shameful disregard for the 937,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus that died at the hands of organized bands of militias during the Rwandan genocide.
As the leader of the free world, we have a moral obligation to do all we can to stop genocide in all its forms. It was in 1998 when President Clinton said, and I quote, never again must we be shy in the face of evidence describing the failed U.S. response to the Rwandan genocide. Well, here we are, 8 years later, standing on the sidelines once again in the face of undisputable evidence.
So in light of the current situation, why would the Arab League decide to have their annual summit in Sudan? I understand that the site of the Arab League summit is determined by an alphabetical order rotation. However, genocide calls for more than business as usual, and that is the attitude that the Arab League is now using.
If there is one organization that has influence over the Sudanese government it is the Arab League. Member countries have a responsibility to rein in the Sudanese government and to do everything in their power to stop this genocide now.
I believe the Arab League's decision to hold this 2006 summit in Khartoum constitutes an economic and symbolic reward and could even encourage the government of Sudan to continue to allow acts of genocide and other mistreatment against the people of Darfur.
Mr. Speaker, the Arab League has a choice to make. Ignore a genocide and go forward with their planned summit or break the alphabetical tradition and send a message to Khartoum to do all it can to end the acts of genocide, to allow international peacekeepers to protect the innocent and to hold the Arab militia responsible for these acts accountable. This is an opportunity for the Arab League to lead. It is time for them to send the right message to the Sudanese government.
I would urge my colleagues to join my resolution. It is bipartisan, expressing disapproval of the Arab League's decision to hold its 2006 summit in Khartoum. It is time to send a strong message that the Sudanese government should be reprimanded, not rewarded for their support of genocide.
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