Where Do We Stand?

WHERE DO WE STAND? -- (House of Representatives - September 20, 2006)

Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to speak out of order.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from Texas is recognized for 5 minutes.

There was no objection.

Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise to remind my colleagues that Dr. King was right when he proclaimed that the measure of a person is not where a person stands in times of comfort and convenience, but, rather, where a person stands in times of challenge and controversy.

I have a question for my colleagues, Mr. Speaker. The question is: Where do we stand on one of the great challenges and controversies of our time? Where do we stand, Mr. Speaker, on the question of genocide in Darfur? A question that transcends race because there really is but one race, and that is the human race; a question that transcends gender because what is happening in Darfur is happening to persons of both genders. Where do we stand on one of the great questions, one of the great controversies of our day?

It has been said that hundreds of thousands have been killed. Nobody really knows how many; millions displaced, but nobody really knows how many. Where do we stand on this great challenge and controversy of our time?

I have been to Darfur. I was there in the month of August. I have seen the throngs of humanity living in huts made of straw, living on the ground and off of the land, persons living under conditions that we would not want animals and lower life forms to live under. I have seen these conditions. No running water, no electricity, no sanitation facilities. Where do we stand on one of the great challenges and controversies of our time?

I met with the general of the AU forces. He made it very clear that they were being outgunned, that they were being overpowered under certain circumstances, that they needed help, and he would welcome the presence of the U.N. forces. Where do we stand on one of the great challenges and controversies of our time?

We met with NGOs. They told us of how 11-year-old babies had been raped, and how the government would not allow an offense report to be filed. File an incident report, say that it happened, but don't give enough details so that a proper prosecution could take place. Where do we stand on one of the great challenges and controversies of our time?

I met with former rebel leaders who are now part of the government. They want the U.N. forces. They understand that genocide is still taking place in Darfur. They understand that unless we have outside intervention, it will continue. Where do we stand on this great challenge and controversy of our time?

A superpower has to have super vision. Where there is no vision, the people perish. And when a superpower doesn't have super vision, you have super deaths, super atrocities. Where do we stand on one of the great challenges of our time?

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Payne, members of the CBC, Leader Pelosi, we stand with the people of Darfur, the indigenous population. We stand for justice, for the least, the last and the lost. We stand for making sure that no decent, self-respecting company does business with Darfur. Any company that does business with Darfur commits a sin. This is one of the great tragedies of our time. We stand for standing against those businesses that are allowing this tragedy to continue, because if you do business with this country, you are doing business with those who are perpetrating genocide.

So, Mr. Speaker, I want you to know that there are good people in this House, and we are calling on people of goodwill to take a stand against one of the great challenges and controversies of our time.

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