Calling on the President and International Community to Take Immediate Steps to Respond to and Prevent Rape and Sexual Violence Against Women...

Floor Speech

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Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of H. Res. 726, a bill responding to acts of rape and sexual violence in the Darfur conflict.

Rape and sexual violence are often used as weapons of war. It is estimated that between 20,000 and 50,000 women and girls were raped during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s; between 250,000 and 500,000 were raped during the genocide in Rwanda; and today, there are reports of wide and systematic rape and sexual assault of women and girls in the Darfur region.

The United States was the first government to refer to the killing in Darfur as genocide, but this has had little impact on ending the suffering. The suffering continues because the Sudanese government resists the efforts of the international community at every step and the Chinese government refuses to use its unique influence to force the Sudanese government to change its actions. In fact, China may even have prolonged the crisis by shielding Sudan against the collective efforts of the United Nations. The crisis is now in its 4th year with no end in sight and the suffering of men, women and children continues. That is why I am encouraging passage today of H. Res. 726.

H. Res. 726 requires the U.S. State Department and USAID to develop a women and girls Darfur initiative for the purpose of providing victims and potential victims of rape in Darfur, eastern Chad and the Central African Republic with much needed comprehensive and quality medical supplies and health services.

The bill also calls upon the Secretary General of the United Nations, the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, the African Union, the European Union, the Arab League and other nations to immediately take steps to ensure that a hybrid UN-African Union peacekeeping force is deployed that can properly protect women and girls from and respond to acts of rape and sexual violence.

We cannot stand still in the face of systematic and widespread rape in the Darfur region. The U.S. Congress has a moral obligation to reach out and do all it can to put an end to this tragedy. I strongly support this important piece of legislation and encourage my colleagues to do the same.

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