Senate Resolution 455 -- Calling for Peace in Darfur

Floor Speech

SENATE RESOLUTION 455--CALLING FOR PEACE IN DARFUR -- (Senate - February 14, 2008)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, time and time again I have come to the floor to speak about the ongoing genocide in Darfur.

For more than 4 years the world has watched this humanitarian crisis unfold--thousands murdered, tortured, raped, and chased from their homes. Thousands more languishing year after year in refugee camps.

Many of us on both sides of the aisle have repeatedly called for greater U.S. and international action. President Bush has called the situation genocide and British Prime Minister Brown said ``Darfur is the greatest humanitarian crisis the world faces today.''

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has made ending the crisis in Darfur one of his top priorities.

Thirteen former world leaders and current activists--a group of ``Elders''--including former president Jimmy Carter, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, Bangladeshi microfinance champion Muhammed Yunus, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have called for the immediate deployment of a peacekeeping force to Darfur.

Here at home, thousands of students, churches, and other activists have helped raise awareness of the horrible human suffering in Darfur.

Such efforts led to an important vote last year by the U.N. Security Council to deploy 26,000 peacekeepers from the U.N. and African Union. This peacekeeping force would go to Darfur to halt the violence and create conditions for a long-term political settlement.

Late last year, Congress passed the Sudan Divestment and Accountability Act, which will help concerned Americans ensure that their investments do not support the murderous regime in Khartoum.

Yet, despite such overwhelming calls for action, the Sudanese government continues to brutalize its own people and thumb its nose at the international community.

Earlier this week Sudanese army and allied militia forces, with the help of helicopter gunships and planes, conducted yet another major assault in Darfur, burning villages, killing civilians, and forcing thousands more to flee into increasingly unstable Chad.

Equally troubling are blatant efforts by the Sudanese government to obstruct deployment of the peacekeeping force. For example, Sudan's leaders have balked at deployment of non-African forces. Last month government forces fired upon a peacekeeping convoy.

In recent months the regime has even appointed notorious figures complicit in the Darfur genocide to senior government positions. Two are wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

Incredibly, one such figure, Ahmed Haroun, was actually appointed to be Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, ostensibly to assist the very people he helped displace.

It is time to bring an end to the violence and set the conditions for a long-term political settlement.

Last week Senator Biden led a resolution that called on the President to immediately address any equipment shortcomings with the peacekeeping force.

I wholeheartedly agree.

The White House must not allow a modest shortage of equipment to prolong the suffering in Darfur.

Today I am introducing a resolution, along with Senators Biden, Brownback, Coleman, Feingold, Menendez, and Voinovich calling for an immediate halt to the violence and a commitment from all sides to participate in the next round of peace talks.

The resolution also calls upon the government of Sudan to facilitate the immediate and unfettered deployment of the U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force, including any and all non-African peacekeepers.

The resolution calls upon the diverse rebel movements to set aside their differences and work together in order to better represent the people of Darfur and end their continued suffering.

The resolution condemns any action by any party--government or rebel--that undermines or delays the peace process.

The resolution call upon the government of Sudan to enable humanitarian organizations to have full unfettered access to populations in need; and it calls upon all parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between North and South Sudan to support and respect all terms of the agreement.

We have allowed the humanitarian crisis in Darfur to continue for far too long. We have allowed a brutal regime to repeatedly obstruct and ignore the international community.

I call on my colleagues to join us as we call on the U.S. to put is full weight behind deployment of a peacekeeping force and pushing all sides toward a long-term political solution.

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