The Crisis in the Sudan

THE CRISIS IN THE SUDAN -- (House of Representatives - July 21, 2004)

(Ms. SCHAKOWSKY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor today with a sense of urgency to call on my colleagues to act now, before we adjourn, upon the crisis that is developing more and worsening every day in the Sudan.

Over 1 million Sudanese have been displaced and 30,000 have been killed so far in Darfur, and we understand that a minimum of 1,000 people a day are dying, being killed. Women and girls are being systematically raped and brutalized by thugs who have been reported to sing with glee as they inflict pain and humiliation beyond belief.

I stand here today not only as a Member of the United States House of Representatives but as a Jew, as part of a people who are still haunted by the killing of 6 million during World War II, while there were people in the world who knew what was happening, and as a grandmother who does not want to face my grandchildren who say to me, Grandma, you were in the Congress when people were killed in a genocide in the Sudan, what did you do. That is a question we all have to ask ourselves.

We should pass a resolution today before we leave this Congress that we will act, not just talk about it.