Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, let me salute the Senator from New Jersey, Mr. Corzine, as well as Senator Brownback, a Democrat and a Republican, one from the east coast and another from the Midwest, for bringing to the Senate floor today the issue of Darfur. They have been leaders in this issue. I can recall Senator Corzine as the first Member of the Senate standing up and making a point many months ago about the senseless killing going on in the Sudan and the fact that the United States could not turn a blind eye to this issue. He returned to the floor today with the same message. I commend him for his humanitarian commitment to the poor people who are losing their lives in this conflict.

A little over a week ago in Chicago, IL, we had the visit of a rather famous man. He was a man who none of us knew and, frankly, could not even pronounce his name. He came to tell a story. His name is Paul Rusesabagina. He is the manager of the hotel in Hotel Rwanda, which has become a very famous film. He had a luxury hotel in Rwanda in the midst of the terrible genocide. Because of his personal courage and the fact that he was willing to stand up, he saved over 1,200 lives of people who sought refuge in the hotel, who otherwise would have been hacked to death by machete during the Rwanda genocide. He came to Chicago, to St. Sabinas Church on the South Side, where Father Michael Flager was his host. He told the story of Rwanda. It wasn't just a reminiscence of history; he told us that we needed to look today to the genocides we face in the world. He pointed specifically to Darfur in Sudan.

He asked us what was asked of many during the Rwanda genocide: What will you do now that you know that innocent people are being killed by the hundreds of thousands? What will you do? Will you ignore it because it is so far away? Will you ignore it because it is Africa? Will you ignore it because it may call for sacrifice on the part of U.S. leadership?

It is a challenge he made to us, an interesting challenge from a man who literally risked his life to save others during a genocide. He asked us, in our comfort in America, whether we were willing to risk anything to save these victims in Darfur. He touched my soul, and I told him that when I get back to Washington, I will take to the floor of the Senate and raise this issue as often as I can. I will try everything I can find to move the United States into a stronger position of leadership.

Yesterday, President Bush invited about 20 leaders in Congress to the White House for a briefing on his trip to Europe. It was an excellent briefing. We were allowed to ask questions at the end. I asked the President, with Steven Hadley close at hand: What are we going to do about Darfur? Sadly, the response was what I have heard over and over again from so many different sources: We are going to count on the African Union, a group of soldiers from Africa who are moving into the region. How many soldiers are moving into this region where helpless people are being killed? Their best estimates are 3,000 soldiers. How big is this region? It is about the size of the State of Texas. How in the world can we expect to have an impact on this senseless killing?

That is why I am supporting this Darfur Accountability Act. This bill we are pushing seeks to prod the world to do what it needs to do to stop the genocide in Sudan. ``Genocide'' is a word this is rarely used in human history. There have been genocides against the Armenian people and the Jewish people during the Holocaust, perhaps in Pol Pot's times in Cambodia, and other times we can point to. Rarely do we use the word. It is a word that is freighted with responsibility. You cannot just say there is genocide in some part of the world and isn't that a shame. We signed a genocide treaty that said once we detect a genocide, we go to international organizations--the United States does--and demand action. So using the word ``genocide,'' as the Bush administration has done, is a good thing because it prods us to do something, but it is a challenge that we must meet on something this timely and important.

This act calls for the United States to call on the United Nations to immediately take action in Darfur. Some will say, well, that is pointless; Russia and China will veto that action in the Security Council. Regardless, we should force the issue to a vote. We should confront the Russians and the Chinese and ask them what they would do in light of this senseless killing.

The horrific stories keep piling up. The jingaweit, the armed militias, running amok in Darfur are killing innocent people right and left. Sudanese aircraft strafed a village in southern Darfur, killing more than 100 men, women, and children, in January, according to Human Rights Watch. The world has witnessed this in Darfur. We know it has happened. We must do something about it. That is why I join my colleague in this request that we take action now, move this Darfur Accountability Act, join Senator Corzine, join Senator Brownback, and make this happen.

Let me also say this. My closest friend in politics was Paul Simon, who preceded me in the Senate. He spoke out on the Rwandan genocide when very few did. He called on the Clinton administration to do something, and they did not. They look back now with sorrow and some shame that they did not. President Clinton has said that. We do not want to be in that same situation.

The United States should not be a guilty bystander in this genocide. We will be guilty if we do not act. We will be bystanders if we come up with excuses to do nothing. We need to take the risk to save these people, as Paul Rusesabagina did in Rwanda. We can step in today and save and protect innocent lives, call on the United Nations to act, and if they fail to act, take the next step, even if it involves commitments from the United States which may not be immediately popular.

I think the American people will understand. We are a compassionate, caring people who will not stand idly by in the face of a genocide as we did during Rwanda.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.

There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:

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