Bipartisan Senators Urge President To Highlight Ongoing Violence In South Sudan On Upcoming Visit To Africa

Press Release

A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators today called on President Barack Obama to use his upcoming visit to Africa to highlight the tragic ongoing violence in South Sudan. In a letter led by U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Ben Cardin (D-MD), the senators underscored the need for the Administration to address the regional divisions responsible for human suffering on a horrific scale.

The letter was signed by U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), John Barrasso (R-WY), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Tom Udall (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Jim Risch (R-ID), and Mark Warner (D-VA).

"South Sudan's independence brought the hope that the long running and bloody conflict between the Sudanese government in the north and its population in the south would finally come to an end," the senators wrote. "Yet, a reckless power struggle between the nation's leaders and nefarious meddling by Sudanese President and wanted international war criminal Omar al-Bashir have inflamed old ethnic tensions, stymied South Sudan's development potential, and ignited horrific human suffering. Your visit provides a timely moment to bring the region's focus and American leadership forward for a resolution to the South Sudan civil war and an end to the violence in Darfur and the Nuba Mountain area."

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