The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“SUDAN PEACE ACT” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H7102-H7109 on Oct. 7, 2002.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SUDAN PEACE ACT
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5531) to facilitate famine relief efforts and a comprehensive solution to the war in Sudan, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 5531
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Sudan Peace Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Government of Sudan has intensified its prosecution of the war against areas outside of its control, which has already cost more than 2,000,000 lives and has displaced more than 4,000,000 people.
(2) A viable, comprehensive, and internationally sponsored peace process, protected from manipulation, presents the best chance for a permanent resolution of the war, protection of human rights, and a self-sustaining Sudan.
(3) Continued strengthening and reform of humanitarian relief operations in Sudan is an essential element in the effort to bring an end to the war.
(4) Continued leadership by the United States is critical.
(5) Regardless of the future political status of the areas of Sudan outside of the control of the Government of Sudan, the absence of credible civil authority and institutions is a major impediment to achieving self-sustenance by the Sudanese people and to meaningful progress toward a viable peace process. It is critical that credible civil authority and institutions play an important role in the reconstruction of post-war Sudan.
(6) Through the manipulation of traditional rivalries among peoples in areas outside of its full control, the Government of Sudan has used divide-and-conquer techniques effectively to subjugate its population. However, internationally sponsored reconciliation efforts have played a critical role in reducing human suffering and the effectiveness of this tactic.
(7) The Government of Sudan utilizes and organizes militias, Popular Defense Forces, and other irregular units for raiding and enslaving parties in areas outside of the control of the Government of Sudan in an effort to disrupt severely the ability of the populations in those areas to sustain themselves. The tactic helps minimize the Government of Sudan's accountability internationally.
(8) The Government of Sudan has repeatedly stated that it intends to use the expected proceeds from future oil sales to increase the tempo and lethality of the war against the areas outside of its control.
(9) By regularly banning air transport relief flights by the United Nations relief operation OLS, the Government of Sudan has been able to manipulate the receipt of food aid by the Sudanese people from the United States and other donor countries as a devastating weapon of war in the ongoing effort by the Government of Sudan to starve targeted groups and subdue areas of Sudan outside of the Government's control.
(10) The acts of the Government of Sudan, including the acts described in this section, constitute genocide as defined by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (78 U.N.T.S. 277).
(11) The efforts of the United States and other donors in delivering relief and assistance through means outside of OLS have played a critical role in addressing the deficiencies in OLS and offset the Government of Sudan's manipulation of food donations to advantage in the civil war in Sudan.
(12) While the immediate needs of selected areas in Sudan facing starvation have been addressed in the near term, the population in areas of Sudan outside of the control of the Government of Sudan are still in danger of extreme disruption of their ability to sustain themselves.
(13) The Nuba Mountains and many areas in Bahr al Ghazal and the Upper Nile and the Blue Nile regions have been excluded completely from relief distribution by OLS, consequently placing their populations at increased risk of famine.
(14) At a cost which has sometimes exceeded $1,000,000 per day, and with a primary focus on providing only for the immediate food needs of the recipients, the current international relief operations are neither sustainable nor desirable in the long term.
(15) The ability of populations to defend themselves against attack in areas outside of the control of the Government of Sudan has been severely compromised by the disengagement of the front-line states of Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Uganda, fostering the belief among officials of the Government of Sudan that success on the battlefield can be achieved.
(16) The United States should use all means of pressure available to facilitate a comprehensive solution to the war in Sudan, including--
(A) the multilateralization of economic and diplomatic tools to compel the Government of Sudan to enter into a good faith peace process;
(B) the support or creation of viable democratic civil authority and institutions in areas of Sudan outside of government control;
(C) continued active support of people-to-people reconciliation mechanisms and efforts in areas outside of government control;
(D) the strengthening of the mechanisms to provide humanitarian relief to those areas; and
(E) cooperation among the trading partners of the United States and within multilateral institutions toward those ends.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
(2) Government of sudan.--The term ``Government of Sudan'' means the National Islamic Front government in Khartoum, Sudan.
(3) OLS.--The term ``OLS'' means the United Nations relief operation carried out by UNICEF, the World Food Program, and participating relief organizations known as ``Operation Lifeline Sudan''.
SEC. 4. CONDEMNATION OF SLAVERY, OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES,
AND TACTICS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF SUDAN.
The Congress hereby--
(1) condemns--
(A) violations of human rights on all sides of the conflict in Sudan;
(B) the Government of Sudan's overall human rights record, with regard to both the prosecution of the war and the denial of basic human and political rights to all Sudanese;
(C) the ongoing slave trade in Sudan and the role of the Government of Sudan in abetting and tolerating the practice;
(D) the Government of Sudan's use and organization of
``murahalliin'' or ``mujahadeen'', Popular Defense Forces, and regular Sudanese Army units into organized and coordinated raiding and slaving parties in Bahr al Ghazal, the Nuba Mountains, and the Upper Nile and the Blue Nile regions; and
(E) aerial bombardment of civilian targets that is sponsored by the Government of Sudan; and
(2) recognizes that, along with selective bans on air transport relief flights by the Government of Sudan, the use of raiding and slaving parties is a tool for creating food shortages and is used as a systematic means to destroy the societies, culture, and economies of the Dinka, Nuer, and Nuba peoples in a policy of low-intensity ethnic cleansing.
SEC. 5. ASSISTANCE FOR PEACE AND DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE.
(a) Assistance to Sudan.--The President is authorized to provide increased assistance to the areas of Sudan that are not controlled by the Government of Sudan to prepare the population for peace and democratic governance, including support for civil administration, communications infrastructure, education, health, and agriculture.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the President to carry out the activities described in subsection (a) of this section $100,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2003, 2004, and 2005.
(2) Availability.-- Amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations under paragraph (1) of this subsection are authorized to remain available until expended.
SEC. 6. SUPPORT FOR AN INTERNATIONALLY SANCTIONED PEACE
PROCESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress hereby--
(1) recognizes that--
(A) a single, viable internationally and regionally sanctioned peace process holds the greatest opportunity to promote a negotiated, peaceful settlement to the war in Sudan; and
(B) resolution to the conflict in Sudan is best made through a peace process based on the Declaration of Principles reached in Nairobi, Kenya, on July 20, 1994, and on the Machakos Protocol in July 2002; and
(2) commends the efforts of Special Presidential Envoy, Senator Danforth and his team in working to assist the parties to the conflict in Sudan in finding a just, permanent peace to the conflict in Sudan.
(b) Measures of Certain Conditions Not Met.--
(1) Presidential determination.--
(A) The President shall make a determination and certify in writing to the appropriate congressional committees within 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, and each 6 months thereafter, that the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement are negotiating in good faith and that negotiations should continue.
(B) If, under subparagraph (A) the President determines and certifies in writing to the appropriate congressional committees that the Government of Sudan has not engaged in good faith negotiations to achieve a permanent, just, and equitable peace agreement, or has unreasonably interfered with humanitarian efforts, then the President, after consultation with the Congress, shall implement the measures set forth in paragraph (2).
(C) If, under paragraph (A) the President determines and certifies in writing to the appropriate congressional committees that the Sudan People's Liberation Movement has not engaged in good faith negotiations to achieve a permanent, just, and equitable peace agreement, then paragraph (2) shall not apply to the Government of Sudan.
(D) If the President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that the Government of Sudan is not in compliance with the terms of a permanent peace agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, then the President, after consultation with the Congress, shall implement the measures set forth in paragraph (2).
(E) If, at any time after the President has made a certification under subparagraph (B), the President makes a determination and certifies in writing to the appropriate congressional committees that the Government of Sudan has resumed good faith negotiations, or makes a determination and certifies in writing to the appropriate congressional committees that the Government of Sudan is in compliance with a peace agreement, then paragraph (2) shall not apply to the Government of Sudan.
(2) Measures in support of the peace process.--Subject to the provisions of paragraph (1), the President--
(A) shall, through the Secretary of the Treasury, instruct the United States executive directors to each international financial institution to continue to vote against and actively oppose any extension by the respective institution of any loan, credit, or guarantee to the Government of Sudan;
(B) should consider downgrading or suspending diplomatic relations between the United States and the Government of Sudan;
(C) shall take all necessary and appropriate steps, including through multilateral efforts, to deny the Government of Sudan access to oil revenues to ensure that the Government of Sudan neither directly nor indirectly utilizes any oil revenues to purchase or acquire military equipment or to finance any military activities; and
(D) shall seek a United Nations Security Council Resolution to impose an arms embargo on the Government of Sudan.
(c) Report on the Status of Negotiations.--If, at any time after the President has made a certification under subsection
(b)(1)(A), the Government of Sudan discontinues negotiations with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement for a 14-day period, then the President shall submit a quarterly report to the appropriate congressional committees on the status of the peace process until negotiations resume.
(d) Report on United States Opposition To Financing by International Financial Institutions.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall submit a semiannual report to the appropriate congressional committees describing the steps taken by the United States to oppose the extension of a loan, credit, or guarantee if, after the Secretary of the Treasury gives the instructions described in subsection (b)(2)(A), such financing is extended.
(e) Report on Efforts To Deny Oil Revenues.--Not later than 45 days after the President takes an action under subsection
(b)(2)(C), the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a comprehensive plan for implementing the actions described in such subsection.
(f) Definition.--In this section, the term ``international financial institution'' means the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Development Association, the International Monetary Fund, the African Development Bank, and the African Development Fund.
SEC. 7. MULTILATERAL PRESSURE ON COMBATANTS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the United Nations should help facilitate peace and recovery in Sudan;
(2) the President, acting through the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, should seek to end the veto power of the Government of Sudan over the plans by OLS for air transport relief flights and, by doing so, to end the manipulation of the delivery of relief supplies to the advantage of the Government of Sudan on the battlefield; and
(3) the President should take appropriate measures, including the implementation of recommendations of the International Eminent Persons Commission contained in the report issued on May 22, 2002, to end slavery and aerial bombardment of civilians by the Government of Sudan.
SEC. 8. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.
Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall prepare and submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report regarding the conflict in Sudan. Such report shall include--
(1) a description of the sources and current status of Sudan's financing and construction of infrastructure and pipelines for oil exploitation, the effects of such financing and construction on the inhabitants of the regions in which the oil fields are located, and the ability of the Government of Sudan to finance the war in Sudan with the proceeds of the oil exploitation;
(2) a description of the extent to which that financing was secured in the United States or with involvement of United States citizens;
(3) the best estimates of the extent of aerial bombardment by the Government of Sudan, including targets, frequency, and best estimates of damage; and
(4) a description of the extent to which humanitarian relief has been obstructed or manipulated by the Government of Sudan or other forces.
SEC. 9. CONTINUED USE OF NON-OLS ORGANIZATIONS FOR RELIEF
EFFORTS.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress that the President should continue to increase the use of non-OLS agencies in the distribution of relief supplies in southern Sudan.
(b) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a detailed report describing the progress made toward carrying out subsection
(a).
SEC. 10. CONTINGENCY PLAN FOR ANY BAN ON AIR TRANSPORT RELIEF
FLIGHTS.
(a) Plan.--The President shall develop a contingency plan to provide, outside the auspices of the United Nations if necessary, the greatest possible amount of United States Government and privately donated relief to all affected areas in Sudan, including the Nuba Mountains and the Upper Nile and the Blue Nile regions, in the event that the Government of Sudan imposes a total, partial, or incremental ban on OLS air transport relief flights.
(b) Reprogramming Authority.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in carrying out the plan developed under subsection (a), the President may reprogram up to 100 percent of the funds available for support of OLS operations for the purposes of the plan.
SEC. 11. INVESTIGATION OF WAR CRIMES.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall collect information about incidents which may constitute crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes, and other violations of international humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict in Sudan, including slavery, rape, and aerial bombardment of civilian targets.
(b) Report.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall prepare and submit to the appropriate congressional committees a detailed report on the information that the Secretary of State has collected under subsection
(a) and any findings or determinations made by the Secretary on the basis of that information. The report under this subsection may be submitted as part of the report required under section 8.
(c) Consultations With Other Departments.--In preparing the report required by this section, the Secretary of State shall consult and coordinate with all other Government officials who have information necessary to complete the report. Nothing contained in this section shall require the disclosure, on a classified or unclassified basis, of information that would jeopardize sensitive sources and methods or other vital national security interests.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith).
General Leave
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 5531.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from New Jersey?
There was no objection.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in very strong support of the Sudan Peace Act, and I want to especially thank the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo) for introducing this very worthwhile legislation.
This bill represents an important cause with strong bipartisan backing. I am particularly grateful to the original cosponsors that include the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus), the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Pence), the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), who chairs the Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fattah), the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey), and I myself am one of co-sponsors as well.
Mr. Speaker, the nation of Sudan is located in the far eastern corner of Africa. The National Islamic Front is the governing power, albeit a brutal dictatorship, in Sudan's capital city of Khartoum.
In November of 2001, President Bush renewed U.S. bilateral sanctions on the government of Sudan. According to the State Department, the Government of Sudan remains a designated state-sponsor of terrorist organizations around the world today. This government is an Islamic extremist government that has dedicated itself and its regime to manifesting a jihad, or holy war, even against its own citizens.
The war struggles in the southern part of that country have touched the hearts of many Americans in a nationwide grassroots effort to raise awareness about the suffering in Sudan. The Human Rights Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Church Alliance of a New Sudan, the Holocaust Museum's Committee on Conscience, the Commission on International Religious Freedom, and the NAACP are among the countless individuals and organizations across this country who give this cause the profile and attention that it deserves.
Sudan civil war, Mr. Speaker, has been waged in the south for more than 4 decades. More than 2 million people have been killed, men, women, and children, to war-related causes and to famine. Four million people have been forced from their homes into temporary shelters. The conflict is Africa's oldest war, born from such complex causes as religion, ethnicity, national identity, and economic disparity.
Religion is a major factor because of the Islamic fundamentalist regimes and agenda of the current government, dominated by mostly Muslims from the Arab north. The National Islamic Fronts Government's practice of holy war is reflected in attacks on civilians in the south. Southerners who are Christian and animist reject the Islamization of their country and favor a secular government that respects fundamental religious freedoms.
Widespread institutionalization of the holy war has resulted in the practice of slavery and the mass dislocation of people in the south. I would just note parenthetically back in 1995, I chaired the first hearing ever on slavery in the Sudan, and at the time we were met with a number of skeptics and disbelievers who did not believe that shadow slavery continued to this day.
Captured slaves are reportedly forced to attended Koranic schools, and we heard that at that hearing then and it continues to this day. They need to change their names as part of this dehumanizing process. They are indoctrinated at times to fight against their own people. Harsh beatings and torture are a reality.
Some of the witnesses we heard of including mothers who saw their sons literally stolen from them, kidnapped and forced into slavery, their daughters as well. It was a horrifying hearing, and we heard about these cases year in and year out as we tried to bring attention to this horrible practice of slavery.
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Sudan has one of the worst human rights records in the world. The United States has repeatedly condemned the government of Khartoum for its abhorrent violations of human rights. According to the 2001 State Department Human Rights Report, there were accounts that during raids on civilian settlements, government allied militias abducted persons, particularly women and children. According to the 2002 ``Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,'' children from Christian and other non-Muslim families have been captured, enslaved, and forced to convert to Islam.
Some people in government-controlled peace camps for the internally displaced persons, IDD, were reportedly subjected to forced labor and at times pressured to convert to Islam.
The Sudanese Government has increased oil mining in areas inhabited by the southern Sudanese, thereby forcibly displacing the people to finance a more lethal and offensive war. I would point out to my colleagues that oil has been facilitating this war, and we have got to be very clear that any way that we help or enable the production of oil in the Sudan means that more innocent people will lose their lives.
Mr. Speaker, I would point out to my colleagues, as well, that Talisman Oil, and there has been a nationwide campaign, I am happy to say, about this, to divest State pensions and other pensions from the holdings of this company, a Canadian company which again has helped to facilitate this horrific war in Sudan.
My own State of New Jersey, to its credit, divested itself from many, many shares of Talisman Oil that it owned; and thankfully other States and municipalities and governments have followed suit.
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Sudan has continued to manipulate to its everlasting shame humanitarian relief efforts of the United Nations-led Operation Lifeline Sudan. In the past 14 years and as recently as September 27 of this year, the regime of the National Islamic Front has imposed flight bans on emergency humanitarian aid to starving civilians. In other words, by having that veto power, they have ensured that more innocent people have died a cruel death from starvation or from lack of medicines.
Many nations, Mr. Speaker, have tried and failed to end this civil war in Sudan. In 1994 heads of state from the frontline states of Ethiopia, Kenya, Eritrea, and Uganda formed a mediation committee under the auspices of the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development. This committee established the Declaration of Principles governing the peace process since 1994. The continuing contrast between word and deed underlines the importance of today's consideration of the Sudan Peace Act. The aerial bombing of civilian targets continues to this day.
The Government of Sudan continues to abandon the peace process at critical stages. As recently as July 2002, the Government of Sudan reached a peace agreement with the opposition forces, known as the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, in Kenya. The United States and its European allies worked with IDAG countries to mediate the agreement. On September 1 of this year, the Government of Sudan abandoned the agreement.
Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues of both parties to support this important measure.
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The Sudan Peace Act condemns the violation of human rights on both sides and denounces the government of Sudan for using food as a weapon of war. It recognizes the important interests of the United States in remaining a key player in the peace settlement among the warring parties. Secretary Powell has described Sudan as the tragedy that would command his full attention, and he has tried his best in this effort.
The bill establishes clear policy guidelines in support of the peace process by directing the U.S. to use all means to pressure and to force the government of Sudan to negotiate in good faith and to use all diplomatic and economic sanctions to further this goal.
The measure directs the President to develop a contingency plan for relief delivery if the government of Sudan imposes further bans on Operation Lifeline Sudan and to their relief transports. It provides the President with authority to reprogram all of the OLS designated funds, if necessary.
The bill authorizes $100 million in humanitarian assistance for each fiscal year of 2003, 2004 and 2005 to prepare the populations in opposition-controlled areas of Sudan for peace and democratic governance.
In sum, the Sudan Peace Act will give the administration some guidance in the peace efforts while leaving enough flexibility to lead the foreign affairs of the nation.
Mr. Speaker, the manager's amendment contains a few modifications, including an emphasis in the findings that credible civil authority institutions play an important role in the reconstruction of postwar Sudan and then a few other minor changes in the text of the bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. WATSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume, and I rise in strong support of this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I would first like to thank the Chairman and the ranking Democratic Member of the Committee on International Relations for this important piece of legislation. This bill will increase pressure on the government of Sudan to end its egregious 19-year war against civilians in the south and west of that country.
The road to peace in Sudan is a very troubled one. Just a month ago, the Sudanese government walked away from the Machakos peace negotiations in Kenya. It also resumed bombings of civilian targets and imposed a ban on all flights carrying humanitarian assistance to southern Sudan and its estimated 5 million people.
We are relieved to learn that, as a result of vigorous international pressure, over the past few weeks the Sudanese government has lifted bans on humanitarian flights and is now rejoining the Sudanese people's liberation movement at the Machakos peace negotiations.
Mr. Speaker, this bill supports the Machakos peace process and authorizes $3 million per year for 3 years to help create institutions of peace and democratic governance in the areas not controlled by the government. This includes support for civil administration, communications infrastructure, education, health and agriculture.
The bill also requires that the President certify within 6 months of the passage of this bill and every 6 months afterwards that the parties are negotiating in good faith towards a durable and lasting peace.
If the President certifies that the government is the obstacle to peace, he is instructed to seek a U.N. Security Council resolution to impose an arms embargo on the Sudanese government. He must also instruct the U.S. executive directors to each internal financial institution to continue to vote against any loans, credits or guarantees to the government. If the Sudanese people's liberation movement is found acting in good faith, the President will pursue no actions against the government.
Mr. Speaker, this bill sends a clear message to the world and Sudan that the United States stands on the side of peace in Sudan. It also underscores our commitment to ending the human suffering that is there by securing a just and peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), who chairs the Subcommittee on Africa of the Committee on International Relations.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the vice chairman for yielding me some time; and I rise also in support of this legislation. As has been mentioned, this bill differs from the one that the House of Representatives acted upon last year; and while this Sudan Peace Act is maybe not as muscular as the version that the House sent to the other body, it should still manage to encourage the end of a horrific war that has taken close to two million lives and has ruined countless others for 20 years.
The Sudan Peace Act most certainly deserves our support, and I would just like to mention that many of the Members here have seen firsthand, I think the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) will be joining us; I know the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf); I know that our vice chairman, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) of this committee have seen the consequences firsthand of this war.
In my constituency is a pastor who has adopted two young girls whose mother was shot in their presence. One of those girls has a bullet wound in her leg as a consequence of the terror that has been perpetuated on the people of southern Sudan, and I think this legislation rightly targets the Sudanese government's horrendous acts.
The regime in Khartoum has continued its practice of using food as a weapon. It has sustained a bombing campaign against civilian targets, even international aid sites in southern Sudan; and many of us have seen the photographs from constituents of ours who have gone over to try to help and have taken pictures of the sites of international aid camps, of towns, of villages that have been hit by helicopter gunships, that have been shelled, that have been burned.
This is a government in the past that has supported slavery, and I think the Sudan Peace Act rightly condemns the government of Sudan for its abysmal human rights record, while recognizing that human rights violations occur on all sides of this conflict.
It threatens punitive measures against the Sudanese government unless that government is constructively engaged in the ongoing peace process, and this legislation also takes the step of calling on the Secretary of State to collect information about incidences that may constitute crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes, and other such violations of international law.
I would like to note that in the previous session of Congress the House had passed a resolution labeling the Khartoum's government's acts as genocide. It is important to build the record.
This Act commends the efforts also of Senator John Danforth, the special presidential envoy to Sudan, to end this long-running conflict. It recognizes that the U.S. must play a critical role in promoting peace in Sudan, a reality I believe that this administration understands.
This legislation makes a resource commitment to build civil institutions and assist suffering people in the south of Sudan; and, in these ways, the Sudan Peace Act is Congress' way of bolstering the administration's peace push in Sudan. That is why I urge passage.
Ms. WATSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 7 minutes to the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).
Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California for yielding me the time and for working on this bill and certainly the gentleman from New Jersey for his continuous work on this bill.
I come to the floor to support the bill but with the deepest of reservations. My reservations, of course, flow from the fact that the engine that drove the bill that passed overwhelmingly in this House has simply been removed, and that, of course, was denial of access to capital markets in order to get at the very oil that drives the economy of Sudan.
I regret that the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) could not be here. It is a Monday when he usually would not be in town. He and I in April, 2000, came to the floor in a special order at a time when the only record of concern in the House was a joint resolution, passed overwhelmingly in the House and Senate, condemning the various atrocities in Sudan, and I am very pleased to see how this House has embraced the notion that resolutions are not enough. Action is all that counts when people live under the kind of oppression that is pervasive in Sudan, and the kind of oppression we are talking about is almost unspeakable.
It is a litany, a compendium of violations of human rights that is unknown in most parts of the world today, slavery, genocidal war, bombings of humanitarian workers, forced conversion of Christians and animists to Islam. It would be pretty difficult to find a compendium of worse violations in any single country.
In this House, a new caucus has been formed under chairmanship of the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) and the gentleman from Virginia
(Mr. Wolf). All I can say for this bill is that it is better than nothing. That is just how disappointed I am. It at least puts the United States Congress in the picture for the first time.
The original Act, of course, tried to do something that had not been done before. If ever it was to be, then surely it was to be now when, in fact, already our corporations cannot do business in Sudan, and yet they can come here and get the capital to do business in Sudan, and to the credit of this House, this House had the strong bill. It is in the Senate where this bill was so injured, and the bill does have provisions worth noting.
Our government is strongly on record that if these efforts now finally under way toward negotiations for peace do not succeed that the United States Government would break our diplomatic ties, and we would attempt to cut off IMF, World Bank money. There is a little bit of irony in that. We cannot cut off the capital markets, but we can cut off the money that goes presumably to the people at the bottom. They do not get any of that money I do not think, but, obviously, the bill is trying to do something to indicate just how displeased the United States Government is with all of this, $100 million over 3 years, the State Department investigation of war crimes in Sudan. The more we are on the record, the more this Congress and the administration is clear where we stand, the closer we will get to some meaningful action.
I am very concerned about all I hear about the continuing suffering of people in Sudan, the notion that so many of these southern Sudanese have now come to the north just because they cannot live in the south anymore. I want to quote from one southerner, ``We either live in the south where there is fighting or starvation or we live in the north where there is discrimination and displacement camps. There is no good choice.''
That is no choice at all, of course, and yet 40 percent of Khartoum consists now of southerners, southern Sudanese who, of course, work in the jobs that are at the bottom. That is not the worst of it, by any means. Working in a job at all, I am sure, given what these people have gone through, is all to the good.
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The relief camps to which the southern Sudanese have been forced do not get any services from the government. I do not know what we would do without the nongovernmental organizations. I am very pleased that the President did send an envoy, former Senator Danforth, a good friend of mine, a former law school classmate, an Episcopal priest, a man who means it.
Of course, these talks are under way. They get under way and they get un-under way. We have had 19 years of civil war. I think Senator Danforth's efforts should be credited with having had something to do with these new talks that are under way. We have a so-called cessation of hostilities that comes on and then goes off. That is because it is not a cease-fire. A permanent cease-fire is what is on the agenda now. A permanent cease-fire is when you have some verification when one side or the other breaks the cease-fire.
This bill is not what those of us, including those who voted for this bill, the great majority of the Members, wished. It is all we can get. I can with great disappointment support this bill only if with all of the partners, with the new Sudanese Caucus, we pledge to keep pressing to find a real way to have a real effect in Sudan. I thank the gentleman from New Jersey, and I thank all of those on my side who have worked so hard on this bill for keeping it alive and for continuing to press forward.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf), chairman of the appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary, a leader on Sudanese human rights issues, has been to Sudan four times, and a great believer and champion in the causes of freedom and democracy.
(Mr. WOLF asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, also keep in mind that Osama bin Laden, the source of terrorism, lived in Sudan from 1991 to 1996.
I rise in strong support of H.R. 5531, the Sudan Peace Act, that will be helpful in promoting a just peace in war-ravaged Sudan. The war in Sudan has been monumental. Over 2 million people, mainly Christians, but some Muslims, have been killed during the last 20 years. The people of southern Sudan have borne the brunt of the pain, death and destruction of the war while frankly the rest of the world stood by and watched. The southerners have been the victims of the Government of Sudan's intentional and indiscriminate aerial bombing attacks. Government planes have repeatedly dropped bombs on southern civilian population centers, hospitals and international humanitarian offices. Innocent men, women and children have been blown apart for no reason except that they live in southern Sudan.
The Khartoum regime, which welcomed Osama bin Laden, has routinely used food aid as a weapon in its war with the southern-led opposition, repeatedly denying much-needed humanitarian and medical assistance to millions of its own countrymen. The Khartoum regime has recently yet again, just a couple of days ago, shut down the primary and largest international humanitarian effort in Sudan, Operation Lifeline Sudan, cutting off Sudan's airspace of virtually all flights into southern Sudan. This shutdown has resulted in the denial of much-needed food and medical assistance to millions of the suffering and needy.
Oil, as the gentleman from New Jersey said, in southern Sudan is being exploited by the Sudanese Government resulting in a scorched Earth, death and destruction. Attacks occur on sleeping villages by Russian-built, government-flown attack helicopter gunships that ride along the route of the pipeline and literally just gun down the women and the children. Posses come in and raid and kill the men, rape the women, and take the children away.
The government has also used army soldiers on foot to attack sleeping villages early, early in the morning. A humanitarian-aid worker interviewed several survivors of these attacks reporting on one attack on three villages where more than 6,000 Christian farmers live, located on the border between the Southern Blue Nile and Eastern Upper Nile in Sudan:
``The government set up the attack overnight so that the inhabitants were killed at dawn as the village awakened. The solders reportedly used .50 caliber machine guns, assault rifles and other heavy caliber automatic weapons. Children were gunned down as they ran away, and many wives last saw their husbands attacking the machine gun emplacements with axes, machetes and hoes in order to buy time for their wives to escape. Those women who made it to freedom then walked more than 10 days through the bush, with only trees to eat, in order to reach the safety of a friendly village compound in the Eastern Upper Nile. They were severely malnourished, so much so that they could not provide their infants with any breast milk. There were no SPLA soldiers stationed in the three villages.'' So they were bombing and killing civilians.
This legislation rightly condemns the Government of Sudan for condoning slavery. There is slavery in Sudan; and the world, other than the United States and a few others, has just sat by and done absolutely positively nothing.
In closing, in summary, I want to thank a number of the Members that have really been involved: the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo); the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne); the gentleman from Illinois
(Mr. Hyde); the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos); the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), a champion of this bill working on human rights; the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus), who took this issue on, who had a better bill than this bill but has pursued and pushed this; Senator Brownback; the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa; Senator Frist; the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton); and others who have been so active. I also want to thank, if it is not a violation of the rules, President Bush for taking a personal interest in this and as appointing the envoy, former Senator Danforth. I want to thank Secretary Powell and the people in the State Department that are working on this.
Ms. WATSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that this debate be extended by 6 minutes, equally divided between myself and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson).
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Petri). Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from New Jersey?
There was no objection.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, who likewise has been indefatigable in promoting human rights and democracy in Sudan.
Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, today in Sudan people are given a simple choice. They are either told to embrace the state-sponsored faith or die. That is the choice. Many of them are dying. You have heard the numbers. Several of our Members have gone over there. They can identify with what is going on. They have seen it firsthand.
Can the American people identify with the tragedy that we know as Sudan? Yes, they can, because the same kind of hatred was directed at them on September 11 when 3,000 of our fellow Americans were killed by this same radical Islamic movement that basically said, If you don't agree with us, you're an infidel; and if you're an infidel, we'll kill you. That is what happened here on September 11. That is what is happening every day in Sudan.
I think Chuck Colson probably summarized it better on how Americans can imagine what is going on in Sudan:
Now, imagine September 11 happening 666 times. Imagine 2 million Americans being killed by radical Islam. Then you will have an idea of what the citizens of southern Sudan have endured at the hands of the government in Khartoum.
That is right, 666 times. If September 11 happened another 666 times, we would have the number of innocent people that have been killed in Sudan; 4.5 million raped, brutalized, bombed, put in slavery. Yet it goes on and on.
Mr. Speaker, I commend the House. We offered a very strong bill which would have helped put an end to this slaughter in Sudan. But I commend this bill; and I urge Members to vote for this bill, because we have to be practical. We cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the practical. This bill has a wonderful chance of passing today; it will go over to the Senate, I believe it will be passed in the Senate, and the President will sign it. And for the first time, there will be a link made officially between the genocide and the slaughter in Sudan and oil money. And what this legislation says, it gives President Bush if in 6 months peace negotiations are not proceeding, there is not a moving towards resolution, he can intervene to cut off the flow of money. The Sudanese Government has gone to Ukraine, they have bought helicopters, they have bought all sorts of weapons from Iran. We will cut off that oil money.
The tie between the genocide and oil is well established. The Washington Post, The New York Times, the Weekly Standard, the Birmingham News in my own home State, the Financial Times of London, they all say cut off the oil and you help cut off the slaughter. This bill is the first step in doing that.
I would like to commend the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith). I would like to commend the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson); ranking member, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne). I would like to commend the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo), who is not here with us today. I would like to commend Senator Brownback and Senator Frist in the Senate for working on this. I too would like to commend President Bush. He recognized soon after he became President that we needed to end this slaughter in Sudan. He appointed Senator Danforth, and we are working our way towards that.
I will close simply by saying that the U.S. Holocaust Museum here in Washington, they for the first time in 60 years recognized Sudan and what is going on there as genocide and named Sudan as a country of conscience and said it must be ended. And it must. No wonder that Osama bin Laden found refuge in Sudan. It is because he and the government in Khartoum share the same twisted logic. With a vote for this bill today, we will begin to do what we can here today to end that slaughter.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5531--the Sudan Peace Act. I do so with some disappointment. The bill we consider today transmitted from the other body was stripped of its most potent provisions--full disclosure requirement and potential capital market sanctions for corporations doing business in Sudan and thereby contributing to the suffering of the people of southern Sudan.
The United States delegation in Khartoum, ably led be former Senator John Danforth, has made tremendous strides in settling this conflict in recent months, even bringing the warring parties to the negotiating table in Machakos, Kenya. But as diplomats talks, the assaults on civilians in the rich oil-producing areas continue. This is appalling. The National Islamic Front leaders in Khartoum have mastered the art of putting a good face on bad faith negotiations--and the removal of capital market sanctions provisions from this bill allows them to continue this deadly ruse with impunity. Had the other body approved the House version of the Sudan Peace Act and preserved these punitive provisions, I believe this could have dealt a major blow to Khartoum's ambitions to dominate and impose sharia religious law on the people of the South.
Sudan is suffering through the longest running civil war in the world, contributing to the displacement, depravation and death of millions of Sudanese. It is estimated that more than two million Sudanese have died from war-related causes since 1983. An estimated four million Sudanese are internally displaced, with two million living in squatter areas of Khartoum. More than three million Sudanese will require emergency food aid this year, according to the World Food Program. Famine is a constant.
Desite recent peace efforts, the devastating attacks on southern civilians have continued. Aid agencies in southern Sudan reported that, in September 2002 alone, government bombing in several key regions killed over 32 people including a 13-year old boy, four small children, and a family of six. These killings do not even include all bombing incidents during the September war.
Khartoum has been helpful to the U.S. government in tracking down Al Qaeda operatives and its financial assets, and through its cooperation to combat terrorism, has gained greater prominence with the U.S. Nevertheless, Khartoum's cooperation has been accompanied by continued bombardment of the southern Sudanese people who simply yearn to live freely.
Khartoum's actions raise doubts about it's honest commitment to peace. Last month, the Sudanese government walked away from the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD)-sponsored Machakos negotiations in Kenya after accusing the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA) of engaging in offensive military activity. Indeed, in retaliation to government bombings and ground offensives in Western Upper Nile, the SPLA captured Torit, the capital of Eastern Equatoria.
Despite its shortcomings, the Sudan Peace Act does contain a number of helpful provisions. This new bill authorizes $3 million per year over three years to help build civil institutions in non-government controlled areas and community services in health and education. It also includes a certification program whereby the President is obliged to certify in six-month intervals whether the Sudanese government and Sudanese People's Liberation Movement are negotiating peace in good faith.
It is necessary that we live up to the terms of the Danforth Report and in particular reinforce all efforts to protect civilians from harm. In addition to the provisions of this legislation, I strongly urge the President to add immediately a human rights monitoring component to the U.S. Civilian Protection Monitoring Team based in Khartoum and human rights monitors in the Nuba Mountains to monitor the ceasefire and access of humanitarian organizations to the Nuba people. We are at a critical stage in Sudan's terrible civil war.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my appreciation for the fine work of my staffer, Dr. Pearl Alice Marsh, who through her exceptional knowledge of African affairs made a substantial and important contribution to this bill.
If the peace talks are allowed to fail, then millions more Sudanese will face destruction. We may witness the prospect of yet another decade of civil war. We cannot let this happen. I hope the initiatives that will come out of H.R. 5531 will move Sudan toward true peace. If this fails, the U.S. government will be required to consider taking more serious actions toward Khartoum.
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Sudan Peace Act. In June 2001, the House passed H.R. 2052, the Sudan Peace Act, 422-2 with a capital market sanctions provision. If passed by the Senate, the legislation would have denied foreign oil companies currently in Sudan access to our capital markets. Unfortunately, the some Senators opposed to this provision stalled the process, effectively preventing action on the bill.
We had to act to salvage this important legislation. Left with no choice, we decided to drop the capital market sanction provision in exchange for other punitive measures and increased funding for the needy in Sudan. This was not an easy decision for many of us and for those in the Sudan coalition, who fought hard for several years to pass this legislation. We concluded that it was important to have something that is meaningful and constructive than nothing at all.
H.R. 5531 is a compromise legislation accepted by all those concerned. H.R. 5531: Condemns the Government of Sudan for its wanton disregard for human rights, including the enslaving of its people and use of food as a weapon; Authorizes $100 million for each fiscal year 2003, 2004, and 2005. These funds will help prepare the people of Sudan for peace, provide much needed support in education, health care, and communication infrastructure; Calls for immediate and sweeping reform of Operation Lifeline Sudan, the United Nations-led humanitarian operation. The OLS has been consistently manipulated and undermined by the NIF regime; and Directs the President to certify in six months, after the enactment of this Act, whether the NIF government is negotiating in good faith. If the President certifies that the Government is NOT negotiating in good faith, then the President shall impose a series of sanctions, including: Downgrading of diplomatic relations, An arms embargo resolution at the United Nations Security Council, and Measures to deny use of oil revenues.
Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear. The intent of Congress and this legislation is to put pressure on the government of Sudan to negotiate in good faith and conclude a just peace within six months. The Congress expects that if there is no peace agreement within six months of this Act and that the SPLM is not negotiating in bad faith, we expect the President to impose the sanctions outlined in this legislation. It is not our intent to simply become recipients of incomplete, inconsistent, and vague certification by the President.
Mr. Speaker, for almost four decades, Sudan has been the scene of intermittent conflict. Of course, many have heard by now the number of people killed in the Sudan conflict. But how many people have really paid careful attention to these numbers. An estimated two million people have died from war-related causes and famine in southern Sudan, and four million have been displaced.
Why these many people have to die? Could we have done something to prevent the massive loss of life in Sudan. Indeed, the answer is a resounding yes. But we chose to ignore it or engage marginally. We are the largest provider of humanitarian assistance in Sudan, yet many continue to die. In 1998 alone, an estimated 100,000 people died due to government refusal to allow United Nations relief aid from going into the country.
Indeed, Mr. Speaker, some have written and others have talked about this tragedy as either a religious conflict or tribal conflict. The Sudanese conflict, Africa's longest-running civil war, is deeper and more complicated than the claims of political leaders and some observers. Religion, indeed, is a major factor because of the Islamic fundamentalist agenda of the current government, dominated by the northern-based National Islamic Front (NIF) government. Southerners, who are Christian and animist, reject the Islamization of the country and favor a secular arrangement. Social and economic disparities are also major contributing factors to the Sudanese conflict.
But this regime is not merely opposed by Christians or southerners. The NIF regime is a minority government led by extremist clique in Khartoum. Muslim leaders have also been victims of the NIF over the years and are clearly opposed by the majority of northerners inside and outside the country. The National Democratic Alliance, a coalition of northern and southern opposition groups, has been actively challenging NIF's hold to power since it ousted the democratically elected civilian government in June 1989. In fact, the NIF came to power precisely to abort a peace agreement between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement
(SPLM) and the major northern parties in 1989.
Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate, but a sad reality that Slavery has reemerged with a vengeance in Sudan, and this inhuman practice is directly tied to the civil war in Southern Sudan that has raged intermittently for over forty years. The enslavement of innocent Southern Sudanese civilians has intensified since the National Islamic Front usurped power in 1989. It is now being condoned, if not orchestrated, by the NIF government and perpetrated by its Arab militia allies. The international community has done little, if anything, to prevent this abhorrent practice.
Mr. Speaker, the war in Sudan is certainly a major factor contributing to the increase in slavery in Sudan. The war is essentially one of Southern resistance against domination and assimilation by the National Islamic Front government. With religion as an aggravating factor, the war has become a genocidal zero-sum conflict. At the core of this problem is a conflict of identities in which the assimilation or elimination of the non-Arab and non-Muslim population has increasingly become the objective of the Government.
The prevalence of slavery in Sudan constitutes a serious challenge not only to the Sudanese themselves, but also to the international community.
Let Us Remember the Victims
The innocent civilians are the victims in this war. Just the other day, the NIF government declared a jihad, intensifying its aerial bombardment of the south. Who are those being bombed, of course, the children and the helpless. According to the report by U.S. Committee for Refugees, the government bombed civilian targets 167 times in 2000 alone.
Mr. Speaker, we are well aware of the number of people killed, maimed, displaced, and enslaved. Yet, we, as members of the international community have failed to do the right thing: End the suffering.
Over the years, I have visited Sudan a number of times. In all these visits, I, like many others, promised to do all I can to end their suffering. I must say with all sincerity that I can no longer see these innocent civilians and promise to end their suffering. I must admit, despite all our efforts, we failed the people of Sudan as we did when a million people got massacred in Rwanda in 1994.
We cannot say we did not know. As I speak here before you, more people will die, dozens will be forcefully displaced, and many others will be enslaved. Just imagine, waking up one morning and you lose everything you have--your property, dignity, family, and most important--your freedom.
Mr. Speaker, we cannot afford to wait any longer. The people of south Sudan have become an endangered species--a few years from now, there will be one left except the barren land. In the past several weeks, government forces burned, looted, and destroyed a number of villages, displacing tens of thousands of civilians.
Those who beat the drum of reconciliation must remember the sacrifices paid by the millions of Sudanese. There can be no peace if it is not a just and lasting peace. Indeed, ending the war must be a priority. But we must address the root causes of the war if we are to achieve a lasting peace. H.R. 5531 is a token measure to address these problems. I urge my colleagues to vote for this measure.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5531, the Sudan Peace Act. I would like to acknowledge the vital role that Representative Payne and other Members of the Congressional Black Caucus played in the development of this legislation.
H.R. 5331, while not perfect, represents an important step forward on the road to peace for Africa's longest civil war that has already killed more than 2 million people and displaced more than 4 million. I am disappointed that the capital market sanctions of the original Sudan Peace Act were stripped from this legislation. However, the bill before us today makes the express link between oil and the Government of Sudan's intention to use future revenues to expand the war into areas beyond its control. The legislation replaces the capital market sanctions with a certification process that instructs the President to certify whether the Government of Sudan is making progress towards peace. If the Government of Sudan is at fault for obstructing peace negotiations, the President is instructed to pursue multilateral sanctions through the United Nations. While I would have preferred to see the sanctions in the original bill remain in place, an important compromise has been reached that enables this legislation to move forward.
Most importantly, the Sudan Peace Act authorizes $300 million over three years for assistance to the people of southern Sudan. These funds, if appropriated, will lay the groundwork for peace and democratic governance, by including support for civil administration, communication infrastructure, education, health, and agriculture.
H.R. 5531 maintains the pressure on warring parties to resolve their conflict, demonstrates the continued interest of the United States in finding a lasting peace in this troubled nation, and provides desperately needed assistance for the people of southern Sudan. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5531, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of those present have voted in the affirmative.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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