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“GENOCIDE IN DARFUR, SUDAN” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H6822 on Sept. 20, 2006.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
GENOCIDE IN DARFUR, SUDAN
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the Members who have participated in the dialogue on what is going on in the Darfur region of Sudan.
Let me thank our leader, Leader Pelosi, for her participation, Chairman Watt of the Congressional Black Caucus from North Carolina, Congresswoman Kilpatrick from Michigan, Congresswomen Lee, Watson and Waters from California, Congressmen Rush and Davis from Illinois, Congressman Green from Texas, Congresswoman Moore from Wisconsin, and Congressman Jefferson from Louisiana for their participation this evening.
Let me also acknowledge other Members who were not here tonight but have been real troopers in this battle for justice. Congressman Capuano from Massachusetts, and on the other side of the aisle, this is indeed not a partisan issue, because there is no person who has fought harder for the last 20 years or so on Sudan than Congressman Wolf from Virginia. He is there all of the time.
Congressman Tancredo from Colorado, Congressman Royce from California, Congressman Smith from New Jersey, all Members of the House who have said that enough is enough, that we must do more. And so 2 years ago, we declared genocide in Darfur. And that was 10 years after the world ignored Rwanda when genocide went on.
And had the world done something in Armenia in 1916, when the so-
called young Turks came in and had genocide on the Armenia population, perhaps this would not have happened today. Or in 1939 as the German Nazis went through Europe and created the Holocaust, perhaps this would not have happened.
If in Cambodia when Pol Pot and his regime killed millions of people, perhaps this would not have happened. If in Rwanda, when we saw the genocide happen, perhaps it would not be happening in Darfur. But we looked the other way in all of those instances and genocide is still here today. We must stop the genocide.
There is no reason for people to still be slaughtered as they are being. You have heard the figures, and I will not repeat them. But the National Congress Party, formerly the National Islamic Front, cannot and should not get away with this campaign of murder and terrorism.
This government under President Bashir came to power in a bloody coup d'etat in 1989. The NIF Government harbored Osama bin Laden for 5 years, from 1991 to 1996. From there his operatives planned the assassination attempt on President Mubarak of Egypt. The NIF Government never was held responsible for harboring terrorists.
They were responsible for millions of deaths before and they continue now to do this in Darfur. We must hold them accountable. There has been an authorization of 20,000 U.N. peacekeepers to go into Darfur. The government says no. We must, as President Bush said at the United Nations yesterday, we can no longer allow this to go on.
The U.N. must go into Darfur to help the 7,000 AU troops who cannot handle this job alone. I was quite pleased that President Bush was forceful in his remarks yesterday at the 61st United Nations General Assembly.
President Bush said, ``If the Sudanese Government does not approve this peacekeeping force quickly, the United Nations must act.''
He then stated that, ``the UN's credibility was on the line.'' President, Mr. Bush, I agree. And we must add that the credibility of the United States Government is also on the line. We cannot allow genocide to continue.
I welcome the appointment of Andrew Nazios as the Presidential envoy for Sudan. We look forward to working with him. But he must have a robust mandate. He must have the proper staff. He must have access to the White House. He must have leadership in the State Department if we are going to have a success.
Finally, countries with influence in Khartoum must be used to urge the Government of Khartoum to stop the genocide.
China, who our country, with the balance of trade to them, have made them a robust country with 500 million middle-class people as a result of their selling their products to us, must tell the Government of Sudan that they must stop what they are doing.
We should be able to force China to get involved and say that enough is enough. And Russia must continue, must be stopped from selling arms to Sudan.
The Arab League must step up to the plate. And Egypt that gets $2 billion a year from the United States taxpayers must stand up and tell their neighbors, their friends, the Government of Sudan, that enough is enough. We must hold our so-called friends accountable.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate having the opportunity for us to have this discussion. We look forward to our government stepping up to the plate. Once again, enough is enough. It should really be ``never again.''
Let me just conclude by thanking the Metro West and the Jewish community in the State of New Jersey and throughout the United States who have come up and have been so supportive. And we are getting many more groups getting involved.
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