View your legislators' track record on Darfur.
Congress Passes National Divestment Legislation
Despite fierce opposition from the White House, the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act (S. 2271) passed the Senate by unanimous consent on December 12, 2007, and the House of Representatives passed the same legislation unanimously on December 18, 2007. President Bush signed it into law on December 31, 2007. This legislation will protect the right of states to divest from Sudan and prohibits U.S. government contracts with foreign companies that help fund the genocide through their investments in Sudan's booming oil, weapons, power production and mineral extraction industries. Unfortunately, President Bush issued a signing statement that said he would interpret and enforce the legislation in the manner that he sees fit. This is unacceptable. Act now by urging President Bush to implement and enforce the full spirit of the bill.
Senate Calls for Peace in Sudan
Senator Durbin (D-IL) introduced resolution S. Res. 455 in February and it passed by unanimous consent on March 5, 2008. This resolution calls on the Sudanese government and each of the rebel forces to declare and respect an immediate ceasefire, stop distributing arms to internally displaced persons and enable humanitarian organizations to have unfettered access to populations in need. It urges rebel unification and broad civil society inclusion in peace talks. It also calls upon the Sudanese government to facilitate the immediate and unobstructed deployment of UNAMID, and condemns any action by the government or the rebel groups to intimidate members of civil society or delay or impede peace negotiations. S. Res. 455 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
U.S. Funding for Darfur in the 2008 Budget
In his 2008 budget proposal, President Bush failed to request sufficient funds for peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance in Darfur. The House of Representatives attempted to correct this outrageous oversight in H.R. 2764, the House's Fiscal Year 2008 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill, which funds all international programs for 2008. The final 2008 budget passed by Congress and signed by President Bush included $550 million for the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur (UNAMID), which is more than the President asked for but less than the U.S. share of the cost of the peacekeeping mission. Congress is expected to work on an emergency spending bill in the near future and it is imperative that they appropriate at least $334 million for UNAMID.
The House and the Senate link crisis in Chad to Darfur
On February 28, Congressman Frank Wolf (VA-10) introduced a resolution on Chad (H. Res. 1011) that calls on the U.S. government and the international community to "promptly develop, fund, and implement a comprehensive regional strategy to protect civilians, facilitate humanitarian operations, contain and reduce violence, and contribute to conditions for sustainable peace and good governance in Chad, as well as in the wider region." Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) introduced S. Res. 470 on March 4. The resolution calls for the international community to "devote ample political commitment and material resources towards the achievement and implementation of a negotiated resolution to the national and regional conflicts in Chad, the Central African Republic, and Darfur, Sudan."
President Bush Signs Genocide Accountability Act of 2007 into Law
The Genocide Accountability Act of 2007 (S. 888), which expands jurisdiction for the prosecution of genocide, was introduced by Senator Durbin (IL) on March 15, 2007, and passed through the Senate with unanimous consent just two weeks later. It was passed by voice vote in the House of Representatives on December 5, 2007, and signed into law by the President on December 21, 2007. Prior to the President signing this legislation into law, genocide was considered a crime only if it was committed within the United States or by a U.S. national outside the U.S. This was in contrast to U.S. laws on torture, material support for terrorism, terrorism financing, hostage taking, and many other federal crimes, which allow for extraterritorial jurisdiction for crimes committed outside the U.S. by non-U.S. nationals. S. 888 closes this loophole by allowing the Department of Justice to prosecute anyone suspected of committing genocide who is a U.S. citizen or resident or a foreign national who enters the U.S.
Senate Calls on President Bush to Secure Helicopters for UNAMID
On January 28, 2008, Senator Biden (D-DE) introduced a resolution (S. Res. 432) urging President Bush and the international community to provide UNAMID with essential tactical and utility helicopters. The resolution passed by unanimous consent on February 8, 2008.
House Urges Immediate Steps to End Violence Against Women
During October 2007, Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) introduced and the House passed by voice vote a resolution (H. Res. 726) that calls on President Bush and the international community to take immediate steps to respond to and prevent acts of rape and sexual violence against women and girls in Darfur, Sudan, eastern Chad and the Central African Republic. It also calls on the United Nations Security Council to find the Sudanese government in noncompliance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325, which requires all parties in a conflict to respect women's rights and support their full participation in peace negotiations and post-conflict reconstruction.
Senate Urges Multilateral Sanctions Against the Sudanese Government
The Sudan Disclosure and Enforcement Act of 2007 (S. 1563) was introduced by Senator Durbin on June 7, 2007. This bill expresses the sense of Congress that the President should bring before the U.N. Security Council a resolution requiring multilateral sanctions against the Sudan government in response to its acts of genocide against the people of Darfur and its continued refusal to allow the implementation of a peacekeeping force. It has been referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.
House Calls on the League of Arab States to Work for a Lasting Peace in Darfur
House Concurrent Resolution 7, introduced in January by Representative Barbara Lee, was passed by the House of Representatives on June 28, 2007. This resolution urges the Arab League to pass a resolution in support of an African Union – United Nations hybrid peacekeeping mission and calls on the Arab League to continue to work with the UN, the AU and U.S. Special Envoy Andrew Natsios to bring about real and lasting stability and peace in Darfur, the refugee camps and along the Chadian border. This resolution was referred to and passed out of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. It is currently awaiting a vote on the floor of the Senate.
Senate Resolution Supports Darfur Peacekeeping
Just hours after the U.N. Security Council announced its decision to authorize the deployment of peacekeeping troops to Darfur, on July 31, 2007, the Senate passed a bipartisan resolution (S. Res. 276) sponsored by Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) and Ranking Member Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN). This resolution calls for the "urgent deployment of a robust and effective multinational peacekeeping mission with sufficient size, resources, leadership and mandate to protect civilians in Darfur, Sudan, and for efforts to strengthen the renewal of a just and inclusive peacekeeping process."
Senate and House Pass Resolutions Pressuring China
House Resolution 422, introduced by Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), passed the House of Representatives on June 5, 2007, and Senate Resolution 203, introduced by Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) passed the Senate on July 30, 2007. These resolutions call on China to use its "unique influence and economic leverage" with the Sudanese regime to stop the genocide in Darfur. The measure calls on China to urge Sudan to allow the entry of the U.N. sanctioned peacekeeping force and to comply with U.N. resolutions demanding that the government of Sudan disarm militias operating in Darfur. It also calls on China to join the international community in threatening sanctions on the Sudanese government if it continues to carry out or support attacks on civilians or to frustrate diplomatic efforts to end the violence. The resolution recognizes that the spirit of the Olympics is "incompatible with any actions, directly or indirectly, supporting acts of genocide."
Senate Calls for Regional Solution to Darfur Crisis
Senate Resolution 76, introduced by Senators Feingold (WI), Sununu (NH) and Levin (MI), passed with unanimous consent on April 11, 2007. This resolution calls on the U. S. government and the international community to promptly develop, fund, and implement a comprehensive regional strategy in Africa to protect civilians, facilitate humanitarian operations, contain and reduce violence, and contribute to conditions for sustainable peace in eastern Chad, the Central African Republic, and Darfur, Sudan. It urges the U.N. Security Council to authorize a peacekeeping mission in eastern Chad to protect civilians and Darfurian refugees, and also calls on regional players to commit to political negotiations toward a lasting peace.
Darfur Funding in the 2007 Budget
In February, Congress passed H.J. Res. 20, a $463.5 billion joint resolution to continue funding the federal government through the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2007, including $50 million for peacekeeping in Darfur. Though this is less than what is needed, it will help sustain and support the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), the only peacekeepers in Darfur, as planning continues for a transition to a United Nations-African Union hybrid mission.
