FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 13, 2004

CONTACT: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider 202-226-7616

Pelosi: 'A Genocide in the Making Demands the Immediate Attention of Our Government'

Washington, D.C. -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke this morning on the House floor in support of a motion offered by Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois on the fiscal year 2005 Defense Appropriations bill that would provide the highest level of funding to respond to the crisis in Sudan. The motion was approved by voice vote. Below are Pelosi's remarks:

"Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this motion to support the highest level of funding for responding to the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan, and I thank Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. for offering the motion. I thank the Ranking Member, Congressman John Murtha, for his leadership in including $95 million in funding for the humanitarian crisis in Sudan in this bill.

"Mr. Speaker, the situation in Darfur is a true emergency. Without immediate and effective international intervention, hundreds of thousands of people will die.

"The Sudanese government has mobilized militias to carry out a scorched earth policy of indiscriminate attacks on African civilians. As many as 30,000 civilians may have been murdered and more than 1 million driven off their land into unprotected camps in Sudan and neighboring Chad.

"Both USAID and the United Nations have described these atrocities as 'ethnic cleansing,' and the Committee on Conscience of our own Holocaust Memorial Museum has issued a genocide warning for Darfur.

"A genocide in the making demands the immediate attention of our government.

"I call upon the Bush Administration to keep the pressure on the Sudanese government. Sudanese officials must know that the United States and the international community will not tolerate the continuation of the humanitarian tragedy in Darfur.

"Both the House and Senate Defense Appropriations bills contain $95 million for emergency humanitarian relief in Darfur. As critical as these funds are, however, they can only help those whose lives are in danger if the Sudanese government cooperates.

"The Sudanese government must fulfill its promises to restrain the militias it controls and to remove the bureaucratic barriers that make delivery of relief supplies so difficult. That includes facilitating visas for providers to enter the country. The evidence to date does not suggest that the Sudanese are serious about helping to end the misery in Darfur.

"The recent visits of Secretary Powell and United Nations Secretary General Annan to Darfur were helpful in focusing attention on this crisis, and I commend both of them for the priority they have given to the Sudan, but much more needs to be done if we are to avert a catastrophe.

"We spoke so much but we didn't act soon enough in the situation in Rwanda. We said if we ever had the opportunity again, we would certainly rise to occasion. Well, it is happening again, and we must rise to the occasion; the Sudanese government is not.

"President Bush must not hesitate to impose sanctions as necessary to encourage a much higher degree of cooperation by the Sudanese government.

"Our response to the daily misery in Darfur must not be half-measures and delay. We must act now while there is time to stop further slaughter, or our country will look back on the lives lost in Darfur with the same regret and shame that we feel for events in other parts of Africa.

"Our colleague Mr. Jackson pointed out that even if we acted now, still about 300,000 people will die. We hope we can lower that number, but it will certainly be higher if we do not act.

"How many times have we heard the public outcry: 'Why didn’t we stop the killings?' This is a crisis. This is an emergency. We must act now to stop the slaughter of thousands of innocent people."

“ Democrats are united in presenting a New Direction for America, one that will make our nation as strong as its people, one that brings opportunity, security, and prosperity to all Americans. ”

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi