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Washington, DC --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) introduced a resolution today in the U.S. House of Representatives expressing Congress' disapproval of the League of Arab State's decision to hold its 2006 annual summit in Sudan. The Sudanese government is currently under United States sanctions for allowing acts of genocide and mistreatment against the residents of its Darfur region.
The New Jersey lawmaker's bipartisan resolution also calls on the Arab League, the government of Sudan, the Sudanese rebels and the world community to do all they can to end acts of genocide in the Darfur Region of Sudan.
"It is absolutely inappropriate for the Arab League to reward the Sudanese government in light of their unwillingness to stop the acts of genocide happening in the Darfur region," Pallone said. "If the White House will not move forward on this issue, then it is incumbent upon Congress to take action."
The ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan is primarily between the Janjaweed, a government-supported militia recruited from local Arab tribes, and the non-Arab peoples of the region. The conflict has been widely described as "ethnic cleansing", and the Bush administration has called it "genocide." The United Nations estimates that as many as 180,000 have died many of starvation and disease, and up to two million have been displaced.
"The international community must continue to put pressure on the Government of Sudan," Pallone continued. "Denouncing the Arab League's decision is another way to show the Sudanese Government we are mindful of the situation in Darfur."
The Arab League, comprised of 22 Arab States, has tentatively schedule its 2006 summit in Khartoum, Sudan in March of 2006. Pallone voiced concern that the planned summit will provide economic benefit to the government of Sudan while it continues to support the Janjaweed militia group's efforts in the Darfur region.
Pallone was joined by U.S. Reps. Tom Lantos, (D-CA), Tom Tancredo (R-CO), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Illeana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Sherrod Brown, (D-OH), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), Dan Burton (R-IN), Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Diane E. Watson (D-CA), Michael Doyle (D-PA), Steve Israel (D-NY), Frank Wolf (R-VA), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Charles Rangel (D-NY), Albert Wynn (D-MD), Mike Honda (D-CA), Michael McNulty (D-NY), Lane Evans (D-IL), Al Green (D-TX), William Delahunt (D-MA), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Michael Capuano (D-MA), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), James McGovern (D-MA), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Madeleine Bordello (D-GUAM) as original co-sponsors of this legislation. |
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