Expressing disapproval of the Arab League's decision to hold its 2006 summit in Khartoum, Sudan and calling 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.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3127) to impose sanctions against individuals responsible for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, to support measures for the protection of civilians and humanitarian operations, and to support peace efforts in the Darfur region of Sudan, and for other purposes, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in very strong support of H.R. 3127, the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, and I want to commend the gentleman from Illinois (Chairman Hyde) of the International Relations Committee for drafting a bill that has the best chance of becoming law and dealing with the genocidal situation in Sudan. Despite sometimes difficult and complex efforts needed to move this legislation, Mr. Hyde has remained steadfast in moving forward and that is why I have continued to support his efforts throughout this process.

Madam Speaker, no single country in Africa has been subject to greater partisan and bipartisan attention and deliberation by the United States Congress than the Republic of Sudan. Over

the past 3 years, at least nine major bills and resolutions regarding Sudan have been passed by this body, including an historic declaration that genocide was occurring in the Darfur region of western Sudan in September of 2004.

For its own part, the administration of President Bush has led both humanitarian and diplomatic efforts to address the crisis in Darfur. The United States has provided more than $617 million in assistance to help ease the suffering of those most affected by the conflict, and more than $150 million to support the African Union mission in Darfur.

I would say parenthetically, last August Greg Simpkins, our expert on the subcommittee, and I went to Darfur. We spent several days in Khartoum and then made our way up to Mukjar and Kalma camp. Mukjar is a very remote camp, where we saw the beneficiaries of that aid, men and women and children, who have suffered so much, lost so many of their loved ones to this genocide. But it was reassuring and quite gratifying, to be blunt, to see American aid providing them with healthy and nutritious meals as well as the medicines and at least some of the security that they so desperately need.

We also knew, especially with Mukjar, that if you traveled just a kilometer outside camp, the Janjaweed and other killers were waiting to continue their genocidal deeds. It was very sobering to know the risks and the security fright that they face each and every day knowing that they cannot go past the perimeters of the refugee camps.

We also met in Khartoum with not only Salva Kiir, the Vice President, who is doing an extraordinarily good job to try to bring peace to the region, but we also met with President al-Bashir. He and his junta continue to be largely responsible for many of the crimes committed both in Darfur and earlier in the south of Sudan.

Let me finally point out to my colleagues that at the direction of the President, President Bush, the United States Ambassador to NATO has pressed for NATO reinforcement of the African Union mission. We all know they do not have enough people to do the job. The mission was designed and configured in a way that almost doomed it to failure despite herculean efforts on their part. We are now pressing for reinforcement of those AU troops.

The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, continues to seek authorization to incorporate the African Union Mission into a larger, more robust U.N. peacekeeping mission. As Mr. Lantos knows when we traveled to New York just a week ago and met with Kofi Annan and others, that was one of the key topics we talked about: How do we get this AU mission blue helmeted so they can grow the mission, as well as boots on the ground to try to mitigate this misery.

The United States also continues to play a significant role in facilitating peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, between the Government of Sudan and the rebels of Darfur.

Notwithstanding the multiple legislative initiatives and the best efforts of this administration and many of our friends in Europe, and despite the conclusion of a peace agreement for southern Sudan, the passage of six U.N. Security Council resolutions and the deployment of nearly 7,000 African Union peacekeepers in Darfur and the conduct of seven rounds of peace talks, the crisis in Darfur continues with catastrophic consequences. This conflict is real. It is ongoing, it is every day, and it demands our resolute attention.

Madam Speaker, as many as 400,000 people have died and more than 2 million people have been forced from their homes. Entire villages have been looted and destroyed, and countless men, women and children have been abducted, murdered, abused and raped. Weapons continue to flow into the region unabated despite the existence of an arms embargo, and attacks against civilians, humanitarian convoys, and African Union peacekeepers increase almost daily as peace talks in Nigeria flounder.

Despite 14,000 aid workers that make up some 82 NGOs, 13 U.N. agencies and the International Committee for the Red Cross, a lack of security and reliable transportation means that food aid and other humanitarian assistance is becoming increasingly more difficult to deliver. While it is clear that something must be done, it is also clear that we cannot legislate an end to the atrocities and no number of forces from the African Union, NATO, U.N. or even the U.S. can impose a permanent peace without the commitment of the Sudanese themselves to lay down their arms.

Still, as humanitarians we cannot stand by idly as the Sudanese government officials and rebel commanders jockey for power while tragedy continues to unfold in Darfur and threatens to return to the rest of Sudan.

According to a recent International Crisis Group report, Sudan's ruling National Congress Party lacks the will to implement the North- South peace agreement and has frustrated the Darfur peace process by ``facilitating increased chaos on the ground and promoting divisions within the rebels.''

We are all aware of the complexity of the situation in Sudan and must respond accordingly to all of its facets and manifestations. This legislation, I believe, attempts a comprehensive effort to deal with the tragedy of that country. The committee amendment before you, which is the result of 8 months of bipartisan collaboration, contains the following measures:

One, while it does not authorize the use of United States Armed Forces in Darfur, it confers upon the President the authority to provide assistance to reinforce the deployment and operations of an expanded AU mission with the mandate, size, strength and capacity to protect civilians and humanitarian operations.

Two, it encourages the imposition of targeted sanctions against the Janjaweed commanders and coordinators.

Three, it calls for the extension of the military embargo established pursuant to U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1556 and 1591 to include the government of Sudan.

Four, it amends the Comprehensive Peace in Sudan Act of 2004 to impose an asset freeze and travel ban against individual perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Next, it asserts that existing restrictions imposed against Sudan shall not be lifted until the President certifies to the Congress that the government of Sudan is acting in good faith to:

One, peacefully resolve the crisis in Darfur;

Two, disarm, demobilize and demilitarize the Janjaweed;

Three, adhere to U.N. Security Council resolutions;

Four, negotiate a peaceful resolution to the crisis in eastern Sudan;

Five, cooperate with efforts to disarm and deny safe havens to the Lord's Resistance Army; and

Six, fully implement the terms of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

The legislation also amends the International Malaria Control Act to enable the United States Government to continue providing assistance to southern Sudan and other marginalized areas and lift restrictions on imports and exports for those same areas.

It also adds a section regarding the preemption of State laws that prohibit investment of State pension funds in Sudan.

Madam Speaker, Sudan is a very sensitive and emotional issue for Members of this body. While Sudan may be providing the United States with valuable information relevant to the global war on terror, or so it says, it is still on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. It is a country where the government has unleashed campaigns of terror and genocide against its own citizens.

It is a country where slavery still exists. Back in 1996, I chaired the first hearing ever on the continuing use of chattel slavery in Sudan, something that we thought was abolished in the 1860s.

For many, the National Congress Party-led faction of the Sudanese government represents pure evil. Although we may differ on our views on how best to confront the regime in Khartoum, the need to promote peace and accountability throughout Sudan is not a partisan issue. Members, such as the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne) and the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo), have been tenacious on this. Of course the ranking member, Mr. Lantos, and all of us have worked on both sides of the aisle to try

to ensure that this body remains focused on Sudan in a meaningful and constructive way. Their leadership has been inspiring, and I want to thank them all.

That being said, the bill that lies before you today is the result of 8 months of inclusive consultations and intense negotiations, and represents a truly bipartisan compromise on the efforts to address genocide in Darfur while supporting the consolidation of peace in southern Sudan.

And while it represents a compromise, don't be mistaken. This is a strong bill. It is an important bill. It is an urgent bill. The people of Darfur cannot afford to wait while we continue discussions on how best to confront Khartoum. They need our help now.

I would also like to thank our esteemed ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, the chairman and ranking member, Mr. Sensenbrenner and Mr. Conyers, for acting so quickly to allow us to get this measure to the floor without further delay.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to my good friend and colleague from Ohio (Mrs. Schmidt).

(Mrs. SCHMIDT asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, let me just say, in closing, how grateful I am to Members on both sides of the aisle for working so steadfastly on this legislation. There were some glitches, there were some areas where there was broad agreement as well as disagreement. We worked out those differences, and I want to thank the Members, but also the staff. Joan Condon has done an incredibly good job in walking us through this legislation and writing many parts of it. Greg Simpkins, our Africa specialist on the subcommittee, who also worked on this legislation, as I said earlier, accompanied me to Darfur last August. We saw firsthand the devastating impact of this horrific genocide on men, women, and children in that beleaguered land. Pearl-Alice Marsh is always a great friend of the Africa Subcommittee, who provides very good insights. I want to thank her, as well as Noelle Lusane, Don Payne's lead staffer who works very well with us, and Ted Dagne. Together we were able to work through these differences.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Thank you very much, Mr. Lantos, our distinguished ranking member on the International Relations Committee, also a cochair of the Human Rights Caucus. Thank you for your great leadership on fighting for human rights throughout the world. You have a long history of that. You have personal experience in terms of being the only Member of Congress who escaped the Holocaust, and you have brought that conviction, your ideas, your courage to this fight once again in helping the people of Darfur.

And I want to commend Mr. Chris Smith. He and Frank Wolf have been such leaders on this issue for so very many years, and all of us who are concerned about Sudan, in particular now, Darfur are deeply in your debt.

I join the gentleman in commending Henry Hyde, as well as Mr. Lantos and Donald Payne, our colleague, who have brought this issue to the forefront in the Congress of the United States. I thank you for authorizing this legislation, for your steadfast leadership in calling attention to the crisis in Darfur.

Mr. Speaker, I bring to the floor a picture of the children, a picture of the children of Darfur. All of us on our trip that Mr. Lantos mentioned, who visited Darfur, 11 members of a bipartisan delegation, all of us wanted to take these children home with us, but that wasn't possible. There were so many of them. And it wouldn't be right anyway, because they wanted to go home. They wanted to go home to their homes which no longer existed.

When we were there, we visited with them. And after a day in the refugee camp, our bipartisan delegation traveled to Khartoum to meet with Vice President Taha. He asked us, he said, ``The Sudanese people want to know, why are you so interested in Sudanese domestic affairs? I know the American people are free-thinking people, but maybe your free- thinking does not create a clear understanding of the facts in my country.''

Vice President Taha was denying what we had seen with our very own eyes that day, refugee children struggling in the heat without shade, without adequate clothing and sleeping in make-shift tents that were made, some of them, from USAID food bags stitched together.

The Darfuris are forced to walk miles outside the camps for firewood and water, with the constant fear that they may be attacked.

As Vice President Taha was denying all of this, we could not help recalling the stories of villages torched, women raped, children kidnapped and men tortured and killed. But even in the horror of all of that, we saw hope in the bright and playful eyes of the toddlers. That hope, however, was diminished in the eyes of the older children. They had really seen too much. They had seen too much.

The camps we visited were homes to over 100,000 people. That was just what we saw when we were there. There are many more. That is just a fraction of the staggering toll of the violence in Darfur. But you can see these camps, and you can see that some of them are made out of USAID food bags.

According to the United Nations, 3 million people are in need of assistance. Two million Darfuris have been displaced, pushed out of their homes and their villages, and nearly 200,000 people have been killed thus far, and that is a conservative estimate.

Furthermore, the full human toll is yet to be exacted. Concentrated in camps with deplorable conditions, when the rainy season comes, Darfuris are now vulnerable to further death from disease. Sicknesses like cholera and dysentery could take tens of thousands more lives.

We have seen variations on this ``problem from hell,'' most recently in Rwanda. And at that time, that short time ago, we promised never again. We have heard never again over and over again.

The humanitarian disaster in Darfur challenges the conscience of the world. It is the systemic destruction of a people. It is genocide.

While we were in the Sudan, back home President Bush reaffirmed that this is, indeed, genocide. When some of us, Mr. Payne, Mr. Joe Wilson and Mr. Clyburn and I met with the President at the White House to thank him for his leadership and report on our trip, we also asked him to appoint a special envoy, special U.S. envoy for the Sudan. This envoy would signal that bringing peace and stability to the Sudan is a priority of the United States, and it is a part of this legislation that is on the floor today. This envoy, U.S. special envoy, is necessary because it will help stop the violence, bring the parties to the negotiating table, and get humanitarian relief to the people who need it.

Essential to stopping the violence is stopping the Janjaweed. I heard Congressman Smith talking about the Janjaweed in his remarks, and after persistent questioning in our meeting with Vice President Taha, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, in a very diplomatic but persistent way, questioned him about the Sudanese government's support of the Janjaweed, which he first denied but later admitted that they had supported the Janjaweed in the past. This was the first admission that we had seen.

Before we went into Darfur, the U.S. military briefed us that the Janjaweed is an extension of the Sudanese military, and they are engaged in state sponsored violence. This must end.

The African Union is to be commended for its efforts to protect Darfur. We saw the AU's camps there where people were getting at least something to eat and perhaps some medical attention for the first time. But so much more needs to be done.

So that is why this legislation on the floor today is so important, because I don't even know if these children are even alive 1 month after we came home, these beautiful children.

Many people in our country have been actively involved in the effort to get more support and humanitarian assistance on the ground. The United Nations dollars for Darfur were running out in March.

Humanitarian workers in Sudan are harassed, their convoys diverted and attacked, and some of these workers have been kidnapped. Humanitarian workers bring no political agenda or no destabilizing intentions to the Sudan. They carry with them hope and sometimes health. They must be protected. Their supplies must not be diverted, and their volunteers must not be detained.

So that is why I am very pleased that we were able to pass, in the supplemental, the President's request for $439 million, and that Mr. Capuano's initiative to add $50 million for assistance was accepted by the House. We hope it will be considered in the Senate.

So this legislation, as was spelled out by Mr. Lantos and Mr. Smith, so I won't go into it again, contains very, very important initiatives to help make matters better. Stop the violence, bring the parties to the table, get the humanitarian assistance to the people.

This brings us back to Vice President Taha's question, why is the United

States so interested in Sudan? The answer is that genocide is not the domestic affair of any nation. It concerns the world. And as our colleague, Joe Wilson, said to him, Americans care about people. Our care is reflected in the working done for the people of Darfur here in this Congress, in State legislatures, in corporate board rooms, on college campuses, even on high school campuses and yes, indeed, even in the White House.

This care was spurred by our religious communities which have taken the lead in our efforts. I salute many of the religious leaders who have taken the lead on this. And on April 30, many people will converge, thousands will converge on Washington, and there will be events around the country put together by the Save Darfur Coalition.

Each day that the genocide continues, and each day that we wait, the hope we saw in the eyes of the youngest children can disintegrate into disease, despair and death.

Again, on April 30, Americans of conscience will come to Washington to echo the call, never again. These citizens will demonstrate on behalf of the children of Darfur and demonstrate that, not only is America great, but America is good. And this legislation on the floor today is a reflection of that goodness. I support it, and salute the bipartisan cooperation that wrote it and brought it to floor.

Again, I thank Mr. Lantos for his exceptional leadership on human rights throughout the world and in the Sudan, and Mr. Smith, Mr. Payne and Mr. Frank Wolf for their exceptional leadership as well.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, and I am very pleased to yield 1 minute to the distinguished Democratic leader who is in the forefront of every single fight globally on behalf of human rights and who has just returned a few weeks ago from a visit to Darfur, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I first would like to thank my colleagues, Chairman Henry Hyde and Chairman Chris Smith and the ranking member, my good friend from New Jersey, Donald Payne, for keeping this House focused on the grave atrocities unfolding every single day in Darfur.

Mr. Speaker, the U.S. Congress determined some 2 years ago that the atrocities in Darfur are genocide. We don't use that term lightly. I certainly don't. But it was my privilege to lead the debate on the Democratic side designating what is unfolding in Darfur a genocide. President Bush later addressed the U.N. General Assembly and reaffirmed that our government also designates what is happening in Darfur a genocide.

The United Nations Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs yesterday reported that the government of Sudan is preventing him from visiting Darfur as an eyewitness to the most recent wave of war crimes taking place there. In the past few months, marauding Arab militia, backed by Khartoum, have killed an estimated 10,000 children and women and men.

These Arab militias attacked 60 villages, sending thousands of people fleeing into the desert. As we speak, Mr. Speaker, Khartoum's Arab surrogates continue to disrupt U.N. humanitarian services, kill and displace civilians, and destabilize the entire security situation in Darfur.

While the government of Sudan grudgingly acceded to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, so-called, it continues to block every effort to protect civilians, stop the genocide, and bring peace to Darfur.

The numbers of individuals killed, raped, tortured, and displaced is staggering. Genocide has destroyed well over 60 percent of the villages in Darfur. It has displaced over 2 million human beings and killed an estimated 400,000 and driven additional hundreds of thousands into refugee camps in neighboring Chad.

Meanwhile, the escalating violence on the Chad-Sudan border between Chadian rebels and the Chadian military is threatening thousands in refugee camps and making humanitarian assistance almost impossible. Refugee men and boys are forced into recruitment into the rebel militia. Rather than getting better, the situation for Darfur refugees is becoming all the more precarious with every passing day.

The President has proposed to our allies that the United Nations have a concrete plan to stop the violence in Darfur, deploy NATO staff and resources to the region immediately to aid the embattled African Union peacekeepers, and within 6 months establish a formal United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this plan.

And yesterday I had the occasion to talk to the distinguished Foreign Minister of Germany, and I am pleased to state that Germany and the United States will stand together as members of NATO in Darfur.

In a cynical move, the government of Sudan is putting up every possible roadblock to prevent this from happening. The regime even threatened to pull out of the African Union if it endorsed a U.N. handover.

The government of Sudan opposes a U.N. peacekeeping force for one simple reason: it wants to complete the genocide. Working with the African Union, the United Nations, and our NATO allies, we have a moral obligation to foil this plan by actively bolstering African Union forces already there before a U.N. force can finally be deployed.

The African Union has an urgent need for underground NATO advisers and mentors in the areas of command and control, use of intelligence, enhanced communications, and for NATO to continue its current assistance such as strategic airlift for troop protection and training at African Union headquarters.

As the most powerful countries in the world, all of the governments of NATO have a responsibility to contribute in whatever way we can to stopping this genocide. It is not a matter of means, Mr. Speaker. It is a matter of political will.

To this end my distinguished colleague Congressman Joe Pitts and I have introduced House Resolution 723 that calls on the African Union, the United Nations, and NATO to work closely together to strengthen the African Union's capacity to deter the ongoing violence until the U.N. peacekeepers are fully deployed.

Recently, the other body passed a similar resolution sponsored by my friends and colleagues Joe Biden and Sam Brownback. This effort to bridge between the current African Union mission and the fully implemented U.N. peacekeeping operation will save tens of thousands of lives and allow uninterrupted humanitarian access to the vast numbers today in camps in Chad and in Darfur. I urge all of my colleagues to cosponsor H. Res. 723, the Lantos-Pitts resolution.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3127, under consideration today, demands accountability on the part of the government of Sudan and those most responsible for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Darfur. Our bill imposes sanctions against the perpetrators who either directly or indirectly are causing such large-scale human suffering and devastation.

I encourage all of my colleagues to support this important bipartisan bill.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride and respect for his work on this subject that I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), who has been our conscience on the issue of the Darfur genocide.

(Mr. PAYNE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 4 minutes to my good friend and distinguished colleague from California, an indefatigable fighter for human rights, Ms. Barbara Lee.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to my good friend and distinguished colleague from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin).

(Mr. LANGEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that an additional 20 minutes of debate time be made available, equally divided between the two sides.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to my good friend from Massachusetts, our distinguished colleague, Michael Capuano.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to my fellow Californian and good friend, who is a fighter for human rights in Africa and everywhere, Ms. Maxine Waters.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield 4 minutes to our distinguished colleague and my good friend from Texas, Sheila Jackson- Lee.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their powerful and impassioned statements. This is a legislation of conscience. I urge all of my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3128, the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 2006.

Three years ago, the United Nations Security Council declared its grave concern at the widespread human rights violations in Darfur and expressed its determination to do everything possible to halt a humanitarian catastrophe. Since then, at least 300,000 people are estimated to have died in Darfur. Currently, more than 3.5 million Darfurians depend on international aid for survival and another 2 million have been driven from their homes.

In 2004, pressure from Congress and American citizens prompted the Bush administration to become the first government to recognize the mass killing in Darfur as a genocide. Since then, the U.S. has played an important role by pressing for an international response to the crisis in Darfur at the U.N. supporting the deployment and expansion of the African Union Mission In Sudan (AMIS), and providing critical humanitarian aid. Unfortunately, the U.S. and the international community have yet to muster the will or cooperative action necessary to adequately protect civilians, end the killing, and broker lasting peace.

Last week the U.N. Security Council issued a resolution reaffirming that the situation in the Sudan continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security. In Darfur large scale attacks on villages have been replaced by rampant banditry, a campaign of sexual violence, and the practical entrapment of civilians in camps. Government backed militias have not been reined in and rebel groups are contributing to violence on the ground. Civilians continue to be attacked, women and girls raped, humanitarian workers harassed, and critical aid supplies disrupted. For people of Darfur, the situation remains one of daily violence and insecurity, desperate living conditions, and the persistent threat of hunger and disease.

Sixty years ago, in the wake of the Holocaust, the international community vowed, ``Never again.'' Ten years ago, confronted with the death toll of the Rwandan genocide, leaders of the same nations again declared, ``Never again.'' Today, tens of thousands of women, men, and children have been murdered and hundreds of thousands continue to suffer in Darfur. The Darfur Peace and Accountability Act reminds the administration and the international community that the genocide in Darfur demands urgent attention and action, and calls upon the President to use both economic and political leverage to elicit cooperation from the Sudanese government.

Passing the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act is a small, but important demonstration of this nation's commitment to human rights. I hope that passage of this important legislation will spur more concerted national and international efforts to bring security and stability to the people of Darfur.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3128, the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 2006.

Three years ago, the United Nations Security Council declared ``its grave concern at the widespread human rights violations'' in Darfur and ``expressed its determination to do everything possible to halt a humanitarian catastrophe.'' Since then, at least 300,000 people are estimated to have died in Darfur. Currently, more than 3.5 million Darfurians depend on international aid for survival and another 2 million have been driven from their homes.

In 2004, pressure from Congress and American citizens prompted the Bush Administration to become the first government to recognize the mass killing in Darfur as a genocide. Since then, the U.S. has played an important role by pressing for an international response to the crisis in Darfur at the UN, supporting the deployment and expansion of the African Union Mission In Sudan (AMIS), and providing critical humanitarian aid. Unfortunately, the U.S. and the international community have yet to muster the will or cooperative action necessary to adequately protect civilians, end the killing, and broker lasting peace.

Last week the UN Security Council issued a resolution reaffirming ``that the situation in the Sudan continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security.'' In Darfur large scale attacks on villages have been replaced by rampant banditry, a campaign of sexual violence, and the practical entrapment of civilians in camps. Government backed militias have not been reined in and rebel groups are contributing to violence on the ground. Civilians continue to be attacked, women and girls raped, humanitarian workers harassed, and critical aid supplies disrupted. For people of Darfur, the situation remains one of daily violence and insecurity, desperate living conditions, and the persistent threat of hunger and disease.

Sixty years ago, in the wake of the Holocaust, the international community vowed, ``Never again.'' Ten years ago, confronted with the death toll of the Rwandan genocide, leaders of the same nations again declared, ``Never again.'' Today, tens of thousands of women, men, and children have been murdered and hundreds of thousands continue to suffer in Darfur. The Darfur Peace and Accountability Act reminds the Administration and the international community that the genocide in Darfur demands urgent attention and action, and calls upon the President to use both economic and political leverage to elicit cooperation from the Sudanese government.

Passing the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act is a small, but important demonstration of this nation's commitment to human rights. I hope that passage of this important legislation will spur more concerted national and international efforts to bring security and stability to the people of Darfur.

Mr. Speaker, the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act passed the House today, Wednesday April 5, 2006. This Act calls for action. The specific intent and purpose of this Act must be implemented immediately by the Administration. It is too late for more words on the horrors of Darfur no matter how strong the words. As Nicholas Kristoff in his persistent, piercing Times columns has pointed out that for years, we have said ``Never Again, Again.'' And yet, the slow genocide continues in Darfur. Babies die of hunger and thirst, women suffer a deliberate policy of rape; men are castrated and shot in the head. The starvation, the deaths, the burning of villages, the poisoning of wells, the slaughter of domestic animals on which people depend, the brutal killing of children in front of their mothers continues while the world watches. ``Uncover Your Eyes'' Mr. Kristoff tells us. ``Uncover Your Eyes.'' (Nicholas D. Kristoff, June 7, 2005).

The killing in Darfur is the first Genocide of the 21st Century. There is only one approach to a genocide: It must be stopped using all necessary means; and those that perpetuate it must be held accountable. There is no excuse for failing to hold accountable those who arm, condone and assist in genocide; most especially the excuse for a failure to hold a government accountable must not be ``the war on terror.'' Those who arm and support the Janjaweed militia as the government in Khartoum continues to do are terrorists. If you doubt it, then uncover your eyes: the Janjaweed seized nine boys from a village called Saleya, stripped them naked, tied them up, cut off their noses and ears, gouged out their eyes and shot them to death before leaving them near a public well. Nearby villagers got the message and fled. Currently rapes take place when women collect firewood. If the men collect the firewood, they are castrated and then shot in the head.

The United States has given a great deal of humanitarian aid to the refuge camps where thousands of people of Darfur live. They cannot go back to their villages. The representatives from the State Department say the starvation and malnutrition rates for these people have slowed since 2004. However, they are unable to feed themselves; if they go back to their villages and try to restore their dwellings and grow crops; they will be killed. There is nothing to indicate the genocide has been called off. The non-Arab tribes from the Darfur region of Sudan are marked for death because of their tribal membership and the fact that they are non-Arab Africans.

We know what needs to be done. We have the time to do what needs to be done. We have the means, the influence, and the power. What we need is the will and the leadership. First the United States must recognize that if the genocide is to be stopped, the United States will have to stop it. This is a most wonderful opportunity never before presented to a leader or a country. President Bush on behalf of all the compassionate citizens of this country must seize this opportunity.

Second, the State Department with the leadership of the President must recognize that neither the mandate nor the troop strength of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) is adequate to protect civilians in Darfur. Third, although the United Nations Security Council has taken steps toward establishing a United Nations peacekeeping mission for Darfur, it could take up to a year for such a mission to deploy fully and the people of Darfur cannot wait that long. Therefore, the African Union must request assistance not only from the United Nations but also from NATO. NATO is needed immediately; Pursuant to Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations a peacekeeping force for Darfur must be approved. It must be well trained and equipped and have adequate troop strength to protect the people of Darfur and stop the deaths of helpless, unarmed civilians many of whom are under the age of five.

In order to achieve this, President Bush must propose that NATO consider how to implement and enforce a declared no-fly zone in Darfur and deploy troops to Darfur to support to the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) until a United Nations peacekeeping force is fully deployed in the region. President Bush must also approve supplemental funding to support a NATO mission in Darfur and the African Union Mission in Sudan and called upon NATO allies led by the Untied States to support such a mission and to call upon NATO headquarters staff to begin planning for such a mission.

President Bush has the opportunity that comes once in a presidency and perhaps once in a lifetime. He can save an entire people, their elders, their parents, their children. He can stop the rapes, the maiming of children and women, the acts of barbarism we have shut our eyes to because they are unbearable to look at. I implore President Bush on behalf of his fellow Americans, uncover your eyes and open your heart. Stop the genocide in Darfur.