Honoring the life and achievements of the late Dr. John Garang de Mabior and reaffirming the continued commitment of the House of Representatives to a just and lasting peace in the Republic of the Sudan.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 98. I rise to honor the life and achievements of the late Dr. John Garang de Mabior. I rise to reaffirm the continued commitment of the House of Representatives to a just and lasting peace in the Republic of the Sudan.

Let me express my thanks to Mr. Payne and Mr. Wolf, the chair and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, respectively. I also wish to express my appreciation to the many other co-sponsors of this resolution who have worked long and hard to help bring about a just and lasting peace in Southern Sudan.

Madam Speaker, the life of Dr. John Garang de Mabior, ``Dr. John,'' as he was affectionately called, is testimony to mankind's innate capacity to do good and a powerful symbol of a peoples' struggle for freedom. In honoring Dr. John today, we also keep alive the dreams of his people. One day peace and justice will flow like milk and honey for all people throughout Southern Sudan.

Dr. John was born into a poor family of the Dinka ethnic group, in the Upper Nile Region of Sudan. He was orphaned by the age of 10 but was supported by his family members. It truly took a village to raise a child and what a child he was!

When the civil war broke out in 1962, Dr. John was too young to fight and was sent away to high school in Tanzania. In 1969, he earned a scholarship attend Grinnell College in Iowa. After graduation he could have attended graduate school at the University of California at Berkeley but turned it down, choosing instead, to return to Tanzania to study agricultural economics where he could be closer to his people.

In 1972, Dr. John joined the Sudanese military and became a career soldier. He eventually took a leave and earned his doctorate in agricultural economics from the University of Iowa. But a life of academic repose was not for Dr. John for he was a man of action and passion. And the actions and passions of his time called him to a life of struggle on behalf of the oppressed people of his country.

In 1983, Dr. John left the military and joined the newly created Sudanese Peoples' Liberation Army, a movement opposed to the imposition of Sharia law. Thus began his long career as the political and military leader of the people of Southern Sudan.

Throughout this struggle, Dr. John developed a strong political and personal relationship with many Members of the House of Representatives.

The struggle for justice in Sudan was not a partisan issue for Members of Congress. Strong bonds of collegiality and friendship were formed through our efforts to shape U.S. foreign policy toward Sudan.

In that sense, Dr. John's life and struggle, and the struggle of the Southern Sudanese people served to unite Democrats and Republicans in a common cause for freedom.

When I first met with Dr. John in my congressional office, I recall he did not waste words. In his soft-spoken way, he laid out very clearly his vision for Southern Sudan. And, in his highly dignified way, this powerfully charismatic man of deep conviction and strong moral character asked for my support and the support of the United States Congress on behalf of his people. It was clear to me then, as it is now, that Dr. John lived a purposeful life of singular devotion to the liberation and well-being of his people.

Dr. John's tragic death in the mountains of Uganda shocked the world. It seems enormously unjust for this man, who brought his people through a long and devastating civil war, who became Vice President of Sudan, and who later became head of Southern Sudan, to die in 2005 in a helicopter crash.

Madam Speaker, out of this historic tragedy, the people of Southern Sudan have been called to carry on. As Dr. John said after being inaugurated: ``I congratulate the Sudanese people. This is not my peace or the peace of al-Bashir; it is the peace of the Sudanese people.''

Madam Speaker, the recognition this House today gives Dr. John Garang de Mabior should also remind us of the importance of redoubling our resolve to end the genocide in Darfur. There is wide-spread and broad- based consensus in America and between Democrats and Republicans that the ongoing genocide in Darfur is intolerable and must be ended. Thus, this is an area in which there is ample opportunity for the Congress and the Bush administration to find common ground to alleviate the overwhelming suffering in Darfur.

Not since the Rwandan genocide of 1994 has the world seen such a systematic campaign of displacement, starvation, rape, mass murder, and terror as we are witnessing in Darfur for the last 3 years. At least 400,000 people have been killed; more than 2 million innocent civilians have been forced to flee their homes and now live in displaced-persons camps in Sudan or in refugee camps in neighboring Chad; and more than 3.5 million men, women, and children are completely reliant on international aid for survival. Unless the world stirs from its slumber and takes concerted and decisive action to relieve this suffering, the ongoing genocide in Darfur will stand as one of the blackest marks on humankind for centuries to come. The people of Darfur cannot wait. The time has come for decisive leadership from the United States.

It has been more than 2 years since I and my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus Darfur Task Force met with Secretary Colin Powell to press successfully for the administration to declare that the campaign of ethnic cleansing and atrocities carried out against civilians primarily by the Government of Sudan and its allied Janjaweed militias is genocide.

It has been more than a year since I flew to Chad and walked across the border to Sudan and met with African Union troops who pleaded for more peacekeeping authority and the resources to protect the refugees from violence, rather than merely monitor it. After returning from that Congressional delegation, I worked with other Members of Congress to secure increased funding to aid the thousands of Sudanese displaced to refugee camps in Chad and to provide additional funding to assist Chad in responding to the humanitarian crisis.

It has been almost 2 years since the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1556 demanding that the government of Sudan disarm the Janjaweed. This demand was later followed by Resolution 1706, which authorizes a 20,000 strong U.N. peacekeeping force.

It has been 6 months since the Darfur Peace Agreement was brokered in May 2006 between the Government of Sudan and one faction of Darfur rebels.

But still the violence continues; indeed, the violence is escalating. This violence is making it even more dangerous, if not impossible, for most of the millions of displaced persons to return to their homes and for humanitarian relief agencies to bring food and medical aid. According to Jan Egeland, the U.N.'s top humanitarian official, the situation in Darfur is ``going from real bad to catastrophic.''

We have come full circle. Violence is increasing, peace treaties are falling apart, and again as a member of the Congressional Black Caucus Darfur Taskforce and a ranking member on the House Judiciary immigration subcommittee, I have been meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice seeking an increase in the number of refugee visas for Darfur students to come to the United States to study. I will continue my ongoing, unceasing efforts to end the suffering in Darfur and bring peace to Sudan. These efforts include intensifying my discussions with Secretary Rice, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, representatives of the Arab League, and humanitarian groups such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and various African public policy groups to discuss ways and means of bringing peace to that troubled land.

It is also not too early to begin the hard thinking and hard work needed to transform the Darfur region from killing field to economically, politically, and socially viable and peaceful community. This work will, of course, require the active and purposeful engagement of the United States and other key stakeholders, such as China, and the Arab League. In this connection, I have been engaged in an on-going dialogue with government representatives of Egypt, a dialogue that has already yielded significant dividends. For example, Egypt has implemented several fast track projects in southern Sudan in different sectors involving health, agriculture, electricity, irrigation, infrastructure, and education in order to make unity an even more attractive option to the people of south Sudan.

It must be noted that no just and lasting peace in Sudan can be achieved without the responsible intervention of China. For too long China, which is Sudan's biggest oil customer, has also served as Khartoum's enabler and protector by preventing the U.N. Security Council from imposing more serious sanctions on Sudan in response to the genocide and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur. As former Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick stated in a major policy speech on China a year ago: ``China should take more than oil from Sudan--it should take some responsibility for resolving Sudan's human crisis.'' Based on my meetings with Zhou Wenzhong, China's ambassador to the United States, I am hopeful that China can be persuaded to provide the type of constructive leadership in Sudan befitting a great power.

There is much work to be done and not much time, Madam Speaker. And I have no doubt that our response will be worthy of our responsibility as a world leader. But today, it is right and good and just to pause, reflect, and honor the remarkable life of a remarkable human being--Dr. John Garang de Mabior, which we will do by adopting H. Res. 98.

I urge all my colleagues to join me in supporting the resolution.

Madam Speaker, on the first of this month, I reintroduced the Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act (H.R. 1287), which will provide for the expedited reunification of the families of our Filipino World War II veterans.

This body has many times heard accounts of the bravery of the Filipino veterans: how they fought shoulder to shoulder with American servicemen; how they sacrificed for the same just cause. For too long, we have ignored the promise we made to those men to provide benefits and care equal to that provided to our own soldiers.

As the House prepares for debate on comprehensive immigration reform, let us remember the broken promises made to our Filipino World War II veterans and provide for a meaningful way to make amends by expediting the immigration petitions of their sons and daughters.

I would like to submit into the Congressional Record an article that recently appeared in the Washington Post that humanizes the intent of my bill.

[From the Washington Post, Mar. 4, 2007]

Hope for Amends to Filipino Immigrants

(By N.C. Aizenman)

Amid the wrangling over immigration reform, virtually

everyone in Congress appears to agree on one point: Filipino-

born veterans who fought alongside U.S. troops during World

War II deserve a break.

Denied the right to immigrate to the United States until

1990, they came hoping that their children could follow them

here later, just as other groups have done. But the adult

children have been required to wait twice as long--up to 16

years--as anyone else. With the veterans often too old and

sick to travel home, many have died while waiting to be

reunited with their families.

Now, after several longtime backers have risen to key

positions in Congress, Filipino American advocates are

hopeful that legislation will be pushed through to exempt the

veterans' children from the immigration delay. They also are

optimistic about a potentially more controversial bill that

would grant Filipino veterans military pensions.

About 5,000 veterans in the United States would stand to

benefit from a change in immigration provisions, and an

additional 10,000 in the Philippines could be eligible for

pensions.

To many in the 2-million-strong Filipino American

community, the issue represents a chance to cement their

political identity in a nation where they have long felt

invisible, even though Filipinos rank second, behind

Mexicans, in the number of immigrants living in the United

States.

``Historically, we Filipinos have always been looked down

on as your little brown brothers--as these acquiescent people

who would just accept anything Uncle Sam would do to them,''

said Jon Melegrito, communications director of the National

Federation of Filipino American Associations. ``This is about

asserting who we are as a people and how we served this

country. . . . It's a call to action to stop acting like

colonial slaves and to start acting like first-class

citizens.''

The effort builds on an association with the United States

that dates to 1898, when the United States acquired the

Philippines from Spain after winning the Spanish-American

War.

Laws and discriminatory practices against all Asian

immigrants kept Filipino numbers in the United States low

through the first half of the 1900s. But in the Philippines,

many residents were taught English and raised to think of

themselves as something akin to Americans.

Celestino Almeda, 90, a veteran who lives in Alexandria,

remembered that the director of his elementary school in

Manila led students in a pledge of allegiance to the American

flag every morning.

``We also celebrated all the holidays: Washington's

birthday, Armistice Day,'' Almeda said. ``In our mind, it was

like America was our mother country.''

When Japan invaded the Philippines in 1941, more than

200,000 Filipinos joined Americans in waging a fierce

resistance, enduring such horrors as the Bataan Death March

and the grueling guerrilla campaign that followed.

Technically, the Filipino fighters were under overall U.S.

command. But within months of the Allied victory, Congress

stripped most of them of their rights as foreign veterans of

U.S. forces--including the opportunity to become U.S.

citizens--on the grounds that the Philippines was about to be

granted independence.

Even so, the Philippines continued its close affiliation

with the United States. Thousands of Filipinos joined the

U.S. Navy, which until recently had major bases there. By

1970, there were more Filipinos in the U.S. Navy than in the

Philippine Navy.

And, after 1965, when Congress repealed the nationality

quota system that had practically prohibited Asians from

immigrating, hundreds of thousands of Filipinos streamed in.

Ranging from unskilled workers and nannies to nurses and

professionals who came in on occupational preference visas,

the new arrivals immediately formed social, cultural and

professional organizations. Before long, they were rising to

prominent positions in government, unions and the military.

Several won elected office, including in Prince George's

County, where a sizable community settled.

Yet when it came to turning their clout into political

activism on behalf of Filipino American causes, many of the

immigrants hesitated, said Bing Cardenas Branigin, 50, a

former regional chairman of the Filipino American federation.

``There was this sense that you shouldn't make trouble,

that you shouldn't contradict the government,'' she said.

``You should just pay your taxes and send your kids to school

and keep quiet.''

That began to change in the mid-1970s when anger spread

over the repressive policies of the Filipino president,

Ferdinand

Marcos. As much as their opposition to Marcos galvanized the

Filipino American community, it also caused rifts with those

who supported Marcos.

After Marcos was ousted, community leaders looked to

refocus their newfound energy on a more unifying issue. The

fight for veterans' equity was a natural choice.

Since then, the veterans have won some of the benefits they

lost after the war. Most notably, in 1990, Congress granted

Filipino World War II veterans the same opportunity to

naturalize offered to all other foreign nationals who served

in the U.S. armed forces.

But the Filipino veterans remain ineligible for a military

pension, forcing many of the more than 24,000 elderly

veterans who became U.S. citizens after 1990 to live off food

stamps and Supplemental Security Income payments.

Joaquin Tejada, 84, a former guerrilla fighter who survived

two years resisting the Japanese from jungle hideouts, said

he now struggles to get by with his $545 monthly SSI check.

The rent for the two-bedroom apartment he shares with another

Filipino World War II veteran in Columbia Heights takes $275.

``By the end of the month, it's hard to buy even basic

food,'' said Tejada, who proudly sported an American flag tie

during an interview.

Then there is the l6-year wait veterans face if they wish

to bring over their adult children, an unintended consequence

of the 1965 law lifting the quotas that had prevented most

Asians from immigrating.

In their place, Congress introduced a complicated system

meant to offer every country the same number of family

reunification visas. But because Filipino applicants far

outnumber the yearly slots allotted to them, they face the

longest delays--22 years to sponsor an adult brother or

sister, for instance, compared with 11 years for applicants

of most other nationalities.

Candida Romulo, 72, said she and her husband, Bayani, a

veteran who became a lawyer in Manila, would not have

naturalized and moved to Oxon Hill had they known that the

wait to sponsor their grown children would be so long.

``We did it because we wanted to give them the

opportunities of living in this country. It was going to be

our gift to them,'' Romulo said during an interview in a

living room crammed with photographs of her four children.

Soon after the couple's arrival, Bayani developed a medical

condition requiring frequent dialysis, making visits to the

Philippines impossible. Because of their pending residency

applications, his children were unable to get visas to visit

him.

When Bayani suffered a severe stroke in September, his

eldest son wasn't able to relay his final words to his father

over the phone before he died.

``The receiver couldn't reach his bed in the ICU,'' Candida

Romulo said. ``So I told my husband, `Your son says that he

loves you very much and that he's so proud that you are his

father.' My husband couldn't speak, but I could tell that he

understood, because there were tears in his eyes.''

Now Romulo worries that her son may never gain entry to the

United States, because if a sponsor dies while the visa

application is pending, there is a chance that the

application will be annulled.

But she said she is still praying that Congress will pass

the legislation for the sake of those veterans who remain

alive.

``If that happens, I know my husband will be very happy

about it, even if he is already in heaven,'' she said.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 98) honoring the life and achievements of the late Dr. John Garang de Mabior and reaffirming the continued commitment of the House of Representatives to a just and lasting peace in the Republic of the Sudan, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

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

I rise in strong support of House Resolution 98.

Let me begin by thanking Chairman Lantos for his leadership in the Foreign Affairs Committee, which allowed our resolution to come through the committee, and our ranking member. And I would like to also give special acknowledgment to Congressman Frank Wolf, who for many, many years, even preceding my entrance to Congress, was working on issues dealing with the problem in Sudan. And he worked very closely with the late Dr. John Garang de Mabior to help bring about peace in southern Sudan.

Madam Speaker, H. Res. 98 honors the life and achievements of Dr. John Garang de Mabior and reaffirms the continued commitment of the House of Representatives to a just and lasting peace in Sudan. The resolution honors the life and achievements of Dr. Garang; reaffirms its commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Republic of Sudan; calls for the full implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement without delay; strongly urges the people of southern Sudan and its leaders to continue to support Dr. Garang's vision for a new Sudan; and strongly supports the creation of a Dr. John Garang de Mabior Institute for Agriculture, Peace, and Economic Development in southern Sudan.

Dr. Garang had a vision for a new Sudan, a Sudan which is multicultural, multi-ethnic, and peaceful. He fought for 21 years as the leader of the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement/Army to achieve a just peace for his people but only served 21 days as the first Vice President of Sudan before being killed in a tragic and mysterious helicopter crash on July 30, 2005, in his region of south Sudan where he was to be sworn in as President.

Dr. John, as he was affectionately called, was a powerful human being and a symbol of a people's freedom from oppression. Dr. John was born into a poor family of the Dinka ethnic group in the Upper Nile region of Sudan. He was orphaned by the age of 10 but supported by his family members. When the first civil war started in 1962, he was too young to fight and was sent away to school in Tanzania and later came to the U.S. to get his degree and studied at the University of California Berkeley but decided to go back.

The fact is that Dr. Garang was a person that we honor and respected so much, and he will live on in that country. But there was this tragic and mysterious crash on July 30, 2005, which took his life. At the time I was traveling the region in hopes of seeing Dr. Garang in Southern Sudan to discuss the status of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. It was a terribly saddening situation when I received the news of his crash.

Besides leaving behind a wife and five children, he also was mourned by the people of all of Sudan, from east, west, the center, to the north as well as the south. They all saw him as their hope for future peace and justice in Sudan.

Thankfully, the number two member of the SPLM, Dr. Salva Kiir, was installed as the new first vice president of the government of Sudan and President of the government of South Sudan, and we are working to help professionalize the government of Southern Sudan and the SPLA. This is a critical time for real and lasting peace in Sudan.

We must support the government of Southern Sudan in development efforts and arrange for elections in 2 years. We also must ensure that the people of Southern Sudan get the right to self-determination through a referendum in 2011, as provided for in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

I have followed the crisis in Sudan for most of the last 21 years as the Islamic government in Khartoum waged war against the Sudanese People's Liberation Army/Movement and the people of the south. More than 4 million people were displaced from Southern Sudan, and over 2 million people were killed over the course of this 21 year war.

During that time, the National Islamist Front Government, led by Omar el Bashir, committed innumerable brutalities of unimaginable scope against the people of the South and the marginalized areas of Southern Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains. It was the longest running war in Africa until January 9, 2005, when the parties signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

I was in Nairobi for the signing of the CPA and was cautiously hopeful that the long awaited peace in Sudan would work. However, once the north-south conflict reached a point where an agreement was imminent, the government began its attack on the innocent civilians in Darfur. With the help of the Janjaweed, the National Congress Party, formerly the National Islamic Front, had destroyed villages and communities, and maimed, raped, killed and terrorized the people of Darfur.

In the annual Country Report on Human Rights released today, the State Department called Darfur ``the most sobering reality in 2006.'' Over 400,000 are dead; more than 2.5 million displaced.

The people of Sudan have suffered tremendously under the hands of this government which, by the way, came to power in a bloody coup in 1989. This same government harbored Osama bin Laden for 5 years between 1991 and 1996. He plotted several terrorist attacks from there.

However, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement so many people have worked for has not been implemented fully, and the genocide in Darfur is not abating. We must be firm with Khartoum. Khartoum must comply with the CPA. Khartoum must stop the killings in Darfur.

I urge my colleagues to support the passage of this resolution.

I also want to take the opportunity on the floor of the House of Representatives to congratulate Ghana on 50 years of independence from Britain. Today, people from all over Ghana and all over the world and many heads of state are celebrating the first Sub-Saharan country to gain its independence 50 years ago. So the correlation between the new Southern Sudan and what happened 50 years ago in Ghana is very important.

Let us remember that Ghana's first leader, Kwame Nkrumah, had a broad vision of African unity. President Nkrumah did not make a distinction between north and south. He called it one continent. His belief is in one Africa, one of the underpinnings for African unity.

So Africa certainly has a long way to go, but the continent as a whole is more stable today than it was many years ago, and with better governance and use of resources, as well as fairer trade policies by the U.S. and other Western countries, African countries can grow and develop into one of the most important areas in the world.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

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

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

Madam Speaker, I thank Chairman Payne for his words. I am also pleased to support House Resolution 98, highlighting the life and achievements of the late John Garang and reaffirming the commitment of the House to a just and lasting peace in Sudan.

While much attention is currently focused on the crisis in Darfur and that region of western Sudan, it is critical that we do not allow ourselves to become complacent in the south. After all, it was in the south that over 20 years of war between the government in Khartoum and the Sudan People's Liberation Army left over 2 million people dead and 4 million others displaced. It was in the south that the government of Sudan honed its craft in genocide, manipulating ethnic tensions, arming proxy militias, conducting aerial bombardments of civilians and engaging in forced displacement, mass murder, looting, torture and rape. It was also in the south that a generation of boys was lost, having been forcibly conscripted to serve as child soldiers for the Armed Forces of Sudan, associated militias and the Sudan People's Liberation Army.

Any analyst will tell you that war is a terrible business, and the war in Southern Sudan was no exception. There were no saints. That said, it is clear that without the leadership of Dr. Garang, it is likely that the oppressors would have succeeded and that the opportunity for peace presented by the conclusion of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement for Sudan in 2005 would have been lost.

Dr. Garang envisioned a united democratic Sudan, a country in which all citizens enjoyed the freedom to live, to worship and to prosper without the fear of discrimination or persecution. If realized, this dream would proffer untold benefits, not only for the people of the south, but also for those fighting inequality in eastern Sudan and Darfur. He fought fiercely toward this end and succeeded in overcoming seemingly insurmountable challenges so that the south could negotiate with one voice.

After years of negotiations and countless failed attempts, it appeared that Dr. Garang's efforts would finally pay off in January of 2005 as the historic peace agreement which would end Africa's longest running civil war was signed in Nairobi, Kenya. His tragic death on July 30, 2005 proved to be the first major test of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement for Sudan. Unfortunately, it would not be the last.

It is critical that the United States Government not lose sight of the challenges that remain in implementation. Too many innocents have died. It is time for all Sudanese to pursue the path toward peace and it is incumbent upon us to help them on their way.

I urge my colleagues to support this important resolution.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 98, honoring the life and achievements of the late Dr. John Garang de Mabior and reaffirming the continued commitment of the House of Representatives to a just and lasting peace in the Republic of the Sudan. I thank my distinguished colleague Chairman Payne for his leadership in honoring a present-day freedom fighter.

Dr. Garang's lasting legacy is the Comprehensive Peace Agreement ending the thirty year civil war. But, it was against all odds that he was able to become such a leader.

It was a long journey for Dr. Garang who came from a poor family in a small Dinka village in southern Sudan. In an interview once, he told a reporter that his village was in such neglect that no one was able even to read. Thanks to a relative he was able to attend school in a nearby village and set the course for his educational advancement to eventually earn his doctorate from Iowa State University.

Yet, the plight of the people in his home country ravaged by civil strife and numerous injustices compelled him to return home. He was greeted by the Sudanese government's policies that marginalized and suppressed African communities in the South. The North had better schools, employment opportunities and infrastructure developments. Even today, you

can go to Juba, in southern Sudan, to see its effects where there is no electricity, running water or paved roads.

In the face of such challenges Dr. Garang fought to achieve a ``new Sudan'' where all were united and equal and worked to turn his rebel movement into a popular government, open to dialogue, cooperation and constantly suiting the needs of the nation.

Accordingly, I pay tribute to Dr. Garang's tireless efforts for the struggle of peace in Sudan. Dr. Garang was a charismatic figure who awakened the consciousness of a society. And he set the bar very high.

In order to ensure a lasting peace, we must urge President Al-Bashir and all stakeholders to maintain the integrity of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, to respect human rights and to create a stabilized nation where everyone enjoys their full rights of citizenship. This is the best way to honor the spirit of Dr. Garang's life's work.

Madam Speaker, there is still work to do. Dr. Garang's premature death left a great void. May his death not be in vain. That is why I pledge my continued support for peace and development in Sudan. As we honor one of Sudan's greatest leaders as well as one of Africa's, I further extend my commitment to end the genocide in Darfur. I know Dr. Garang would agree that peace must be everywhere.