Ed Royce: “Mr. Chairman, firstly I would like to thank the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo), a member of the Subcommittee on…”

“Mr. Chairman, firstly I would like to thank the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tancredo), a member of the Subcommittee on Africa that I chair, for introducing the Sudan Peace Act. The ranking member of the Subcommittee on Africa, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne), has been a strong supporter of this legislation, as has the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos). I want to thank them for their assistance. I would also like to thank the chairman of the Committee on International Relations, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), for his efforts on behalf of this bipartisan bill. As we have heard during the debate on the rule, Sudan is suffering through what is probably today the longest civil war in the world. The fighting between the radical government in the north and forces in the south has led to suffering on such a massive scale that it is estimated today that close to 2 million Sudanese have died of war-related causes since 1983. There are 4 million Sudanese internally displaced in that country, 2 million living in squatter areas in Khartoum. Over 3 million Sudanese will require emergency food aid this year if they are to survive. Famine is a constant in Sudan. At a March hearing of the Committee on International Relations, Secretary of State Colin Powell said that Sudan is one of the greatest tragedies on the face of the Earth.”