Ileana Ros-Lehtinen: “I'm proud to support the bill before us, H.R. 180, the Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act. It was 3 years ago this…”

“I'm proud to support the bill before us, H.R. 180, the Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act. It was 3 years ago this month, Mr. Speaker, that Congress passed the historic resolution declaring that genocide was occurring in the Darfur region of western Sudan. This was the first time in the history of this body that genocide was declared as the atrocities were occurring. The decision to evoke the word ``genocide'' at that time was not taken lightly, but the evidence of vast slaughter, aerial bombardments and forced displacements targeted against the African tribes in Darfur left us with little choice. No one could claim that they did not understand the gravity of the human rights and the security crisis in Darfur. We read about it in the papers. We saw the images on television. We heard about it from humanitarian groups in the region, and some of us have now even seen it with our own eyes. It was believed that, by making such a bold declaration, other responsible nations would feel compelled to join the United States in taking firm action to halt this senseless slaughter of innocent civilians in this far off place, but here we are 3 years later and the carnage in Darfur continues. Hundreds of thousands have been killed, over 2 million others have been forced from their homes. Entire villages have been razed, crops and wells destroyed, and countless young women and girls raped.”