Dick Durbin: “let me salute the Senator from New Jersey, Mr. Corzine, as well as Senator Brownback, a Democrat and a Republican, one…”

“let me salute the Senator from New Jersey, Mr. Corzine, as well as Senator Brownback, a Democrat and a Republican, one from the east coast and another from the Midwest, for bringing to the Senate floor today the issue of Darfur. They have been leaders in this issue. I can recall Senator Corzine as the first Member of the Senate standing up and making a point many months ago about the senseless killing going on in the Sudan and the fact that the United States could not turn a blind eye to this issue. He returned to the floor today with the same message. I commend him for his humanitarian commitment to the poor people who are losing their lives in this conflict. A little over a week ago in Chicago, IL, we had the visit of a rather famous man. He was a man who none of us knew and, frankly, could not even pronounce his name. He came to tell a story. His name is Paul Rusesabagina. He is the manager of the hotel in Hotel Rwanda, which has become a very famous film. He had a luxury hotel in Rwanda in the midst of the terrible genocide. Because of his personal courage and the fact that he was willing to stand up, he saved over 1,200 lives of people who sought refuge in the hotel, who otherwise would have been hacked to death by machete during the Rwanda genocide. He came to Chicago, to St. Sabinas Church on the South Side, where Father Michael Flager was his host. He told the story of Rwanda.”