Political Quotes

“Mr. President, last night the Senate adopted S. Con. Res. 25, a concurrent resolution welcoming the independence of the Republic of South Sudan, congratulating the people of South Sudan for freely and peacefully expressing their will through an internationally accepted referendum, and calling on the governments and people of Sudan and South Sudan to peacefully resolve outstanding issues including the final status of Abyei. I was happy to see us recognize this important development. Years ago when violence was raging in Darfur I regularly came to the floor to try to keep the world's attention on the calamities happening in that far corner of the world. Fortunately, after a number of years and constant international pressure, a sizeable international peacekeeping force was deployed in Darfur, and over time the worst of the violence largely subsided. Meanwhile a fragile peace treaty--the Comprehensive Peace Agreement or CPA--also started to bring an end to a devastating civil war between North and South Sudan that killed and displaced millions. I give President George W. Bush credit for seeing that important agreement to fruition. A key CPA provision called for an independence referendum for the southern half of Sudan. This referendum occurred in January and was largely peaceful and without incident. The South voted overwhelmingly for independence, which the North agreed to respect.…”