Mike Pence: “I thank the gentleman with a gentle heart from Colorado for yielding and giving me the honor of coming alongside and…”

“I thank the gentleman with a gentle heart from Colorado for yielding and giving me the honor of coming alongside and joining him in his effort to bring a forgotten part of the world before the American people. Without flattering the gentleman, it would be important to state for the record that his efforts and the efforts of our colleague and friend Senator Sam Brownback have almost singularly awakened the conscience of the people of the United States of America about the plight and the humanitarian crisis and the moral bankruptcy of the government of Sudan. A few points before I yield back to my better in this. Those that are with us, Mr. Speaker, should understand there is simply a humanitarian crisis in Sudan that requires a response by the United States. There is a government of Sudan that simply cannot in demonstrable ways be trusted in these efforts and should not be coddled even in the name of advancing our interest in the war on terrorism. On the humanitarian crisis, as the gentleman from Colorado said, Mr. Speaker, 2 million Sudanese people have died of war-related injuries in recent years, including disease and starvation. We Americans still grieve the mindless loss of some 6,000 lives on September 11, yet 2 million people have been lost both to the violence of war and the devastation of its aftermath, with another 4 million Sudanese being displaced.”