Frank Pallone: “after more than 3 violent years, the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan is getting worse. As Jan Egeland…”

“after more than 3 violent years, the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan is getting worse. As Jan Egeland, Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs at the U.N., has said, the coming weeks could see ``a man-made catastrophe of an unprecedented scale.'' At the end of this month, African Union forces are set to leave Darfur. Currently the only peacekeeping forces in Darfur, the departure of these troops will only embolden the Sudanese Government and the allied Janjaweed militias to continue to murder and displace Sudanese citizens. As my colleagues know, the crisis in Darfur began in February 2003 when two rebel groups emerged to challenge the National Islamic Front government in Darfur. Since then, over 400,000 people have died, and nearly 2.5 million have been displaced from their homes. Sadly, it took the United States until July 2004 to recognize that these events in Darfur constituted genocide, and we cannot continue this type of inaction. Far too many times we have seen the horrible consequences of ignoring genocide or failing to get involved quickly. Madam Speaker, I was pleased to hear that President Bush has finally appointed Andrew Natsios as the special envoy to Sudan. I joined 88 of my colleagues in cosponsoring a resolution calling for the President to appoint such an envoy to demonstrate the United States' commitment to resolving the crisis. This special envoy to Sudan will ensure continuous high-level U.S.…”