J.C. Watts: “for nearly 20 years, the people of Sudan have been engaged in a civil war. The government in Khartoum, known as the…”

“for nearly 20 years, the people of Sudan have been engaged in a civil war. The government in Khartoum, known as the National Islamic Front, has been ruthlessly terrorizing its own citizens in the south, killing and starving those who are not Muslim Arabs. This religious hatred has evolved into genocide. Christians in southern Sudan are the subject of ethnic cleansing. Over 2 million people have died. Over 4 million people have been displaced. The war in Sudan is clearly one of good versus evil. If this persecution was not bad enough, southern Sudan is a source of enormous oil reserves, causing the National Islamic Front to literally clear a path of black Christians in order to reap the benefits of this commodity. Sudan is perhaps the most prominent purveyor of slavery, an atrocity of unspeakable proportions. Women and children are subjected to extreme cruelty. Men are removed from their families and given Arabic names before experiencing the worst of conditions. There have been many prayers and vigils for the people of Sudan recently. I commend those who speak up for the persecuted and enslaved in the south of Sudan, and I urge the Sudanese government to resume peace talks with the Sudan People's Liberation Army. We must have peace, Mr. Speaker, in Sudan.”