Herb Kohl: “This letter was signed by Republicans and Democrats alike. That is as it should be. Compassion should not be a partisan…”

“This letter was signed by Republicans and Democrats alike. That is as it should be. Compassion should not be a partisan issue. Mr. President, I also ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record an article from the April 13, 2005, Wall Street Journal that makes a very strong case why additional funding for these programs is necessary. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: [From the Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2005] Sudan's Farmers Hunger for U.S. Aid (By Scott Kilman and Roger Thurow) Seventeen years ago, Philip Majak abandoned his 30-acre farm in southern Sudan, fleeing the ethnic and religious fighting that would kill two million people over two decades, including his first wife. Now, with a tentative peace treaty holding since January, he is itching to go home. ``My house is destroyed, and my tractor. My 70 cows were stolen, the land has grown wild,'' he says at a refugee camp outside Khartoum, Sudan's capital. ``I'll need help to start farming again.'' He looks to two sources of support: ``God will provide. And America.'' Maybe not. The U.S. government for years pushed hard for peace in the south of Sudan between the Muslim-dominated government in Khartoum and the rebel group supported by the region's Christian residents. The Americans said that as peace came, so would seeds and tools to help Sudanese farmers rebuild one of Africa's potential breadbaskets.…”