Congress Is Urged For Action In Darfur

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently and urged her to push the Bush Administration to take immediate action to end the genocide and humanitarian crisis in Darfur, and to help bring peace and stability to the region.

The group met with Secretary Rice on Capitol Hill to also discuss applying additional pressure to get United Nations’ forces into Sudan as a means of advancing CBC-initiated policies for the region.

“The Caucus had a substantive discussion with Secretary Rice to let her know of our concerns regarding the ongoing genocide and human rights violations in Sudan,” noted U.S. Representative Melvin L. Watt (D-NC), Chair of the CBC. “We also warned her that the situation is rapidly approaching the magnitude of what occurred in Rwanda and that the United States and the world pledged never to allow that to happen again.”

Immediately after the meeting with the Secretary, CBC members held a press conference to brief the media on the Rice discussion and to give an update on Hurricane Katrina next steps and the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in the African American community.
Chairman Watt reported that Caucus members were recently tested for the virus to highlight the importance of getting tested and the importance of leaders terminating a “state of denial” about the devastation in our communities. He also noted that the growing rate of AIDS infection is in the African American community, particularly Black females who now represent over 70 percent of the new AIDS cases. “Since the beginning of the epidemic, HIV/AIDS has had and continues to have a disproportionate impact on the African American community” noted Congresswoman Donna Christensen (D-VI). “Not only are African Americans more likely than any other population group to be infected with HIV, but African Americans are disproportionately over-represented among people with new AIDS diagnoses and are more likely to die from AIDS-related conditions.”

Rep. Maxine Waters noted that the CBC will be taking more aggressive positions, including supporting mandatory testing of prisoners and including HIV testing as part of regular medical examination protocols.

Turning to Hurricane Katrina, Chairman Watt noted that the face of poverty that the American people saw after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast was primarily African American. In keeping with the CBC’s mission of closing the disparities gap for African Americans, the group introduced legislation to help restore the Gulf Coast and asked that President Bush present a plan to eradicate poverty in the United States within 10 years. To date, the Bush Administration has not responded.

In addition to recent meetings with Secretary Rice, the Caucus recently met with Chinese Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong, whose country has a significant financial investment in the Sudan, to ask that the Chinese Government use its influence with the Sudanese Government to end the killing. Caucus members will also be meeting with Arab leaders to press them for help and assistance. Previously, Members of the CBC have protested and been arrested in front of the Sudanese Embassy to dramatize the urgency of the crisis.

“The international community needs to speak with one voice in calling on the Khartoum government to end their campaign of genocide in Darfur,” said U.S. Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA). “Given China’s investments in the region, I hope that they will be a part of the solution, and not part of the problem.”

U.S. Representative Donald Payne noted: “China’s growing influence in Africa must be a positive force to help us in our efforts to encourage transparency and good governance on the continent. That means Beijing must impress upon Khartoum that they allow the UN force to come in, allow unfettered humanitarian access, and bring an immediate end to the violence.”