Legislative Agenda
Stopping Darfur's Genocide
As an original co-sponsor of the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, I have been coming to the Senate floor nearly every week to ensure that we remember what is happening in Sudan. It has been years since the Bush Administration called the situation what it really is: a genocide. Under the 1948 U.N. Convention on Genocide, our nation is committed to imposing effective penalties on the killers and working to stop the violence. Yet as an estimated 200,000 people have been killed and over 2 million men, women and children have been displaced, the international community has not done enough to pressure the Government of Sudan to stop the violence. The crisis in Sudan is simply too great for us to ignore. I will continue to speak out on the Senate floor and in other forums to press our nation and our allies to take further action.
I also have introduced the Sudan Disclosure and Enforcement Act. Modeled after the fight to defeat apartheid in South Africa, this Act will help provide the Administration and all Americans with the information needed to use our investment portfolios as a nonviolent tool for peace in Darfur. It will establish real financial consequences for those companies that bear some complicity in the bloodshed by supporting the murderous Sudanese regime. Many American individuals and institutions want their investment choices to reflect their values. This is one small way we can help them add their voices to the call for peace and security in Darfur.
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