Oregon Senator Praises President’s Special Envoy To Bring America’s Power To Bear On Darfur
By office of Senator Gordon Smith

Glendale Oregon News, OR
Sept 23 2006

WASHINGTON, DC – Recently, U.S. Senators Gordon H. Smith (R-OR) and
Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) released statements regarding the
president’s appointment of former USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios
as Presidential Special Envoy to lead America’s efforts to protect
the people of Darfur. In legislation introduced in August, Senators
Smith and Kennedy called for the appointment of a special envoy to
work with the international community to advance the ceasefire and
disarm the Janjaweed militia.

"This is a much needed step to stop the bloodshed and killing,"
Senator Smith said. "A Sudanese leader needs to know the eyes of the
world are watching their actions closely. Mindless murder is
intolerable. Sudan must allow the UN peacekeeping force to secure
the region."

"Convincing the Sudanese Government to end the genocide must be the
Envoy’s top priority," Senator Kennedy said. "If the Sudanese
Government continues on its perilous course of intransigence, there
must be economic and diplomatic consequences. The United States must
make it clear that our government is prepared to impose economic
sanctions and restrict the travel of Sudan’s leaders and their
families.

Sudan’s membership in international organizations, restrictions on
loans to and investment in the Sudanese Government, and bilateral
diplomatic relations should also be on the table. It must be crystal
clear that the United States is prepared to urge our allies across
the globe to do the same. Our basic humanity compels us to remember
the Holocaust, the Armenian, Rwandan and Cambodian genocides. We
must act, and act now."

The Peace in Darfur Act of 2006 (S.3801), introduced by Senators
Smith and Kennedy, outlines several formidable actions that need to
be taken to enforce the Darfur Peace Agreement. The bill calls for:

The Government of Sudan to immediately allow a UN peacekeeping force
to operate in Darfur and implement the Darfur Peace Agreement
NATO, if requested by the UN, to enforce the no-fly zone over Darfur
and to provide airlift, logistical and intelligence support to the
peacekeepers
The international community to support the current African Union
Mission in Sudan and a follow-on UN peacekeeping mission to Darfur,
and to promptly act to fill the outstanding humanitarian assistance
needs
The President of the United States to impose economic sanctions if
Sudan fails to implement the peace agreement
An additional $150 million in funding to be authorized by the U.S.

Congress that can be spent in fiscal years 2008 through 2012 to fill
the unmet humanitarian needs in Darfur.

To contact Senator Smith, go to
ction=Contact.Home

Oregon News Online offers individual news websites for 350 cities and
towns throughout Oregon.

Do you have a story you’d like to publish about your community? You
can publish it using our Citizen Journalism feature.

There is no cost for using our news sites. Registering as a citizen
journalist is free. It’s easy to publish your stories on our
news-sites.

Classified ads are free and are simultaneously published in all 350
news websites when you place an ad in any one of our sites.

The following link provides a list of all 350 news websites,
including forums, event listings and Citizen Journalism sections:

ex.cfm?artOID=300803&cp=10995