Darfur Legislative Update

July 18, 2005

This week, the Senate resumes debate and is expected to vote on the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. Debate on the bill began on the floor last Friday, July 15. Votes on amendments to the bill may come today and tomorrow. The bill includes funding for humanitarian aid to Sudan, but does not include money to support the further expansion of the AU mission in Darfur. An amendment is expected to be offered on the floor to provide additional funding to the AU mission.

The AU is planning to expand to from its initial goal of 3,200 to 7,700 personnel on the ground in Darfur by the end of September. However, the AU has said it is short $200 million to complete that expansion. Moreover, to effectively provide protection for people throughout Darfur, even further expansion is needed urgently. Earlier this year, Congress appropriated $50 million in the emergency supplemental bill to support the AU mission, but more funding is needed for its expansion and to sustain the mission throughout FY06.

ACTION: An amendment is expected to be offered on the Senate floor today or tomorrow to include funding for the AU mission in Darfur in the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. Details of the amendment are still being worked out and are not available. However,calls and messages to Senate offices from organizations and grassroots constituents are needed now.

Please urge senators to vote for any amendments to the Foreign Operations bill that would provide additional funding to help expand the AU mission in Darfur. Expansion of the mission is needed urgently. Congress should provide funding now to ensure the AU gets more personnel on the ground and provides greater protection for the people of Darfur.

Meanwhile, in other news�

Secretary of State Rice in Sudan This Week � US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will begin a two-day visit to Sudan on Wednesday to review the current peace process and the situation in Darfur. She is expected to meet with President Umar Al-Bashir and newly inducted First Vice-President John Garang, as well as African Union (AU) and local officials. Sudan is calling on the U.S. to lift all sanctions against it and removes it from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.

July 20, Boots on the ground: What can the African Union achieve in Darfur? � A roundtable discussion on AU peacekeeping in Darfur, hosted by the U.S. Holocaust Museum and the Partnership for Effective Peacekeeping, will be held July 20, at 3:00pm, at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Rubinstein Auditorium. Governmental and non-governmental experts will address the role of the African Union monitoring force in responding to genocide in Darfur. What is the current status of the African Union monitoring force? How could this force be further supported? Who should support it? What can the force achieve on the ground? Speakers include: Charles Snyder, Senior Representative on Sudan, U.S. Department of State; Victoria Holt, Senior Research Associate, Henry L. Stimson Center; Michael Larmas Smith, Independent Analyst; Lt. Col. Joseph Nzabamwita, Defense Attach�, Embassy of Rwanda, Washington, D.C.; and Sarah Martin, Advocate, Refugees International. RSVP to cocrsvp@ushmm.org.

July 21, House Briefing on Violence Against Women � On Thursday, July 21 from 2:00-3:30pm in Rayburn House Building, concerned members of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues and the Genocide Intervention Fund will host a briefing on violence against women in Darfur. Speakers will include Rev. Dr. Gloria White-Hammond, founder, My Sister's Keeper; Dr. Eric Reeves, independent expert; Beth Vann, Gender-Based Violence Global Technical Support Project; Suad Mansour, Darfur Peace and Development; and Fatima Haroun, independent advocate for the rights of Darfuri women. The briefing is open to the public.

Darfur Legislative Updates are Not for Attribution. Please adapt for your own use before forwarding.