[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 3] [Senate] [Pages 3188-3189] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]CALLING FOR PEACE IN DARFUR Mr. PRYOR. I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 455 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. [[Page 3189]] The clerk will report the resolution by title. The legislative clerk read as follows: A resolution (S. Res. 455) calling for peace in Darfur. There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the resolution. Mr. PRYOR. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to this measure be printed in the Record. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The resolution (S. Res. 455) was agreed to. The preamble was agreed to. The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows: S. Res. 455 Whereas, during the past 4 years in Darfur, hundreds of thousands of innocent victims have been murdered, tortured, and raped, with more than 2,000,000 people driven from their homes; Whereas some but not all of the parties to the conflict in Darfur participated in the first round of a United Nations- African Union peace process launched in October 2007 in Sirte, Libya; Whereas the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) reached between the Government of Sudan and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in January 2005 has not been fully or evenly implemented; Whereas the Government of Sudan has continued to obstruct the deployment of a joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force to Darfur that would include non-African elements; Whereas elements of armed rebel movements in Darfur, including the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), have made violent threats against the deploying peacekeeping force; Whereas 13 former world leaders and current activists, including former president Jimmy Carter, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Bangladeshi microfinance champion Muhammed Yunus, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, have called for the immediate deployment of the peacekeeping force; and Whereas, while these and other issues remain pending, it is the people of Darfur, including those living in refugee camps, who suffer the continuing consequences: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate-- (1) calls upon the Government of Sudan and other signatories and non-signatories to the May 5, 2006, Darfur Peace Agreement to declare and respect an immediate cessation of hostilities, cease distributing arms to internally displaced persons, and enable humanitarian organizations to have full unfettered access to populations in need; (2) calls upon the Government of Sudan to facilitate the immediate and unfettered deployment of the United Nations- African Union peacekeeping force, including any and all non- African peacekeepers; (3) urges all invited individuals and movements to attend the next round of peace negotiations and not set preconditions for such participation; (4) calls upon the diverse rebel movements to set aside their differences and work together in order to better represent the people of Darfur and end their continued suffering; (5) encourages the participation in future talks of traditional Arab and African leaders from Darfur, women's groups, local nongovernmental organizations, and leaders from internally displaced persons (IDP) camps; (6) condemns any intimidation or threats against camp or civil society leaders to discourage them from attending the peace talks, whether by the Government of Sudan or rebel leaders; (7) condemns any action by any party, government or rebel, that undermines or delays the peace process in Darfur; and (8) calls upon all parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) to support and respect all terms of the agreement. ____________________