سيبوا الهرجلة ....الكلام النجيض أهوندا....

APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE ADOPTS WOLF AMENDMENT
TO CUT OFF NON-HUMANITARIAN AID TO NATIONS
THAT HOST SUDANESE PRESIDENT OMAR BASHIR

Washington, D.C. (May 17, 2012)
– As part of an ongoing effort to bring Sudanese President Omar Bashir to justice, the House Appropriations Committee today adopted an amendment cutting off non-humanitarian aid to any nation that allows the indicted war criminal into their country.

The amendment to the fiscal year 2013 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill was offered by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), a longtime critic of Bashir and his genocidal government.

Wolf last fall called for the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to drop Malawi from its program after the African nation allowed Bashir to enter the country to attend a regional trade summit. The MCC this spring voted to suspend Malawi’s compact and cited Bashir’s visit as one of the reasons.

Wolf noted that Malawi’s new president appears to be on a path of reform and has publicly urged the African Union to withdraw Bashir’s invitation to a June summit, which Malawi is hosting.

“This is an example of effectively utilizing U.S. foreign assistance to further U.S. interests and to support oppressed and marginalized people in Sudan and around the globe,” Wolf said in support of his amendment, which passed by voice vote.

Below is the complete text of Wolf’s prepared remarks in support of the amendment:

I recently visited South Sudan and saw the impact of Sudanese President Omar Bashir’s reign of terror against the Sudanese people. Refugees told me stories of indiscriminate bombing of civilian populations, ethnic cleansing, rape and starvation. I heard echoes of Darfur.

They all had a single message: bring Bashir to justice.

Bashir, an internationally indicted war criminal, literally has blood on his hands. And yet, unbelievably, he continues to travel the world with virtual impunity. Some countries, like China, go so far as to roll out the diplomatic red carpet for him.

We must not forget that Bashir’s government gave safe haven to Osama bin Laden in the early 1990s, and Khartoum was a revolving door for Hamas and other designated terrorist groups.

In a time when the foreign affairs budget is being squeezed, I believe our assistance should be a direct reflection of American values and priorities.

Surely we can all agree that bringing a war criminal to justice is in our national interest. Leveraging our foreign assistance in this way sends a powerful message.

Last year, when the then president of Malawi rolled out the red carpet for Bashir to attend a trade summit, I urged the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to terminate Malawi’s compact given that the government was diplomatically aligning itself with a war criminal.

This spring the MCC Board finally voted to suspend Malawi’s compact and cited as one of the reasons Bashir’s visit. MCC’s announcement has made Bashir more of a pariah, as is fitting given his crimes.

Malawi’s new president seems to be on a path of reform and has publicly urged the African Union to withdraw Bashir’s invitation to a June summit, which Malawi is hosting.

This is an example of effectively utilizing U.S. foreign assistance to further U.S. interests and to support oppressed and marginalized people in Sudan and around the globe.

As such, I offer an amendment which would restrict bilateral economic assistance to any government that admits Bashir without bringing him to justice, or furthering the peace process between Sudan and South Sudan. I urge your support of this amendment.

The House Appropriations Committee