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Hoosier United Methodist News Archives
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February 2006 |
Congress agenda remains unfinished
Darfur needs still urgent
The U.S. Congress recessed in December without approving critical legislation addressing the genocide in Darfur, a region in Sudan. The situation in Darfur continues to deteriorate: atrocities continue and people are still dying in large numbers of malnutrition and disease. According to recent reports by the United Nations World Food Program, 3.5 million people are now hungry, 2.5 million have been displaced, and 400,000 people have died in Darfur thus far.
In November 2005, the Senate passed S.1462, the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act. It outlines steps toward ending the violence by providing U.S. assistance to strengthen the African Union mission to better protect civilians, impose focused sanctions, and support peace negotiations to resolve the conflict.
The House failed to approve similar legislation. An agreement on this critical legislation was not reached by Congress. To make matters worse, $50 million to support the African Union peace mission in Darfur was stripped out of a foreign assistance bill.
On the Indiana scene, a bill was introduced into the Indiana General Assembly (SB212) by Senator John Broden (Dist. 10) of South Bend that would prohibit the investment of funds held by a public officer of the state, the public employees' retirement fund, or the teachers' retirement fund with an institution that gives loans to, engages in business with, or has investments in another company doing business with the African nation of Sudan. The bill would give up to three years for the funds to be divested. Unfortunately, this bill did not make it out of committee during this short legislative session.
Last updated on 25 Apr 2008