The CBC "Message to America" is distributed nationwide to the American Urban Radio Network's (AURN) affiliate stations.

            WHO:        U.S. Representative Donald Payne (D-NJ)

            WHEN:      Saturday, August 19, 2006; 12:06 p.m. EST

            WHERE:   American Urban Radio Network Affiliate Stations

"This is Congressman Donald Payne from the 10^th Congressional District of New Jersey with this week’s Congressional Black Caucus Message to America.

"Since 2003, a devastating crisis has been ongoing in Darfur, Sudan – a region the size of Texas in the largest country in Africa. Innocent men, women, and children are being killed, terrorized, raped, and starved to death daily in Darfur.

"The perpetrators are members of their own government of Sudan, with the help of a militia known as the Janjaweed.  Shockingly, both the perpetrators and the victims are fellow Muslims.  The victims of genocide are being targeted solely because they are black. Over the course of the genocide, nearly 400,000 people have been killed, more than 200,000 have been forced to flee the country, and more than 2 million have left their homes in search of safety in other parts of the region.

"As the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Africa, and as one of two Congressional Delegates to the United Nations, I have been working diligently to draw attention to this tragedy of epic proportions.  In June of 2004, a resolution I introduced with strong support from the Congressional Black Caucus declaring this crisis as genocide was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate with no dissenting votes.

"Members of Congress, the international community, and concerned citizens worked for a peace agreement and on May 5th this was achieved.  However, the agreement was lacking in certain areas, particularly in providing a clear mechanism to protect innocent people. 

"Despite the Darfur Peace Agreement, there has been an upsurge in violence in recent weeks.  In fact, during the period following the signing of the Peace Agreement, more people have been killed and the work of humanitarian organizations has been threatened, displacing an estimated 20,000 more people during this time frame.

"I urge you to continue the important civic action of students, religious organizations, and advocacy groups and urge the [Bush] Administration to do 3 things:

• Introduce a United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing a Chapter 7 peacekeeping force;
• Pressure the government of Sudan to stop the violence and allow unimpeded emergency humanitarian assistance; and
• Appoint a Special Envoy within our government to keep Darfur at the top of the agenda.

"The Congressional Black Caucus will continue our efforts on these fronts, working tirelessly until there is an end to the genocide in Darfur.