Washington, D.C. – Last night Congressman Dave Reichert (WA-08) voted in favor of a measure commending the efforts of the American people and advocacy groups that raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan. Reichert is a cosponsor of House Resolution 573, which passed the House 366-0.

“The United States has a moral obligation to lead the effort to end genocide in Darfur,” Reichert said. “We should recognize and commend the many advocacy groups that willingly contribute their time to raising awareness and increasing support for the people of Darfur.  Their selfless work highlights the problem in Darfur and reminds all of us that more must be done.

“It’s an outrage to see the rampant human rights violations occurring in Darfur, and to see them continue with little action from the world community. As people continue to suffer, we must continue to fight to raise awareness and send out the call: something terrible is happening in Darfur and we need to stop it. In addition to this resolution, I was glad to support two other measures that call on the President to take action and condemning attacks on African Union peacekeepers. I am proud that the House passed them but they are not enough. How many resolutions will we have to pass before something is done?”

Two other measures regarding Darfur were considered on the floor of the House of Representatives Monday evening and passed by voice vote:
 
H.Res. 726: Calling on the President of the United States and the international community to take immediate steps to respond to and prevent acts of rape and sexual violence against women and girls in Darfur, Sudan, eastern Chad and the Central African Republic.

H.Res. 740: Condemning in the strongest terms the attacks on African Union peacekeepers that occurred in Haskanita, Darfur, Sudan, on September 29, 2007.

Congressman Reichert is a member of the Congressional Sudan Caucus, a group of Members of Congress dedicated to ending the genocide in Darfur. Since the beginning of this year, Reichert has signed onto multiple pieces of legislation regarding the crisis in Darfur and also voted in favor of H.R. 2764, the Department of State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, which included $949 million for humanitarian relief efforts in Sudan. In 2006, Congressman Reichert was acknowledged for his efforts on behalf of the people of Darfur by the Genocide Intervention Network. Congressman Reichert was given an ‘A’ grade for his efforts stop the genocide of thousands in the Darfur region of Sudan and recognized as a leader in Congress on the issue.