[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2324-E2325]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

CALLING ON THE PRESIDENT AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO TAKE IMMEDIATE
STEPS TO RESPOND TO AND PREVENT RAPE AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
AND GIRLS IN DARFUR, SUDAN, EASTERN CHAD AND CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

______

speech of

HON. CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY

of connecticut

in the house of representatives

Monday, October 29, 2007

Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong
support of H. Res. 726, to prevent and respond to acts of rape and
sexual violence in the Darfur conflict region. This resolution calls on
the President and the international community to recognize and respond
to the horrific acts of sexual violence that are being committed by the
Sudanese armed forces, the associated Janjaweed militia, and other
armed combatants with alarming regularity. Women and girls in the
crisis-affected region currently lack the medical and psychological
services necessary to survive and recover from these personal
atrocities. Today, Congress seeks to provide them with these basic
services, and states our belief that the U.S. and the international
community must continue applying pressure to the government in Khartoum
to stop the use of rape and sexual violence as a tool of war.
The United Nations has recognized that rape is being used as a
systematic weapon of war and that combatants are encouraged to employ
it as yet another way to brutally terrorize a population. The impact on
the individual, however, must not be forgotten. Rape not only
brutalizes the woman, it can also rob her of her dignity and privacy,
often leading to her being shunned by her family and community. The
international community has thus far been unable to prevent sexual
violence from becoming an almost daily event in many conflicts,
including the one in Darfur. So when Congress has an opportunity to
protect and aid the victims of these attacks, we must do so.
This bill calls on the President and international community to
develop the Women and Girls of Darfur Initiative that would provide
health care services, medical supplies, and psychological counseling to
women in the conflict-affected region. The resolution also calls for
preventative measures such as ensuring that a hybrid United Nations-
African Union peacekeeping force is deployed to protect women and girls
from acts of rape and sexual violence. Since the Sudanese Government
refuses to provide its own women this protection, the hybrid
peacekeeping force must be accorded all the necessary resources,
including the $724 million that the U.S. has pledged to fund the U.N.'s
mission in Darfur.
I sincerely hope my colleagues will join me and over 100 other
cosponsors of this bill in fulfilling our moral obligation to protect
the basic human rights of the women and girls in Darfur and the
surrounding region.

[[Page E2325]]

SENATE COMMITTEE MEETINGS

Title IV of Senate Resolution 4, agreed to by the Senate on February
4, 1977, calls for establishment of a system for a computerized
schedule of all meetings and hearings of Senate committees,
subcommittees, joint committees, and committees of conference. This
title requires all such committees to notify the Office of the Senate
Daily Digest--designated by the Rules Committee--of the time, place,
and purpose of the meetings, when scheduled, and any cancellations or
changes in the meetings as they occur.
As an additional procedure along with the computerization of this
information, the Office of the Senate Daily Digest will prepare this
information for printing in the Extensions of Remarks section of the
Congressional Record on Monday and Wednesday of each week.
Meetings scheduled for Tuesday, November 6, 2007 may be found in the
Daily Digest of today's Record.

MEETINGS SCHEDULED

NOVEMBER 7
9:30 a.m.
Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Business meeting to markup an original bill entitled,
``Small Business Contracting Revitalization Act of
2007''.
SR-428A
Veterans' Affairs
To hold an oversight hearing to examine the performance
and structure of the United States Court of Appeals for
Veterans Claims.
SD-562
2 p.m.
Judiciary
To hold hearings to examine the United States government
enforcement of intellectual property rights.
SD-226
2:30 p.m.
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Science, Technology, and Innovation Subcommittee
To hold hearings to examine carbon sequestration
technologies.
SR-253

NOVEMBER 8
9:30 a.m.
Environment and Public Works
To hold hearings to examine S. 2191, to direct the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to
establish a program to decrease emissions of greenhouse
gases.
SD-406
10 a.m.
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
To hold hearings to examine localism, diversity, and
media ownership.
SR-253
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
To hold hearings to examine ways to protect the
employment rights of those who protect the United
States.
SD-430
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
To hold hearings to examine the nominations of Robert D.
Jamison, of Virginia, to be Under Secretary for
National Protection and Programs, and W. Ross Ashley,
III, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Administrator of
the Federal Emergency Management Agency, both of the
Department of Homeland Security.
SD-342
Judiciary
Business meeting to consider S. 352, to provide for media
coverage of Federal court proceedings, S. 2135, to
prohibit the recruitment or use of child soldiers, to
designate persons who recruit or use child soldiers as
inadmissible aliens, to allow the deportation of
persons who recruit or use child soldiers, S. 2248, to
amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of
1978, to modernize and streamline the provisions of
that Act, and the nominations of Michael J. Sullivan,
of Massachusetts, to be Director, Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Joseph N. Laplante,
to be United States District Judge for the District of
New Hampshire, Reed Charles O'Connor, to be United
States District Judge for the Northern District of
Texas, Thomas D. Schroeder, to be United States
District Judge for the Middle District of North
Carolina, and Amul R. Thapar, to be United States
District Judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
SD-226
Joint Economic Committee
To hold hearings to examine the current economic outlook.
SH-216
2 p.m.
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
To hold hearings to examine outstanding issues relating
to the 1992-1995 conflict in Bosnia, focusing on
violent ethic cleansing, and how they shape politics,
society, and economic development in Bosnia.
B-318-RHOB
2:30 p.m.
Foreign Relations
Near East and South and Central Asian Affairs Subcommittee
To hold hearings to examine Syria, focusing on options
and implications for Lebanon and the surrounding
region.
SD-419
Energy and Natural Resources
National Parks Subcommittee
To hold hearings to examine S. 86, to designate segments
of Fossil Creek, a tributary to the Verde River in the
State of Arizona, as wild and scenic rivers, S. 1365,
to amend the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management
Act of 1996 to authorize the Secretary of the Interior
to enter into cooperative agreements with any of the
management partners of the Boston Harbor Islands
National Recreation Area, S. 1449, to establish the
Rocky Mountain Science Collections Center to assist in
preserving the archeological, anthropological,
paleontological, zoological, and geologic artifacts and
archival documentation from the Rocky Mountain region
through the construction of an on-site, secure
collections facility for the Denver Museum of Nature
and Science in Denver, Colorado, S. 1921, to amend the
American Battlefield Protection Act of 1996 to extend
the authorization for that Act, S. 1941, to direct the
Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and
feasibility of designating the Wolf House, located in
Norfolk, Arkansas, as a unit of the National Park
System, S. 1961, to expand the boundaries of the Little
River Canyon National Preserve in the State of Alabama,
S. 1991, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to
conduct a study to determine the suitability and
feasibility of extending the Lewis and Clark National
Historic Trail to include additional sites associated
with the preparation and return phases of the
expedition, S. 2098, to establish the Northern Plains
Heritage Area in the State of North Dakota, S. 2220, to
amend the Outdoor Recreation Act of 1963 to authorize
certain appropriations, and H.R. 1191, to authorize the
National Park Service to pay for services rendered by
subcontractors under a General Services Administration
Indefinite Deliver Indefinite Quantity Contract issued
for work to be completed at the Grand Canyon National
Park.
SD-366
Intelligence
Meeting of conferees on proposed legislation authorizing
funds for fiscal year 2008 for the intelligence
community.
S-407, Capitol

NOVEMBER 13
10 a.m.
Small Business and Entrepreneurship
To hold an oversight hearing to examine the Small
Business Administration, focusing on preventing loan
fraud and improving regulation of lenders.
SR-428A
2:30 p.m.
Energy and Natural Resources
To hold an oversight hearing to examine the Surface
Mining Control and Reclamation Act (Public Law 95-87),
focusing on policy issues thirty years later.
SD-366

NOVEMBER 14
9:30 a.m.
Veterans' Affairs
Business meeting to markup pending legislation; to be
immediately followed by a hearing to examine the
nomination of Michael W. Hager, of Virginia, to be an
Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Human
Resources and Management).
SD-562
10 a.m.
Energy and Natural Resources
To hold hearings to examine the Global Nuclear Energy
Partnership relating to the United States policy on
nuclear fuel management.
SD-366
2 p.m.
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
To hold hearings to examine sovereign wealth fund
acquisitions and other foreign government investments
in the United States, focusing on economic and national
security implications.
SD-538

NOVEMBER 15
9:30 a.m.
Armed Services
To hold hearings to examine the state of the United
States Army.
SH-216

CANCELLATIONS

NOVEMBER 7
10 a.m.
Rules and Administration
To hold hearings to examine the Government Accountability
Office report focusing on funding challenges and
facilities maintenance at the Smithsonian Institution.
SR-301