and again by the Bashir regime. More than 400,000 innocent people have been killed. More than 2.5 million people have been displaced. Over 250,000 have fled to neighboring Chad, which is now encountering serious instability and threats to the Government and the civilians of Chad.

The ongoing genocide in Darfur has called into question the commitment of the international community in saving African lives. Two years ago, I introduced legislation authorizing a no-fly zone calling for the use of our military assets in nearby Djibouti in prohibiting oil tankers which dock in Port Sudan from entering United States ports and calling for President Bush to use any means necessary to end the genocide. Over 130 of my colleagues agreed that these drastic measures were called for in the face of the mass destruction of precious human lives. Yet some of our colleagues felt these measures were too harsh. And so we passed legislation which was not as far reaching and we see that the genocide continues to this day.

Meanwhile, al-Bashir has blocked implementation of Security Council Resolution 1706, which authorized U.N. peacekeepers to support the less than 7,000 Africa Union troops. He talked the international community out of its commitment to 1706. That its agreement in November produced a three-phase plan with the AUU.N. hybrid force which by and largely simply negates 1706.

Even this, such as a compromise for Bashir's sake, the brutal leader, after putting that on the table, has simply even refused to allow that to happen. So this is totally unacceptable.

I am encouraged that the President has approved the plan which came out yesterday. I don't know if it came out purposely or not, but it did come out, as you know, the plan that the Treasury Department has intentions to block United States commercial bank transactions connected to the Bashir regime, particularly oil revenues. You mentioned this Plan B to the Congressional Black Caucus several months ago and stated that the deadline for Plan B was January 1st. In order to show Khartoum we mean business, we must really start to implement Plan B since we are going into the middle of February.

The Darfur Peace Agreement continues to languish for the lack of implementation and outright violation on the part of the NIF and NCP Government.

Similarly, the CPA continues to languish for the lack of implementation and outright violations on the part of the NIF, NCP Government. We must realize we cannot have peace in Darfur without peace in the south. They are inextricably linked and we are seeing the CPA starting to be challenged.

I had a hearing last week on the lack of progress on the CPA under the Subcommittee of Africa and Global Health, which I chair, and I would like to continue to work with you, Mr. Natsios, to come up with a strategy for pressuring Khartoum to fully implement the CPA and end the genocide in Darfur. If the CPA fails, there is no hope for peace in Darfur in the east or in any part of the country.

I will be introducing legislation in the coming days which doeswhich H.R. 1424 would have done 2 years ago and we will seek the

committee's support toward ending the suffering in Darfur. This unimaginable scar on our collective conscience must end.

At this time, it gives me an honor to ask Mr. Smith, a gentleman I worked closely with during the past session of Congress, the ranking member of the Africa Subcommittee, for 3 minutes.

Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and I would ask that my written statement be made a part of the record.

Given the limited time just let me say a couple of things. First of all, thank you for your leadership. We have worked very closely on these issues for years. I chaired the Human Rights Committee for 8 years and we have been raising issues relevant to Darfur first on southern Sudan, of course, for all of those years, and so I very much enjoy working with you.

I want to welcome Andrew Natsios, who is the right man for this job. Many of us pushed very hard for the Special Envoy. Now that we have it, I think we have the right person who can truly make the difference in trying to effectuate peace if a peace can be had. And you know, as we all know, had it not been for the work in the United States, there would not have been a peace agreement, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement for southern Sudan. So I think the challenge that you face, Mr. Natsios, is probably one of the most difficult jobs in the world. But you certainly have the right skill set, the background and the tenacity to do it. So I am very glad that you are on this.

Let me also say that like many of my colleagues I, too, have been to Darfur. I have visited two camps. I was in the Musher Camp and Kalma Camp and saw both the sense of relief on the part of the refugees, the look of "we escaped a bullet but we have lost many loved ones," especially the women who have lost sons and daughters and they themselves may have been raped, but there was also that sense that any day now, any second now everything could become unraveled. But for the time being, the camp still remains a refuge, though a tenuous one at that.

I also met with President Bashir and was deeply disappointed. All he wanted to talk about was lifting the sanctions and not solving the crisis as it exists in Darfur, and it was a very, I can tell you, very difficult conversation that I had with him, and I hope other Members of Congress will meet with him and press the case for human rights tenaciously with him.

Let me also say, like Tom Lantos, our chairman, I was deeply disturbed by President Hu Jintao's recent visit. I think we all know that the only reason why the war in the south, which killed 2 million people as Sharia law was attempted to be imposed upon the south and displaced 4 million, was because it was enabled by Chinese oil-weapons, the oil obviously going to China from Sudan and the weapons and cash going the other way to enable that terrible slaughter.

The same thing is true for the north in Darfur. China has been an enabler in chief when it comes to the atrocities being committed there and needs to be held to account, and Hu Jintao's most recent visit, despite some talk about maybe he ought to do something with Mr. Bashir, all of his deeds certainly conveyed just the opposite. When you are talking about debt forgiveness, when he talks about

building or helping to finance through a debt-free loan, palace construction, that is so obscene compared to killing of human life there in Darfur. We all know that Bashir needs to be held to account and others as well.

Finally, many of us are concerned about this turn for the worse in Darfur with the targeting of NGOs, especially those very brave and courageous workers who are on the front line from Europe, the United States, and from African countries, including Sudan, who are targeted precisely because they are providing the safe haven, wherever there is one, and a lifeline to those beleaguered refugees. And perhaps, Mr. Natsios, you can speak to that, but I think that is an ominous turn when NGOs, who are doing nothing but humanitarian work, are targeted for work, sexual abuse, and death. I yield back.

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you, Mr. Smith.

At this time we will be pleased to provide 1-minute opening statements for any members who wish to make one and I will ask Mr. Meeks if he would like to.

Mr. MEEKS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

You know, for me, and we are having a hearing again, we are here again, and this is the biggest crisis of our time when it comes to genocide. And we always say never again, and the question is I am in this position in the United States Congress and history will ask, well, what did you do? You know, you were on the board of directors of the greatest country on the planet. What did you do to help stop this genocide? Because history is recording these individuals dying every day as we sit here. People are dying. And we have got a government that seems not to care in Khartoum, and we have got allies that are not as engaged as I believe they should be.

So my thought is just as I feel it is important, for example, in Iraq, that we have this coalition of the willing, that we develop a coalition of individuals who are focused on making this a lead issue. And, in particular, and some of my questions when we get to them as I conclude, Mr. Chairman, is China, who we do a lot of business with, and China seems to be the one that is keeping the economy of Khartoum and Sudan growing and growing and growing. And it seems to me at the same time they go to these other African nations and say they are going to invest more there, et cetera, but it almost gets to the point where if they are keeping the genocide going in Darfur by their continued economic support, then it is almost in the situation that their hands are getting bloodied, and we need to make sure that we get our allies to work with us to stop this terrible, terrible genocide that is taking place on our watch.

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you very much. At this time I will hear the gentleman who did go to South Sudan on his first codel as a Member of Congress and saw the terrible situations there, Mr. Tancredo.

Mr. TANCREDO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And really, I have no questions for Mr. Natsios. Just to comment that as long as we have been dealing with this issue, it seems to me that we have had really good people in the field. There is no one that I can think of that I have had more confidence in terms of his ability to actually accomplish some of the goals that we set out for him, Mr. Natsios,

and I want to commend you, sir, for what you have done and what you expect you will be doing.

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you.

Representative Woolsey from California.

Ms. WOOLSEY. I pass, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. PAYNE. Thank you.

Congresswoman Jackson Lee from Texas.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Thank you so very much. Let me welcome Special Envoy. Thank you for your service. Let me thank Mr. Lantos and the full committee for their dedication and commitment, and let me elevate and compliment Chairman Payne and his Ranking Member Smith and his persistence in determination. Might I recognize another group, the Congressional Black Caucus, now 43 members? Many of us individually and collectively had tried to do everything possible on this side of the ocean to address this question. And it is because we are filled with nightmares at night and regularly are concerned about the images of wounded and imploded babies and burned villages. And when I walked across the border, and I guess maybe at some point someone will accost me for that because there was no other way to get in Sudan after leaving some of the most beautifully disturbing refugee camps. So I will pose to you the questions of concern about the refugees in Chad and destabilizing of that government.

But I do want to just briefly say that we are now 2 years after the 1556 Resolution in the U.N. Security Council and about 9 months after the Darfur peace agreements and the question is we have to do more. And I ask this government to do a complete and total trade and financial sanctions against Darfur. I am interested in an intense U.N. peacekeeping in some way along with the African Union soldiers, and I want relief for the refugees in Chad and some effort to stop the destabilizing situation.

My last point to you, as I thank you for your service, is I am concerned about Southern Sudan because they are trying. And they deserve our support and recognition, and there may be some issues that we have to discuss on how to protect them. And one of them is protecting their leaders, providing security for their leaders. We still don't know the answers to the unfortunate plane incident. I would like to see this government providing support and security for their leaders.

I thank you and I look forward to your testimony, and I thank the chairman and I yield back. We have to do something.

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you. At this time I will hear from Mr. Wilson, who also visited Darfur.

Mr. WILSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Envoy Natsios, for being here today, and I indeed last year had the extraordinary privilege of participating in Codel Pelosi where we visited Darfur, and I saw firsthand the great passion and concern of Chairman Payne, and I want to offer to work with you, Mr. Chairman, any way that I can. I saw firsthand the human tragedy. I additionally saw evidence of where the Agency for International Development had made great efforts to provide shelter, food, education, and clothing for the persons. And with your background with the Agency for International Development, I am confident the President

made the right choice, and I look forward to hearing your testimony.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. PAYNE. At this time we will have a 1-minute opening statement by Mr. Costa. He would like to give one.

Mr. COSTA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member. I shared the frustration that many of my colleagues have echoed here with regards to the situation in Darfur, and I would like to waive the balance of my time so that we can get to the testimony and the questions.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you.

Mr. Poe.

Mr. POE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thanks for having this very important hearing and bringing it to worldwide attention. No question about what takes place and that has taken place in Darfur is a plight on civilization's treatment toward other human beings and the whole world needs to know about it.

I am concerned about long range planning and the U.S. role. We need, no question about this, to use sanctions, every diplomatic peacekeeping ability we can to stop the violence against people. But what if that doesn't work? You know, years ago we were told we would be in Bosnia for 8 months until Christmas. That was 10 Christmases ago. We were in Afghanistan. We were in Iraq. What is going to be the United States policy, long range militarily, in Darfur if these sanctions don't work? That is my question for you. Thank you, sir.

Mr. PAYNE. We will hear from the gentleman from New Jersey, Mr. Sires.

Mr. SIRES. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

This is my first hearing as a freshman Congressman, and I am looking forward to all of the information that Envoy Natsios has to give us, but I am very proud of the New Jersey delegation in bringing this to the world's attention and all of the members that are on this committee. This is an issue that I think we should be able to work together to try to bring a resolution, and I just want to thank you for being here and thank the chairman for all of his work, and I look forward to all of the information you can give us. Thank you very much.

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you very much. Mr. Hinojosa.

Mr. HINOJOSA. I want to echo the words of my friend from New Jersey, Mr. Sires, and welcome you, Mr. Natsios. We are looking forward to your testimony. We are looking forward to getting into a question and answer session with you and see if we can find a resolution to this very serious problem that has occurred again in that part of our world in Sudan. I also want to be able to get back to the children who came from Oyster Elementary School on Monday morning to present to the Speaker of the House a banner with the hands of about 50 children and their names and their request that Congress please pay close attention to the seriousness of what is happening in Darfur. And when you have children speaking in different languages, asking the Speaker of the House and Members of Congress to raise the level of importance of our intercession and trying to stop that war, you know, that it is hitting close to home.