US Senate passes amendment for funding UN Darfur mission
May 3, 2006 (WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Senate on Wednesday passed an amendment sponsored by Sen. Robert Menendez that provides $60 million to fund a United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Darfur region of Sudan.
The amendment, which was co-sponsored by Sen. Barack Obama, is part of a huge bill to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and hurricane relief on the Gulf Coast. President Bush has promised to veto the bill if it exceeds $94.5 billion. The bill is already close to $109 billion.
Obama, D-Ill., said the amendment sends a message to other countries to join the United States in efforts to end the genocide in Darfur.
“This sends a signal to the U.N. that we are prepared to do our fair share,” Obama said.
Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, had to fight most of Tuesday night to get the amendment funded. The measure was financed by a companion cut to funding for a huge U.S. embassy project in Baghdad.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., one of the Senate’s leading figures on Darfur, praised the amendment and said although he was concerned about the high cost of the bill, he would fight to make sure the Darfur amendment was not stripped in conference.
Fighting in the Darfur region began in February 2003 when rebels from black African tribes took up arms, complaining of discrimination and oppression by Sudan’s Arab-dominated government.
The government has been accused of unleashing Arab tribal militia against civilians in a campaign of murder, rape and arson. At least 180,000 people have died — many from hunger and disease. More than 2 million have fled their homes, many to neighboring countries where stability has been threatened by Darfur’s chaos.
Meanwhile, Menendez’s likely Republican opponent in this year’s Senate race criticized him for using the people of Darfur for political gain. New Jersey state Sen. Tom Kean Jr. said Menendez actually has worked against the people of Darfur for accepting campaign contributions from gum arabic importers.
Gum arabic is produced in the Sudan and is a key ingredient in soft drinks, candy, pharmaceuticals and ink. Importer Services Corp., based in Jersey City, N.J., is the largest importer of gum arabic in the country and is a major campaign contributor to Menendez, Kean said.
“I challenge him to return the dirty money he collected from gum arabic importers,” Kean said.
Menendez spokesman Matt Miller said Kean’s comments were inappropriate.
“It is tasteless beyond belief that anyone would criticize Bob Menendez’s bipartisan efforts to stop genocide to score cheap political points,” Miller said.
Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor also took exception to Kean’s comments.
“Its unclear to me how anyone could construe working to provide $60 million for this peacekeeping mission as anything but a sincere effort to help people suffering in Darfur,” Vietor said.
(ST/AP)