Darfur Accountability Act Update
When I wrote my Sudan post yesterday, Congress was considering the Darfur Accountability Act as a part of an emergency supplemental budget request. The Bush administration was trying to get it stripped out in the conference committee. Looks like they succeeded.
The Save Darfur Coalition just sent the following e-mail update:
The House-Senate conference committee for the FY05 Emergency Supplemental completed their work. The final legislation includes $50 million to support the expansion of the African Union mission in Darfur. The bill also provides other significant humanitarian funding for Sudan, including: $90 million for international disaster assistance for Sudan ($46 million above the initial White House request), $120 million for migration and refugee assistance for Sudan and other countries in Africa ($67 million above the initial request), and $240 million for food aid for Sudan and other countries ($90 million above the initial request).
The Senate-passed Darfur Accountability Act was removed from the final bill. Nonetheless, it remains as separate legislation in the Senate, as does the related Darfur Genocide Accountability Act in the House.
So the bad news is that the pressure from the White House resulted in the Darfur Accountability Act getting stripped from the bill.
The good news is that it’s still alive separately in both houses. So it is still worth writing your congressfolk. And when you do, make sure to commend them for devoting more money than requested to Sudan aid. Let’s hope that it is used wisely and does some good.