U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer on Darfur
From Never Again
The following question was asked by Never Again member Nick Gerda to U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) in Beverly Hills, California on December 18, 2005. The event was taped and broadcast nationwide on C-SPAN. Video clip
NICK: Given the current humanitarian crisis in Sudan, which former [United States] Secretary of State Colin Powell described as "genocide," why hasn't the United States taken necessary diplomatic and military action to end the suffering of millions of innocent men, women, and children?
SENATOR BOXER: Well, we've called it a genocide, and we have sent our emissary out there. The focus has got to be placed much harder on what's happening in Darfur, and the government is saying one thing and doing another. It's a crisis of major proportion, and the one place I get my faith is that young people like you never let us forget what is happening, and don't let us forget what is happening. Because there are people like Jon Corzine, who's just been elected the governor of New Jersey who made this a key point on his last speech, people like Russ Feingold, I serve with Russ on the Committee [on] Foreign Relations, and we need to keep the pressure on. It is so easy to pull the covers over your head because there's so much going on, especially when we have our own young men and women, and some not so young, facing such threats in Iraq. It's very difficult. I want to tell you I'm committed to doing what I can, and I want to thank you for bringing this up. Thank you very much.
