DarfurScores.org, a website operated by the Genocide Intervention Network, has rated Congressman Cohen “A+” for his voting record on legislation designed to bring an end to the massacre in Darfur.
Congressman Cohen not only voted for the Genocide Accountability Act and the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act, but he co-sponsored the China Resolution and the Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act.
The UN estimates that over 200,000 (Other estimates are twice as high) residents of the Darfur region have been slaughtered by the Janjaweed, a militia serving at the behest of the Sudanese government. 2.5 million people have become refugees, displaced by the ethnically charged conflict.
“The world has stood idly by and allowed genocide to happen before. My late colleague and friend, Congressman Lantos, barely escaped the fate that millions suffered. And when it ended, we said ‘Never again’,” Congressman Cohen said.
“There’s a famous story that in the early days of his presidency, George W. Bush requested the files on the massacre in Rwanda. Legend has it that that when they were turned back in, he had scribbled the words ‘Not on my watch’ into the margins.
“So far, that has not been the case. I call on my fellow members of Congress, the White House, and the international community to stop the massacre in Darfur. Only when the Sudanese government lacks the money to resupply the Janjaweed will the senseless murder of ethnic Africans in Darfur end.”
In February 2008, Congressman Cohen signed on to a letter written by Rep. Brian Higgins (NY-27) calling upon President Bush to use the diplomatic weight of the United States Government to bring an end to the massacre, which continues to this day.
Click here to read Congressman Cohen’s Report Card from DarfurScores.org .