By:  Shapleigh, et al.                                            S.R. No. 181



SENATE RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, In February, 2003, after decades of tension over 
scarce natural resources in the Darfur province of western Sudan, 
African Muslims rose up against the Arab Muslim government in the 
capital city of Khartoum; in response to the uprising, the 
government armed local militias, known as "Janjaweed," to 
campaign primarily against three ethnic groups:  the Fur, 
Massalit, and Zaghawa; and
	WHEREAS, For nearly three years, the government-funded 
Janjaweed militias have systematically terrorized the African 
residents of Darfur--destroying villages, ransacking food 
supplies, blocking international assistance, and killing, 
maiming, and raping villagers; the scope of the crisis is 
staggering, with an estimated 400,000 innocent civilians 
brutally murdered, more than 200,000 forced from their homes and 
fleeing to neighboring Chad, and more than 1,600,000 displaced 
within Sudan itself; and
	WHEREAS, Human rights organizations and governmental 
representatives from around the world have pronounced the 
situation in Darfur as nothing less than genocide; in fact, in 
July, 2004, the United States Congress passed resolutions 
declaring genocide in Sudan, and in January, 2005, the United 
Nations Commission of Inquiry decried the indiscriminate 
attacks, including killing of civilians, torture, enforced 
disappearances, destruction of villages, rape and other forms of 
sexual violence, pillaging, and forced displacement perpetrated 
by government forces and militias against the Fur, Zaghawa, 
Massalit, Jebel, Aranga, and other African tribes; moreover, in 
June, 2004, the Group of Eight issued a statement lamenting the 
obstruction of humanitarian access and reported gross violations 
of human rights, many with an ethnic dimension; and
	WHEREAS, The United States has long been a beacon of hope 
for vulnerable and disenfranchised people around the world; as 
citizens of conscience of this great land, we bear both the 
responsibility and honor to raise our voices against injustice in 
behalf of those unable to speak for themselves; now, therefore, 
be it
	RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 79th 
Legislature, 3rd Called Session, hereby express its support for 
the immediate intervention by the United States and the United 
Nations, as leaders of the international community, to stop the 
genocide in Darfur and to ensure that humanitarian relief reaches 
all those in need.




_______________________________ 
    President of the Senate
 
     I hereby certify that the 
above Resolution was adopted by 
the Senate on May 15, 2006.



_______________________________ 
    Secretary of the Senate