ilovemylife: SHAME ON PATRICK KENNEDY AND JAMES LANGEVIN - ONLY 78 0F 435 US REPS SIGNED LETTERS FOR DARFURI FAMILIES

I am from Rhode Island. And neither of RI's two U.S. Representatives signed the three letters for the life and death situation for Darfuri families.

357 did not sign.

78 did sign.

Shame on Patrick Kennedy and James Langevin. What was the reasoning behind withholding your signatures?

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On March 4, 2009, the Government of Sudan began expelling humanitarian aid agencies from Darfur. Thirteen to sixteen international and three national agencies have been forced out of the region. This expulsion leaves one million Darfuris without water, food and medical assistance.

Members of the US Congress had the opportunity to sign letters to three Sudanese allies urging them to take urgent action for Darfuri families.

The letters were authored by Congressmen Capuano and McCaul and are addressed to Chinese President Hu Jintao, Arab League Secretary-General Amre Moussa and African Union Chairman Muammar Qadhafi. The letters urge these leaders to send a clear message that expelling humanitarian aid agencies from Sudan - and putting Darfuri lives at even greater risk - is unacceptable.

The deadline to sign-on to these letters was noon on Tuesday, March 17, 2009.

Call 1-800-GENOCIDE and praise or express sorrow to your Representative for either signing or not signing the letters. The option to be connected to your Representative immediately follows the option to be connected to the Secretary of State, so please remain on the hotline until you can be connected to your Representative.

Here are the U.S. Representatives who signed the letters:

(78 of 435): Baldwin, Berkley, S. Bishop, T.
Bishop, Boozman, Braley, Cao, Capps, Capuano,
Clay, Delahunt, DeLauro, Doggett, Doyle,
D. Edwards, Ellison, Engel, Eshoo, Farr,
Filner, Fortenberry, B. Frank, Franks,
Fudge, Garrett, Gordon, A. Green,
A. Hastings, Herger, Higgins, Himes,
Hinchey, Hirono, Holt, Honda, Inglis,
Jackson Lee, E.B. Johnson, Kirk, B. Lee,
Lofgren, Lynch, Maloney, E. Markey, McCaul,
McCollum, McCotter, McDermott, McGovern,
McIntyre, B. Miller, George Miller,
G. Moore, Jerry Moran, T. Murphy,
Nadler, Olver, Pascrell, Payne, Perriello,
Pitts, Polis, M. Rogers (AL), Rothman,
Rush, Linda Sanchez, Schakowsky, Schiff,
Schwartz, Slaughter, Speier, Tauscher,
Van Hollen, Walz, Waters, Wolf, Woolsey

Thank you to these Representatives and the
states' citizens they represent.

But, a disappointing list of 435 potentially caring hearts.

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See the Darfur grade of U.S. Congrss members:
http://www.darfurscores.org/

Champions of Darfur

Sam Brownback (R-Kansas)
Richard Durbin (D-Illinois)
Thomas Tancredo (R-Colorado)
Donald Payne (D-New Jersey)

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Contact Patrick:
https://forms.house.gov/formpatrickkennedy/IMA/contact.htm

Here is my text to Patrick Kennedy tonight:

Issue: Darfur.

(Please consider adding Darfur to the list.)

Members of the US Congress had the opportunity to sign letters to three Sudanese allies urging them to take urgent action for Darfuri families.

The letters were authored by Congressmen Capuano and McCaul and were addressed to Chinese President Hu Jintao, Arab League Secretary-General Amre Moussa and African Union Chairman Muammar Qadhafi. The letters urge these leaders to send a clear message that expelling humanitarian aid agencies from Sudan - and putting Darfuri lives at even greater risk - is unacceptable.

The deadline to sign-on to these letters was noon on Tuesday, March 17, 2009.

357 did not sign.

78 did sign.

US RI Rep Kennedy, I want to know the reasoning behind withholding your signature from these three letters. I am very disheartened at your lack of support for the Darfur current situation.

Not only has the government of Sudan expelled NGOs that have provided water, food and medical services, but last week the government of Sudan ordered Banks in Sudan to freeze Bank accounts of 15 NGO's, of which 12 of them were expelled.

The NGO's are:

1- International Rescue Committee - U.S.A.
2- CARE - U.S.A.
3- Save The Children - U.S.A.
4- Save The Children - UK.
5- Development & Rebuilding Org - U.S.A.
6- TATCO - U.S.A.
7- Refugees Council Org.- Norway
8- Khartoum Center for Human Rights- Sudan
9- Solidarity Organization - France
10- Anti Starvation Org. - France.
11- Doctors -Without - Borders- France
12- OXFAM - UK.
13-MERCY - U.S.A.
14- SUDO - Sudan
15- AMAL - Sudan

Email text I received, March 12, 2009 from a Sudanese living in exile in the USA

This is some of what is happening in Darfur:

1 Eyewitnesses say armed men on two vehicles kidnapped five aid workers from Doctors-Without-Borders workers in a hospital in Saraf Omrah location in Central Darfur. The kidnapped workers: one French national, one Italian national, one Canadian national, 2 Sudanese nationals (guards).

Doctors-Without -Borders organization is one of the organizations that medically treats and documents cases of rape and other atrocities, which angered Government of Sudan (GoS).

2 Situation in the large cities of Darfur is extremely tense. News from Elfasher is that there was sporadic gun fire in the last five days. Janjaweed forces are seen roaming the city freely and assaulting citizens.

3 A Darfuri activist in Midwest ( U.S.A.) told me this morning that GoS security agents are looking for her sister in Nyala (South Darfur). She said her sister has no political affiliation or activities. She believes that Government of Sudan's agents in U.S.A. has a hand in what is going on to her family back home. (All demonstrations supporting International Criminal Court (ICC) decision on March 4, 2009 in major U.S. cities by Diaspora of Darfur were taped by GoS agents. This Darfuri activist is a student in a university. She told me she cancelled all classes today just to keep calling her relatives in Sudan, Arabian Gulf countries, to follow up situation in Darfur.

4 Some Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) (refugees) in a camp in west Darfur (UmTagook) were forced to get out to demonstate (yesterday Wednesday, March 11, 2009) to condemn the ICC warrant of arrest. A satellite TV channel from Khartoum (Alshoroug TV) taped the forced-demonstration to be shown nation-wide.

5 Retributions are going on against outspoken IDP camps leaders. Thurday, March 12, 2009: IDP camp (West Darfur) leader Sheikh Haroun Mohamed Ishag was lead out by armed men and killed by gun fire at about distance of a 1/2 a mile from the camp.

I look forward to your response.

Thank you.

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Images of Darfur
http://darfur.unfpa.org/jon_darfur/index.html

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