H.R. 3127

News Unfiltered has this press release from the office of Rep. Chris Smith regarding H.R. 3127 -The Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 2006. It's unclear what this resolution will actually mean for the genocide occurring in Sudan - my gut feeling is that it will absolutely nothing. However, such legislation certainly can't hurt.

Here's the text of H.R. 3127 with the list of all of the cosponsors (Including Rep. Jim Langevin - my district's Rep.).

Here's what the release says about the content of the bill:

While it does not provide an authorization for use of United States forces in Darfur, the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act -- the result of eight months of bipartisan collaboration -- contains the following measures:

-- It confers upon the President the authority to provide assistance to reinforce the deployment and operations of an expanded African Union mission with the mandate, size, strength and capacity to protect civilians and humanitarian operations;

-- It encourages the imposition of targeted sanctions against Janjaweed commanders and coordinators;

-- It calls for the extension of the military embargo established pursuant to UN Security Council Resolutions 1556 and 1591 to include the Government of Sudan;

-- It amends the Comprehensive Peace in Sudan Act of 2004 to impose an asset freeze and travel ban against individual perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity in Darfur;

-- It asserts that existing restrictions imposed against Sudan shall not be lifted until the President certifies to Congress that the Government of Sudan is acting in good faith to: (1) peacefully resolve the crisis in Darfur; (2) disarm, demobilize and demilitarize the Janjaweed; (3) adhere to UN Security Council Resolutions; (4) negotiate a peaceful resolution to the crisis in eastern Sudan; (5) cooperate with efforts to disarm and deny safe haven to the Lord's Resistance Army; and (6) fully implement the terms of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement;

-- It amends the International Malaria Control Act to enable the United States Government to continue providing assistance to southern Sudan and other marginalized areas, and lifts restrictions on imports and exports for those same areas; and

-- It adds a section regarding the preemption of State laws that prohibit investment of State pension funds in Sudan.

Note (10:33PM) - I found the story at News Unfiltered, which linked to the press release from U.S. Newswire (see above link).