For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 21, 2002

Statement by the President

I commend the Congress for passing the Sudan Peace Act. This Act, passed with bipartisan support, demonstrates that the Congress shares my commitment to help end suffering and promote a just peace in Sudan. For too long, the people of Sudan have endured slavery, violence, disease, and forced starvation. Last year, I appointed former Senator John Danforth as my envoy to help bring peace and stability to Sudan. Senator Danforth and others, working with regional governments, especially the Government of Kenya, have established an unprecedented opportunity to end the war in Sudan and to lay the foundations for a just and lasting peace.

The Sudan Peace Act presses the parties in Sudan to seize this historic opportunity and to end the war and suffering. The Government of Sudan must choose between the path to peace and the path to continued war and destruction. If it makes the right choice, that course will mean improvement in the lives of all Sudanese, better bilateral relations with the United States, and the beginning of its reacceptance into the community of peace loving nations.

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