House Republican Urges Obama To Reject Lobbying Attempt From Sudan Government

By Julianne LaJeunesse- University of New Mexico

U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf's (R-Va.) objection to a Sudan lobbyist presence in Washington, D.C. didn't find much of an audience Thursday, but the Congressman moved past the small crowd, calling on President Barack Obama to reject the Sudanese government's prospective representation at the Capitol.

"Today, I am sending a letter to President Obama urging him to make it clear, in no uncertain terms, to both the State Department and the Treasury Department's office of Foreign Assests Control, that under his administration, the government of Khartoum, will not be granted the necessary waiver to hire a lobbyist," Wolf said. "A modern day accused war criminal is sitting as a head of the state of government of Sudan."

Wolf noted Sudan President Omar al-Bashir's March 2009 arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, and said in June 2004, he was part of a delegation of Congressmen who went to Sudan, where he witnessed what he described as "the nightmare."

When al-Bashir was issued an ICC warrant, the Sudan government said they did not recognize the ICC as a legitimate agency.

Wolf said new consideration of Sudanese representation in the nation's capital, "would be a disgrace and must not be permitted to take place under any circumstances."

The Sudan government has not been represented in Washington, D.C. for more than four years, largely due to what the U.S. government once said was genocide in the country's Darfur region.