Members Of Congress Urge Full Implementation Of Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement

Travis Martinez, University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News

Members of Congress today urged the Obama administration to fully implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), a 2005 peace treaty between the Sudanese government and a rebel movement aimed at easing tensions in the troubled region.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) suggested that the CPA is on the verge of unraveling. He noted that the Sudanese government is falling apart with corrupt elections and an ongoing genocide.

“It seems to me that the CPA is on life support. It’s in grave danger of unraveling,” said Smith. “This administration has to get much more serious than it has been or the killing field will continue. The Nobel Peace prize winner needs to use the gravitas that he has gained from that great award and say 'Sudan is my priority. I’m not going to let the CPA unravel.'”

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) called on President Barack Obama to make good with his campaign promises to ensure tougher sanctions on Sudan “if the government didn’t shape up."

“The time is now for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama to personally and actively engage Sudan,” said Wolf. “During the campaign, then candidate Obama said, ‘the Bush administration should be holding Sudan accountable for failing to implement significant aspects of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, imperiling the prospects for the scheduled multiparty election in 2009.'”

Wolf pointed to recent testimony by a former top U.N. investigator Enrico Carisch at a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing on Africa, wherein Carisch testified that the U.S., along with other nations, have relaxed efforts in Sudan.

”In contrast to that leadership of 2004 and 2005, the United States appears to have now joined the group of influential states who sit by quietly and do nothing to ensure that sanctions work to protect Darfurians,” said Carisch.

House GOP'ers Want Justice For Chinese Human Rights Attorney

By Laura Smith - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Reps. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.), Frank Wolf (R-Va.) and others spoke out Monday against the arrest of Jiang Tianyong, a Chinese human rights lawyer who was arrested after requesting to meet with President Obama at the American Embassy in Beijing during his trip to China.

Multiple requests by Tianyong and other human rights lawyers to meet with the U.S. President were turned down. After Obama left China, Tianyong’s wife was allegedly beaten and he was taken away by Chinese officials.

Upon his release, Tianyong testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC) about various human rights abuses associated with China’s one-child policy. The policy limits married Chinese couples to one child, with a birth permit. If they choose to have a second child, couples must have both a pregnancy permit and a birth permit.

Smith explained that Monday's news conference was held as a means of raising awareness about Tianyong's arrest and to help him avoid potential future incarceration.

“That’s why we’re asking the President to pick up the phone, and call Hu Jintao and to raise the issue of the lawyers, especially Jiang, and others, but certainly his case, because he specifically asked to meet with the President and was turned down,” said Smith.

N.J. Congressman Worried About Abortion Language In Healthcare Plan

By Travis Martinez, University of New Mexico- Talk Radio News Service

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) took issue Thursday morning with President Obama's address to Congress. Smith, a member of the Pro-Life Caucus and one of the strongest opponents of abortion in the House of Representatives, argued that the President did not do enough to erase doubts that his admistration's healthcare plan will include funding for abortions.

"Americans do not want to be complicit in the dismemberment or chemical poisoning of unborn children... public funding and facilitating [of abortions] can in no way be construed as health care reform," said Smith.

Smith claimed that Wednesday's address was merely a repeat of an August 19 conference call, when the President told members of the ‘40 Days for Health Reform’ Coalition, "You've heard this is going to be government funding of abortion, not true."

Smith argued that the plan would allow abortions to be covered under the public option and by federally subsidized private plans. Smith cited the Capps Amendment, which would protect abortion coverage and would include federal funding and federal subsidies for the facilitation of abortions.

Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.), who spoke after Smith, said that the amendments he has submitted to the President's plan during the course of the past few months are, "Not about the legality or illegality of abortion... this is [health care reform] keeping the government out of the abortion business."

Tiananmen Students Continue Fight

By Joseph Russell- Talk Radio News Service

A remembrance was held on the West Lawn of Capitol Hill to honor the students that lost their lives during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre 20 years ago. U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ.) spoke with former Chinese student leaders about the importance of remembering the fallen students and the need to continue to fight for Democracy in China.

“The ugly spirit of the Tiananmen Square Massacre continues today unabated in China with brutality and efficiency that only a Nazi could love,” Smith said, adding the Obama administration should not seek to improve the world economy while ignoring the country’s human rights violations.

Dr. Yang Jianli, a Tiananmen survivor and former political prisoner, said that “it is truth that tyrannies fear most; it is truth that build stable societies.” He called for the release of political prisoners and ending the blacklisting of China citizens.

The Tiananmen Square massacre resulted from political protests by college students who demanded government reform. The student’s protest was planned for 40 days, but ended after the 20th day. The government used force to stop the protest when the students erected a statue of the Goddess of Liberty. The statue was destroyed and an estimated 2,000 students were killed by the Chinese military.