Bush faces pressure on Sudan 'genocide'

The White House faced growing political pressure from Congress yesterday to declare that the Sudanese government is carrying out genocide in western Sudan's Darfur region. Senators introduced a bipartisan resolution calling for action. If passed by Congress, the resolution - sponsored by Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican, and Jon Corzine, a New Jersey Democrat - would mark the first time Congress had passed a genocide measure while the reported violence was still in progress. The Brownback-Corzine resolution urges the Bush administration to declare genocide in Darfur and to take steps with the international community to stop it. The Bush administration has not yet declared the Darfur crisis an act of genocide. [more]