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In a "Dear Colleague" letter, Rep. Michael Capuano, Massachusetts Democrat, a member of the Sudan Caucus, wrote: "There are indications that the U.S. State Department is shifting its policy toward Sudan. Instead of putting more pressure on this Khartoum government, (Condoleezza Rice) granted them a waiver to hire a U.S. lobbyist (Robert Cabelly). For $530,000 a year, this lobbyist will represent a regime we have accused of genocide." (This letter was co-signed by 105 members of Congress.) "Additionally," Mr. Capuano continued for the Sudan Caucus, "the State Department recently announced that Sudan's slavery status is being upgraded to a Tier II from a Tier III (worse offender in the Trafficking of Persons watch list)... This is another reward to a government long engaged in slavery, a fact well documented by human rights groups and the State Department itself." Moreover, Rep. Frank Wolf, Virginia Republican, chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Human Rights Caucus -- who has been to Sudan five times -- has said in a statement in the Congressional Record: "Make no mistake, Sudan is hiring this firm (C/R International, whose managing director is Robert Cabelly) to help counteract the ongoing worldwide campaign against the (Khartoum) government's policy in the Darfur region of the country." Certainly, C/R International has the right to choose its clients; but Mr. Wolf and this columnist have the right to ask the firm whether there are any clients it would not take. Mr. Wolf emphasizes: "This American company is taking money to wage a lobbying war against the hundreds of organizations and more than 130 million Americans who have voiced their concern about the situation in Darfur." And I do think Miss Rice should explain to those 130 million Americans, let alone the millions of Darfurians (who cannot return to their villages torn apart by the Janjaweed) why she granted a waiver to this lobbying outfit, despite Executive Order 13067 prohibiting transactions with the Sudanese government. (It was signed by President Clinton in 1997.)
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