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In a letter issued on May 29, 60 non-governmental organizations write to urge Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair, Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), to schedule the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act for consideration before the Committee at the next business meeting.

Download a PDF of the letter here.

May 29, 2018

The Honorable Bob Corker
United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Dirksen Senate Office Building 423
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Chairman Corker:

We write to urge your expedited leadership to bring the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2017 (S.1158) before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for markup at the next business meeting.

On May 17, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed an amended version of the companion bill (H.R.3030) introduced by Rep. Ann Wagner by unanimous voice vote. The House bill’s bipartisan co-sponsors include Chairman Ed Royce and Ranking Member Eliot Engel along with 26 other HFAC Members. We urge consideration of the House text before SFRC without further amendment.

There is growing recognition that the U.S. government can and must work to get ahead of crises, especially genocide and mass atrocities, and that doing so is in the U.S. national security interests. This bipartisan, bicameral legislative effort serves to further support the ongoing work of the Atrocities Prevention Board at the National Security Council as well as the increased emphasis on violence prevention at the U.S. Agency for International Development initiated by the Trump Administration.

As we have seen in places like Syria, atrocities can give rise to ungoverned spaces that can enable violent extremism to flourish, disrupt economies, drive massive refugee flows, and put populations at risk for human trafficking. Further, mass atrocities can cost the United States billions of dollars in response efforts when prevention is not prioritized.

The Elie Wiesel Act offers a first tangible step toward advancing Congressional leadership on the critical issue of atrocities prevention in line with U.S. interests and security. We urge your leadership in scheduling S.1158 for markup at the next business meeting, and your support for the H.R.3030 text as passed out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Sincerely,

Alliance for Peacebuilding
American Jewish Committee
American Jewish World Service
American Psychological Association
Anti-Defamation League
Armenian National Committee of America
Association of Holocaust Organizations
Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation
Better World Campaign
CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center
Carl Wilkens Fellowship
Center for Justice and Accountability
The Center for Victims of Torture 
Charity & Security Network
Church of the Brethren Office of Peacebuilding and Policy
Church World Service
Coalition Against Global Genocide
Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Conference of Major Superiors of Men (Catholic)
Darfur Action Group of South Carolina
Darfur and Beyond
Disciples Center for Public Witness
The Educators’ Institute for Human Rights
The Episcopal Church
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Foreign Policy for America
Foundation for Ethnic Understanding
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Georgia Coalition to Prevent Genocide
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Holocaust and Humanity Center
Humanity Is Us
International Justice Project
Investors Against Genocide
Invisible Children
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Jewish World Watch
JPIC Committee of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur
Mercy Corps
National Council of Churches
Never Again Coalition
Operation Broken Silence
Pax Christi International
Peace Direct
Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition
Project C.U.R.E.
Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
Refugees International
San Antonio Coalition Against Genocide
Shalom Austin
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Institute Justice Team
STAND: The Student-Led Movement to End Mass Atrocities
Stop Genocide Now
Together We Remember
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
The United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society
U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
World Without Genocide at Mitchell Hamline School of Law