Press Room
Press Inquiries
- Contact us through this website
- Call the Genocide Intervention Network's director of communications at (202) 559-7405
Press Kit
Note: The press kit includes scores from the original scorecard, published in August 2006. Individual legislators' scores on this website were last updated on Jan. 1, 2008.
Members of the news media, bloggers and researchers are invited to download the press kit for the Darfur scorecard, which includes information about the project and scores for members of Congress.
Press Release: Congress Falls Short in Effort to End Darfur Genocide (PDF), Aug. 17, 2006
Reactions from Congress
Read responses from members of Congress to the release of the Darfur scorecard, including the following:
- Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS)
- “The Genocide Intervention Network’s scorecards will keep the pressure on Congress, reminding them that while progress has been made, more needs to be done. Although the Senate took action this year to address the genocide taking place in Darfur, as many as 2 million people remain displaced and up to 5,000 people die each month from violence.”
- Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)
- “The Genocide Intervention Network’s scorecards are an important reminder that there will be accountability for members of Congress when it comes to ending the genocide in Darfur. I will continue to support and advocate for strong U.S. government initiatives to achieve this as I join so many in praying for the safety of the people of Darfur.”
- Rep. James McGovern (D-MA)
- “The genocide in Darfur continues, and so must our outrage. I want to commend the Genocide Intervention Network for their outstanding leadership on this issue, and I will continue to work in Congress to raise awareness and action to stop the massacre of innocents in Darfur.”
Read more responses from members of Congress about the Darfur scorecard.
Press Coverage
Note: Some newspapers remove articles from their website after a period of time, so not all articles may be available.
- Op-Ed: We’ve broken our promise to the people of Darfur
- The Baltimore Examiner, January 18, 2007
- The Genocide Intervention Network distributed a report card recently grading members of Congress on whether or not they have supported recent anti-genocide legislation. The majority of the Maryland Delegation scored fairly well, with an overall grade of B. Although half of Maryland’s representatives scored an A, four scored a C or below. With our military stretched thin in Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s easy to brush off calls for action in Sudan. Yet what is happening on the other side of the globe does not necessarily require military intervention. Enforcing a no-fly zone, deploying NATO troops, and imposing sanctions and an arms embargo would dramatically increase the chances of the Sudanese government agreeing to a peace settlement.
- Op-Ed: Darfur: How Do Local Reps Stack Up?
- Willamette Week, November 24, 2006
- It's report card time for our elected officials, but these grades are based on something more serious than turning in homework on time. The activist group Genocide Intervention Network issued every member of Congress a letter grade based on his or her support for measures to help end the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.
- Editorial: Sudan’s slow genocide machine ramps up
- San Antonio Express-News, September 16, 2006
- The Genocide Intervention Network has issued a congressional report card for key pieces of legislation related to the ongoing massacre in Darfur. The Texas delegation received one of the lowest overall scores, with a grade of ‘D.’ Sen. John Cornyn was alone among Texas senators and congressmen in receiving an ‘F’ for not supporting a single piece of Darfur-related legislation or casting any favorable votes to stop the genocide.
- Op-Ed: U.S. must do more for people in Darfur
- Rep. Dave Reichert (WA-08), Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September 15, 2006
- In August, the non-partisan Genocide Intervention Network released the first-ever scorecards grading Congress on our efforts, or lack thereof, to end genocide. Unfortunately, Congress overall did not score well, averaging a “C” grade. We have not consistently supported vital legislation. We need to drastically change our behavior and ensure that all of us become champions for the people of Darfur.
- Op-Ed: As lawmakers rest, scorecards come out
- Todd J. Gillman, Dallas Morning News, September 3, 2006
- The Genocide Intervention Network, a nonprofit group, gave Texas lawmakers an overall grade of “D” for failing to act forcefully enough to halt the slaughter of innocents in Darfur, Sudan. Only one Texas lawmaker, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, earned an “A.” The nonprofit group lauded him for championing the handful of bills and resolutions Congress took up in the past year regarding the genocide.
- Editorial: Texas delegation not making grade
- Amarillo Globe News, August 29, 2006
- A political action group dedicated to stopping the seemingly endless genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan has issued a report card on Congress’ efforts in that regard. Guess what: The Texas delegation didn’t score very well. That has to change, in a hurry.
- Audio: Interview with Sam Bell, GI-Net director of advocacy
- Gloria Minott, WPFW Pacifica Radio Washington DC 89.3, August 28, 2006
- “We hear over and over on Darfur and also on past genocides, on the Holocaust, Cambodia, Rwanda, the atrocities in Bosnia and the Balkans in the ’90s, we hear in all these cases that the reason these crimes aren’t stopped is because there isn’t a political will in the countries that are capable of stopping it.” Bell says. “Our scorecard [was designed to] shine a bright light on whether the Congress has stepped up to the plate.”
- Editorial: Darfur: Serious crime
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 25, 2006
- When it comes to stopping genocide in Darfur, Washington state's congressional district receives mixed grades. There's room for improvement.
- Audio: Mixed Grades for Texas on Darfur Report Card
- Larry Schooler, KUT Austin 90.5, August 23, 2006
- The Genocide Intervention Network says many members of the US House and Senate aren’t doing enough to address what Congress has labeled the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. As KUT’s Larry Schooler reports, one Texas lawmaker earned particularly low marks on the Darfur Scorecard.
- Editorial: Lacks initiative
- Houston Chronicle, August 22, 2006
- In Texas, where reverence for the Bible influences textbooks, health policy and courtroom decor, lawmakers can seem casually indifferent to the slaughtering of innocents. Last month, the Sudan government’s attacks on civilians of sub-Saharan descent were worse than at any time since they began in 2003. They are worse even than two years ago, when Congress declared the killings in Darfur a genocide. Of all the U.S. lawmakers who have looked elsewhere while this happened, Texas legislators are among the most unseeing.
