[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 328 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 328

    Expressing the sense of the Congress in recognition of the 10th 
anniversary of the free and fair elections in Burma and the urgent need 
   to improve the democratic and human rights of the people of Burma.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 16, 2000

   Mr. Porter (for himself, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Gilman, Mr. Smith of New 
  Jersey, Mr. Delahunt, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Payne, Mr. Diaz-
Balart, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Shays, Mr. 
 Castle, Mr. Berman, Mr. Engel, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Horn, Mr. Rahall, Mr. 
 Baldacci, Mrs. Morella, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Oberstar, Mr. Capuano, Mr. 
   Stark, Mr. Olver, Ms. Lee, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Rush, and Mr. Udall of 
  Colorado) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
          referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
    Expressing the sense of the Congress in recognition of the 10th 
anniversary of the free and fair elections in Burma and the urgent need 
   to improve the democratic and human rights of the people of Burma.

Whereas in 1988 thousands of Burmese citizens called for a democratic change in 
        Burma and participated in peaceful demonstrations to achieve this 
        result;
Whereas these demonstrations were brutally repressed by the Burmese military, 
        resulting in the loss of hundreds of lives;
Whereas despite continued repression, the Burmese people turned out in record 
        numbers to vote in elections deemed free and fair by international 
        observers;
Whereas on May 27, 1990, the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Daw Aung 
        San Suu Kyi won more than 60 percent of the popular vote and 80 percent 
        of the parliamentary seats in the elections;
Whereas the Burmese military rejected the results of the elections, placed Daw 
        Aung San Suu Kyi and hundreds of members of the NLD under arrest, 
        pressured members of the NLD to resign, and severely restricted freedom 
        of assembly, speech, and the press;
Whereas 48,000,000 people in Burma continue to suffer gross violations of human 
        rights, including the right to democracy, and economic deprivation under 
        a military regime known as the State Peace and Development Council 
        (SPDC);
Whereas on September 16, 1998, the members of the NLD and other political 
        parties who won the 1990 elections joined together to form the Committee 
        Representing the People's Parliament (CRPP) as an interim mechanism to 
        address human rights, economic and other conditions, and provide 
        representation of the political views and voice of Members of Parliament 
        elected to but denied office in 1990;
Whereas the United Nations General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights have 
        condemned in nine consecutive resolutions the persecution of religious 
        and ethnic minorities and the political opposition, and SPDC's record of 
        forced labor, exploitation, and sexual violence against women;
Whereas the United States and the European Union Council of Foreign Ministers 
        have similarly condemned conditions in Burma and officially imposed 
        travel restrictions and other sanctions against the SPDC;
Whereas in May 1999, the International Labor Organization (ILO) condemned the 
        SPDC for inflicting forced labor on the people and has banned the SPDC 
        from participating in any ILO meetings;
Whereas the 1999 Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 
        for Burma identifies more than 1,300 people who continue to suffer 
        inhumane detention conditions as political prisoners in Burma;
Whereas the Department of State International Narcotics Control Report for 2000 
        determines that Burma is the second largest world-wide source of illicit 
        opium and heroin and that there are continuing, reliable reports that 
        Burmese officials are ``involved in the drug business or are paid to 
        allow the drug business to be conducted by others'', conditions which 
        pose a direct threat to United States national security interests; and
Whereas despite these massive violations of human rights and civil liberties and 
        chronic economic deprivation, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and members of the 
        NLD have continued to call for a peaceful political dialogue with the 
        SPDC to achieve a democratic transition: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the Sense of the Congress that--
            (1) United States policy should strongly support the 
        restoration of democracy in Burma, including implementation of 
        the results of the free and fair elections of 1990;
            (2) United States policy should continue to call upon the 
        military regime in Burma known as the State Peace and 
        Development Council (SPDC)--
                    (A) to guarantee freedom of assembly, freedom of 
                movement, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press 
                for all Burmese citizens;
                    (B) to immediately accept a political dialogue with 
                Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy 
                (NLD), and ethnic leaders to advance peace and 
                reconciliation in Burma;
                    (C) to immediately and unconditionally release all 
                detained Members elected to the 1990 parliament and 
                other political prisoners; and
                    (D) to promptly and fully uphold the terms and 
                conditions of all human rights and related resolutions 
                passed by the United Nations General Assembly, the 
                Commission on Human Rights, the International Labor 
                Organization, and the European Union; and
            (3) United States policy should sustain current economic 
        and political sanctions against Burma as the appropriate 
        means--
                    (A) to secure the restoration of democracy, human 
                rights, and civil liberties in Burma; and
                    (B) to support United States national security 
                counternarcotics interests.
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