[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 211 Engrossed Amendment Senate (EAS)]
In the Senate of the United States,
December 20 (legislative day, December 18), 2001.
Resolved, That the resolution from the House of Representatives (H.
Con. Res. 211) entitled ``Concurrent resolution commending Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi on the 10th anniversary of her receiving the Nobel Peace Prize
and expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to the Government
of Burma.'', do pass with the following
AMENDMENTS:
Strike out all after the resolving clause and insert:
SECTION 1. COMMENDATION OF DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI AND SENSE OF CONGRESS
WITH RESPECT TO THE GOVERNMENT OF BURMA.
(a) Commendation of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.--Congress--
(1) commends and congratulates Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on the
10th anniversary of her receiving the Nobel Peace Prize; and
(2) recognizes her remarkable contributions and tireless
work toward bringing national reconciliation and democracy to
Burma.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the
President and the Secretary of State should continue to encourage the
SPDC to--
(1) restore basic human rights to the Burmese people;
(2) eliminate the practice of human trafficking;
(3) address the manufacture of heroin and methamphetamines;
(4) release all political prisoners;
(5) remove all restrictions on the freedom of speech,
assembly, association, and movement of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and
members of the National League for Democracy;
(6) recognize the results of the 1990 democratic elections;
and
(7) take concrete steps to achieve national reconciliation
and the restoration of democracy through genuine and
substantive dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Strike out the preamble and insert:
Whereas, since 1962, the people of Burma have lived under a repressive military
regime;
Whereas, in 1988, the people of Burma rose up in massive prodemocracy
demonstrations;
Whereas, in response to this call for change, the Burmese military brutally
suppressed these demonstrations;
Whereas opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest
after these demonstrations;
Whereas, in the 1990 Burmese elections, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi led the National
League for Democracy and affiliated parties to a landslide victory,
winning 80 percent of the parliamentary seats;
Whereas the ruling military regime rejected this election and proceeded to
arrest hundreds of members of the National League for Democracy;
Whereas Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's freedom of speech, assembly, association, and
movement was restricted by the military regime;
Whereas, in recognition of her efforts to bring democracy to Burma, Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 1991;
Whereas Daw Aung San Suu Kyi remained under unlawful house arrest until 1995;
Whereas, even after the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese military
regime, known as the State Peace and Development Council (in this
concurrent resolution referred to as the ``SPDC''), has continued to
ignore the basic human rights of 48,000,000 Burmese citizens and has
brutally suppressed any opposition to its authority;
Whereas, according to the Department of State, the SPDC has made no significant
progress toward stopping the practice of human trafficking, whereby
thousands of people have been sent to Thailand and other countries for
the purpose of factory and household work and for sexual exploitation;
Whereas the SPDC has forced civilians to work in industrial, military, and
infrastructure construction operations throughout Burma, and on a large-
scale basis has targeted ethnic and religious minorities for this work;
Whereas a Department of Labor report in 2000 described the human rights abuses
of forced laborers, including beating, torture, starvation, and summary
executions;
Whereas the Drug Enforcement Administration has reported that Burma is the
world's second largest producer of opium and opiate-based drugs;
Whereas officials in Thailand have estimated that as many as 800 million tablets
of methamphetamine will be smuggled into their country this year,
contributing to the growing methamphetamine problem in Thailand;
Whereas there are as many as a million internally displaced persons in Burma;
Whereas the SPDC continues to severely restrict the political activities of Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy;
Whereas, in September 2000, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest
when she attempted to visit a National League for Democracy party office
on the outskirts of Rangoon, and again when she attempted to travel by
train to Mandalay;
Whereas Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the SPDC have recently begun talks under the
auspices of the United Nations Special Envoy to Burma, Razali Ismail,
which are welcomed by the international community;
Whereas the SPDC has recently allowed the National League for Democracy to open
some political offices, and has released some political prisoners,
although over 1,800 such prisoners are believed to remain imprisoned;
Whereas, with the exception of these positive developments, the SPDC has made
little progress in improving human rights conditions and restoring
democracy to Burma;
Whereas the United Nations General Assembly has recently expressed its concern
over the slow progress in the talks between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the
SPDC;
Whereas Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's struggle to assert the rights of her people has
spread beyond politics and into popular culture, as evidenced by others
championing her cause, most notably the rock group U2 in their song
``Walk On'', which is banned in Burma;
Whereas Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is the recipient of the Presidential Medal of
Freedom; and
Whereas, in the face of oppression and at great personal sacrifice, Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi has remained an outspoken champion of democracy and freedom:
Now, therefore, be it
Attest:
Secretary.
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 211
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AMENDMENTS