1.This Act may be cited as
the Saffron Revolution Support Act of
2007
.
2.Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)Beginning on
August 19, 2007, hundreds of thousands of citizens of Burma, including
thousands of Buddhist monks and students, participated in peaceful
demonstrations against rapidly deteriorating living conditions and the violent
and repressive policies of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the
ruling military junta in Burma, to—
(A)demand the
release of all political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung
San Suu Kyi; and
(B)urge the SPDC to
engage in meaningful dialogue to pursue national reconciliation.
(2)The SPDC, in a
display of brutal barbarism, violently confronted unarmed demonstrators,
killing, injuring, and imprisoning citizens, including several thousand
Buddhist monks, and continued to forcefully restrict peaceful forms of public
expression.
(3)The Department of
State’s 2006 Reports on Human Rights Practices found that the SPDC—
(A)routinely
restricts freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, religion, and
movement;
(B)traffics in
persons;
(C)discriminates
against women and ethnic minorities;
(D)forcibly recruits
child soldiers and child labor; and
(E)commits other
serious violations of human rights, including extrajudicial killings, custodial
deaths, disappearances, rape, torture, abuse of prisoners and detainees, and
the imprisonment of citizens arbitrarily for political motives.
(4)Aung San Suu Kyi
has been arbitrarily imprisoned or held under house arrest for more than 12
years.
(5)The President
announced on September 25, 2007, that the United States would tighten economic
sanctions against Burma, and block property and interests in property of
certain senior leaders of the SPDC, individuals who provide financial backing
for the SPDC, and individuals responsible for violations of human rights and
for impeding the transition to democracy in Burma.
(6)The President
also announced on September 25, 2007, that the United States would impose an
expanded visa ban on individuals—
(A)responsible for
violations of human rights; and
(B)who aid, abet, or
benefit from the SPDC’s efforts to impede the efforts of the people of Burma to
transition to democracy and ensure respect for human dignity.
(7)The Total Oil
Corporation of France and the Chevron Corporation of the United States own a
significant stake in Burma’s Yadana natural gas field and pipeline and generate
millions of dollars in revenue that help the repressive junta government
maintain its grasp on power.
(8)Burma is home to
approximately 60 percent of the world’s native teak reserves. More than one
quarter of the world’s internationally traded teak originates from Burma, and
hardwood sales, mainly of teak, represent more than 11 percent of Burma’s
official foreign exchange earnings.
(9)Burma officially
exports tens of millions of dollars worth of rubies, sapphires, pearls, jade,
and other precious stones each year and the SPDC owns a majority stake in all
mining operations within the borders of Burma.
(10)On October 11,
2007, the United Nations Security Council, with the consent of China, issued a
statement condemning the violence in Burma, urging the release of all political
prisoners, and calling on the SPDC to enter into a United Nations-mediated
dialogue with its political opposition.
(11)The leaders of
the SPDC will have a greater incentive to cooperate with diplomatic efforts by
the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and China if
they come under targeted economic pressure that denies them access to personal
wealth and sources of revenue.
3.In this Act:
(1)Account;
correspondent account; payable-through accountThe terms
account, correspondent account, and
payable-through account have the meanings given the terms in
section 5318A(e)(1) of title 31, United States Code.
(2)Appropriate
congressional committeesThe term appropriate congressional
committees means the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and
the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives.
(3)The
term person means—
(A)an individual,
corporation, company, business association, partnership, society, trust, any
other nongovernmental entity, organization, or group; and
(B)any successor,
subunit, or subsidiary of any person described in subparagraph (A).
(4)The
term SPDC means the State Peace and Development Council.
(5)The term United States person means—
(A)an individual who
is a citizen of the United States or who owes permanent allegiance to the
United States; and
(B)a person that is
organized under the laws of the United States, any State or territory thereof,
or the District of Columbia, if individuals described in subparagraph (A) own,
directly or indirectly, more than 50 percent of the outstanding capital stock
or other beneficial interest in such entity.
4.It is the policy of the
United States to—
(1)condemn the
continued repression carried out by the SPDC;
(2)support the
legitimate democratic aspirations of the people of Burma;
(3)provide all
appropriate support and assistance to aid a transition to democracy in Burma;
and
(4)hold accountable
individuals responsible for the repression of peaceful political activity in
Burma.
5.
(a)List of
officials of the SPDC
(1)Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a list of—
(A)officials of the
SPDC who play or have played a direct and substantial role in the repression of
peaceful political activity in Burma or in the commission of other human rights
abuses, including any current or former officials of the security services and
judicial institutions of the SPDC; and
(B)any other Burmese
persons who provide substantial economic and political support for the
SPDC.
(2)The
President shall regularly update and submit the list required by paragraph
(1).
(b)
(1)A person included on the list required under subsection (a)
shall be ineligible for a visa to enter the United States.
(2)
(A)No property or interest in property belonging to a
person described in subparagraph (C) may be transferred, paid, exported,
withdrawn, or otherwise dealt with, if—
(i)the
property is located in the United States or within the possession or control of
a United States person, including the overseas branch of a United States
person; or
(ii)after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the property comes within the possession or
control of a United States person.
(B)No United States person may engage in a financial
transaction with a person described in subparagraph (C).
(C)A person described in this subparagraph is one of the
following:
(i)The
SPDC.
(ii)A
person included on the list required under subsection (a).
(iii)An immediate
family member of a person included on the list required under subsection (a),
if the President determines that the person included on the list—
(I)for purposes of
subparagraph (A), effectively controls the property; or
(II)for purposes of
subparagraph (B), would benefit from a financial transaction.
(c)Authority for
additional banking sanctions
(1)The Secretary of the Treasury may, in consultation with
the Secretary of State, the Attorney General of the United States, and the
Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, prohibit or
impose conditions on the opening or maintaining in the United States of a
correspondent account or payable-through account by any financial institution
(as that term is defined in section 5312 of title 31, United States Code) or
financial agency that is organized under the laws of a State, territory, or
possession of the United States, for or on behalf of a foreign banking
institution, if the Secretary determines that the account might be used—
(A)by a foreign
banking institution that holds property or an interest in property belonging to
a person on the list required under subsection (a); or
(B)to conduct a
transaction on behalf of a person on the list required under subsection
(a).
(2)Authority to
define termsThe Secretary of the Treasury may, by regulation,
further define the terms used in paragraph (1) for purposes of this section, as
the Secretary deems appropriate.
(d)The sanctions imposed under subsection (b) or (c) shall
apply until the President determines and certifies to the appropriate
congressional committees that the SPDC has—
(1)unconditionally
released all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi and other members
of the National League for Democracy;
(2)entered into a
substantive dialogue with democratic forces led by the National League for
Democracy and the ethnic minorities of Burma on transitioning to democratic
government under the rule of law; and
(3)allowed
humanitarian access to populations affected by armed conflict in all regions of
Burma.
(e)Authorization
of appropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated such
sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.
6.Prohibition on
importation of burmese gems, hardwoods, and other itemsSection 3(a)(1) of the Burmese Freedom and
Democracy Act of 2003 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended by striking a
product of Burma.
and inserting “produced, mined, manufactured, grown,
or assembled in Burma, including—
(A)any gemstone or rough unfinished geological
material mined or extracted from Burma, whether imported as a loose item or as
a component of a finished piece of jewelry; and
(B)any teak or other hardwood timber,
regardless of the country in which such hardwood timber is milled, sawn, or
otherwise processed, whether imported in unprocessed form or as a part or
component of finished furniture or another wood
item.
.
7.Prohibition on
investment by United States persons in Burma
(a)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no United
States person may invest in Burma.
(b)The
prohibition on investment under subsection (a) includes a prohibition
on—
(1)investments in
Burma based on investment agreements reached prior to May 20, 1997;
(2)approval or other
facilitation by a United States person of an investment by a foreign person if
the investment would violate the prohibition in subsection (a) if made by a
United States person; and
(3)payments to the
SPDC by a United States person related to divesting assets in Burma to comply
with subsection (a).
(c)The
Secretary of the Treasury may impose a penalty under section 206 of the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) on a United States
person that violates the prohibition under subsection (a).
8.Grants to
establish database of human rights abusesThe Secretary of State may award grants to
nongovernmental organizations, universities, and other organizations to
establish a searchable Internet database that contains evidence of human rights
abuses carried out by the SPDC or persons associated with the SPDC.
9.Support for
democracy in Burma
(a)The President is authorized to use all available
resources to assist Burmese democracy activists who are dedicated to nonviolent
opposition to the SPDC in their efforts to promote freedom, democracy, and
human rights in Burma.
(b)Authorization
of appropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated
$20,000,000 to the Secretary of State for each of the fiscal years 2008 and
2009 for the following purposes:
(1)Aid to democracy
activists in Burma.
(2)Aid to
individuals and groups conducting democracy programming outside of Burma
targeted at a transition to democracy inside Burma.
(3)The expansion of
radio and television broadcasting into Burma.
(4)Support for
individuals and groups compiling evidence of—
(A)the SPDC’s
efforts to repress peaceful political activity; and
(B)the commission of
other human rights abuses by the SPDC.
10.Sense of
Congress on use of intelligence assetsIt is the sense of Congress that the
Director of National Intelligence should utilize appropriate intelligence
resources to identify persons responsible for—
(1)the crackdown sponsored by the SPDC against
peaceful protestors that began August 19, 2007; and
(2)ongoing gross abuses of human rights
against civilians in Burma.
11.Report on
military aid to Burma
(a)Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report containing a list of countries that provide
military aid to Burma and describing the military aid provided by each such
country.
(b)For the purposes of this section, the term military
aid includes—
(1)the provision of
weapons, military vehicles, and military aircraft;
(2)the provision of
military training; and
(3)conducting joint
military exercises.
(c)The
report required by subsection (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form but
may include a classified annex.