[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 86 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 86

 Condemning the Burmese military for perpetrating gross violations of 
human rights as part of its brutal campaign to suppress the democratic 
aspirations of the people of Burma, two years after the coup d'etat on 
                           February 1, 2021.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 1, 2023

     Ms. Eshoo (for herself, Ms. Tenney, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Bera, Mr. 
 Fitzpatrick, Mr. Costa, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Connolly, Ms. Norton, Ms. 
  Titus, Mr. Sherman, and Ms. Kamlager-Dove) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and 
  in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, the Judiciary, and 
 Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Condemning the Burmese military for perpetrating gross violations of 
human rights as part of its brutal campaign to suppress the democratic 
aspirations of the people of Burma, two years after the coup d'etat on 
                           February 1, 2021.

Whereas after a decade of promising democratic reforms in Burma, the Burmese 
        military (hereinafter referred to as the ``Tatmadaw'') launched a coup 
        against the civilian government on February 1, 2021, preventing a 
        democratically elected Parliament from being seated;
Whereas the Tatmadaw seized control of the government, declared a national state 
        of emergency, and unlawfully detained many democratically elected 
        officials, including State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win 
        Myint, and dozens of Members of Parliament affiliated with the National 
        League for Democracy (NLD);
Whereas the House of Representatives adopted H. Res. 134 on March 19, 2021, 
        condemning the coup and calling for the restoration of civilian 
        government and the release of detained officials;
Whereas the people of Burma, insistent that their country continue along the 
        path toward democracy, courageously organized a civil disobedience 
        movement and took to the streets to demand that the Tatmadaw relinquish 
        power;
Whereas, on April 16, 2021, democratically elected members of Parliament, who 
        had been denied the opportunity to serve by the Tatmadaw, formed a 
        National Unity Government that asserts it is the legitimate Government 
        of Burma;
Whereas the Tatmadaw has used lethal force, including extrajudicial executions, 
        to violently suppress the prodemocracy movement, killing more than 2,500 
        civilians since the coup began in February 2021;
Whereas the Tatmadaw has relied heavily on mass arrests to stifle dissent and 
        has detained at least 13,600 protesters, activists, and journalists 
        since February 2021;
Whereas the Tatmadaw has used brutal and inhumane methods to intimidate, 
        degrade, and torture detainees;
Whereas Tatmadaw soldiers have perpetrated rape and other forms of sexual 
        violence with impunity;
Whereas the Tatmadaw has employed digital authoritarian tools and tactics to 
        silence opposition, including internet shutdowns, online censorship, and 
        high-tech surveillance;
Whereas the Tatmadaw has eroded the independence of the Burmese judiciary and 
        conducted sham trials to convict political prisoners including State 
        Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint;
Whereas, on July 23, 2022, the Tatmadaw executed four prominent prodemocracy 
        activists, prompting widespread international condemnation;
Whereas the Tatmadaw continues to perpetrate a horrific genocide against the 
        Rohingya population in Burma's Rakhine State, and has also committed 
        atrocities against other ethnic minority communities in the Kachin, 
        Karen, Mon, Rakhine, Shan, and Chin States;
Whereas the House of Representatives adopted H. Res. 1091 on December 13, 2018, 
        expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the atrocities 
        committed against the Rohingya by the Tatmadaw constitute genocide;
Whereas, on March 21, 2022, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the 
        Department of State's determination that the Tatmadaw committed genocide 
        and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya population of Burma;
Whereas the turmoil caused by the coup and the Tatmadaw's violence and 
        mismanagement of the economy have resulted in a severe economic crisis 
        that, according to the World Bank, has caused poverty in Burma to double 
        since March 2020;
Whereas the deteriorating security situation in Burma following the coup has 
        resulted in the internal displacement of nearly 1.3 million people and 
        prompted thousands more to flee the country as refugees;
Whereas the Biden administration has frozen more than $1,000,000,000 in Burmese 
        Government funds held in the United States and coordinated with the 
        European Union, Canada, and the United Kingdom to impose targeted 
        sanctions against individuals and entities responsible for the coup, 
        including Min Aung Hlaing, the commander in chief of the Tatmadaw;
Whereas Congress recently passed the bipartisan BURMA Act of 2022 as part of the 
        National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, granting the 
        President increased authority to impose sanctions on individuals and 
        entities affiliated with the Tatmadaw and authorizing increased 
        humanitarian aid for the Burmese people;
Whereas numerous civil society and human rights groups have recommended 
        additional sanctions targeting the largest sources of the Tatmadaw's 
        foreign currency revenue such as the state-controlled natural gas, 
        mining, and timber entities, including the highly lucrative Myanma Oil 
        and Gas Enterprise (MOGE);
Whereas it has been reported that the European Union sanctions on MOGE have been 
        effective in blocking revenues from the Shwe gas pipeline being 
        transferred to the Tatmadaw;
Whereas aviation fuel shipments imported to Burma by foreign suppliers enable 
        the Tatmadaw to carry out horrifyingly violent and indiscriminate air 
        strikes on civilian targets such as villages, schools, religious 
        buildings, medical facilities, and camps for the internally displaced 
        and continue wreaking devastating havoc across the country; and
Whereas the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, which was 
        established by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate 
        the Tatmadaw's crimes against humanity and compile evidence for future 
        prosecutions, is crucial to ensuring accountability for atrocities and 
        bringing justice to the people of Burma: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the military 
        coup that took place in Burma on February 1, 2021;
            (2) denounces the Tatmadaw for perpetrating gross 
        violations of human rights as part of its brutal campaign to 
        suppress the democratic aspirations of the people of Burma;
            (3) stands in solidarity with the courageous people of 
        Burma as they struggle to wrest political power from the hands 
        of their authoritarian military;
            (4) calls on the Tatmadaw to--
                    (A) cease all violence against prodemocracy 
                activists and reach a cease-fire with ethnic armed 
                organizations;
                    (B) release all political prisoners;
                    (C) unconditionally vacate all fraudulent verdicts 
                stemming from politically motivated charges and legal 
                proceedings against elected officials, journalists, 
                civil society leaders, prodemocracy activists, and 
                other unjustly convicted Burmese people;
                    (D) engage in constructive dialogue with all 
                parties to negotiate a pathway toward a government that 
                reflects the will of the Burmese people;
                    (E) grant humanitarian actors unhindered access to 
                all relevant areas of Burma to help alleviate the 
                immense suffering that has resulted from the Tatmadaw's 
                violence; and
                    (F) respect the human rights and civil liberties of 
                all people of Burma, including ethnic minorities who 
                currently face state-sponsored persecution;
            (5) rejects any attempts by the Tatmadaw to hold sham 
        general elections in 2023 without first ceasing its violence 
        against prodemocracy forces and releasing all opposition 
        politicians, as any such election would be far from free or 
        fair; and
            (6) calls on the President, and the relevant Federal 
        agencies, to take immediate action to--
                    (A) work with international partners and 
                multilateral institutions, including the United Nations 
                Security Council, to enact new targeted sanctions on 
                individuals and entities affiliated with the Tatmadaw, 
                including an international arms embargo and a 
                prohibition on the sale of aviation fuel and other dual 
                use items to the Burmese military;
                    (B) coordinate with like-minded partners and allies 
                to restrict the Tatmadaw's ability to finance its 
                military operations by imposing new sanctions on 
                Tatmadaw-linked individuals as well as Tatmadaw-
                controlled entities, including state-owned enterprises;
                    (C) work with Indonesia, the 2023 chair of the 
                Association of Southeast Asian Nations and current 
                country coordinator for the U.S.-ASEAN Partnership, to 
                leverage its position and regional heft to exert 
                greater pressure on the Tatmadaw to fully and 
                meaningfully implement the five-point consensus and 
                bring an end to the crisis;
                    (D) issue public warnings to businesses and 
                individuals outlining the legal liability of doing 
                business with the Tatmadaw, including potential 
                liability associated with the Tatmadaw's crimes against 
                humanity;
                    (E) enhance enforcement of existing sanctions 
                prohibiting the importation of precious and 
                semiprecious gemstones, jade, timber, and amber from 
                Burma to the United States;
                    (F) implement the BURMA Act fully and 
                expeditiously;
                    (G) provide robust humanitarian assistance in 
                Burma, Bangladesh, Thailand, and the surrounding region 
                and ensure that targeted sanctions allow all necessary 
                exemptions to permit the delivery of humanitarian 
                assistance to civilians in need;
                    (H) ensure that United States-based social media 
                companies, including Facebook, not allow their 
                platforms to be used as vehicles for disinformation 
                campaigns or advocating violence against the Burmese 
                people;
                    (I) build on the Department of State's March 21, 
                2022, genocide determination by supporting efforts to 
                end impunity for those committing the crime of genocide 
                and pledging to intervene in the International Court of 
                Justice case in support of The Gambia against Myanmar;
                    (J) direct the United States Permanent 
                Representative to the United Nations to use the voice, 
                vote, and influence of the United States to bring about 
                greater international cooperation to pursue justice and 
                accountability in Burma; and
                    (K) support inclusive international accountability 
                efforts, including the Independent Investigative 
                Mechanism for Myanmar, with a particular emphasis on 
                Burma's civil society organizations, to investigate and 
                hold perpetrators of atrocities accountable.
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