[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 77 (Friday, June 6, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H3572]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               PROTESTING MILITARIST GOVERNMENT OF BURMA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Oregon [Ms. Furse] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. FURSE. Mr. Speaker, for a number of years now I have been deeply 
concerned about the militarist government in Burma and by its 
repression of human and civil rights of the citizens of Burma. In 
particular, I have protested the many years of house arrests suffered 
by Nobel Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi.
  Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I was extremely pleased when on April 22 the 
Clinton administration imposed sanctions on Burma, and I wrote to 
Secretary Albright about this. I would like to read into the Record the 
letter I received from the Secretary's office:

       As you know, on April 22 the President announced his 
     decision to impose a ban on new U.S. investment in Burma. He 
     took this step in response to a constant and continuing 
     pattern of severe repression by the SLORC. He imposed the ban 
     under the terms of the Burma sanctions provisions of the 
     Consolidated Appropriations Act for fiscal year 1997.
       During the past 7 months, the SLORC has arrested and 
     detained large numbers of students and opposition supporters, 
     sentenced dozens to long-term imprisonment, and prevented the 
     expression of political views by the democratic opposition, 
     including Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for 
     Democracy. The SLORC has also committed serious abuses in its 
     military campaign against Burma's Karen minority, forcibly 
     conscripting civilians and compelling thousands to flee into 
     Thailand.

  She goes on to say:

       The United States and other Members of the international 
     community have firmly and repeatedly taken steps to encourage 
     democratization and human rights in Burma. With the 
     imposition of the ban on new U.S. investment, we seek to keep 
     faith with the people of Burma, who made clear their support 
     for human rights and democracy in 1990 elections that the 
     regime chose to disregard. We join with many others in the 
     international community calling for reform in Burma, and we 
     emphasize that the U.S. Burma relationship will improve only 
     as there is progress on democratization and respect for human 
     rights. We continue to urge the SLORC to lift restrictions on 
     Aung San Suu Kyi and the political opposition, to respect the 
     rights of free expression, assembly and association, and to 
     undertake a dialogue on Burma's political future that 
     includes leaders of the NLD and the ethnic minorities.

                              {time}  0915

  I congratulate the President and the Secretary of State for their 
actions, and I pledge my continued support to the people of Burma in 
their brave and continuing struggle for democracy in their own land.

                          ____________________