[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 69 (Friday, May 9, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H3861]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     RELEASE OF DR. SALAI TUN THAN

  (Mr. BURNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to announce good news. Dr. Salai 
Tun Than, University of Georgia graduate and a political prisoner of 
the Burmese government since December 2001, was released from his 7-
year sentence this past Sunday. While many were instrumental in Dr. Tun 
Than's release, including the University of Georgia Student Government 
Association and the UGA chapter of Amnesty International, I would like 
to express my gratitude to Burmese Ambassador Linn Myaing for his 
assistance and willingness to meet with me to discuss Dr. Tun Than.
  While I am grateful for Dr. Tun Than's release, I am concerned that 
his release was contingent upon conditions restricting his future 
political engagement, effectively denying him his freedom of speech. I 
hope that in the future, the Burmese Government will strive for more 
openness, freedom, and democracy in its political process.
  Burma holds more than 1,000 prisoners like Dr. Tun Than in its 
prisons, many of whom have been there longer than Dr. Tun Than. This 
situation must change. I urge the Burmese Government not to stop with 
the release of Dr. Tun Than, but to release other political prisoners. 
Only then can democracy and individual liberty flourish in Burma.

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