[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 19, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E907]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 BURMA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MARK E. SOUDER

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 19, 2004

  Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, this week, the military dictators in Burma 
opened a ``constitutional convention'' whose purported aim is to 
establish democracy in Burma. Anyone who has followed the situation in 
Burma knows that the brutal dictators of the State Peace and Democracy 
Council (SPDC) are the last people who should be guiding the democratic 
process.
  While on the one hand, the SPDC talks of democracy and peace among 
Burma's ethnic and political groups, it continues to terrorize these 
same groups, impress people into forced labor for the military, and 
imprison those working for democratic change. This constitutional 
convention is a deception designed to give the perception of democracy 
while maintaining maximum military control.
  While the SPDC organizes its constitutional convention, the legal and 
duly elected leader of Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house 
arrest. Nearly one year ago, the SPDC engineered an unprovoked attack 
on Aung San Suu Kyi's motorcade as she traveled throughout Burma 
spreading her message of freedom and democracy. In the aftermath of the 
attack, she was taken into custody for her own safety--at least that is 
what the Burmese military wants us to believe.
  Wherever she goes crowds gather to hear her message. Despite the 
danger of attending these rallies, the Burmese people do not care. 
Countless Burmese of all ethnic persuasions look to Aung San Suu Kyi as 
the very heart and soul of the Burmese democracy movement. The 
credibility and charisma of Aung San Suu Kyi cannot be denied; it 
cannot be sold; it cannot be bought. It comes only from standing up for 
what is right.
  To be sure, the movement is bigger than one person, but Aung San Suu 
Kyi has led the forces of democracy in Burma for many years. On many 
occasions, she could have left Burma behind, but at great personal 
sacrifice, she has remained. She provides a shining example of standing 
tall and standing firm in the face of relentless opposition and 
hardship. And although she has been in prison or under house arrest for 
9 of the last 15 years, her commitment to freedom, democracy, and a 
better life in Burma has never wavered and never faltered. She is the 
public face of thousands of men, women, and children who have suffered 
unspeakably harsh conditions and who remain prisoners in their own 
country.
  As leader of the National League for Democracy, it would seem natural 
that Aung San Suu Kyi and NLD Vice Chairman Tin Oo, who is also in the 
hands of Burma's merciless thugs, would attend the convention. 
Shamefully, the SPDC has refused to release either freedom fighter 
before, during, or after the convention.
  Equally regrettable is that the SPDC has refused to allow NLD offices 
to reopen around the country. The SPDC has also failed to clarify 
procedures of discussion and has limited the parameters for discussion. 
The convention is being held in grim isolation with limited access by 
outside observers. In short, the SPDC is so tightly controlling the 
convention that it would seem that the participants can only rubber 
stamp the SPDC's agenda. That is not democracy; that is dictatorship.
  The National League for Democracy is boycotting the convention, and I 
support that decision. Participation in such an obvious fraud can only 
undermine all for which the NLD is working.
  Democracy in Burma is a goal that cannot be compromised. The United 
States believes in that goal. American sanctions on Burma have had a 
profoundly positive impact over the last year. Reports coming from 
inside Burma and from groups knowledgeable about the situation in that 
country have praised the tough stance the United States has taken 
against the dictatorship in Rangoon.
  Our tough stance is in danger of faltering unless the sanctions are 
renewed during this Congress. H.J. Res. 95, which has 46 bipartisan co-
sponsors, approves the renewal of American sanctions and show our 
continuing commitment to freedom, liberty, and emancipation from 
tyranny. I urge all of my colleagues to fight for the passage of this 
important resolution.
  If the daylight of freedom feels like it's a long way off, it will be 
even longer unless the United States stands side by side with Aung San 
Suu Kyi, the NLD, and the people of Burma struggling under the heavy 
yoke of oppression and cruelty.

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