[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 127 (Friday, October 8, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S10819]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            JAPAN AND BURMA

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, it has come to my attention that since 
October of last year, the Government of Japan has funded at least 28 
new projects in Burma totaling more than $18 million. Some of these 
funds appear to have been provided directly to the illegitimate and 
repressive State Peace and Development Council, SPDC.
  A question many of my colleagues may be asking is: Why is Japan 
providing assistance to Burma and the thugs in Rangoon when Burmese 
democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other members and supporters 
of the National League for Democracy, NLD, remain imprisoned?
  I wish I knew the answer.
  Providing assistance to Burma and the SPDC sends exactly the wrong 
message at the wrong time. Assistance to the junta prolongs the 
suffering of the Burmese people and props up an illegitimate regime, 
headed by Than Swe, which has tortured, murdered and raped with 
impunity.
  It is time Japan gets with the program and pressures the SPDC to 
begin meaningful reconciliation with the NLD--the only legitimately 
elected leadership of that country.
  Freedom needs Japan's help in Burma.

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