[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 4, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S24]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             ASIAN TSUNAMI

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the world's thoughts and prayers 
continue to be focused on the victims of the Asian tsunami. The 
international community, including governments, private businesses, and 
ordinary citizens, is providing financial aid and material assistance 
to affected countries in that region. President Bush and other world 
leaders deserve praise for quickly providing substantial assistance and 
resources to disaster response efforts across that region. They have 
brought hope and relief in the midst of despair.
  I want to recognize in particular Japan's substantial pledge to 
ongoing relief efforts. As chairman of the Foreign Operations 
Subcommittee, I intend to continue to work closely with the 
administration in the days and weeks to come to assess damage and 
provide targeted relief.
  Let me close with an observation on Burma. Predictably, information 
on the extent of damage in Burma is unknown--this is the way the 
Burmese junta operates--with the official casualty tally placed by the 
illegitimate State Peace and Development Council at 59 people. Do 
international donors, regional governments, or humanitarian NGOs trust 
this figure? The simple answer, as articulated by Secretary Powell 
earlier today, is we don't. We don't trust the figure. We don't have 
any idea how many people either died or are suffering in Burma.
  The lack of action or interest in the welfare of the people of Burma, 
by the military junta, should not be lost on all of the ASEAN members 
and their dialog partners ahead of the SPDC's chairmanship of that 
organization in 2006.
  I thank everybody on the ground--from personnel at the State 
Department, USAID, and the Department of Defense to the dedicated staff 
of humanitarian organizations--for working around the clock with 
respective governments in those hard-hit countries. Their efforts have 
not gone unnoticed in the Senate. As we move forward with this relief 
effort in the near future, our prayers are for those efforts that are 
being made to ease the incalculable suffering of the people affected by 
the tsunami.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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