[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 72 (Thursday, May 26, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1133]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  RENEWAL OF IMPORT SANCTIONS ON BURMA

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 26, 2005

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, fifteen years ago tomorrow, the political 
party of Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi won a historic 
victory in elections called by the Burmese ruling junta to legitimize 
their brutal rule. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won 82% of 
the vote, but the Burmese government refused to convene the new 
parliament and has since engaged in a campaign of terror and 
intimidation of the political opposition.
  Last year, the House of Representatives voted 372-2 to renew the 
import sanctions against Burma contained in the Burmese Freedom and 
Democracy Act of 2003. H.J. Res. 97 was signed into law on July 7, 
2004.
  Import sanctions on Burma must be renewed by July 2005, or Burmese 
products will flow once again to the United States. For that reason, I 
join today with Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, 
Representative Peter King, and 40 other Members of Congress in 
introducing legislation to again renew import sanctions on Burma.
  Unfortunately, the case for a tough approach toward Burma, including 
a comprehensive import ban, is even stronger today than last July. Just 
a few short weeks ago, the United Nations Human Rights Commission in 
Geneva overwhelmingly approved a resolution on Burma, attacking what it 
called ``the systematic ongoing violation of human rights'' by the 
ruling junta. In its annual Human Rights Report, the State Department 
charged that the Burmese Government has subjected its citizens to 
torture, arbitrary arrest, forced and child labor, and the use of rape 
as a weapon of war.
  Meanwhile, unless the brutal ruling junta in Rangoon changes its 
stripes over the next several weeks, Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi 
will celebrate her 60th birthday under continued house arrest, 
prevented from speaking directly to the Burmese people who support her 
battle for democracy and human rights.
  The tough approach maintained by the United States towards Burma, 
including import sanctions, may also be encouraging other nations to 
reconsider their lenient views to the Rangoon regime. Key member 
nations of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), for the 
first time, have strongly criticized Burma as it prepares to assume the 
rotating chairmanship of the 10-member group in 2006. Last November, 
the European Union itself strengthened its Burma policy in response to 
ongoing human rights violations. In both instances, the strong stand of 
the United States has stiffened backbones and increased the prospects 
that a multilateral sanctions regime against Burma is possible.
  The import sanctions renewal legislation is also completely 
consistent with the tough line towards Burma taken by both Democratic 
and Republican Administrations. On May 17th, President George W. Bush 
extended the Executive Order first imposed in 1997 which prohibits new 
U.S. investment in Burma. Just three days ago, the State Department 
told Congress that U.S. sanctions against Burma ``represent a clear and 
powerful expression of American opposition to the developments in 
Burma'' and are ``a key component of our policy in bringing democracy 
to Burma.''
  Congress must act decisively by the end of July to renew import 
sanctions against Burma and send a strong signal of support for the 
restoration of democracy and human rights in that impoverished nation. 
I would encourage my colleagues to cosponsor this important piece of 
legislation.

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