[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 104 (Wednesday, July 14, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H5565-H5567]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   RENEWING IMPORT RESTRICTIONS OF BURMESE FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY ACT

  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
joint resolution (H.J. Res. 83) approving the renewal of import 
restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 
2003, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the joint resolution.
  The text of the joint resolution is as follows:

                              H.J. Res. 83

       Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
     United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. RENEWAL OF IMPORT RESTRICTIONS UNDER BURMESE 
                   FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY ACT OF 2003.

       (a) In General.--Congress approves the renewal of the 
     import restrictions contained in section 3(a)(1) and section 
     3A (b)(1) and (c)(1) of the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act 
     of 2003.
       (b) Rule of Construction.--This joint resolution shall be 
     deemed to be a ``renewal resolution'' for purposes of section 
     9 of the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003.

     SEC. 2. CUSTOMS USER FEES.

       Section 13031(j)(3)(B)(i) of the Consolidated Omnibus 
     Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (19 U.S.C. 58c(j)(3)(B)(i)) 
     is amended by striking ``August 17, 2018'' and inserting 
     ``August 24, 2018''.

     SEC. 3. TIME FOR PAYMENT OF CORPORATE ESTIMATED TAXES.

       The percentage under paragraph (2) of section 561 of the 
     Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act in effect on the 
     date of the enactment of this Act is increased by 0.25 
     percentage points.

     SEC. 4. PAYGO COMPLIANCE.

       The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 
     complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go-Act of 2010, shall 
     be determined by reference to the latest statement titled 
     ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act, 
     submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the 
     Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such 
     statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.

     SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

       This joint resolution and the amendments made by this joint 
     resolution shall take effect on the date of the enactment of 
     this joint resolution or July 26, 2010, whichever occurs 
     earlier.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Crowley) and the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Boustany) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.

[[Page H5566]]

                             General Leave

  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I want to thank my friend, Mr. Boustany, for being here this morning 
and joining in this resolution.
  I rise in strong support of House Joint Resolution 83, a measure to 
renew the ban on imports from the country of Burma. The renewal of this 
bill is extremely important in the struggle for human rights and 
democracy in Burma. This measure, and other sanctions on Burma, prevent 
hundreds of millions of American dollars from getting into the hands of 
the military regime and funding its illegal activities.
  We must never forget that the inspiration for this measure came from 
a remarkable woman, Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi. She's 
the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient. She and her 
political party, the National League for Democracy, have called on 
freedom-loving people throughout the world saying, and I quote, 
``Please use your liberty to promote ours.''
  That's what makes these sanctions categorically different from many 
other situations. The people of Burma support these sanctions.
  I believe it's also important to remember that Burma's military 
regime, or its junta, is not simply a government that is rough on its 
own people. It is among the most brutal, maybe even the most brutal, 
regime in the world today.

                              {time}  1150

  The regime operates with complete impunity. The Burmese regime has 
recruited thousands of child soldiers, by some estimates more than any 
other country in the world today. The regime has destroyed over 3,500 
ethnic minority villages, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to 
flee their homes in terror. Millions of these refugees live in 
neighboring countries like Thailand and Bangladesh.
  The regime uses rape as a weapon of war against innocent Burmese 
women. Over 2,000 innocent civilians remain locked behind bars as 
political prisoners. And it's important to note that many of these 
abuses are not just human rights abuses; these are crimes against 
humanity. That is why the United Nations investigator on human rights 
in Burma called for an international investigation into war crimes and 
crimes against humanity in Burma. This is something I have been calling 
for myself for a very, very long time.
  It is long overdue that the world acknowledges the regime, the junta, 
is guilty of many heinous crimes, and we must lead the effort to hold 
it accountable. As a first step, I hope the United States will go on 
record in acknowledging that the Burmese regime has continued crimes 
against humanity. At the same time, I hope the administration fully 
implements all the provisions of the Block Burmese JADE Act that we 
passed in 2008, including the tough banking sanctions enumerated into 
law. That also includes imposing tough financial sanctions on banks and 
companies propping up Burma's military regime and junta, even if those 
companies are not based in the United States themselves.
  By passing the JADE Act, we gave the administration the authority to 
impose tough sanctions. Now it's time to make it happen. We don't have 
any time to wait. The Burmese regime is planning a sham election for 
this year that, without strong international action, will result in a 
government that is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
  The regime has stacked the deck against the people of Burma so that 
the exact same military junta will be in power after the election. In 
fact, it is not really an election at all since the results are 
preordained. Aung San Suu Kyi is specifically barred from taking part 
in these elections. It would be a disservice to those struggling for 
freedom in Burma to recognize the results of this undemocratic and 
illegitimate election process.
  The administration has worked hard I know to reach out to Burma's 
military regime and has urged them to change their ways. I believe 
those efforts, while worthwhile and valuable, have been completely and 
utterly rejected by the junta. In fact, the situation in Burma has 
grown worse. That's why now is the time to crank up the pressure on 
Burma's military junta.
  I urge my colleagues to pass House Joint Resolution 83.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I join my colleague and friend on the Ways and Means 
Committee in strong support of H.J. Res. 83, which would continue the 
imposition of sanctions against the repressive regime in Burma for 
another year.
  The purpose of imposing sanctions against Burma is to promote 
democracy, develop a respect for human rights, and improve living 
conditions for the Burmese people. Unfortunately, the ruling junta is 
still dedicated to working against, not toward those objectives. For 
that reason, I am in favor of continuing our practice of extending 
import sanctions against Burma for another year.
  Burma's regime is one of the world's most repressive. And it 
continues to oppress democratic movements and humanitarian efforts. In 
reading the State Department's human rights report on Burma, I am 
appalled at the extent and scale of grave human rights violations. 
According to the State Department, this repugnant regime, in which 
military officers wield the ultimate authority at every level of 
government, routinely continues to abridge the right of citizens to 
change their government and commits to other severe human rights 
abuses. Specifically, government security forces allowed custodial 
deaths to occur, and committed extrajudicial killings, disappearances, 
rape, and torture. The regime detains civic activists indefinitely and 
without charge, and engages in harassment, abuse, and detention of 
human rights and pro-democracy activists.
  Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is still being falsely detained by 
the regime. And as of March 2010, the regime held an estimated 2,100 
political prisoners. The army attacks ethnic minority villages. 
Violence and societal discrimination against women, recruitment of 
child soldiers, and trafficking in persons have continued. The regime 
also severely restricts freedom of assembly, expression, association, 
movement, and religion.
  In addition, I am very concerned that the regime has taken steps that 
seem to guarantee that the elections that will be held in Burma later 
this year will not, in the words of the State Department, be 
transparent, inclusive, or credible. And I am still disappointed that 
there has not been additional multilateral pressure against this 
regime.
  I strongly urge the administration to put more pressure on our 
trading partners and the United Nations to put the leaders of this 
regime and its cronies under targeted economic pressure that denies 
them access to personal wealth and sources of revenue. I call on the 
United Nations, Burma's Southeast Asian neighbors in ASEAN, and the 
People's Republic of China to step up engagement considerably.
  I am pleased that this Congress amplified our sanctions 2 years ago 
to eliminate trade in jewelry containing Burmese rubies and jadeite, 
even if the jewelry was made in and exported from a third country. The 
expansion was designed to bring about multilateral pressure on the 
regime through the United Nations and World Trade Organization, similar 
to successful legislation on conflict diamonds. We are still in the 
process of assessing the effectiveness of that law.
  The General Accountability Office reported to us several months ago 
on the effectiveness of the expanded sanctions, and we are considering 
its recommendations for improving the administration of the program and 
assuring that legitimate trade in these stones is not constrained. I 
must be clear that I generally view import sanctions with great 
skepticism. However, if there is a right way to impose sanctions, I 
think these Burma sanctions are crafted to maximize their ability to 
effect change.
  For example, they require the administration to issue annual reports 
on

[[Page H5567]]

Burma that include whether U.S. national security, economic, and 
foreign policy interests are being served so we can make an informed 
decision. Perhaps the most critical aspect of the Burma sanctions 
program is that they require us to redirect our attention every summer 
to the question of whether these sanctions should be continued. They 
are not self-executing. We here in Congress must consider this issue 
and vote to continue them on an annual basis.
  I continue to believe that our greatest hope for effecting real 
change in Burma is multilateralism. The whole world, particularly China 
and the ASEAN countries, must put economic pressure on this regime. I 
support this resolution because it increases our chances to bring about 
this multilateral effect.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CROWLEY. I thank the gentleman for his comments. And I couldn't 
agree with him more that we do need to see more of a multilateral 
impact on Burma, particularly China, India, and the surrounding 
countries of Bangladesh and Thailand and such. And it's my hope that we 
will continue to see further isolation of Burma. And I think we 
continue to stretch out a hand to encourage the regime, but they 
continue to keep slapping it back. And I think now is not the time for 
recognition; now is the time for further isolation.
  So I appreciate the comments of my colleague and friend from 
Louisiana (Mr. Boustany), and I know of his support for this.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. BOUSTANY. Mr. Speaker, I have no further Members wishing to speak 
on this issue, and I am prepared to yield back my time. I look forward 
to working with my colleague on the Ways and Means Committee in this 
effort to hopefully change this regime's behavior.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. CROWLEY. I appreciate my colleague's willingness to work with us 
in the future, and look forward to that as well on this and many other 
issues.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Crowley) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the joint resolution, H.J. Res. 83, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the joint resolution, as amended, was passed.
  The title was amended so as to read: ``Joint resolution approving the 
renewal of import restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom and 
Democracy Act of 2003, and for other purposes.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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