[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 1, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S181-S182]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 BURMA

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, finally, today marks a solemn 
anniversary for the people of Burma and for all of us around the world 
who spent years--literally years--rooting for them to make progress 
toward greater freedom and democracy. Two years ago, their hopes of a 
stable democracy were wrenched away by a brutal military coup.
  To date, this takeover by the Tatmadaw, which is their army, has 
displaced 1.2 million people, including many thousands who have been 
forced to flee the country altogether.
  Inside Burma, more than 16,000 people have been taken as political 
prisoners. At one point, the military was detaining American journalist 
Danny Fenster and Nathan Maung; the Australian economist, Sean Turnell; 
dozens of innocent children; and, of course, my friend Aung San Suu 
Kyi, whose latest conviction and a sham trial leaves her facing the 
possibility of life in prison.
  Expert observers count the coup's death toll at 19,000. That includes 
people this illegitimate government simply executed outright, like the 
activists Ko Jimmy and Phyo Zeya Thaw.
  Now the leaders of the Tatmadaw coup are laying out plans in broad 
daylight to stamp out Burma's pro-democracy movement once and for all. 
The military is shedding any last ounce of legitimacy it pretended to 
have and is now conducting airstrikes against innocent civilians.
  The junta's new regulations for this year's election are designed to 
make viable opposition virtually impossible. No wonder the illegitimate 
Tatmadaw rulers rolled out the red carpet for Putin's Foreign Minister 
to visit Burma. Thugs recognize other thugs.
  On the second anniversary of the coup, with a potentially devastating 
sham election on the horizon, it is absolutely vital that the United 
States continue our assistance to the National Unity Government and 
other key groups working inside Burma to protect the innocent and 
advance the cause of democracy and increase cross-border humanitarian 
aid. By our example, America should rally our partners to raise the 
international stakes for the Tatmadaw's continued brutality.
  In December, the National Defense Authorization Act instructed the 
Biden administration to take several more concrete steps to bulk up 
American support for the people of Burma. It made sanctions on senior 
junta officials mandatory. It required more targeted and precisely 
timed sanctions against state-owned enterprises like MOGE, M-O-G-E. 
Finally, the NDAA also notably authorized funding for programs to 
strengthen federalism in and among ethnic states in Burma and for 
technical support and nonlethal assistance to Burma's ethnic armed 
organizations and People's Defence Forces to strengthen communication, 
command and control, and coordination of

[[Page S182]]

international relief and other operations between and among those 
entities.
  So, Mr. President, the people of Burma are fighting for the sort of 
future that citizens of democracies like ours enjoy: the right to self-
determination. I am proud to stand behind them in this effort.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  (The remarks of Mr. Thune pertaining to the introduction of S. 204 
are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. THUNE. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hickenlooper). The Senator from Louisiana.

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