[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 17163-17164]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



       SLORC REGIME INTENSIFIES CRACKDOWN ON OPPOSITION IN BURMA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Tancredo). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher) is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, yes, I think the people should watch 
San Diego. It is a pity that the liberal-left coalition that controls 
the Democratic Party is so allied with extreme environmentalists that 
for 20 years they have prevented the development of any new energy 
resources in California. So now the people of San Diego and all of 
California suffer under this loss because we are having an energy 
shortage in a State where we should have abundance in energy.
  Unfortunately, the only solution that we have being offered seems to 
be price controls rather than developing new energy sources, which will 
only make the situation worse.
  But tonight I need to talk about what is going on in Burma, which is 
something of importance now because thousands of lives are at stake in 
that country.
  During the past week, the SLORC regime, which controls Burma with an 
iron fist, a regime backed by the Communist Chinese, has intensified 
their crackdown on the opposition in Burma. This is a new round of 
brutality by the SLORC regime, and it occurred after democracy leader 
Aung San Suu Kyi was prevented from leaving Rangoon to visit her 
party's members outside the capital city.
  Soldiers surrounded her car. This is a Nobel Prize winner, the person 
who is the rightful governmental leader of that country because of the 
elections her party won. She was forced to sit in a car in the sun for 
a full week and then forcibly return to the capital.
  Aung San Suu Kyi is one of the true heroes of our time. She is now 
under

[[Page 17164]]

house arrest. Her house is surrounded by SLORC military forces and 
secret police, and many diplomats in Rangoon are expressing concern 
about her health and her well-being.
  Yesterday, the British Ambassador to Burma was roughed up by the 
SLORC goons when he tried to visit Aung San Suu Kyi. The National 
League for Democracy in Rangoon has had their offices raided and 
documents confiscated and their members have been arrested and face 
arbitrary jail sentences.
  In the countryside, the SLORC regime continues its brutality and 
ethnic cleansing against indigenous tribal groups such as the Christian 
Karens and Karennis, who are seeking emergency refuge in Thailand in 
growing numbers. The SLORC and Communist Chinese benefit from the 
narcotics trafficking of the ruthless Wa State Army, which is 
destabilizing Thailand and spreading the poison of deadly heroin 
throughout the world.
  The United States Congress is not ignorant of the corrupt and brutal 
practices of the Burmese dictatorship. Their wicked deeds will continue 
and will continue to be noted here. Their continued repression of 
democracy is evident.
  The United States and the Democratic nations which are doing business 
with SLORC, and I might add Japan, Australia, Israel, Singapore and 
others, those of us in the democratic world will not sit by and watch 
this idly as this type of repression continues forever.
  Investment in Burma has already been affected. Tragically, the people 
of Burma suffer as commerce and trade has dried up. And they are 
already suffering terrible deprivation in Burma as their gangster 
regime which controls their country impoverishes what should be a rich 
land.
  This regime, the SLORC regime in Burma, is condemning those people 
who should be living a prosperous life. They are condemning them to 
poverty and deprivation and tyranny. A country so rich in natural 
resources is now one of the poorest in the world without freedom.
  Tonight, as we note this is going on in Burma, let us note a champion 
of human rights. Ginetta Sagan passed from this scene last week. 
Ginetta Sagan helped me many times in the cause of human rights in 
Burma and in other countries. Ginetta Sagan first volunteered to fight 
tyranny as a member of the Resistance against Fascists and Nazis in 
World War II.
  After she was captured then, she was brutally tortured. And after she 
survived that torture, she helped lay the foundation for the modern 
human rights movement.
  Ginetta Sagan was under 5 foot in height, but she was a giant in the 
fight for justice and liberty, saving thousands of political prisoners 
through her efforts in Poland, Vietnam, Chile, and Greece. She died, 
unfortunately, after a full life, on September 1.
  Ginetta Sagan is gone, but the fight for human rights continues and 
the struggle against gangsters like those who control Burma continues. 
We have to pick up the torch and carry on where Ginetta left off. 
Justice and democracy will triumph over evil because we will not falter 
and Ginetta Sagan will not be forgotten.
  Let me just say that Ginetta Sagan and I were active for 20 years. 
She had enormous energy and love for people. She will be missed. But 
the tyrants in Burma and elsewhere should not think that this is a 
loss, because her spirit will continue to inspire others to continue 
this fight for liberty and justice.

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