[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 14763-14765]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 BURMA

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, last night at about this time we passed 
a Burma sanctions bill 97 to 1, which I hope sent a strong message to 
the thugs who are running the country at the moment that someday--and 
hopefully someday soon--they will have to honor the results of the 1990 
election, won overwhelmingly by Aung San Suu Kyi and her party.

       As I suspect the military junta may be trying to decipher 
     what took place in Washington yesterday, I thought I would 
     take a moment or two to help them out.

  The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly condemned and sanctioned the State 
Peace and Development Council, SPDC, for its May 30 attack against Suu 
Kyi and her supporters and for its continued repressive actions that 
violate the human rights and dignity of the people of Burma.
  I also had an opportunity to talk today to Secretary Colin Powell, 
who is going out to Phnom Penh to the ASEAN Regional Forum next week, 
and I think they can anticipate a strong message from him when he is 
out in the region at that time.
  Fifty-seven Senators cosponsored the legislation that passed last 
night to impose an import ban, expand visa restrictions, and freeze 
SPDC assets in the United States. Ninety-seven Senators voted to 
repudiate the actions of the Burmese junta.
  This was a vote for freedom in Burma that demonstrated unequivocal 
support for Suu Kyi and all democrats in that country.
  The generals in Rangoon should take note that a provision was 
included in the bill that guarantees that every year Burma will come up 
for discussion and debate in Congress. Every single year, we will have 
an opportunity to take a look at the fate of freedom in that country.
  It is my hope we will not need that opportunity. It is my hope that 
Suu Kyi and other democrats will be governing Burma and that the only 
debate on the floor will be about the level of foreign assistance 
America should provide to a newly free Burma.
  If this hope is not realized, within a year we will again discuss the 
persistent rapes of minority girls and women, the use of child and 
forced labor, and the manufacturing and trafficking of narcotics.
  If the junta continues its repressive rule, we will again examine the 
number of political prisoners languishing in Burmese jails, efforts 
taken to counter an exploding HIV/AIDS infection rate, and 
opportunities to further democracy and the rule of law throughout the 
country.
  If, however, American leadership translates into a full court press 
on junta, we might be able to celebrate a new dawn for democracy for 
the people of Burma.
  The comments of Secretary of State Colin Powell in the Wall Street 
Journal today are both welcomed and promising.
  As I indicated earlier, he is going to the ASEAN regional meeting 
next week, and I think the regime in Burma is going to hear a good deal 
more about the U.S. position on their behavior and activities.
  He said this:
       By attacking Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters, the 
     Burmese junta has finally and definitively rejected the 
     efforts of the outside world to bring Burma back into the 
     international community. Indeed, their refusal of the work of 
     Ambassador Razali and of the rights of Aung San Suu Kyi and 
     her supporters could not be clearer. Our response must be 
     equally clear if the thugs who now rule Burma are to 
     understand that their failure to restore democracy will only 
     bring more and more pressure against them and their 
     supporters.

  Secretary Powell must work tirelessly to secure the release of Suu 
Kyi and all other democrats who continue to be detained by the SPDC. 
U.N. Special Envoy Razali's brief meeting with her does not assuage my 
fears that she is under intense pressure or that her supporters 
continue to be tortured or killed. She and her supporters should be 
released immediately and unconditionally.
  In the future, it might behoove Razali to temper his enthusiastic 
comments to more accurately reflect the climate of fear in Burma. He 
failed to secure Suu Kyi's release, and I am surprised that he did not 
say more to condemn the outrageous actions of the thugs in Rangoon.
  Let me close by thanking my colleagues--and their staffs--for their 
support of this legislation. I could ask for no better allies than 
Senators Feinstein and McCain on this issue, and I look forward to 
continue to work with them to free Suu Kyi and bring democracy to 
Burma. Senators Frist, Lugar, Biden, Baucus, Grassley, Hagel, and 
Brownback also deserve recognition for their support of freedom in 
Burma. The people of Burma will count on our support in the future--and 
we should not, and must not, fail them.
  Mr. President, I ask that a copy of Secretary Powell's op-ed and an 
editorial from today's Baltimore Sun on Burma be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

             [From the Wall Street Journal, June 12, 2003]

                          Standing for Freedom


                          get tough on rangoon

                          (By Colin L. Powell)

       United Nations Special Envoy Razali Ismail has just visited 
     Burma and was able to bring us news that Aung San Suu Kyi, a 
     Nobel Peace Prize winner and the leader of a peaceful 
     democratic party known as the National League for Democracy, 
     is well and unharmed. The thoughts and prayers of free people 
     everywhere have been with her these past two weeks. Our fears 
     for her current state of health are now somewhat lessened.
       On May 30, her motorcade was attacked by thugs, and then 
     the thugs who run the Burmese government placed her under 
     ``protective custody.'' We can take comfort in the fact that 
     she is well. Unfortunately, the larger process that 
     Ambassador Razali and Aung San Suu Kyi have been pursuing--to 
     restore democracy in Burma--is failing despite their good 
     will and sincere efforts. It is time to reassess our policy 
     towards a military dictatorship that has repeatedly attacked 
     democracy and jailed its heroes.

[[Page 14764]]

       There is little doubt on the facts. Aung San Suu Kyi's 
     party won an election in 1990 and since then has been denied 
     its place in Burmese politics. Her party has continued to 
     pursue a peaceful path, despite personal hardships and 
     lengthy periods of house arrest or imprisonment for her and 
     her followers. Hundreds of her supporters remain in prison, 
     despite some initial releases and promises by the junta to 
     release more. The party's offices have been closed and their 
     supporters persecuted. Ambassador Razali has pursued every 
     possible opening and worked earnestly to help Burma make a 
     peaceful transition to democracy. Despite initial statements 
     last year, the junta--which shamelessly calls itself the 
     State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)--has now refused 
     his efforts and betrayed its own promises.
       At the end of last month, this rejection manifested itself 
     in violence. After the May 30 attack on Aung San Suu Kyi's 
     convoy, we sent U.S. Embassy officers to the scene to gather 
     information. They reported back that the attack was planned 
     in advance. A series of trucks followed her convoy to a 
     remote location, blocked it and then unloaded thugs to swarm 
     with fury over the cars of democracy supporters. The 
     attackers were brutal and organized; the victims were 
     peaceful and defenseless. The explanation by the Burmese 
     military junta of what happened doesn't hold water. The SPDC 
     has not made a credible report of how many people were killed 
     and injured. It was clear to our embassy officers that the 
     members of the junta were responsible for directing and 
     producing this staged riot.
       We have called for a full accounting of what happened that 
     day. We have called for Aung San Suu Kyi to be released from 
     confinement of any kind. We have called for the release of 
     the other leaders of the National League for Democracy who 
     were jailed by the SPDC before and after the attack. We have 
     called for the offices of the National League for Democracy 
     to be allowed to reopen. We are in touch with other 
     governments who are concerned about the fate of democracy's 
     leader and the fate of democracy in Burma to encourage them, 
     too, to pressure the SPDC.
       The Bush administration agrees with members of Congress, 
     including Sen. Mitch McConnell, who has been a leading 
     advocate of democracy in Burma, that the time has come to 
     turn up the pressure on the SPDC.
       Here's what we've done so far. The State Department has 
     already extended our visa restrictions to include all 
     officials of an organization related to the junta--the Union 
     Solidarity and Development Association--and the managers of 
     state-run enterprises so that they and their families can be 
     banned as well.
       The United States already uses our voice and our vote 
     against loans to Burma from the World Bank and other 
     international financial institutions. The State Department 
     reports honestly and frankly on the crimes of the SPDC in our 
     reports on Human Rights, Trafficking in Persons, Drugs, and 
     International Religious Freedom. In all these areas, the 
     junta gets a failing grade. We also speak out frequently and 
     strongly in favor of the National League of Democracy, and 
     against the SPDC. I will press the case in Cambodia next week 
     when I meet with the leaders of Southeast Asia, despite their 
     traditional reticence to confront a member and neighbor of 
     their association, known as Asean.
       Mr. McConnell has introduced the Burmese Freedom and 
     Democracy Act in the Senate; Reps. Henry Hyde and Tom Lantos 
     have introduced a similar bill in the House. We support the 
     goals and intent of the bills and are working with the 
     sponsors on an appropriate set of new steps. Those who follow 
     this issue will know that our support for legislation is in 
     fact a change in the position of this administration and 
     previous ones as well. Simply put, the attack on Ms. Suu 
     Kyi's convoy and the utter failure of the junta to accept 
     efforts at peaceful change cannot be the last word on the 
     matter. The junta that oppresses democracy inside Burma must 
     find that its actions will not be allowed to stand.
       There are a number of measures that should now be taken, 
     many of them in the proposed legislations. It's time to 
     freeze the financial assets of the SPDC. It's time to ban 
     remittances to Burma so that the SPDC cannot benefit from the 
     foreign exchange. With legislation, we can, and should, place 
     restrictions on travel-related transactions that benefit the 
     SPDC and its supporters. We also should further limit 
     commerce with Burma which enriches the junta's generals. Of 
     course, we would need to ensure consistency with our World 
     Trade Organization and other international obligations. Any 
     legislation will need to be carefully crafted to take into 
     account our WTO obligations and the president's need for 
     waiver authority, but we should act now.
       By attacking Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters, the 
     Burmese junta has finally and definitely rejected the efforts 
     of the outside world to bring Burma back into the 
     international community. Indeed, their refusal of the work of 
     Ambassador Razali and of the rights of Aung San Suu Kyi and 
     her supporters could not be clearer. Our response must be 
     equally clear if the thugs who now rule Burma are to 
     understand that their failure to restore democracy will only 
     bring more and more pressure against them and their 
     supporters.
                                  ____


                [From the Baltimore Sun, June 12, 2003]

                        Time for Tyrants to Fear

       A year ago, when the military junta illegally controlling 
     Myanmar last released its democratically elected leader, Aung 
     San Suu Kyi, from house arrest, the generals promised a 
     dialogue aimed at national reconciliation.
       True dialogue in the nation once known as Burma would lead 
     to a decided weakening, if not the total loss, of the 
     generals' power, so that hasn't happened.
       And as of yesterday, Ms. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize 
     laureate, remained back in detention after a violent 
     government attack late last month on her and her supporters--
     and even after a Untied Nations envoy spent days trying to 
     gain her release.
       Given that Myanmar's military also has a long record of 
     slave labor and drug trafficking, what more do responsible 
     nations need to now get tougher with this regime?
       With that in mind, these days are critical--starting with 
     passage late yesterday of a U.S. senate bill to ban imports 
     from Myanmar, seize the regime leaders' U.S. assets and bar 
     U.S. visas for them.
       This ban should give greater weight to heightened U.S. 
     diplomatic effort to isolate these despots.
       Virtually all Senate leaders from both parties, led by 
     Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell and California Democrat 
     Dianne Feinstein, supported the ban. Maryland Sens. Barbara 
     A. Mikulski and Paul S. Sarbanes were among its many co-
     signers, Mr. Sarbanes having signed on just yesterday after 
     activists complained he hadn't.
       A House subcommittee has approved a similar bill. 
     Everything possible should be done to see that this ban--
     affecting a quarter of Myanmar's exports, worth about $350 
     million a year--becomes law soon.
       But even just Senate passage of the ban gives Secretary of 
     State Colin L. Powell a bigger stick when he attends a 
     meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 
     in Cambodia next week--a gathering at which the United States 
     needs to lean even harder on Thailand and Japan to back off 
     aiding this terrible regime.
       Time is well past for allowing Myanmar's generals to 
     enslave their own people. As Senator McConnell said yesterday 
     in calling for the import ban vote: ``It's time for tyrants 
     to fear in Burma.''
       The import ban likely won't bring down these generals in 
     itself. But it provides a key tool in building an effective 
     worldwide movement--with roles for ASEAN, the European Union 
     and the United Nations--to end their illegal reign.

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, also the Travel Goods Association of 
America today came out for the legislation and for an import ban as 
well. This is an important organization related to this whole issue of 
import restrictions--an organization that potentially would benefit 
from continuing imports from Burma. But they said they don't want to 
make money off of this regime. They, too, have announced their support 
for a ban today.
  I ask unanimous consent that a press release indicating their support 
be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

TGA Announces Support for a Total Ban on U.S. Travel Goods Imports From 
         Burma--Applauds Passage of Legislation by U.S. Senate

       Princeton, NJ, June 12, 2003.--Travel Goods Association 
     (TGA) President Anne L. DeCicco announced today that, due to 
     the on-going cruel and repressive nature of the ruling regime 
     in Burma, TGA--the national trade association of the travel 
     goods industry (luggage, handbags, briefcases, backpacks, 
     flatgoods, etc.)--has called for an immediate and total ban 
     on U.S. travel goods imports from that nation (SEE POLICY 
     STATEMENT BELOW). Furthermore, TGA appauds Rep. Tom Lantos 
     (D-CA) and Rep. Peter King (R-NY), and Diane Feinstein (D-CA) 
     and their colleagues in both the House and Senate, for 
     introducing The Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003 
     into both houses of the United States Congress. The bills 
     call for a ban on all imports from Burma until it can be 
     determined that the ruling Burmese government has made 
     substantial and measurable progress to end its human rights 
     abuses. The legislation passed the Senate on June 11, 2003 in 
     a 97-1 vote.
       ``The government of Burma continues to abuse its citizens 
     through force and intimidation, and refuses to respect the 
     basic human rights of its people. TGA believes this 
     unacceptable behavior should be met with condemnation from 
     not only the international public community, but from private 
     industry as well,'' said DeCicco.
       According to the U.S. government's ``2002 Country Report on 
     Human Rights Practices'' on Burma, the Burmese government has 



[[Page 14765]]

     ``. . . continued to restrict workers rights, ban unions, and 
     use forced labor for public works and for the support of 
     military garrisons. Other forced labor, including child 
     labor, remain a serious problem despite recent ordinances 
     outlawing the practice.''
       Additionally, in 2000, the International Labor Organization 
     (ILO)--for the first time in its history--called on all ILO 
     members to impose sanctions on Burma.
       ``TGA is pleased to learn that Congress, led by the U.S. 
     Senate's historic vote on Wednesday, is taking an important 
     step towards ending the human rights crisis that is happening 
     in Burma today. We hope that Congress' efforts are only the 
     first step towards international condemnation and sanctions 
     on Burma through the United Nations,'' commented TGA Chairman 
     Tom Sandler of Samsonite Corporation. He continued, ``TGA, 
     through its trade policy, promotes best practices to ensure 
     that travel goods are produced in a socially responsible 
     manner by encouraging its members to operate under programs 
     that are compliant with applicable labor laws. Thus, the 
     association and its membership fully support the legislation 
     introduced by Reps. Lantos and King, as well as Senators 
     McConnell and Feinstein and calls upon the U.S. House of 
     Representatives to follow the Senate's lead in the swift and 
     immediate passage of such important legislation.''
       The necessity for Congressional action is highlighted by 
     the recent attacks of the country's ruling military junta on 
     Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma's pro-
     democracy opposition, and her supporters. These attacks 
     illustrate that Burma's regime has grown more oppressive than 
     ever, despite worldwide condemnation.
       TGA International Committee Chairman Michael Korchmar of 
     the Leather Specialty Company, noted that, ``TGA also wants 
     to recognize and applaud the efforts of its own members that 
     have already imposed bans on U.S. imports of Burmese travel 
     goods from their own firms. Thanks in large part to the 
     efforts of TGA members, U.S. imports of travel goods from 
     Burma fell an incredible 74 percent between 2001 and 2002.'' 
     Furthermore, TGA applauds the efforts of numerous U.S. and 
     international governmental and non-governmental organizations 
     to force Burma to respect the basic human rights of its 
     citizens.
                                  ____



                                     Travel Goods Association,

                                     Princeton, NJ, June 12, 2003.

                Policy Statement on Burma, June 12, 2003

       The Travel Goods Association (TGA)--the national trade 
     association of the travel goods (luggage, briefcases, 
     handbags, backpacks, flatgoods) industry--hereby expresses 
     its strong support for a full and immediate ban on U.S. 
     travel goods imports from Burma and strongly encourages the 
     U.S. government to:
       Impose an immediate and total ban on U.S. imports of travel 
     goods from Burma;
       Maintain this ban until Burma's rulers demonstrate that 
     they respect and enforce basic human and labor rights for its 
     own citizens;
       Continue both unilaterally and through multilateral 
     organizations to exert diplomatic, economic, and political 
     pressure on Burma to respect and enforce basic human rights 
     for its own citizens; and
       Sign into law current legislation in Congress to impose 
     such sanctions.
       The TGA supports a U.S. ban on Burmese travel goods because 
     Burma's military regime has:
       Consistently rejected international demands to stop 
     government-sanctioned forced and child labor practices 
     against its own people;
       According to the U.S. government's ``2002 Country Report on 
     Human Rights Practices'' on Burma, ``... continued to 
     restrict worker rights, ban unions, and used forced labor for 
     public works and for the support of military garrisons. Other 
     forced labor, including forced child labor remained a serious 
     problem, despite recent ordinances outlawing the practice;'' 
     and
       Repeatedly failed to comply with internationally recognized 
     conventions on labor, including forced and child labor. Due 
     to its ``widespread and systematic'' use of forced labor, the 
     International Labor Organization (ILO) in 2000, for the first 
     time in its history, called on all ILO members to impose 
     sanctions on Burma.
       Through its trade policy, TGA:
       ``Promotes best practices to ensure that goods are produced 
     in a socially responsible manner,'' by ``Encouraging TGA 
     members to operate under programs that foster socially 
     responsible production practices compliant with applicable 
     labor and environmental laws and regulations; Encouraging the 
     United States, other governments and foreign trade 
     associations to recognize and support programs designed to 
     achieve these goals; and Pursuing policies that encourage 
     development of human rights and democratic values in 
     countries in which TGA members conduct business and 
     discourage trade with countries that promote or support 
     terrorism.''
       Strongly supports the travel goods industry's use of 
     effective social responsibility programs;
       Applauds and supports the efforts of TGA member companies 
     that have already imposed bans on U.S. imports of Burmese 
     travel goods for their own firms;
       Recognizes and applauds the efforts of numerous U.S. and 
     international governmental and nongovernmental organizations 
     to force Burma to respect the basic human rights of its 
     citizens.

                          ____________________