[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 18950]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 RESPONDING TO CONDITIONS IN BURMA UNDER THE ILLEGITIMATE RULE OF THE 
                  STATE PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent the Foreign Relations 
Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 431 and 
the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 431) expressing the sense of the 
     Senate that the United Nations Security Council should 
     immediately consider and take appropriate actions to respond 
     to the growing threats posed by conditions in Burma under the 
     illegitimate rule of the State Peace and Development Council.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the resolution 
be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be 
laid on the table, and any statements be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 431) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 431

       Whereas the National League for Democracy, headed by Daw 
     Aung San Suu Kyi, is the legitimately elected political 
     leadership in Burma;
       Whereas the ruling State Peace and Development Council, 
     headed by General Than Shwe, and its affiliated organizations 
     continue, through a variety of means, to violate the human 
     rights and dignity of the people of Burma through murder, 
     torture, rape, forced relocation, the employment of child 
     soldiers, the use of forced labor, and the exploitation of 
     child laborers;
       Whereas the State Peace and Development Council has 
     detained over 1,300 prisoners of conscience, including 
     National League for Democracy leaders and supporters of 
     democracy;
       Whereas, under the repressive rule of the State Peace and 
     Development Council, the situation in Burma poses an 
     immediate and growing threat to the Southeast Asia region, 
     including through the unchecked spread of HIV/AIDS, the 
     illicit production of, and trafficking in, narcotics, 
     trafficking in persons, and alleged efforts to purchase 
     weapons from North Korea, China, and Russia;
       Whereas, at the 58th session of the United Nations General 
     Assembly, a resolution was adopted by the General Assembly 
     that expresses grave concern about the ongoing systematic 
     violations of human rights inflicted upon the people of Burma 
     and calls on the State Peace and Development Council to 
     release all political prisoners, respect the results of the 
     national elections in 1990, and restore democracy to Burma; 
     and
       Whereas the National League for Democracy has called upon 
     the United Nations Security Council to intervene on behalf of 
     the people of Burma: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the 
     United Nations Security Council should immediately consider 
     and take appropriate actions to respond to the growing 
     threats posed to the Southeast Asia region by conditions in 
     Burma under the illegitimate rule of the State Peace and 
     Development Council, including the threats posed by 
     widespread human rights violations, the unchecked spread of 
     HIV/AIDS, the illicit production of, and trafficking in, 
     narcotics, trafficking in persons, and alleged efforts by the 
     State Peace and Development Council to purchase weapons from 
     North Korea, China, and Russia.

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