[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 13414-13418]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 APPROVING THE RENEWAL OF IMPORT RESTRICTIONS CONTAINED IN THE BURMESE 
                   FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY ACT OF 2003

  Mr. SHAW. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
joint resolution (H.J. Res. 52) approving the renewal of import 
restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 
2003.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H.J. Res. 52

       Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
     United States of America in Congress assembled, That Congress 
     approves the renewal of the import restrictions contained in 
     section 3(a)(1) of the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 
     2003.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Shaw) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Shaw).
  Mr. SHAW. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the resolution offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), my friend. In 2003, Congress 
passed the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act, which among a number of 
things imposed an import ban on all products from Burma. Today, the 
House considers extending this import ban for an additional year.
  Madam Speaker, the situation in Burma remains deeply troubling. The 
actions by the military in Burma continue to demonstrate its inability 
to promote an equitable way of life for millions of Burmese.
  Despite the deplorable conditions in Burma today, the United States 
remains committed to political and social change in Burma. In fact, the 
United States is one of the few leaders willing to shine the light on 
the lack of human rights in Burma. Within the international community, 
the United States has cosponsored resolutions within the United Nations 
Commission on Human Rights condemning the human rights situation in 
Burma. It is tremendously important that we continue to pressure the 
Burmese Government to become a transparent society, free from human 
rights abuses that have plagued this Asian nation for so many years.
  Pressure must remain in place. Extending trade sanctions puts 
pressure on the Burmese junta to change its ways. For the pressure to 
be truly effective, the sanctions must be multilateral and include 
Burma's main trading partners. Therefore, I encourage the 
administration to continue to pursue a multilateral response to the 
atrocities in Burma. This is a critical component for ending the 
military stranglehold on this society.
  I urge all my colleagues to support the resolution that is before us 
today.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CARDIN. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), the sponsor of the resolution, 
the ranking member of the Committee on International Relations; and I 
want to congratulate him for his strong leadership and consistent 
leadership on human rights issues in this body.
  Mr. LANTOS. Madam Speaker, I want to thank my friend and 
distinguished colleague from Maryland for the time, who has been a 
champion of human rights globally throughout his tenure.
  I also want to express my appreciation to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Thomas), the chairman of the Committee on Ways and 
Means, my friend, and the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Shaw) for their 
consistent support of human rights work.
  Madam Speaker, in this day and age, nothing is in shorter supply than 
men and women of moral authority and courage. Burmese democracy leader 
and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is among the giants of our age. She 
is right there with Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Vaclav Havel of 
the Czech Republic, both of whom were prepared to sacrifice years of 
their lives so that their people could live in a free and open and 
democratic society.
  Madam Speaker, this past weekend, this great lady and champion of 
democracy celebrated her 60th birthday; but instead of being surrounded 
by family and friends on this happy day, Aung San Suu Kyi remained 
imprisoned in Burma, cut off from her supporters, both her family and 
the people of Burma.
  Last Friday, I attempted to deliver 6,000 birthday cards from 
Americans from across this Nation to Aung San Suu Kyi to the Burmese 
embassy in Washington. The gate was locked. No Burmese diplomat was 
willing to accept the birthday greetings to Burma's greatest citizen; 
but Madam Speaker, I have been dealing with dictatorial regimes all my 
life, and I do not expect a warm reception from any of them.
  I do want Aung San Suu Kyi to know that the entire Congress of the 
United States and the American people wish her a very happy birthday 
and the moral fortitude and physical stamina to continue her struggle 
for the Burmese people and, indeed, for democracy globally.
  Madam Speaker, I can think of no better birthday present for Aung San 
Suu Kyi than the legislation we are discussing at this moment. The only 
hope for promoting far-reaching political change is by making Burma's 
ruling thugs pay an economic price for running the Burmese nation and 
their economy into the ground. By renewing import sanctions for an 
additional year, fewer dollars will flow into the

[[Page 13415]]

Swiss bank accounts of the Burmese thugs who run that country.
  The tough approach maintained by our country towards Burma, including 
import sanctions, is encouraging other nations to reconsider their more 
shortsighted and lenient views on the Rangoon regime.

                              {time}  1100

  Some members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for the 
first time have begun to criticize Burma for its human rights abuses.
  Last November, the European Union itself strengthened its Burma 
policy in response to ongoing human rights violations. In both cases, 
it was the strong stand of this Congress that has stiffened backbones 
and increased the prospects that a multilateral sanctions regime 
against Burma is possible.
  Madam Speaker, Congress must act decisively to renew import sanctions 
against Burma. We must send a strong signal of support for the 
restoration of democracy and human rights in that impoverished and 
subdued Nation.
  This great woman, Aung San Suu Kyi, before long will occupy her 
rightful position as the democratically elected leader of the people of 
Burma, and I look forward to being there in Rangoon as she is sworn in 
as the leadership of a free and democratic country. I urge all of my 
colleagues to support the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act in its 
accession.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHAW. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith) who himself has gained a great reputation in this 
Congress as being a champion of human freedoms.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Shaw) for his leadership on this issue and so many other 
issues on the Committee on Ways and Means. I also commend the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Lantos), the ranking member of the Committee on 
International Relations, for offering this legislation which would 
renew the Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003 for Burma and the import 
restrictions that are contained in that important legislation.
  As my colleagues know, Burma today remains one of the most repressive 
military dictatorships in the world, where human rights are routinely 
and systematically repressed and violated. So it is fitting and 
necessary that Congress today is moving to renew this important 
legislation.
  The Burmese dictatorship today incarcerates 1,400 political prisoners 
and continues to harass and repress one of the bravest leaders of our 
time, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who, by the way, 
turned 60 this past weekend. I, like many other Members in this body, 
have tried to get into Burma to press for human rights; and my visa, 
like others, has been turned down, denying Member of Congress the 
opportunity to even meet with the military junta that continues to 
repress its citizens.
  Madam Speaker, up to 70,000 child soldiers are exploited in Burma, 
more than any other country in the world. Up to 2 million people have 
been forced to flee the country as refugees and migrants. Burning of 
villages continues in eastern Burma, especially in Karen and Karenni 
states. And Aung San Suu Kyi continues to be persecuted and harassed by 
this brutal dictatorship.
  Sanctions do work, I say to my colleagues. But they often take time. 
Other countries, I'm happy to say, are beginning to follow the lead of 
the United States. In a major and important move, the European Union in 
October 2004 followed the lead of the United States and significantly 
strengthened its sanctions in Burma, including a ban on investments in 
enterprises of the ruling regime and a strengthened visa ban. The EU 
also pledged to join the United States in opposing loans to Burma's 
regime from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Support 
at the United Nations is growing as well. Burma was one of the few 
countries on the resolution's list that passed at the United Nations 
Commission on Human Rights. I was there in Geneva working that 
resolution as well as resolutions on Cuba, Sudan, and Belaurus, and it 
was as one of the few that made it through.
  After the United States Senate and the House passed resolutions in 
October 2004 calling on the Security Council to address the situation 
in Burma, the Parliament of Australia followed suit. Their motion 
called on the government to support the Burmese National League for 
Democracy's call for the U.N. Security Council to convene a special 
session to consider what further measures the U.N. can take to 
encourage democratic reform and respect for human rights in Burma.
  Additionally, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on 
the U.N. Security Council to address the situation in Burma as a matter 
of urgency. Additionally, 289 members of our friends in the British 
Parliament tabled a motion calling on the U.N. Security Council to 
address the situation in Burma.
  There has even been unprecedented action within the ASEAN countries. 
Whereas in the past they refused to even comment on what they deemed to 
be Burma's internal affairs, many members of that organization are now 
publicly pressing Burma to step aside as the chair of the association 
in 2006. The tough approach maintained by the U.S. toward Burma, 
including import sanctions and a possible boycott of 2006 meetings, is 
encouraging many Asian countries to rethink whether the Burmese regime 
should assume that rotating chairmanship. There is widespread belief 
within the leadership of the ASEAN countries that Burma has failed, and 
failed miserably, to deliver on its promises to the region.
  All in all, and I point to these above-mentioned instances, the 
strong stand of the United States, and I commend President Bush and 
former President Clinton because both have been united in their belief 
that Burma needs to be sanctioned and isolated in a way that hopefully 
leads to reform and change. Moreover, our resolution to promote freedom 
and democracy in Burma has stiffened the backbones of many countries 
around the world.
  Today the EU, the U.N., and ASEAN countries are moving in the right 
direction to take a strong stand against Burma's dictatorship.
  And to Aung San Suu Kyi: Your courage and goodness and persistence 
are beyond extraordinary. Our prayers are with you.
  Mr. CARDIN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, as the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) has 
pointed out, June 19 marked the 60th birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi, who 
has dedicated her life to bringing about democracy in Burma and was 
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.
  Her party, the National League of Democracy, won a landslide victory 
in the country's 1990 elections; but the results were not recognized by 
the ruling Burmese military junta. Unfortunately, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, 
who has spent 10 out of the last 16 years in confinement, could not 
celebrate her birthday with her friends and supporters. Instead, she 
remains under house arrest.
  The plight of Aung San Suu Kyi is a sign of how little things have 
changed in Burma. According to the U.S. State Department's March 2005 
report to Congress on conditions in Burma and U.S. policy toward Burma, 
``prospects for meaningful political change and reform in Burma have 
continued to decline.''
  The Government of Burma continues to harass and arrest people for 
taking part in peaceful political activities; more than 1,200 people 
remain in jail for their political beliefs. The State Peace and 
Development Council, the controlling military junta, has continued to 
severely abuse its citizens' human rights. Freedom of speech, press, 
religion, assembly, and association remain greatly restricted. In 
ethnic minorities areas, the Burmese Government has engaged in 
persecution, torture, extrajudicial executions, demolition of places of 
worship, rape, and forced labor.
  Security forces regularly monitor the movements and communications of 
residents, search homes without warrants, and relocate people 
forcefully

[[Page 13416]]

without compensation or legal recourse.
  In light of Burma's continued dismal record in respecting human 
rights and suppressing democracy, I urge my colleagues to extend the 
ban on imports on Burmese products for another year. The utter 
disregard of the Government of Burma for the rights of its citizens 
cannot be ignored.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHAW. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Pitts).
  Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time.
  I rise in strong support of this resolution. Burma is ruled by a 
ruthless military regime. I visited the Thai-Burma border a few years 
ago, and I met with victims of the horrific repression that is 
occurring there, the IDPs, former political prisoners, democracy 
activists, women who have been raped, landmine victims, orphans, and 
widows. The SPDC uses rape has a weapon of terror. They engage in 
ethnic cleansing, wiping out whole villages and towns, killing women, 
men, and children. They seek to eliminate the ethnic minorities in the 
tribal areas such as Karen and Karenni.
  Many believe that we need to reverse our course on sanctions in order 
to help the Burmese people. They are wrong. The Burmese economy is so 
rotted under this corrupt regime that trade does not help the people. 
It is like pouring money into a pocket with a hole in it. The road to 
change in Burma is not trade, it is political reform.
  The SPDC must release Aung San Suu Kyi, the duly elected leader. 
ASEAN must take a clear stand against the Burmese leadership and deny 
it from leadership and chairing ASEAN. And the U.S. must do a better 
job of organizing support at the U.N. Security Council for a 
comprehensive resolution calling for national transition and 
reconciliation. Sanctions are absolutely necessary. I urge passage of 
this resolution.
  Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Poe).
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Shaw) on this bill, and also comment about the long history of human 
rights protection of the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos). I rise 
in strong support of the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act and urge my 
colleagues to join me in voting for this bill.
  There has been a brutal campaign of village burnings, destruction of 
rice supplies, killings by Burmese military, this outlaw regime, and it 
has resulted in displacement of between 500,000 and 1 million innocent 
citizens living in eastern Burma. Hundreds of thousands of these 
internal refugees we call internally displaced persons, IDPs, are 
persecuted for their commitment to democracy and their belief in human 
rights. These IDP victims are being systematically hunted down by the 
evil tyrants of this military regime in Burma. Secretary Rice has 
rightly called Burma one of the six outposts of tyranny in our world. 
These tactics used by the junta in Burma add up to ethnic cleansing.
  Many Americans are not aware of what is occurring in Burma, but this 
act is a step in the direction that will show all peoples in the world 
that Americans care about freedom and democracy, no matter where it is 
and where it hopes to be in the world.
  It is my desire and hope for my colleagues cosponsoring this bill 
that these sanctions called for in this joint resolution will continue 
to grab the attention of the Burmese junta and pressure them to release 
Aung San Suu Kyi and allow their country to enjoy the freedoms and 
rights of a true democracy so that all people may have the right, as 
President Jefferson said, to life, liberty and the pursuit of 
happiness.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this resolution, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record an article that appeared in the 
International Herald Tribune this past Sunday, written by Seth Mydans. 
The article is on Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi who we have heard so much about 
during this debate, really a true heroine in our time.

         [From the International Herald Tribune, June 19, 2005]

         Test of Wills: the Burmese Captive Who Will Not Budge

                            (By Seth Mydans)

       Bangkok.--Seventeen years ago, as the people of Myanmar 
     filled the streets in mass protests against their military 
     dictatorship, a striking, self-possessed woman rose to 
     address a rally at the great golden Shwedagon Pagoda. At the 
     time, nobody realized the price she would pay for her 
     outspokenness.
       The woman, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was visiting from her home 
     in England to tend to her sick mother when pro-democracy 
     protests swelled throughout the country in August 1988 
     despite a brutal response by the military that took thousands 
     of lives.
       In the months that followed she emerged, through a 
     combination of charisma and pedigree, to lead what has so far 
     been a futile opposition to the country's military leaders.
       On Sunday, Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi will mark her 60th 
     birthday under house arrest, where she has spent most of the 
     intervening years, in an increasingly dilapidated house, more 
     cut off than ever from contacts outside her weed-filled 
     compound.
       Her birthday has become an occasion for new international 
     protests against a military junta that holds the country in 
     its grip, jailing its opponents while ruining the country's 
     economy and waging war against its ethnic minorities.
       From one of the region's most refined and richly endowed 
     nations, Myanmar has become its most desperate and reviled.
       As the daughter of the country's founding hero, U Aung San, 
     she held a nearly mystical appeal for people desperate to 
     regain their freedoms and self-respect. With her dignity, 
     self-sacrifice and perseverance, she has created a legend of 
     her own.
       She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and has 
     joined the company of Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama of 
     Tibet as international icons of a struggle for freedom. But 
     in a contest between brute force and principle, between 
     repression and the clearly expressed will of the people of 
     Myanmar, it is the men with the guns who have managed so far 
     to prevail, and the country's moral symbol who is their 
     prisoner.
       Calls for the release of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi have come 
     from around the world in recent days, including statements 
     from Washington and from Secretary General Kofi Annan of the 
     United Nations.
       In Norway, the chairman of the Nobel Committee, Ole D. 
     Mjoes, issued a rare statement about a past laureate, saying; 
     ``We ask that she be set free immediately. We look forward to 
     the day that democracy again rules her country.''
       But the generals have released her twice already, most 
     recently in May 2002, only to be shaken and shamed at her 
     continuing, overwhelming popularity: huge crowds that 
     gathered wherever she appeared.
       One year after her last release, her convoy was attacked by 
     an organized mob in what some analysts believe was an attempt 
     to kill her, and she was returned to house arrest after a 
     period of harsh treatment in prison.
       ``She has become the only leader that the Burmese people 
     have acknowledged since the death of her father in 1947,'' 
     said Josef Silverstein, an expert on Myanmar at Rutgers 
     University. ``I would add that she has in every way possible 
     emulated what her father stood for, which was for the right 
     of the people to govern themselves and to have a free and 
     democratic country.''
       Shortly after her address at the Shwedagon Pagoda, she 
     explicitly assumed her father's mantle, saying she would 
     dedicate her life to the people of her country as he had 
     done.
       She made that clear in 1999 when she chose not to visit her 
     husband, Michael Aris, in England, when he was dying of 
     cancer, because she feared that the government would bar her 
     from re-entering Myanmar. The Myanmar authorities had refused 
     to allow him to visit her.
       The United States, the European Union and other nations 
     have responded to repression in Myanmar with economic 
     penalties that have done little to affect its leadership. 
     Myanmar's giant neighbors, China and India, with several 
     other Asian nations, offer it an economic lifeline.
       But opposition from the West is putting pressure on the 
     junta now as it prepares to take over the rotating leadership 
     of the regional 10-member political and economic grouping, 
     the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, next year.
       The United States and some other nations have hinted 
     strongly in recent weeks that they will boycott an annual 
     meeting to which they are invited if it is held in Myanmar. 
     Its regional neighbors, facing potential embarrassment, are 
     beginning to press the junta to skip its turn as regional 
     leader if it does not release Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi and 
     improve its record on human rights.

[[Page 13417]]

       At the same time, there has been an eruption of internal 
     turmoil among the ruling generals, though like most things in 
     Myanmar its details and its causes are unclear.
       In October, Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, who was the head of 
     military intelligence and one of the country's most powerful 
     leaders, was fired and placed under house arrest. His trial 
     on expected corruption charges has either begun or is about 
     to begin, according to conflicting reports.
       Over the years, as repression has continued in Myanmar, 
     some of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi's allies abroad have complained 
     about what they call her stubbornness and intransigence. But 
     it is the military leaders who have several times switched 
     track, ignoring her and vilifying her, opening and closing 
     dialogues, freeing and rearresting her.
       She has also been criticized for demanding that the 
     government recognize the results of a parliamentary election 
     in 1990 that was won overwhelmingly by her party, the 
     National League for Democracy.
       The remarkably open parliamentary election was a 
     characteristic misjudgment by the junta, which had apparently 
     expected to win. When Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi's party won more 
     than 80 percent of the seats, the generals refused to 
     recognize the results and clung to power.
       Many who won seats were arrested. Bit by bit over the years 
     the junta has whittled away at their party. Today its leaders 
     are aging--Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi is the youngest--and its 
     youth wing has atrophied
       More and more, the democratic opposition to military rule 
     in Myanmar is personified by one isolated and determined 
     woman. ``Her stubbornness is her strength,'' Mr. Silverstein 
     said. ``This woman will not bend and will not break.''

  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, In recognition of the Burmese State Peace 
and Development Council's (SPDC) failure to comply with the conditions 
described in H.R. 2330, ``Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003,'' 
I commend my colleague and the ranking Member of the Committee on 
International Relations, Rep. Tom Lantos for his strong stand on 
restoring democracy in Burma and holding the military Junta 
accountable.
  Seventeen years ago the people of Myanmar rose up in mass protest 
against the SPDC, which had established power through a military coup. 
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of the country's founding hero, U Aung 
San, was arrested as a result of her pro-democracy stance during these 
protests. Following in her father's footsteps, she devotes her life to 
the people of Burma and freedom. As a leader of the National League for 
Democracy, NLD, she was seen as a threat to the SPDC power basis and 
unjustly imprisoned.
  In 1990 Parliamentary elections were held, in which an eighty percent 
majority voted in support the NLD. In 1991, Mrs. Kyi was awarded the 
Nobel peace prize in recognition for her instrumental role in Burma's 
struggle for freedom.
  Since the SPDC has taken power, it has continued to dismiss and 
neglect any meaningful dialogue with the United Nations in addressing 
their continuing persecution of opposition members. The SPDC 
continually fails to address their past and present human rights 
violations and fails to cooperate with U.S. efforts to stop the 
exporting of heroin and methamphetamines; while providing safety and 
harbor for persons involved with narcotics trafficking.
  The SPDC supports the integration of the military into all facets of 
the economy, thus destroying all notions of a free economy; while using 
currency generated from the Burmese people to purchase and sponsor an 
institution of terror and repression.
  The SPDC has done everything in its power to repress democracy and 
the will of the people of Burma.
  It is clear further sanctions must be taken in order for this 
struggle to come to an end. Despite sanctions taken by the U.S. the 
European Union and many other nations, economic relief is still 
available for the SPDC. China, India and many other ASEAN countries 
still trade with Burma providing them with the necessary lifeline to 
maintain their reign of oppression.
  If economic penalties are to be effective, multi-lateral support is 
necessary.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support with President Bush, Secretary General 
Kofi Annan of the United Nations, Ole D. Mjoes of the Nobel Committee 
and my fellow Congressional colleagues in calling for an end of state 
sponsored tyranny in Burma. Justice can only be served when the release 
of all political prisoners, freedom of speech and the press, freedom of 
association and the peaceful exercise of religion become constitutional 
rights.
  The fact that Bufria will be the rotating chair of the Association of 
South East Asian Nations, ASEAN is troubling. I believe President Bush 
and Secretary Rice should engage our allies Singapore, Thailand, India 
as well as China to focus on using their ties with the government of 
Burma to promote democracy in Burma and freedom for the Burmese people.
  An agreement between the SPDC and NLD must be made so that the 
transfer of power to a civilian government, that is accountable to the 
Burmese people through democratic elections under the rule of law, can 
be made. For those reasons H.R. 2330 must be renewed. We cannot waiver 
on our policy until democracy and freedom are restored to the people or 
Burma.
  Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.J. Res. 52 and 
of the people of Burma. The people of Burma toil every day under the 
cruel and heavy yoke of military dictatorship. The military rulers of 
Burma stifle dissent, persecute minorities, and thwart every attempt at 
democracy.
  The democratically elected and legal leader of Burma, Aung San Suu 
Kyi, remains imprisoned. Contact between Suu Kyi and the outside is 
virtually non-existent. Despite growing calls for her release, there is 
no sign that she will be released from her prison any time soon. Many 
hundreds of other Burmese men and women remain in appallingly horrible 
prisons, not because of any truly criminal act, but because of their 
efforts to bring freedom to Burma.
  Burma has more than 600,000 internally displaced people. Furthermore, 
over 100,000 people are living in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma 
border. Thousands more are in hiding in China and India. Where Burma 
was once a country of peaceful coexistence, it has, under this brutal 
regime, become a place of strife and discord.
  The military junta in Burma continues to persecute minority groups. 
The Burmese military continues to burn villages, destroy crops, and 
eliminate opponents no matter how peaceful or non-threatening. The 
destruction of medical supplies and first aid stations continues apace. 
These acts are not random acts of a few rogue military units far from 
any authority. These acts are orchestrated at the highest levels by 
cruel generals sitting in government offices in Rangoon.
  Now more than ever, the democratic forces at work in Burma need the 
continued support of the United States of America. H.J. Res. 52, which 
I am proud to co-sponsor, will continue the sanctions imposed by the 
Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act.
  When the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act was passed, few other 
countries paid more than scant attention to the tragedy unfolding in 
Burma. More interested in regional comity or economic gain, many of the 
same countries we call allies were content to turn a blind eye to 
Burma's abuses and despicable cruelty.
  Since 2003, the veil has been lifted somewhat. Calls for the release 
of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners and the establishment 
of democracy have gone out from previously silent quarters. Once mute 
ASEAN nations, particularly Singapore, the Philippines, and Malaysia, 
have gradually increased pressure on Burma to change.
  Support for this bill will make it clear to Burmese despots that 
their military dictatorship, which maintains power through force and 
terror, is unacceptable. Support for continued sanctions will 
demonstrate to the world that the United States is serious about 
bringing change to Burma. It is my hope that our efforts embodied in 
the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act sanctions will encourage more 
countries, organizations, and individuals to work for freedom, 
democracy, and a prosperous Burma.
  I urge a ``yes'' vote on H.J. Res. 52.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, as a cosponsor of this bill, I support 
extending sanctions on Burma for a third year within the framework 
enacted into law under the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003.
  I generally don't believe in unilateral trade sanctions. By 
preventing trade with Burma, we isolate Burmese citizens from the world 
and deny them the economic opportunity and better working conditions 
that trade can create. As a result, sanctions often have the unintended 
consequence of ultimately harming the people we are seeking to help. In 
fact, the State Department, for the second time, notes that one effect 
of the Burma import restrictions has been to cause the closure of more 
than 100 garment factories and the loss of tens of thousands of Burmese 
textile jobs. I don't see how those people are better off today than 
they were a year or two ago.
  At the same time, the actions of the ruling junta in Burma continue 
to be unacceptable. One of the requirements of the law passed in 2003 
is for the administration to issue a report on whether the sanctions 
have been effective in improving conditions in Burma and in furthering 
U.S. objectives. The State Department, in its second report, observes 
that Burma's already poor human rights record has worsened

[[Page 13418]]

over the past year. Moreover, the junta's exclusion of pro-democracy 
groups from the National Convention assembled to draft a new 
constitution suggests that Burma is not on the road to true democratic 
reform. Given the current situation, I believe action by the United 
States is warranted and sanctions are appropriate if they are limited, 
targeted, and effective.
  At the same time, the State Department also acknowledges that some 
opposition politicians in Burma question whether U.S. sanctions have 
any chance of success and whether they are worth the pain caused to 
Burmese workers. I share this skepticism. No other country has 
implemented the same set of economic sanctions as the United States. If 
we are to successfully influence the government of Burma, sanctions 
must be truly multilateral and international like those used to bring 
an end to apartheid rule in South Africa. While I support the extension 
of the sanctions for another year, this effort to build multilateral 
pressure is key to my continued support for sanctions against Burma.
  Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my support of House 
Joint Resolution 52, supporting the renewal of the import restrictions 
contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003. As an 
original cosponsor of this Resolution, I urge my colleagues to join me 
in voting in favor of this resolution. Today we must send a strong 
message to the ruthless military dictators in Rangoon that their 
repressive rule over what Secretary Rice deemed an ``outpost of 
tyranny,'' is antithetical to the fundamental American values of 
freedom, liberty, and democracy.
  On May 30, 2003, Congress passed the Burmese Freedom and Democracy 
Act in response to the junta's merciless crackdown on democratic 
reformers. The National League for Democracy's popular elected leader, 
Aung San Suu Kyi, was placed under house arrest and many of her 
colleagues were murdered. This important bill banned imports from 
Burma, mainly affecting the textile and garment industries, until the 
junta made major progress to end human rights violations. According to 
the bill, until the military regime ceases its systemic campaign of 
repression, aggression, and state-sponsored terror against its own 
people, meaningful sanctions will persist.
  Two years later, the junta's extremely poor human rights record has 
not improved, instead it worsened. Aung San Suu Kyi recently spent her 
60th birthday detained under house-arrest in her dilapidated home. 
Citizens in Burma still do not have the right to criticize their 
government. Security forces continue to murder political opponents with 
impunity. Disappearances persist, and security forces rape, torture, 
beat, and otherwise abuse prisoners and detainees. Hundreds of 
thousands of displaced persons in eastern Burma have been uprooted from 
their homes and forced to live in relocation sites under horrendous 
humanitarian conditions.
  As the United States is developing its future 21st Century 
relationship with Southeast Asia, the regime in Burma is stuck in an 
early 20th Century destabilizing military style of governance. 
International pressure is mounting on Burma for reform. Burma's 
neighbors, including Malaysia, are calling for the release of Aung San 
Suu Kyi. If Burma wants to participate in the international community, 
and be recognized as the rotating chairman of ASEAN, it must undergo 
sweeping democratic reforms. The United States ought to continue 
advocating a policy of zero tolerance by renewing its ban on imports 
from Burma until such reforms are made. Congress must seize this 
opportunity to demonstrate its resolve to uphold the highest standards 
of human rights by supporting House Joint Resolution 52.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.J. Res. 52 
and the renewal of sanctions on Burma. It is high time that the Burmese 
junta release Aung San Suu Kyi, the key to political transition in 
Burma, and allow the restoration of democracy in Burma. I will continue 
to support stronger efforts by the United States, the United Nations, 
and others to ensure that the continued abuse of human rights in Burma 
becomes neither accepted nor forgotten. Sanctions are necessary 
pressure, but insufficient. In particular, I believe that the 
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should deny Burma the 
rotating chair, as having Burma in a leadership position would be an 
embarrassment to all ASEAN members.
  Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Issa). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Shaw) that the House suspend 
the rules and pass the joint resolution, H.J. Res. 52.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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