[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12903-12904]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING BURMESE DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST AND NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE 
                            AUNG SAN SUU KYI

  Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the 
consideration of S. Res. 174, which was submitted earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 174) recognizing Burmese democracy 
     activist and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi as a 
     symbol of the struggle for freedom in Burma.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. FRIST. Madam President, I would just like to add a real note of 
appreciation to an individual, Jackson Cox, who has spent much time 
focusing on this issue of Burmese democracy.
  The resolution sponsored by Senators McConnell and Feinstein is a 
resolution celebrating the tremendous struggle for freedom in Burma. 
Jackson Cox is someone for whom I have tremendous respect, who has 
focused on that initiative. I do want to recognize his tremendous work.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, along with my colleagues from 
California, Arizona, Tennessee and Indiana, I support this resolution 
recognizing Burmese democracy activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate 
Aung San Suu Kyi as a symbol of the struggle for freedom in Burma.
  While many may know of the horrors committed in Burma by the 
illegitimate State Peace and Development Council, SPDC, and the 
courage, dignity and determination of Suu Kyi and her compatriots in 
the face of this repression, some people may be unaware that June 19 
marks Suu Kyi's 60th birthday.
  I would like nothing more than to pick up the telephone and call her 
in Rangoon to give her best wishes on her birthday. However, I cannot. 
Nor can anyone else. Suu Kyi remains under house arrest by the SPDC.
  In addition to my colleagues in the Unofficial Burma Caucus in the 
Senate--Senators Feinstein, McCain, Frist and Lugar to name but a few--
it is important to recognize the expressions of support for Suu Kyi and 
democracy in Burma by other stalwarts of freedom, including Georgian 
President Mikheil Saakashvili, Mongolian Prime Minister Elbegdorj 
Tskahiagiin, former Czech Republic President Vaclav Havel, former 
Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and a litany of fellow 
Nobel Peace Prize recipients. I ask that statements by President 
Saakashvili and Prime Minister Elbegdorj be printed in the Record 
following my remarks.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (See exhibit 1.)
  Mr. McCONNELL. Let me close by reiterating the call for the immediate 
and unconditional release of Suu Kyi and all prisoners of conscience in 
Burma. I urge Secretary of State Rice to encourage regional neighbors 
and allies to redouble their efforts to support freedom in Burma when 
she attends the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional 
forum, and post-ministerial meetings in Laos.
  Happy birthday, Suu Kyi. You continue to be in our thoughts and 
prayers.

                               Exhibit 1

     Statement in Support of Aung San Suu Kyi and Freedom in Burma

       I want to extend my warm greetings to those attending this 
     important ceremony and most of all to offer my heartfelt 
     support to Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. It is 
     a tragedy that she could not be celebrating her birthday 
     among her family, friends and the Burmese people. Her 
     continued jailing is a powerful symbol of the strength of 
     Burma's democracy movement and the weakness of those trying 
     to block this country's path to freedom.
       There are those who try to argue that democracy and 
     individual rights are Western ideals. How wrong they are. In 
     Mongolia, our constitution guarantees the right to life, 
     religious tolerance, the right to own property,

[[Page 12904]]

     the right to a free press and free expression, and for the 
     public to bring grievances before their democratically 
     elected representatives. These are not Western ideals, these 
     are rights that each of us inherit at birth from our Supreme 
     Creator.
       Today, Burma is ruled by a military regime that inflicts 
     death, terror and fear on the people in their struggle to 
     maintain power. History as written by the Czechs, Poles, 
     Hungarians, Serbs, Georgians, Ukrainians, Romanians, 
     Indonesians, we Mongolians and many others has proven that 
     freedom in the face of tyranny will triumph. Burma's generals 
     should take this history to heart.
       Friends, it is up to each of us living in free societies to 
     reach out and help those living under oppression to find 
     their freedom. I can assure the Burmese people of one thing: 
     No dictatorship, no military regime, no authoritarian 
     government can stand against the collective will of a people 
     determined to be tree.
       Tonight, as darkness settles across Mongolia, I will light 
     a candle and place it in the front window of my residence as 
     a symbol of hope and support for the Burmese people and Aung 
     San Suu Kyi--Prime Minister Elbegdorj Tskahiagiin.
                                  ____


Statement by President Mikheil Saakashvili in Commemoration of Aung San 
                     Suu Kyi and Democracy in Burma

       On behalf of the Georgian people I want to extend our 
     collective greetings to the Senators, Congressmen, and 
     freedom activists gathered here in support of Nobel Peace 
     Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Her continued arrest by 
     Burma's military junta is an outrage, her courage in the face 
     of terror and intimidation serves as an inspiration to those 
     throughout the world who cherish freedom and democracy.
       In 1990 the Burmese people voted overwhelmingly in 
     parliamentary elections for Aung San Suu Kyi and her National 
     League for Democracy (NLD) to lead them into a new era based 
     on democratic governance. The junta has refused to recognize 
     the results of this election. Each day they must wage war on 
     the Burmese people, using murder, terror and intimidation, to 
     keep their hold on power. This is a war they are destined to 
     lose.
       We in Georgia understand first-hand what it is like to live 
     under tyranny and the sacrifices necessary to gain liberty. 
     Following the collapse of Soviet rule, Georgians embraced 
     democracy and set about building a new society dedicated to 
     human rights and the rule of law. When our democracy was 
     hijacked by corruption, the Georgian people went to the 
     streets and took it back in what is now known as the Rose 
     Revolution. Today, individual freedoms are guaranteed, 
     religious and ethnic groups celebrated, and we are working 
     out at the peace table differences that once threatened our 
     territorial integrity. I am proud to say that democracy is 
     alive and well in Georgia, but our work is far from finished.
       It is up to those who are free to join the fight of the 
     oppressed. I know that the winds of freedom that have blown 
     across Georgia, touched off an Orange Revolution in Ukraine, 
     spawned a Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan, and shook the 
     cedars of Lebanon will someday soon reach Burma. To the 
     millions of Burmese who are imprisoned with Aung San Suu Kyi 
     in their own country, I say this: Doi Yea (Our Cause)! 
     Because your cause is our cause. Wherever freedom-loving 
     people rise up to carry on the legacy of the Rose Revolution, 
     the spirit and support of the Georgian people stand with you.

                          ____________________