[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 8637]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 484--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE CONDEMNING 
 THE MILITARY JUNTA IN BURMA FOR ITS RECENT CAMPAIGN OF TERROR AGAINST 
ETHNIC MINORITIES AND CALLING ON THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL TO 
      ADOPT IMMEDIATELY A BINDING NON-PUNITIVE RESOLUTION ON BURMA

  Mr. McCONNELL (for himself, Mr. Brownback, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Leahy, 
Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Frist, Mr. Obama, Mr. McCain, Mr. Lieberman, and 
Mr. Reid) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and 
agreed to:

                              S. Res. 484

       Whereas the regime in Burma, the State Peace and 
     Development Council (SPDC), reportedly threatened to abolish 
     the pro-democracy National League for Democracy;
       Whereas recent reports indicate that the SPDC escalated its 
     brutal campaign against ethnic groups in November 2005;
       Whereas reports indicate that the military operation has 
     resulted in approximately 13,000 new internally displaced 
     persons in Burma;
       Whereas reports estimate that approximately 540,000 people 
     are now internally displaced within Burma, the most serious 
     internal displacement crisis in Asia;
       Whereas the Thailand Burma Border Consortium reports that 
     the military junta in Burma has destroyed, relocated, or 
     forced the abandonment of approximately 2,800 villages in 
     eastern Burma over the past 10 years;
       Whereas refugees continue to pour across Burma's borders;
       Whereas those forced to flee their homes in Burma are 
     increasingly vulnerable, and the humanitarian situation grows 
     more dire as the rainy season approaches;
       Whereas the United Nations Security Council was briefed on 
     the human rights situation in Burma for the first time ever 
     in December 2005;
       Whereas United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and 
     Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari 
     acknowledged the seriousness of the problems in Burma, and 
     the Secretary-General's office suggested the first-ever 
     course of action on Burma at the United Nations Security 
     Council at the December 2005 briefing;
       Whereas numerous efforts outside the United Nations 
     Security Council to secure reform in Burma, including 28 
     consecutive non-binding resolutions of the United Nations 
     General Assembly and United Nations Commission on Human 
     Rights, have failed to bring about change;
       Whereas there is ample precedent in the United Nations 
     Security Council for action on Burma; and
       Whereas Daw Aung San Suu Kyi remains the world's only 
     incarcerated Nobel Peace Prize recipient:
       Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate--
       (1) to condemn the military junta in Burma for its recent 
     campaign of terror against ethnic minorities; and
       (2) to call on the United States and other democracies to 
     continue to work with the Association of South East Asian 
     Nations to promote democracy, human rights and justice in 
     Burma; and
       (3) to call on the United States to lead an effort at the 
     United Nations Security Council to pass immediately a 
     binding, non-punitive resolution calling for the immediate 
     and unconditional release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all 
     other prisoners of conscience in Burma, condemning these 
     atrocities, and supporting democracy, human rights and 
     justice in Burma.

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