[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16956]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING AUNG SAN SUU KYI

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today with Senator McConnell 
and the cochair of the United States Senate Women's Caucus on Burma, 
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, to introduce a resolution honoring Nobel 
Peace laureate and leader of Burma's democratic opposition, Aung San 
Suu Kyi.
  We are joined in this effort by Senator Boxer, Senator McCain, 
Senator Mikulski, Senator Clinton, Senator Lincoln, Senator Murkowski, 
and Senator Dole.
  Our resolution: honors Aung San Suu Kyi for her courage and devotion 
to the people of Burma and their struggle for democracy, and; calls for 
the immediate release of Suu Kyi and other political prisoners by the 
ruling military junta, the State Peace and Development Council.
  Two days ago, we celebrated the 62nd birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi. 
Sadly, she spent the day as she has for most of the past 17 years: 
alone and under house arrest. And just last month, the State Peace and 
Development Council renewed her sentence for yet another year.
  Yet I am heartened to know that the Senate and the international 
community are coming together to ensure that the abuses and injustices 
of the military junta in Burma do not go unnoticed.
  Earlier this year, 45 United States Senators signed a letter to 
United Nations Secretary General Ban ki-Moon urging him to get 
personally involved in pressing for Suu Kyi's release.
  In a recent letter addressed to the State Peace and Development 
Council, a distinguished group of 59 former heads of state--including 
former Filipino President Corazon Aquino, former Czech President Vaclav 
Havel, former British Prime Minister John Major and former Presidents 
Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, and George H.W. Bush--called for the regime 
to release Aung San Suu Kyi.
  They correctly noted that ``Aung San Suu Kyi is not calling for 
revolution in Burma, but rather peaceful, nonviolent dialogue between 
the military, National League for Democracy, and Burma's ethnic 
groups.''
  The calls for Suu Kyi's release are also coming from Burma's 
neighbors.
  The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, now recognizes 
that Burma's actions are not an ``internal matter'' but a significant 
threat to peace and stability in the region. At a meeting of senior 
diplomats last month, ASEAN made a clear call for Aung San Suu Kyi's 
release.
  Last month, the women of the United States Senate came together to 
form the Women's Caucus on Burma to express our solidarity with Suu 
Kyi, call for her immediate release urge the United Nations to pass a 
binding resolution on Burma.
  At our inaugural event, we were pleased to be joined by First Lady 
Laura Bush, who added her own voice to those calling for peace and 
democracy in Burma.
  And last week, Senator McConnell along with 58 of our colleagues 
introduced legislation to renew the import ban on Burma for another 
year.
  Our message is clear: We will not remain silent, we will not stand 
still until Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners are released 
and democratic government is restored in Burma.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

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