[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 7905]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                VISIT OF PRESIDENT OF BURMA TO THE U.S.

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, the visit a couple of weeks ago of Burma's 
President, with the surrounding high-level honors, was a little 
disturbing. This leader's regime has engaged in well-documented 
horrific attacks against the various ethnic minority groups in his 
country--ethnic cleansing of minority groups.
  When looking to the future of the country, President Thein Sein said 
last year that the ethnic youth should ``hold laptops'' and ``try to 
live a good life.'' Laptop computers are going to suddenly erase the 
effects of years of violence, racism, rape, and decimation by the 
ruthless military? I don't think so.
  We must stand firmly with the minority ethnic groups in protecting 
their rights and ensuring justice is done for all the violence 
perpetrated by the Burmese military before we rush in to extracting 
resources and applauding democracy gains with no record of results.
  And to the minority ethnic groups of Burma, many of us still stand 
with you.

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