[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 17017]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE

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NOTIFICATION OF THE PRESIDENT'S INTENT TO TERMINATE THE DESIGNATION OF 
 THE REPUBLIC OF BURUNDI AS A BENEFICIARY SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN COUNTRY 
 UNDER THE AFRICAN GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITY ACT (AGOA), RECEIVED DURING 
          ADJOURNMENT OF THE SENATE ON OCTOBER 30, 2015--PM 31

  The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message 
from the President of the United States which was referred to the 
Committee on Finance:

To the Congress of the United States:
  In accordance with section 506A(a)(3)(B) of the African Growth and 
Opportunity Act, as amended (AGOA) (19 U.S.C. 2466a(a)(3)(B)), I am 
providing notification of my intent to terminate the designation of the 
Republic of Burundi (Burundi) as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African 
country under AGOA.
  I am taking this step because I have determined that the Government 
of Burundi has not established or is not making continual progress 
toward establishing the rule of law and political pluralism, as 
required by the AGOA eligibility requirements outlined in section 104 
of the AGOA (19 U.S.C. 3703). In particular, the continuing crackdown 
on opposition members, which has included assassinations, extra-
judicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and torture, have worsened 
significantly during the election campaign that returned President 
Nkurunziza to power earlier this year. In addition, the Government of 
Burundi has blocked opposing parties from holding organizational 
meetings and campaigning throughout the electoral process. Police and 
armed youth militias with links to the ruling party have intimidated 
the opposition, contributing to nearly 200,000 refugees fleeing the 
country since April 2015. Accordingly, I intend to terminate the 
designation of Burundi as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country 
under AGOA as of January 1, 2016.
                                                        Barack Obama.  
The White House, October 30, 2015.

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