[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 31 (Monday, August 11, 2008)]
[Pages 1108-1110]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Prior to a Lunch With Burmese Activists in Bangkok

August 7, 2008

    The President. Thank you all for joining me. I'm looking forward to 
my lunch with men and women who care deeply about the human condition in 
Burma.
    Unfortunately, my wife is not here. She's on the Thai-Burmese border 
talking about the same thing that we're going to be talking about. I 
want you to know, and want the people of your country to know, the 
American people care deeply about the people of Burma, and we dream for 
the day in which people will be free. And part of my reason for asking 
you for lunch is not only to hear your own stories--hear your stories, 
but for you to give me advice about what you think America ought to be 
doing.
    I've just been briefed on the response to the typhoon. And I'm 
pleased that our Government was so generous. And I'm pleased that a lot 
of the aid that we paid for is actually getting to the people 
themselves. One of my questions is not how much money you give, but is 
it actually making a significant difference in people's lives, and was 
told it is. I was told the stories about U.S. money going to buy seed 
and fertilizer so farmers in the delta can get their crops in the ground 
and feed their families and, hopefully, feed people in their 
communities.
    I'm always inspired by acts of courage, and I'm having lunch with 
courageous people. So, I want to thank you for coming. I have a couple 
of comments, and then we'll eat some food.
    Do you want to start, please? What's your name?

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    Lawy Aye Nang. My name is Lawy Aye Nang. I'm the Palaung ethnic. I 
also belong to the Women's League of Burma, a Burma women's organization 
comprised of 12 women's organizations based on different ethnicities of 
Burma. And we are working to empower women and to be able to participate 
in peaceful reconciliations in Burma. And also raising awareness about 
Burma, about the gross human rights violations in Burma that are 
committed by the military regime. And the international community can 
help with this work.
    And the military regime, if they are continuing to deploy their 
troops along the ethnic areas, and their soldiers continue to commit 
systematic human rights violations against the ethnic nationality, which 
includes also rapes. This has been used--long used as a weapon of war in 
Burma.
    The President. Yes.
    Lawy Aye Nang. And we advocate to get the support--with the support 
from the international community, and we are very lucky and very 
fortunate to have the United States Government to support us in 
different means and different ways. And, especially, we would like to 
give--I would like to give our gratitude to the United States for the 
new sanctions in blocking the import of Burmese jade----
    The President. Jade, right.
    Lawy Aye Nang. ----to the United States.
    The President. Right.
    Lawy Aye Nang. And this is really hitting the regime and--the regime 
and their associates who have been destroying the country's natural 
resources for their own benefit and leaving ordinary citizens in 
extremely poverty.
    And secondly, we are also very glad--grateful to have the--our 
American friends and helping the Cyclone Nargis survivors----
    The President. Yes, yes.
    Lawy Aye Nang. ----the victims. And we also would like to inform the 
United States Government here. And there is still restrictions of aid to 
the Cyclone Nargis victims by the military regime. And we'd like to also 
request that the United States Government to put pressure--to continue 
to pressure on the regime to hinder the--to give the access by the 
locals and international community to the victims of the Nargis Cyclone 
survivors.
    The President. Thank you.
    Lawy Aye Nang. And because we are really concerned at the women's 
organization here, our women and children who are in the Cyclone Nargis 
affected area are----
    The President. Yes.
    Lawy Aye Nang. ----vulnerable to the sexual exploitations.
    And thank you, so much.
    The President. Good job.
    Yes, sir.
    Aung Zaw. My name is Aung Zaw. I was a student activist in 1988, and 
I was briefly detained. I spent a week in a notorious [inaudible] 
prison. I was tortured there; then after that, I left Burma. I started 
the Irrawaddy Magazine, which I started documenting human rights 
violations and I started collecting information from Burma. So, we have 
a stringer who works inside the country send us information to us. And 
from here--that we release the information from here. We use information 
from him. We also promote an independent person's participation on--
[inaudible].
    And I think we are very pleased that we have this lunch meeting. And 
this was a very, I think, not only a symbolic meeting, but also send a 
strong signal to some ASEAN nations, and also to China, in particular, 
who continue to defend and protect the Burmese military Government.
    Thank you, Mr. President.
    The President. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 12:06 p.m. at the U.S. Ambassador to 
Burma's residence. Participating in the lunch were Lawy Aye Nang, joint 
general secretary, Women's League of Burma; Aung Zaw, editor, Irrawaddy 
Magazine; Aung Naing Oo, senior associate, Vahu Development Institute, 
Chiang Mai University; Lian Sakhong, general secretary, Ethnic 
Nationalities Council; Win Min, lecturer, Chiang Mai and Payap 
Universities; political analyst Bo Kyaw Nyein; Bo Kyi, head, Assistance 
Association for Political Prisoners; Naing Aung, general secretary, 
Forum for Democracy; and Kayw Kyaw, director, Political Defiance 
Committee of the National Council of the Union of Burma.

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