06 June 2003
U.S. Lawmakers Urge Pressure on Burmese Junta to Respect Rights
(Rep. Sherrod Brown also criticizes State Department bureau) (690)
By Stephen La Rocque
Washington File Staff Writer
Several U.S. lawmakers condemned the May 30 attack on Nobel Peace
Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi and other Burmese democracy activists
and called for international pressure on the military regime in Burma
to improve their human rights record.
In remarks to the Senate June 5, Senator Ted Kennedy (Democrat of
Massachusetts), the second ranking minority member of the Senate
Judiciary Committee and one of the leaders of the Democratic Party,
called the attack on the Nobel Peace Prize recipient one more example
of "a corrupt government that continues to commit flagrant human
rights violations against its citizens."
The attack on the democracy activists was "another sad and infuriating
example of the continuing efforts" by the military junta to derail
genuine political reform in that country, he said.
Kennedy is a co-sponsor of S 1182, the Burmese Freedom and Democracy
Act of 2003, a bill that would sanction the Rangoon regime.
"Our legislation will impose a total ban on import from Burma," he
said. "It will freeze the Burmese government's assets in the United
States."
According to Kennedy, the proposed legislation would also tighten the
visa ban on Burmese government officials and oppose any new
international loans to the Rangoon regime.
"Congress must do all it can to support the courageous struggle for
democracy led by the heroic Aung San Suu Kyi," he said.
The Massachusetts Democrat said he was "very encouraged" by the
decision of President Bush and Secretary of State Powell to quickly
express their outrage and concern about the attack.
Kennedy said that the attack on Aung San Suu Kyi "has outraged the
world, and many governments have denounced it," but added that
stronger action by the international community is "long overdue."
Representative Sherrod Brown (Democrat of Ohio), the second ranking
minority member on the House International Relations Subcommittee on
Asia and the Pacific, also condemned the attack on Aung San Suu Kyi
and her supporters and called for increased international pressure on
the Burmese junta.
In remarks to the House of Representatives June 5, Brown said he was
disappointed in "the silence" over the past month of the State
Department's Bureau of Asia and Pacific Affairs.
"While human rights groups have sought to bring to their attention the
need to increase pressure on this regime, the Bureau has done
nothing," Brown charged.
Brown called the National League for Democracy and its members "the
rightfully elected leaders of Burma" and said that for 13 years the
military rulers of Burma have suppressed the Burmese people and
ignored the results of the 1990 elections.
"Now is the time for the United States to increase pressure against
this regime," Brown said. "Now is the time for Congress and the
administration to ban imports from Burma and freeze their assets."
Brown is one of the sponsors of H.R. 2330, a bill similar to S 1182,
which would impose sanctions on the Rangoon regime. According to his
official web site, Brown was also one of the leaders in the fight to
deny China permanent normal trade relations status until Beijing
adhered to "internationally accepted human rights practices."
Representative Curt Weldon (Republican of Pennsylvania), a senior
member of the House Armed Services Committee who has just returned
from leading a congressional delegation to North Korea, also condemned
the crackdown on Aung San Suu Kyi and her political party, the
National League for Democracy.
"I'm outraged to learn that Ms. Suu Kyi may have been seriously
injured and many of her supporters killed," Weldon said.
"I want to express my solidarity with the peoples of Burma and their
struggle for democracy," he continued. "As Ronald Reagan once said,
'Regimes planted by bayonets do not take root'."
Weldon, a member of the Republican Policy Committee in the House of
Representatives, said now was the time for the United States to
express support for freedom in Burma.
"We should immediately move to increase pressure against this
despicable regime," he said.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
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