Burma & U.S. Congress on July 21, 1

[FreeBurma@xxxxxxx]

Subject: Burma & U.S. Congress on July 21, 1995

Attn: Burma Newsreaders
Re: Burma & U.S. Congress on July 21, 1995
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        ON THE RELEASE OF AUNG SAN SUU KYI 
		(Senate - July 20, 1995)

                               [Page: S10439]



Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, after 6 years of unjust detention by the

Burmese military, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi is free. While

this is cause for celebration and great relief from those of us who have

long called for her release, one cannot fail to stress that there is also

great outrage that she was incarcerated in the first instance. The State

Law and Order Restoration Council [SLORC], the military Junta in Burma ,

has sought to thwart democracy at every turn.



Led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy [NLD] party won

a democratic election in 1990, while she was under house arrest, yet the

SLORC has never allowed the elected leaders of Burma to take office.

Instead they have forced these leaders to flee their country to escape

arrest and death.



The United States Senate has often spoken in support of those brave Burmese

democracy leaders. We have withheld aid and weapons to the military regime,

and have provided some, albeit modest amounts, of assistance to the Burmese

refugees who have fled the ruthless SLORC. Pro-democracy demonstrators were

particularly vulnerable, yet having fled the country they found themselves

denied political asylum by Western governments. In 1989, Senator Kennedy

and I rose in support of the demonstrators and won passage of an amendment

to the Immigration Act of 1990 requiring the Secretary of State and the

Attorney General to clearly define the immigration policy of the United

States toward Burmese pro-democracy demonstrators. Congress acted again on

the Customs and Trade Act of 1990 to adopt a provision I introduced

requiring the President to impose appropriate economic sanctions on Burma .

The Bush administration utilized this provision to sanction Burmese

textiles. Unfortunately these powers have never been exercised by the

current administration.



The SLORC regime had to be denounced. The Senate continued to press for

stronger actions. On March 12, 1992, the Foreign Relations Committee

unanimously voted to adopt a report submitted by myself and Senator

McConnell detailing specific actions that should be taken before the

nomination of a United States Ambassador to Burma would be considered in

the Senate.



Last year the State Department Authorization Act for 1994-95 contained a

provision I introduced placing Burma on the list of international outlaw

states such as Libya, North Korea, and Iraq, an indication that the United

States Congress considers the SLORC regime to be one of the very worst in

the world. The Senate also unanimously adopted S. 234 on July 15, 1994,

calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and for increased international

pressure on the SLORC to achieve the transfer of power to the winners of

the 1990 democratic election.



Thankfully, Aung San Suu Kyi has now been released. But the struggle in

Burma is not over. The SLORC continues to wage war against its own people.

Illegal heroin continues to be produced with their complicity. And the

SLORC continues to thwart the transfer to democracy in Burma . The New York

Times concludes appropriately:



The end of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi's detention must be followed by other steps

toward democracy before Myanmar is deemed eligible for loans from

multilateral institutions or closer ties with the United States. It is too

soon to welcome Yangon back into the democratic community.



We in the Senate must rededicate ourselves to the strong support of those

in Burma working to overcome this tyranny. I congratulate Aung San Suu Kyi

on her extraordinary bravery and determination, and celebrate with her

family the news of her release.



I ask that the July 13, 1995, editorial be printed in the Record.

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The editorial follows:



The New York Times, July 13, 1995



New Hope for Burmese Democracy



The release of the political prisoner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon,

formerly Rangoon, is good news. Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel

Peace Prize in 1991, had been under house arrest for nearly six years. The

next test for the regime, which changed the name of the country from Burma

to Myanmar, will be to follow Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi's freedom with a return

to some form of political pluralism and with other improvements in human

rights.



Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won elections under

her leadership in 1990. The military refused to recognize the results,

imprisoning and intimidating many of the newly elected legislators. Burmese

expatriates say torture is still routinely used in prisons and by the

military in its repression of ethnic minorities.



Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi's release has rekindled the hopes of many Burmese for

a return to democracy. At her first public appearance, she stuck a

conciliatory note, saying she wanted to promote dialogue with the military

junta. She acted properly in cautioning against unrealistic expectations.

Nevertheless, hundreds of people have made the pilgrimage to her home in

Yangon since her release, demonstrating the deep loyalty of her followers.



But Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi is re-entering a society in which her own name

has been a forbidden word, where personal freedoms are severely restricted

and political life brutally curtailed. She refused to make any deals with

the authorities to gain her freedom, and she has made it clear that she

intends to pursue her democratic goals.



Myanmar is eager to break its isolation and join the region's economic

boom. Japan, which covets its rich natural resources, is already preparing

to warm up relations with Yangon. But Myanmar will need substantial help

from agencies like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to

join the international economy.



The end of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi's detention must be followed by other steps

toward democracy before Myanmar is deemed eligible for loans from

multilateral institutions or closer ties with the United States. It is too

soon to welcome Yangon back into the democratic community.




----------------------------------end. (fb.072195.usc)