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CAMBRIDGE PASSES BURMA SELECTIVE PU



CAMBRIDGE (MA) PASSES BURMA SELECTIVE PURCHASING

June 8, 1998:  The Cambridge City Council passed a Burma selective
purchasing resolution tonight in a unanimous vote of all nine council
members.  Congratulations to all who helped out with this campaign; it was
very satisfying to see the Council pass the resolution.  A number of
individuals spoke in favor of the resolution in the public comment period.

The resolution as passed is a pretty strong one, although as a resolution
it is city policy rather than law.  The text is printed below.

The most important step now is to keep defending the Massachusetts Burma
Law; the Cambridge resolution includes a clause supporting that law.  The
lawsuit against the Massachusetts law may ultimately decide whether any
local selective purchasing laws are allowable.

Massachusetts is still trailing California, however, at six selective
purchasing laws to eight.  But we're catching up.

--Marco Simons

[Editorial note: If you are interested in starting a campaign to enact a
Burma selective purchasing law in your home town or state, contact Simon
Billenness <sbillenness@xxxxxxxx> and Dan Orzech <orzech@xxxxxxxx>]
-----------------

The current list of 22 cities, counties and states with Burma selective
purchasing:

Berkeley, CA 
Madison, WI 
Santa Monica, CA 
Ann Arbor, MI 
San Francisco, CA 
Oakland, CA 
The State of Massachusetts 
Takoma Park, MD 
Carrboro, NC 
Alameda County, CA 
Boulder, CO 
Chapel Hill, NC 
New York, NY 
Santa Cruz, CA 
Quincy, MA 
Palo Alto, CA 
Newton, MA 
West Hollywood, CA 
Brookline, MA 
Somerville, MA 
Marrickville, NSW, Australia
Cambridge, MA

---------------------

Text of the resolution:

WHEREAS:
The nation of Burma (also known as Myanmar) has institutionalized torture
and rape as political instruments, has embarked upon campaigns of forcible
relocation, forced labor and slavery, the persecution of ethnic minorities
and other human rights violations, all designed to deny the majority of the
population the right to life, liberty and equality, and has denied to the
people of Burma the right to participate in the political process, the
right to benefit from a fair and equitable system of justice and the right
to exercise fairly their economic rights; and

WHEREAS:
The military regime that controls Burma is attempting to enhance its
standing in the international community and to increase the flow of foreign
money and investment in Burma through the use of economic incentives that
are based, in part, upon the forcible relocation, forced labor and slavery
of its people; and

WHEREAS:
The City of Cambridge declares the right to measure the moral character of
its business partners in determining with whom it seeks to have business
relationships; now therefore be it

RESOLVED:
That as a matter of public policy the City of Cambridge declares that it
will not purchase goods, services or commodities from any company or
corporation that does business in the nation of Burma; and be it further

RESOLVED:
That "Doing business with Burma (Myanmar)" is defined as:

Having a principal place of business, place of incorporation or its
corporate headquarters in Burma (Myanmar) or having any operations, leases,
franchises, majority-owned subsidiaries, distribution agreements or any
other similar agreements in Burma (Myanmar), or being the majority-owned
subsidiary, licensee or franchise of such a person;

Providing financial services to the government of Burma (Myanmar),
including providing direct loans, underwriting government securities,
providing any consulting advice or assistance, providing brokerage
services, acting as a trustee or escrow agent, or otherwise acting as an
agent pursuant to a contractual agreement;

Promoting the importation or sale of gems, timber, oil, gas or other
related products, commerce in which is largely controlled by the government
of Burma (Myanmar), from Burma (Myanmar);

Providing any goods or services to the government of Burma (Myanmar), or a
person with operations in Burma (Myanmar) for the sole purpose of reporting
the news or solely for the purpose of providing goods or services for the
provision of international telecommunications shall not be subject to the
provisions of this resolution; and be it further

RESOLVED:
That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to confer with the Chief
Procurement Officer for the City of Cambridge to inform all potential
bidders with the City of this policy and resolution and is requested to
enforce the policy stated herein with respect to the purchase of all goods,
services, commodities and construction contracts by the City of Cambridge;
and be it further

RESOLVED:
That this resolution shall not apply if the Chief Procurement Officer makes
a finding that:

The particular goods or services to be provided are necessary to protect or
preserve the health, safety or welfare of the public; and

No comparable product is available from another source without incurring
substantial additional costs or suffering substantial decrease in quality;

That implementation of this policy would be inconsistent with the laws of
the Commonwealth, including the competitive bidding statutes; or

That the implementation of this policy would be inconsistent with
established guidelines for a particular product or class of products; and
be it further

RESOLVED:
That the City Council go on record as continuing its support of the
Massachusetts Burma Law and urge vigorous defense of this law by the
Attorney General's Office, and be it further

RESOLVED:
That the City Clerk be and hereby is requested to forward a copy of this
resolution to the Massachusetts Attorney General.