Statement on Burma

STATEMENT ON BURMA

Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, many of us who closely follow the struggle for freedom in Burma have, over the years, repeatedly called upon the U.N. Security Council to discuss and debate the dire situation in that country that poses an immediate danger to the Burmese people and the entire region.

Our collective efforts may finally be gaining steam thanks to a report commissioned by former Czech President Vaclav Havel and retired South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu that in painstaking detail makes the case that the situation in Burma has the same factors that triggered Security Council consideration of tragedies in Rwanda, Haiti, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Liberia, and Yemen.

I encourge my colleagues to read last Friday's Washington Post editorial entitled ``A Plan to Free Burma,'' which highlights the Havel-Tutu report and the need for U.N. action on Burma. While I agree that the administration can and should do more to support a Burma initiative at the United Nations, I am confident that as a stalwart friend of freedom, Ambassador Bolton will make this a priority for himself and his staff. I encourage Secretary Rice to continue to make this effort a priority, as well.

Let me close with a brief word urging the United Kingdom to find its voice on Burma at the United Nations. Given Britain's history with that Southeast Asian country, Prime Minister Blair and senior officials at the Foreign Office should keep in mind that Burma's myriad problems--including humanitarian crises--are political in nature and require a political solution that involves the active participation of the National League for Democracy and ethnic minorities. Let us not forget that this is a country where the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria had to terminate its grants because of the obstructionist policies of the SDPC.

I am reminded that this year marks the 60th anniversary of the Burma Campaign of World War II, the longest British battle of that war. I hope our allies across the Atlantic will continue to show the same grit and determination in supporting freedom in Burma today as they did last century.

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