Hearing of The Senate Foreign Relations Committee On Burma

Hearing of The Senate Foreign Relations Committee On Burma

Testimony Of Senator Mitch McConnell Before The Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing On Burma

U.S. Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell testified today before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on U.S. - Burma relations. His remarks follow:

"It is only appropriate that I begin my remarks with a word of thanks to Senators Murkowski and Kerry for holding this hearing on Burma. Your interest and support for the struggle for freedom in that country has ensured that no one forgets the litany of abuses committed by the repressive and illegitimate State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) against the people of Burma.

"I will not recount today the horrors of Burmese General Than Shwe's misrule as they are well-documented by the State Department, the United Nations and other organizations. However, I do want to highlight the tragic fact that Burmese democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and over 1,000 other prisoners of conscience remain imprisoned in Burma. Suu Kyi and her compatriots should be immediately and unconditionally released, and SPDC arrest, torture, harassment and intimidation of National League for Democracy activists and ethnic minorities should cease. Only then can a meaningful process of national reconciliation move forward. Together we must seek permanent irreversible steps to freedom.

"While the situation inside Burma remains both dire and opaque - analysts continue to ponder the SPDC's bizarre relocation of the capital to the jungle site of Pyinmana - the march for freedom in Burma progresses. Under President Bush's leadership, the State Department has imposed a full court press in foreign capitals across the globe seeking dialogue and action on Burma. It is no understatement that Burma remains a priority talking point on the President's agenda, whether he is in Tokyo, New Delhi or Washington, D.C.

"Secretary of State Rice has equally championed this cause. She, along with Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill and Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Barry Lowenkron, have aggressively lobbied the Philippines, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia to play a more constructive role in support of democracy and justice in Burma.

"In addition to diplomacy, Secretary Rice and her team are keenly attuned to the humanitarian needs of the Burmese people. I commend the State Department's rapid response to the outbreak of avian influenza inside Burma, which, until recently, represented Southeast Asia's bird flu black hole. Secretary Rice understands, as do we, that the root causes of Burma's myriad health, economic and social problems are political in nature. The SPDC has done little to invest in its own health infrastructure or to combat deadly diseases, including HIV/AIDS, and recently issued draconian guidelines that restrict the ability of international NGOs to conduct programs inside Burma. While we may all want to do more to help the people of Burma, our efforts are stymied by the junta.

"Governments in the region are tiring of the Burma problem. Last year, Burma sidestepped its chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in large part because of the loss of prestige that grouping would have endured with the SPDC at its head. Frustration with the junta is palpable in some capitals, whether due to disbelief with the wholesale move of the capital to the jungle, or because of last year's sacking and sentencing of Than Shwe rival General Khin Nyunt. It is becoming clear to many in Southeast Asia that Burma's problems are the region's problems - whether illicit drug manufacturing and trafficking, diseases such as HIV/AIDS, refugees, sexual violence against women, internally displaced peoples, or even avian influenza.

"Let me briefly outline three necessary steps to sustain support for the struggle for freedom in Burma over the next year.

"First, Congress must renew existing import sanctions against the SPDC. I appreciate the State Department's strong support for renewing sanctions, and I hope I can count on my colleagues' support when Senator Feinstein and I offer legislation in the weeks ahead to do so. I want to be as clear today as I have been in the past: sanctions must remain in place until Suu Kyi and other Burmese champions of freedom call for them to be lifted. We must take our cues from those who suffer for justice. Former political prisoner Min Ko Naing, who served 16 years in Burma's notorious prisons, recently said: "We categorically state today that we will never bow to injustice."

"Second, the President and the Administration must continue to aggressively engage foreign governments on supporting democracy in Burma. I suspect Secretary Rice will be as aggressive as she has been in the past, and I encourage all our officials - from National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley to our Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton - to keep pace with the Secretary and the President on this issue.

"Finally, the United States must continue to push the United Nations Security Council to again discuss and debate the myriad security threats Burma poses to the region. While last year's unprecedented briefing is a good first step, a better second step includes formal discussion, debate and passage of a Burma resolution. Last year, former Czech President Vaclav Havel and South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu commissioned a report entitled "Threat to Peace: A Call for the U.N. Security Council to Act in Burma" that serves as ample justification for Security Council action. I ask that the Executive Summary of that report appear in the record following my remarks.

"Let me close on a somber note. The murder of former political prisoner Thet Naing Oo by Burmese police and fire officials earlier this month is despicable. In many respects, this murder demonstrates the SPDC's total disregard for the human rights and dignity of the people of the Burma. If it can happen to Thet Naing Oo, it can happen to anybody. The United States and all the world's democracies must make clear to General Than Shwe that he is responsible for the security and welfare of all Burmese prisoners of conscience, particularly Suu Kyi."

http://mcconnell.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=253265&start=1