Burma

Floor Speech

BURMA -- (Senate - May 08, 2008)

Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, in these last days our sympathies have been stirred by the shocking images of suffering and loss that have come from Burma. Last week's cyclone was one of the most devastating in memory. The damage to Burma's infrastructure, to its cities and towns and villages, is staggering.

The human toll won't be known for weeks. As many as 100,000 are thought to be dead. Thousands more are unaccounted for and injured. And those who survived face grave challenges. By all accounts, potable water and food are scarce, increasing the threat of disease. And shelter is hard to find.

This kind of suffering tests our powers of comprehension. But the extent of the damage, combined with the already primitive economic conditions imposed by the Burmese regime and the regime's sluggish response to the storm, means this suffering will be far greater than it otherwise might have been and will last far longer than it otherwise would.

We have heard reports that little or no notice was given to the people about the severity of the storm. And while the U.S. and other donors have expressed a clear willingness to assist, the Burmese regime has continued to resist allowing outside donors, such as the U.S., in.

The U.S. has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to help the victims of natural disasters. Our generous response to the 2004; tsunami is a tribute to generosity and compassion of Americans, as was our response to the flooding of Bangladesh in the early 1990s. We responded generously to the 1990 earthquake in the Philippines, an act of kindness that was met with deep gratitude. The U.S. has helped this region of the world again and again, and now we stand willing to help the people of Burma.

Precious time has been, and continues to be, wasted. Why? Because rather than focusing on preparations for the storm, the political leaders in Burma were focused on a sham constitutional referendum scheduled for this Saturday. While all of the energies of government were needed to prepare for relief efforts, the regime was thinking of solidifying its control over the country. Its only concession to the critics--as the extent of the dead, the missing, and the injured became known--was an agreement to postpone the referendum in certain parts of the country.

This is not the first time the Burmese regime has put the political risks of letting in outsiders over urgent humanitarian needs. In 2004, the same junta rejected foreign aid after the tsunami. The only difference this time is that the devastation to Burma and the Burmese people is on a much larger scale.

If Saturday's referendum were legitimate, its timing would be merely irresponsible and crass. Yet everything about this Saturday's referendum is a farce. The process leading up to it has been marked by oppressive measures that, of course, are not typically associated with free and open political debate. It's a crime, for instance, to criticize the document.

The substance of the constitution is also profoundly antidemocratic. It prohibits Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the party that won Burma's last free and democratic election, from holding high office. Former political prisoners and activists could find themselves unable to run for Parliament. And the Burmese military would control key ministries and hold a quarter of the seats in the national legislature.

This is not a constitution. This is a fig leaf to place over the junta's oppressive rule.

The people of Burma are already suffering from the tragedy of a terrible natural disaster. Now they are being forced to participate in a farce. Last week's cyclone revealed more than nature's power and life's fragility. It revealed, once again, the inhumanity of Burmese junta--not only in its disregard for the people suffering from the storm, but also in its callous insistence that, in the midst of so much suffering, a sham constitutional referendum validating its authority go forward.

This is a time of great sadness in Burma. It is also a time of renewed outrage at the oppressive regime that controls it. On occasion, the leaders of such regimes reveal their warped minds to the world. This is such a time. It's my hope the world will take notice.

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