Text: Legislation to Ban Imports From Burma Introduced in House
(Rep. Tom Lantos submits H.R. 2211 June 19)A bill introduced into the House of Representatives June 19 by Representative Tom Lantos (Democrat of California), co-chairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, seeks to ban all imports from Burma.
H.R. 2211 would ban exports from Burma until the President certifies to Congress that the Rangoon regime has met certain conditions, including the release of political prisoners; the end of child labor and forced labor; and the successful conclusion of a dialogue with democratic leadership in Burma, including Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy.
Until Burma meets these conditions, the proposed legislation stipulates, "no article that is produced, manufactured, or grown in Burma may be imported into the United States."
The bill was referred to the House International Relations Committee, where Lantos serves as the ranking minority member.
A similar bill, S. 926, was introduced into the Senate May 22. Following is the text of H.R. 2211 from the Congressional Record:
(begin text)
Burma Freedom Act
Introduced in the House
HR 2211 IH
107th CONGRESS
1st SessionH. R. 2211
To prohibit the importation of any article that is produced, manufactured, or grown in Burma.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 19, 2001
Mr. LANTOS (for himself, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. STARK, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. PITTS, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. EVANS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. FARR of California, Mr. WYNN, and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To prohibit the importation of any article that is produced, manufactured, or grown in Burma.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Burma Freedom Act'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The International Labor Organization (ILO), invoking an extraordinary constitutional procedure for the first time in its 82-year history, adopted in 2000 a resolution calling on the State Peace and Development Council to take concrete actions to end forced labor in Burma.
(2) In this resolution, the ILO recommended that governments, employers, and workers organizations take appropriate measures to ensure that their relations with the State Peace and Development Council do not abet the system of forced or compulsory labor in that country, and that other international bodies reconsider any cooperation they may be engaged in with Burma and, if appropriate, cease as soon as possible any activity that could abet the practice of forced or compulsory labor.
SEC. 3. UNITED STATES SUPPORT FOR MULTILATERAL ACTION TO END FORCED LABOR AND THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR IN BURMA.
(a) TRADE BAN-
(1) IN GENERAL- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, until such time as the President determines and certifies to Congress that Burma has met the conditions described in paragraph (2), no article that is produced, manufactured, or grown in Burma may be imported into the United States.
(2) CONDITIONS DESCRIBED- The conditions described in this paragraph are the following:
(A) The State Peace and Development Council in Burma has made measurable and substantial progress in reversing the persistent pattern of gross violations of internationally-recognized human rights and worker rights, including the elimination of forced labor and the worst forms of child labor.
(B) The State Peace and Development Council in Burma has made measurable and substantial progress toward implementing a democratic government including--
(i) releasing all political prisoners; and
(ii) deepening, accelerating, and bringing to a mutually-acceptable conclusion the dialogue between the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and democratic leadership within Burma (including Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD) and leaders of Burma's ethnic peoples).
(C) The State Peace and Development Council in Burma has made measurable and substantial progress toward full cooperation with United States counter-narcotics efforts pursuant to the terms of section 570(a)(1)(B) of Public Law 104-208, the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1997.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE- The provisions of this section shall apply to any article entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after the 15th day after the date of enactment of this Act.
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(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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