*EPF505 06/13/2003
Text: McConnell Looks to New Dawn for Democracy for Burmese People
(Senate's deputy majority leader's June 12 remarks) (1150)

In remarks one day after the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003 passed the Senate in a 97-1 vote, the second most powerful Republican lawmaker in the Senate said he hoped the vote sent "the thugs" who are ruling Burma "a strong message."

Senator Mitch McConnell (Republican of Kentucky), who is also author of the bill, offered those sentiments June 12 to his colleagues.

He added that someday Rangoon's military junta "will have to honor the results of the 1990 election, won overwhelmingly by Aung San Suu Kyi and her party."

The passage of S 1215, McConnell said, was "a vote for freedom in Burma that demonstrated unequivocal support for Suu Kyi and all democrats" in the Southeast Asian nation.

"The people of Burma will count on our support in the future -- and we should not, and must not, fail them," McConnell said.

The "generals in Rangoon should take note that a provision was included in the bill that guarantees that every year Burma will come up for discussion and debate in Congress," McConnell said.

"Every single year, we will have an opportunity to take a look at the fate of freedom in that country," he continued.

McConnell, who is also the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, said he had spoken with Secretary of State Colin Powell, and the junta's leaders should expect a "strong message" from Powell at the ASEAN Regional Forum in Cambodia next week.

"Secretary Powell must work tirelessly to secure the release of Suu Kyi and all other democrats who continue to be detained" by the Rangoon regime, McConnell said.

He also suggested that a full mobilization of U.S. pressure on the junta might result in America being able "to celebrate a new dawn for democracy for the people of Burma."

Following is the text of the June 12 remarks of Senator Mitch McConnell from the Congressional Record:

(begin text)

BURMA

Senate

June 12, 2003

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, last night at about this time we passed a Burma sanctions bill 97 to 1, which I hope sent a strong message to the thugs who are running the country at the moment that someday--and hopefully someday soon--they will have to honor the results of the 1990 election, won overwhelmingly by Aung San Suu Kyi and her party.

As I suspect the military junta may be trying to decipher what took place in Washington yesterday, I thought I would take a moment or two to help them out.

The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly condemned and sanctioned the State Peace and Development Council, SPDC, for its May 30 attack against Suu Kyi and her supporters and for its continued repressive actions that violate the human rights and dignity of the people of Burma.

I also had an opportunity to talk today to Secretary Colin Powell, who is going out to Phnom Penh to the ASEAN Regional Forum next week, and I think they can anticipate a strong message from him when he is out in the region at that time.

Fifty-seven Senators cosponsored the legislation that passed last night to impose an import ban, expand visa restrictions, and freeze SPDC assets in the United States. Ninety-seven Senators voted to repudiate the actions of the Burmese junta.

This was a vote for freedom in Burma that demonstrated unequivocal support for Suu Kyi and all democrats in that country.

The generals in Rangoon should take note that a provision was included in the bill that guarantees that every year Burma will come up for discussion and debate in Congress. Every single year, we will have an opportunity to take a look at the fate of freedom in that country.

It is my hope we will not need that opportunity. It is my hope that Suu Kyi and other democrats will be governing Burma and that the only debate on the floor will be about the level of foreign assistance America should provide to a newly free Burma.

If this hope is not realized, within a year we will again discuss the persistent rapes of minority girls and women, the use of child and forced labor, and the manufacturing and trafficking of narcotics.

If the junta continues its repressive rule, we will again examine the number of political prisoners languishing in Burmese jails, efforts taken to counter an exploding HIV/AIDS infection rate, and opportunities to further democracy and the rule of law throughout the country.

If, however, American leadership translates into a full court press on (the) junta, we might be able to celebrate a new dawn for democracy for the people of Burma.

The comments of Secretary of State Colin Powell in the Wall Street Journal today are both welcomed and promising.

As I indicated earlier, he is going to the ASEAN regional meeting next week, and I think the regime in Burma is going to hear a good deal more about the U.S. position on their behavior and activities.

He said this:

By attacking Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters, the Burmese junta has finally and definitively rejected the efforts of the outside world to bring Burma back into the international community. Indeed, their refusal of the work of Ambassador Razali and of the rights of Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters could not be clearer. Our response must be equally clear if the thugs who now rule Burma are to understand that their failure to restore democracy will only bring more and more pressure against them and their supporters.

Secretary Powell must work tirelessly to secure the release of Suu Kyi and all other democrats who continue to be detained by the SPDC. U.N. Special Envoy Razali's brief meeting with her does not assuage my fears that she is under intense pressure or that her supporters continue to be tortured or killed. She and her supporters should be released immediately and unconditionally.

In the future, it might behoove Razali to temper his enthusiastic comments to more accurately reflect the climate of fear in Burma. He failed to secure Suu Kyi's release, and I am surprised that he did not say more to condemn the outrageous actions of the thugs in Rangoon.

Let me close by thanking my colleagues--and their staffs--for their support of this legislation. I could ask for no better allies than Senators FEINSTEIN and MCCAIN on this issue, and I look forward to continue to work with them to free Suu Kyi and bring democracy to Burma. Senators FRIST, LUGAR, BIDEN, BAUCUS, GRASSLEY, HAGEL, and BROWNBACK also deserve recognition for their support of freedom in Burma. The people of Burma will count on our support in the future--and we should not, and must not, fail them.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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