*EPF503 09/05/2003
Texts: U.S. Lawmakers Urge International Action to Free Aung San Suu Kyi
(Representative Pitts, Senator Feingold September 4 remarks) (760)

Two U.S. lawmakers September 4 urged international action to secure the immediate release of Burmese democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained by the ruling military junta since May 30.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and the U.N. Security Council "should immediately act to secure the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, help alleviate the suffering of the people and address the terrible state of affairs in Burma," said Representative Joseph Pitts (Republican of Pennsylvania), a member of the House International Relations Committee.

Senator Russell Feingold (Democrat of Wisconsin), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs, cited a State Department report that Aung San Suu Kyi has begun a hunger strike to protest her detention.

"Aung San Suu Kyi's hunger strike adds urgency to the dire predicament of the Burmese people. The Burmese military junta must realize that their egregious offences against their own population can no longer stand," he said.

Following are the texts of Pitts' and Feingold's remarks from the Congressional Record:

(begin text of Pitts' remarks)

ADDRESSING THE TERRIBLE STATE OF AFFAIRS IN BURMA

House of Representatives

September 04, 2003

Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today out of concern over the continued imprisonment and disappearance of Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of the National League of Democracy in Burma.

The cruel SPDC military dictatorship ruling Burma today imprisoned her in May of this year after their own government thugs attacked her and her supporters. Ms. Suu Kyi is now on a hunger strike in protest.

Mr. Speaker, no country should be defending this savage dictatorship that has no qualms about engaging in slave labor, systematic rape, destruction of villages and the murder of many innocent civilians.

What more will it take to get the international community to take deliberative, decisive action? Secretary General Kofi Annan and the U.N. Security Council should immediately act to secure the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, help alleviate the suffering of the people and address the terrible state of affairs in Burma.

(end text of Pitts' remarks)

(begin text of Feingold's remarks)

AUNG SAN SUU KYI'S HUNGER STRIKE

Senate

September 04, 2003

Mr. FEINGOLD. Madam President, this weekend we heard extremely troubling news from the State Department. Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the democratically elected National League for Democracy and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is on a hunger strike to protest her detention by the military government in Burma.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been held in an unknown location without the ability to communicate with the outside world since May 30, 2003. Many of us in Congress have demanded her release. Sadly, her detention is simply the latest installment in the country's 40-year history of suffering and oppression. I have consistently criticized the government for its political repression and human rights violations. Reports of rape, forced labor, human trafficking, suppression of civil liberties, and torture of political dissidents have caused me and my constituents great concern. I supported the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003, which imposes sanctions on the Burmese military junta, strengthens Burma's democratic forces and supports and recognizes the National League for Democracy as the legitimate representative of the Burmese people. I encourage other countries to join the United States in adopting similar measures toward Burma.

The Burmese Government must release Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners from detention. I also urge our administration, the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, and the international community to continue to exert pressure on the Burmese junta to respect human rights and political freedoms. I ask President Bush to make Burma a high priority as he travels to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Bangkok in early October. As recommended by the Council on Foreign Relations, we should press for a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Aung San Suu Kyi's detention, the junta's human rights violations and their refusal to engage in dialogue with the democratic opposition. We should also encourage the Security Council to hold an emergency session on Burma to discuss implementing targeted sanctions on the regime.

Aung San Suu Kyi's hunger strike adds urgency to the dire predicament of the Burmese people. The Burmese military junta must realize that their egregious offences against their own population can no longer stand.

(end text of Feingold's remarks)

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

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