Washington
24 July 2008
U.S. lawmakers have been commenting on the situation in Burma as theU.S. Congress advanced legislation to strengthen and renew unilateralU.S. economic sanctions against the Burmese military government. Morefrom VOA's Dan Robinson on Capitol Hill.
The House ofRepresentatives voted to extend U.S. trade sanctions against Burma'smilitary government for one year, as companion legislation moved aheadin a Senate committee.
Sanctions prohibiting U.S. imports fromBurma were first put into place in 2003, as a U.S. response to therefusal of Burma's military go restore democracy and improve humanrights conditions.
In Wednesday's floor debate, Democrats andRepublicans rose to support the extension, citing the Burmesemilitary's use of force against democracy demonstrators last year, andits initial blocking of international relief aid for cyclone victims.
"Whilethere can be concerns about the universal effectiveness of unilateralsanctions, Burma clearly presents a unique situation. There isoverwhelming evidence that Burma continues to blatantly disregard HR(human rights) and suppress democracy and it is therefore important tocontinue the important ban for another yearm" said Sander Levin, aMichigan Democrat.
Republican Wally Herger describes himself asa skeptic where sanctions are concerned, suggesting that the U.S.import ban does not appear to have pushed Burma's military towarddemocracy and greater respect for human rights.
Despite this, hesays U.S. sanctions must continue because the situation has beengetting worse rather than better. "That said, in light of the events ofthe past year I believe we have no choice but to continue thesesanctions, not only to remind Burma's leaders that their actions areinexcusable but also to communicate to the impoverished Burmese peoplethat we have not abandoned their cause," he said.
In additionto moving toward renewal of the U.S. import ban, Congress has acted onthe Burmese JADE Act, which closes a gap relating to gem stonesreaching the U.S from Burma through third countries.
Approved bythe Senate Tuesday after earlier House passage, that measure also makesmembers of Burma's ruling military government along with other militaryofficials and family members ineligible for U.S. visas.
At thesame time, lawmakers stopped short of including a stronger provisionthat would have required the U.S. Chevron company to give up its shareof the Yadana natural gas project in Burmese waters.
Instead,the JADE Act contains only non-binding language urging Chevron toconsider divestment from the project if the military government doesnot move toward democratic and other reforms.
Burma also came up in a separate House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing focusing on China and the 2008 Olympics.
There,Republican Dana Rohrabacher criticized Beijing for its support ofBurma's military and its involvement in such places as Sudan. "Let'snote, why is the dictatorship in Burma in place? Because of thedictatorship in Beijing. Burma is a vassal state of the ChineseCommunist party," he said.
The primary House sponsor of U.S.import ban legislation, Democrat Joseph Crowley, called Wednesday forthe Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) and the EuropeanUnion to do more to step up financial and other pressure on Burma'smilitary.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice told ASEANleaders meeting in Singapore that it is in the organization's interestto press Burmese military rulers to begin a dialogue with democracyleaders.