Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), a Member of the House Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, joined local government officials, members of the non-governmental community, and experts on Burma today at a press conference in San Francisco to call for action in support of the pro-democratic movement in Burma.
The text of Rep. Pelosi's statement follows:
I am pleased to join representatives of the Burma Project USA, Free Burma, the academic and NGO community, and San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano, in calling for action to help those fighting for freedom in Burma. We are honored to have with us Dr. Thaung Htun, the UN representative of the democratic Burmese government in exile.
The most effective action the United States can take, right now, is to impose sanctions and prohibit new investments in Burma. I am pleased to be a cosponsor of H.R. 2892, introduced in the House of Representatives, which would implement these necessary steps. This legislation sends a message to the tyrants of SLORC that their actions are not acceptable to the world community.
No-one can speak more eloquently or with more authority on how we can help Burma than the brave people struggling for democracy and basic human rights there. I call to your attention the words of Aung San Suu Kyi, who in a BBC interview in May, 1996, said, "Our policy is that any investment made now is not going to bring any long-term profits for those who are investing, and certainly it is very much against the interests of the people of Burma because most of the investments coming in are coming in through the same privileged group which is getting richer and richer, and more and more intent upon...clinging to power."
Our fight to support the democratic reformers in Burma is not an easy one and our foes are powerful. Just two weeks ago, when the United States Senate considered the Foreign Operations appropriations bill for fiscal year 1997, the issue of U.S. policy toward Burma was debated. While a public airing of the issues can only be seen as progress, the Senate action itself left much to be desired. I am disappointed to report that once again the narrow interests of corporate America, in this case UNOCAL, won out over the broader interests of democratic reform and basic human rights.
Instead of supporting language which would have imposed sanctions on Burma and prohibited new U.S. investment there, the Senate passed language which, in essence, says that sanctions will not be imposed unless things in Burma get worse. The Senate language does not promote democracy, it freezes the status quo. As a Member of the House Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, I will work during the House-Senate conference for the strongest possible language.
How much worse will conditions have to get in Burma before the United States acts? How much worse can they get?
How can we continue to ignore SLORC's stranglehold on the people of Burma? How can we have business as usual with an illegitimate government that overthrew an election which gave its country's democrats 60% of the votes and 82% of the seats? How can we turn a blind eye to the 2 million Burmese people who have been forced into slave labor by the Burmese regime?
In May, at a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee, George Soros, a worldwide leader in the fight for human rights and democratic reform, said "Burma is a case where desperate measures are needed because the situation is so desperate."
We must act.