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89–739PDF 2014

BURMA HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY ACT

OF 2014

MARKUP

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

ON

H.R. 4377

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

Serial No. 113–221

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/

(II)

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas 

TED POE, Texas 

MATT SALMON, Arizona 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina 

ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois 

MO BROOKS, Alabama 

TOM COTTON, Arkansas 

PAUL COOK, California 

GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina 

RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas 

SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania 

STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas 

RON DESANTIS, Florida 

DOUG COLLINS, Georgia 

MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina 

TED S. YOHO, Florida 

SEAN DUFFY, Wisconsin 

CURT CLAWSON, Florida 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American 

Samoa 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida 

BRIAN HIGGINS, New York 

KAREN BASS, California 

WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts 

DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

ALAN GRAYSON, Florida 

JUAN VARGAS, California 

BRADLEY S. SCHNEIDER, Illinois 

JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III, Massachusetts 

AMI BERA, California 

ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California 

GRACE MENG, New York 

LOIS FRANKEL, Florida 

TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii 

JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas

AMY PORTER, Chief of Staff THOMAS SHEEHY, Staff Director

JASON STEINBAUM, Democratic Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio, Chairman 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

MATT SALMON, Arizona 

MO BROOKS, Alabama 

GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina 

SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania 

DOUG COLLINS, Georgia 

CURT CLAWSON, Florida 

ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American 

Samoa 

AMI BERA, California 

TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

MARKUP OF 

H.R. 4377, To place conditions on assistance to the Government of Burma ...... 4

APPENDIX 

Markup notice .......................................................................................................... 18

Markup minutes ...................................................................................................... 19

Markup summary .................................................................................................... 20

The Honorable George Holding, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of North Carolina: Prepared statement .............................................................. 21

The Honorable Gerald E. Connolly, a Representative in Congress from the 

Commonwealth of Virginia: Prepared statement .............................................. 22

(1)

BURMA HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY 

ACT OF 2014

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND THE PACIFIC,

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

Washington, DC. 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 o’clock p.m., in room 

2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Steve Chabot (chairman 

of the subcommittee) presiding. 

Mr. CHABOT. The committee will come to order. Pursuant to notice, I call up H.R. 4377, Burma Human Rights and Democracy Act 

of 2014, for purposes of markup and move its recommendation to 

the full committee. Without objection, the bill is considered as read 

and open for amendment at any point. 

I now recognize myself to speak on the bill. Since 2011, we have 

witnessed U.S. policy toward Burma undergo a discernible shift. 

During this time, the subcommittee has held a number of hearings 

to examine this policy change, as well as express our concerns regarding the ongoing human rights abuses inside Burma. Last year, 

the administration decided to apply a more forward leaning engagement strategy with Burma, but did so based on unfulfilled 

promises from the Burmese Government. Most notably, this included the administration’s decision to initiate direct military engagement with the Burmese military as well as a Fiscal Year 2015 

request for international military and education training assistance. 

I think we all agree that the Burma we see today is much different than the one we knew only a few years ago. Most will argue 

that Burma’s sudden and unexpected democratic changes which 

opened its frontier to the world was indeed incredible. Nobel Peace 

Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi’s election to Parliament brought 

much hope, as did the regime’s actions to release nearly 30,000 

prisoners, 1,071 of which were political prisoners. 

However, the political and social situation in Burma has taken 

a sharp turn for the worse. And I am very troubled by its current 

trajectory. The civil unrest between the Buddhist majority and 

Muslim minority is threatening the progression of Burma’s future 

political reforms. Nearly 140,000 Rohingya have been displaced by 

violent attacks and now live in concentration camp like conditions. 

Last year, the United States Special Rapporteur called the situation ‘‘a profound crisis.’’ Since that time, the Burmese Government 

2

has taken few, if any, steps to forge a peaceful, harmonious, and 

prosperous future for the Rakhine State. 

Even the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Center for the Prevention of Genocide is now tracking Burma. With al-Qaeda’s leader 

Zawahiri’s recent call for operations to expand into Burma, we 

have to fear for the future stability of the country and its government’s unwillingness to do anything about it. The Obama administration has been very generous toward the Thein Sein government. 

The list of gestures is long and includes trade and investment negotiations to allow Burma’s military to observe the largest military 

exercise in the world, Cobra Gold. 

However, providing assistance to Burma’s military despite the 

military being a perpetrator of human rights abuses against 

Rohingya and other ethnic minorities, it’s failure to sever ties with 

North Korea, and it’s lack of commitment to reforms that will ensure civilian oversight of its armed forces. It is hasty and careless. 

The Burmese military still uses rape as a weapon of war and has 

more recently shown its refusal to allow for further democratic reforms to Burma’s Constitution. In addition, there has recently been 

a serious clamp down on press freedoms. The July sentencing of 

five journalists to 10 years in prison and hard labor for reporting 

about an alleged government chemical weapons factory is outrageous. A country that sentences its citizens to hard labor for reporting a very worrisome weapons program likely run by the military is no burgeoning democratic state. It is an authoritarian regime under the guise of reform pretenses. 

U.S. State Department officials were given no assurances that 

security assistance would ultimately help the Burmese people rather than provide legitimacy to one of the most oppressive military 

organizations in the world. They failed to provide an outline and 

strategy for how future engagement will progress and have stated 

that civil society groups support this assistance when, in fact, they 

do not. That is why I introduced H.R. 4377, the Burma Human 

Rights Act of 2014, along with my colleague, Congressman Joe 

Crowley, who is also with us here this afternoon. This legislation 

will ensure that U.S. security assistance is not provided to the Burmese military until Congress receives assurances that both the 

Burmese Government and military have taken the appropriate actions to end human rights abuses, actively supporting democratic 

reforms, appropriately addressing the resettlement in humanitarian situation of displaced persons, and are taking steps to allow 

for civilian control. 

H.R. 4377 restricts security assistance to Burma for international 

military and education training, military financing assistance, assistance to military units or personnel for demining programs, the 

sales of defense articles or defense services, extensions of credits, 

and guarantees of loans under the Arms Export Control Act, and 

any license for the export of defense articles or services to the 

armed forces, police intelligence, or other internal security forces in 

Burma. 

At the same time, H.R. 4377 notes Congress’ support of the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies training on civil military relations and human rights to Burmese authorities as well as 

the support of disaster assistance to Burma. The bill requires the 

3

Secretary of State to submit to Congress a report on the strategy 

for engagement with Burma’s military, a description of Burma’s reform efforts, an assessment of the Burmese military’s human rights 

record, steps taken by the Burmese military to implement transparency and accountability measures, and an outline of all ongoing 

activities conducted between the U.S. and the Burmese military. 

As we witness a deterioration of human rights and political stability in Burma, I believe the administration needs to reassess its 

strategy going forward. It is time to give the Burmese Government 

the opportunity to show that it is genuinely committed to reform. 

H.R. 4377 puts the necessary restrictions in place to limit the injudicious and premature decision to engage with Burma’s military. It 

is a critical piece of legislation that will help ensure reform efforts 

in Burma to continue in such a way that all the people of Burma 

are supported. By linking military engagement with continued reforms, it promotes freedom and democracy and pins responsibility 

on the Burmese military to show that it is committed to reform efforts. 

As of today, this has been severely lacking and I would urge my 

colleagues to support this legislation. I yield back the balance of my 

time. And I would recognize the acting ranking member of the committee, Ms. Gabbard for 5 minutes. 

[H.R. 4377 follows:]

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Ms. GABBARD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you also to 

Congressman Crowley for your work on this bill and support for 

human rights in Burma. Your description for why this bill is necessary and what you hope to accomplish makes a very strong case 

for how it has been supported in a bipartisan way. 

For many years, the U.S. Congress and this committee have 

stood strongly behind Burma’s democracy movement in fighting to 

bring an end to one of the world’s most brutal military regimes. 

And there can be no doubt that the Burmese military has committed some of the world’s most heinous crimes. That includes attacks on ethnic minority villages, the use of rape as a weapon of 

war, and the shooting of activists in cold blood on the streets. That 

is why Congress passed legislation authorizing tough sanctions on 

Burma and it is why we need to be concerned about Burma today. 

The fact is that many of the issues in Burma continue. There are 

many areas where expected progress has been stalled and in key 

areas, progress already accomplished is rolling back. For example, 

this government released many political prisoners who are democracy activists. But since the beginning of this year, the arrest of 

prisoners has begun again with renewed vigor. Those who were released were done so only conditionally, meaning their sentences are 

still hanging over their heads. The military continues to maintain 

its veto power over political life in Burma. Burma is operating 

under a Constitution that empowers the military over its people. In 

fact, the Congress passed a resolution strongly condemning this 

constitutional referendum when it took place. 

Now is not the time for the United States to embrace a military 

that has not shown even an interest in change. We have worked 

for the release of political prisoners and an end to attacks on ethnic 

minorities, but these things are not happening today. In fact, the 

continued partnership with North Korea goes directly against what 

is in the best interests of the United States. I support this legislation and urge its adoption. I yield back. 

Mr. CHABOT. The gentlelady yields back. Thank you very much. 

I am pleased that our colleague from New York, Mr. Crowley, a 

former member of the committee, is with us today. And without objection we will recognize him to speak next on this side. At this 

time, I will recognize Mr. Rohrabacher. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Thank you very much and I have worked for 

25 years, actually 26 years now on Burma issues and we were so 

joyous just a short time ago that it looked like we had turned the 

corner and that things would be getting better for the people of 

Burma and that a relationship with the United States would be 

beneficial to our people, but a huge benefit to the people in Burma. 

Unfortunately, that euphoria is now giving way to disappointment. 

This legislation today that we are submitting is a warning to the 

Government of Burma creating the facade of democratic reform is 

not enough. Creating the facade of democratic reform while maintaining a high level of repression, especially brutally and violently, 

committing acts of suppression against ethnic and tribal peoples 

like the Karens and the Karennis and others. This is totally unacceptable and will take us back to the bad old days when Burma 

was the pariah of the world. 

14

We are aware of the continuous and the continuing murders and 

attacks on these ethnic peoples along the border. We are also 

aware that the minority of Muslims, the government is standing 

aside and letting them be brutally murdered by various forces in 

that part of Burma. 

This legislation is a clear statement that the Government of 

Burma ignores at its own peril. We are moving to stop military 

support for the Burmese military. If human rights keeps getting 

worse in Burma, the people of Burma will pay a dear price. And 

the people of that region will pay a dear price from what we 

thought would be a more open system that is hooked into the economy in that part of the world and would have been beneficial to 

everyone. These steps that have been taken are certainly not 

enough because what we are seeing now is a slide back even to 

steps that didn’t go far enough, but now we are sliding back into 

repression and dictatorship. And unfortunately, with that will come 

a slide into a hostile relationship with the United States and those 

other Western countries. 

So I would hope that the people who are in a decision-making position in Burma pay close attention because want to have a good 

relationship with them. We want to have a relationship with the 

people of Burma that will be beneficial to them and positive in nature for that whole region of the world. Unfortunately, decisions 

made to continue the type of attacks and repression that the Burmese leadership are permitting on the ethnic groups as well as the 

elimination of freedom, personal freedoms, and individual rights 

among the Burmese people as well, this is going to lead into a historic disaster in that it will be a reversal from going forward and 

instead drag Burma again down into the pits. Thank you very 

much, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you very much. The gentleman’s time has 

expired. I would now like to recognize the gentleman from New 

York, the principal co-sponsor of the legislation and thank him for 

his leadership on the bill. Our staff worked very closely on this and 

a lot of the language in here was at the suggestion, the assistance, 

the help, and the leadership of the gentleman from New York. So 

thank you very much and you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. CROWLEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, thank you for letting 

me participate as well. I served 12 years on this committee and I 

miss this room more than I thought I would, so it is good to be 

back. And thank you for yielding me the time. I also want to thank 

Ranking Member Faleomavaega, although not here today, and very 

ably served this afternoon substituted by my good friend, Tulsi 

Gabbard from Hawaii. 

This is a bipartisan piece of legislation and in that spirit I want 

to say I deeply appreciate, Mr. Chairman, your support and your 

bringing this before the subcommittee today. You have been a true 

champion for freedom and democracy for the Burmese people in 

holding hearings on this issue and helping bring attention and 

raise awareness and I am deeply appreciative of that and I thank 

you for that. 

I am here as the lead Democrat on this issue and the reason I 

have been so drawn to this issue is because I believe it is the right 

thing to do. Over the past few years, we have seen some progress 

15

on some issues in Burma, some that we have all taken joy and 

pride in seeing take place. I vocally supported the administration’s 

policy of action for action. I was eager as Democratic House member to support that policy, but I am concerned about a number of 

issues and I am very uneasy about those who are proposing that 

the U.S. military move ahead quickly to embrace the military that 

has not yet reformed enough. 

I am also very uneasy about the fact that the United States is 

considered a further relaxing of pressure, even though core issues 

have stalled and are ongoing in an unaddressed way and in fact 

in many respects are moving backwards as the chairman and others have indicated. That includes the fact that the opposition leader in Burma cannot serve as president of Burma. 

I have to say I have never heard of an election being considered 

free and fair if the opposition candidate is barred from serving as 

a leader in the Constitution. That is not free. That is not fair period. I am also concerned about the situation with respect to the 

media in Burma, the recent arrest of journalists and sentencing 

them to 10 years with hard labor is not consistent with actions of 

a democratic country. 

Similarly, ongoing attacks on minority groups like the Kachin 

and the Shan are inconsistent with a democratic system. They simply are not. The world is also concerned about the Rohingya and 

other Muslims. These are men, women, children and infants who 

are for all practical purposes locked up in camps and denied 

healthcare and adequate nutrition. What is going on there should 

hit the conscience of all those concerned with human rights. I don’t 

care what your religion is or what your background is, no one 

should be denied food and healthcare. On top of all of this, the 

number of political prisoners in Burma has increased since the beginning of this year. These are just some of the other reasons that 

this legislation makes sense. If the Burmese authorities want to 

have a more advanced relationship with the United States and a 

relaxed one as well with our military, it cannot be an exchange for 

just open-ended promises of change somewhere down the line. It 

should be linked to the concrete reforms that we expect of civilian 

rule. I am okay with limited bills training, as I have said that before, but only if that training shows results. Anything beyond that 

is staged and is premature. 

So I once again appeal to the Government of Burma. It is about 

15 months before the 2015 elections. Make it clear right here and 

now that these elections will be free and they will be fair, truly free 

and truly fair. Most importantly, amend the Constitution. Make 

sure that Aung San Suu Kyi is eligible to serve as president, if 

elected. Give Burma’s ethnic peoples a voice in the future of their 

country. The whole world knows this isn’t as simple as it sounds. 

The Constitution was initially adopted through a sham referendum 

which led to the current government. The current government and 

party completely dominate the constitutional amendment process 

because 25 percent of the Parliament is controlled by the military. 

So let us not pretend that this is a democratic process. It is a 

process dominated by the same powers that wrote the undemocratic Constitution in the first place. That is why it needs to 

change so the people of Burma have the chance to determine their 

16

own destiny. I urge passage of the chairman’s bill and once again, 

thank him as well as the Democrats and Republicans on this committee for moving it forward. And I yield back the balance of my 

time. 

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you very much. I think it was well said. And 

does the gentleman from California seek recognition? 

Mr. SHERMAN. Yes, briefly. 

Mr. CHABOT. The gentleman is recognized. 

Mr. SHERMAN. I have this brilliant speech in favor of the bill. Unfortunately, my brilliant colleagues of both parties have already 

said everything I was going to say and accordingly, I yield back. 

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you. I understand there is no one else on 

this side who seeks recognition at this time. Excellent. 

Are there any amendments to the bill? Hearing no amendments, 

the question occurs on the motion to report the bill favorably. All 

in favor say aye. 

Those opposed, say no. 

In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it. The motion is approved and the bill is reported favorably. 

Without objection, the bill be reported favorably to the full committee and I want to thank our members and staff for all their assistance and cooperation on today’s markup. The subcommittee 

stands adjourned. Thank you very much. 

[Whereupon, at 2:20 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 

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