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[House Document 107-152]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

107th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - House Document 107-152 

 
    PERIODIC REPORT ON THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO BURMA

                               __________

                             COMMUNICATION

                                  from

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              TRANSMITTING

A 6-MONTH PERIODIC REPORT ON THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO 
  BURMA DECLARED BY EXECUTIVE ORDER 13047 OF MAY 20, 1997, PURSUANT 
  TO 50 U.S.C. 1641(c) AND 50 U.S.C. 1703(c)

    November 27, 2001.--Referred to the Committee on International 
                  Relations and ordered to be printed
                               __________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
99-011                     WASHINGTON : 2001

                                           The White House,
                                     Washington, November 21, 2001.
Hon. J. Dennis Hastert,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Speaker: As required by section 401(c) of the 
National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1641(c), and section 204(c) 
of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 
1703(c), I transmit herewith a 6-month periodic report on the 
national emergency with respect to Burma that was declared in 
Executive Order 13047 of May 20, 1997.
            Sincerely,
                                                    George W. Bush.
    Periodic Report on the National Emergency With Respect to Burma

    This report to the Congress covers developments over the 
course of the past six months concerning the national emergency 
with respect to Burma that was declared in Executive Order 
13047 of May 20, 1997, pursuant to section 570 of the Foreign 
Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs 
Appropriations Act (``IEEPA''). This report is submitted 
pursuant to section 204(c) of IEEPA, 50 U.S.C. 1703(c) and 
section 401(c) of the National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 
1641(c).
    1. Since the issuance of Executive Order 13047, the 
Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control 
(``OFAC'') has administered the Burma sanctions. OFAC continues 
to disseminate details of this program to the financial, 
securities, and international trade communities by both 
electronic and conventional media, as well as to the U.S. 
Embassy in Rangoon for distribution to U.S. companies operating 
in Burma. In the 6-month period since May 20, 2001, OFAC has 
issued no specific licenses authorizing transactions otherwise 
prohibited by the Regulations, and has neither assessed nor 
collected any civil monetary penalty for a violation of the 
Regulations.
    2. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 
6-month period from May 20, 2001 that are directly attributable 
to the exercise of powers and authorities conferred by the 
declaration of a national emergency with respect to Burma are 
estimated at more than $12,000, most of which represent wage 
and salary costs for Federal personnel. Personnel costs were 
largely centered in the Department of the Treasury 
(particularly in the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the 
Office of the Under Secretary for Enforcement, and the Office 
of the General Counsel) and the Department of State 
(particularly the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, the 
Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and the Office of the 
Legal Adviser).
    3. The situation reviewed above continues to present an 
extraordinary and unusual threat to the national security and 
foreign policy of the United States. The declaration of the 
national emergency with respect to Burma contained in Executive 
Order 13047 in response to the large-scale repression of the 
democratic opposition by the Government of Burma since 
September 30, 1996, reflected the belief that it is in the 
national security and foreign policy interests of the United 
States to seek an end to abuses of human rights in Burma, to 
support efforts to achieve democratic reform which would 
promote regional peace and stability, and to urge effective 
counter-narcotics policies.
    In the past 6 months, Burma's military government has moved 
from a policy of confrontation with the National League of 
Democracy (``NLD'') to one of discussion with the NLD's General 
Secretary, Aun San Suu Kyi. Approximately 180 political 
prisoners have been released, and several NLD offices were 
allowed to reopen. However, the pace of progress remains slow. 
The Burmese regime still refuses to recognize the results of 
the free and fair 1990 elections in which the National League 
for Democracy and its allies won a vast majority of the popular 
vote and parliamentary seats. The regime still holds more than 
1,000 political prisoners, and well-documented human rights 
abuses, particularly against ethnic minorities, continue. Burma 
has taken limited but still insufficient steps to counter-
narcotics productions and trafficking.
    The net effect of U.S. and international measures to 
pressure the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) to end 
its repression and move toward democratic government has been a 
further decline in investor confidence in Burma and deeper 
stagnation of the Burmese economy. Observers agree that the 
Burmese economy appears to be further weakening and that the 
government has a serious shortage of foreign exchange reserves 
with which to pay for imports. While Burma's economic crisis is 
largely a result of the SPDC's own heavy-handed mismanagement, 
the SPDC is unlikely to find a way out of the crisis unless 
political developments permit an easing of international 
pressure.

                                  
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