108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2330

AN ACT

To sanction the ruling Burmese military junta, to strengthen

Burma’s democratic forces and support and recognize

the National League of Democracy as the legitimate

representative of the Burmese people, and for other purposes.
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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Burmese Freedom and

5 Democracy Act of 2003’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) The State Peace and Development Council

9 (SPDC) has failed to transfer power to the National

10 League for Democracy (NLD) whose parliamentar11 ians won an overwhelming victory in the 1990 elec12 tions in Burma.

13 (2) The SPDC has failed to enter into meaning14 ful, political dialogue with the NLD and ethnic mi15 norities and has dismissed the efforts of United Na16 tions Special Envoy Razali bin Ismail to further

17 such dialogue.

18 (3) According to the State Department’s ‘‘Re19 port to the Congress Regarding Conditions in

20 Burma and U.S. Policy Toward Burma’’ dated

21 March 28, 2003, the SPDC has become ‘‘more

22 confrontational’’ in its exchanges with the NLD.

23 (4) On May 30, 2003, the SPDC, threatened by

24 continued support for the NLD throughout Burma,

25 brutally attacked NLD supporters, killed and in-
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1 jured scores of civilians, and arrested democracy ad2 vocate Aung San Suu Kyi and other activists.

3 (5) The SPDC continues egregious human

4 rights violations against Burmese citizens, uses rape

5 as a weapon of intimidation and torture against

6 women, and forcibly conscripts child-soldiers for the

7 use in fighting indigenous ethnic groups.

8 (6) The SPDC is engaged in ethnic cleansing

9 against minorities within Burma, including the

10 Karen, Karenni, and Shan people, which constitutes

11 a crime against humanity and has directly led to

12 more than 600,000 internally displaced people living

13 within Burma and more than 130,000 people from

14 Burma living in refugee camps along the Thai15 Burma border.

16 (7) The ethnic cleansing campaign of the SPDC

17 is in sharp contrast to the traditional peaceful coex18 istence in Burma of Buddhists, Muslims, Christians,

19 and people of traditional beliefs.

20 (8) The SPDC has demonstrably failed to co21 operate with the United States in stopping the flood

22 of heroin and methamphetamines being grown, re23 fined, manufactured, and transported in areas under

24 the control of the SPDC serving to flood the region

25 and much of the world with these illicit drugs.
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1 (9) The SPDC provides safety, security, and

2 engages in business dealings with narcotics traf3 fickers under indictment by United States authori4 ties, and other producers and traffickers of nar5 cotics.

6 (10) The International Labor Organization

7 (ILO), for the first time in its 82-year history,

8 adopted in 2000, a resolution recommending that

9 governments, employers, and workers organizations

10 take appropriate measures to ensure that their rela11 tions with the SPDC do not abet the government12 sponsored system of forced, compulsory, or slave

13 labor in Burma, and that other international bodies

14 reconsider any cooperation they may be engaged in

15 with Burma and, if appropriate, cease as soon as

16 possible any activity that could abet the practice of

17 forced, compulsory, or slave labor.

18 (11) The SPDC has integrated the Burmese

19 military and its surrogates into all facets of the

20 economy effectively destroying any free enterprise

21 system.

22 (12) Investment in Burmese companies and

23 purchases from them serve to provide the SPDC

24 with currency that is used to finance its instruments

25 of terror and repression against the Burmese people.
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1 (13) On April 15, 2003, the American Apparel

2 and Footwear Association expressed its ‘‘strong sup3 port for a full and immediate ban on U.S. textiles,

4 apparel and footwear imports from Burma’’ and

5 called upon the United States Government to ‘‘im6 pose an outright ban on U.S. imports’’ of these

7 items until Burma demonstrates respect for basic

8 human and labor rights of its citizens.

9 (14) The policy of the United States, as articu10 lated by the President on April 24, 2003, is to offi11 cially recognize the NLD as the legitimate represent12 ative of the Burmese people as determined by the

13 1990 election.

14 (15) The United States must work closely with

15 other nations, including Thailand, a close ally of the

16 United States, to highlight attention to the SPDC’s

17 systematic abuses of human rights in Burma, to en18 sure that nongovernmental organizations promoting

19 human rights and political freedom in Burma are al20 lowed to operate freely and without harassment, and

21 to craft a multilateral sanctions regime against

22 Burma in order to pressure the SPDC to meet the

23 conditions identified in section 3(a)(3) of this Act.
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1 SEC. 3. BAN AGAINST TRADE THAT SUPPORTS THE MILI2 TARY REGIME OF BURMA.

3 (a) GENERAL BAN.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

5 provision of law, until such time as the President de6 termines and certifies to Congress that Burma has

7 met the conditions described in paragraph (3), be8 ginning 30 days after the date of the enactment of

9 this Act, the President shall ban the importation of

10 any article that is a product of Burma.

11 (2) BAN ON IMPORTS FROM CERTAIN COMPA12 NIES.—The import restrictions contained in para13 graph (1) shall apply to, among other entities—

14 (A) the SPDC, any ministry of the SPDC,

15 a member of the SPDC or an immediate family

16 member of such member;

17 (B) known narcotics traffickers from

18 Burma or an immediate family member of such

19 narcotics trafficker;

20 (C) the Union of Myanmar Economics

21 Holdings Incorporated (UMEHI) or any com22 pany in which the UMEHI has a fiduciary in23 terest;

24 (D) the Myanmar Economic Corporation

25 (MEC) or any company in which the MEC has

26 a fiduciary interest;
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1 (E) the Union Solidarity and Development

2 Association (USDA); and

3 (F) any successor entity for the SPDC,

4 UMEHI, MEC, or USDA.

5 (3) CONDITIONS DESCRIBED.—The conditions

6 described in this paragraph are the following:

7 (A) The SPDC has made substantial and

8 measurable progress to end violations of inter9 nationally recognized human rights including

10 rape, and the Secretary of State, after consulta11 tion with the ILO Secretary General and rel12 evant nongovernmental organizations, reports to

13 the appropriate congressional committees that

14 the SPDC no longer systematically violates

15 workers rights, including the use of forced and

16 child labor, and conscription of child-soldiers.

17 (B) The SPDC has made measurable and

18 substantial progress toward implementing a

19 democratic government including—

20 (i) releasing all political prisoners;

21 (ii) allowing freedom of speech and

22 the press;

23 (iii) allowing freedom of association;

24 (iv) permitting the peaceful exercise of

25 religion; and
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1 (v) bringing to a conclusion an agree2 ment between the SPDC and the demo3 cratic forces led by the NLD and Burma’s

4 ethnic nationalities on the transfer of

5 power to a civilian government accountable

6 to the Burmese people through democratic

7 elections under the rule of law.

8 (C) Pursuant to section 706(2) of the For9 eign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year

10 2003 (Public Law 107–228), Burma has not

11 been designated as a country that has failed de12 monstrably to make substantial efforts to ad13 here to its obligations under international coun14 ternarcotics agreements and to take other effec15 tive counternarcotics measures, including, but

16 not limited to (i) the arrest and extradition of

17 all individuals under indictment in the United

18 States for narcotics trafficking, (ii) concrete

19 and measurable actions to stem the flow of il20 licit drug money into Burma’s banking system

21 and economic enterprises, and (iii) actions to

22 stop the manufacture and export of

23 methamphetamines.

24 (4) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT25 TEES.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘appropriate
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1 congressional committees’’ means the Committees on

2 Foreign Relations and Appropriations of the Senate

3 and the Committees on International Relations and

4 Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

5 (b) WAIVER AUTHORITIES.—The President may

6 waive the prohibitions described in this section for any or

7 all articles that are a product of Burma if the President

8 determines and notifies the Committees on Appropria9 tions, Finance, and Foreign Relations of the Senate and

10 the Committees on Appropriations, International Rela11 tions, and Ways and Means of the House of Representa12 tives that to do so is in the national interest of the United

13 States.

14 SEC. 4. FREEZING ASSETS OF THE BURMESE REGIME IN

15 THE UNITED STATES.

16 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 60

17 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the President

18 shall take such action as is necessary to direct, and pro19 mulgate regulations to the same, that any United States

20 financial institution holding funds belonging to the SPDC

21 or the assets of those individuals who hold senior positions

22 in the SPDC or its political arm, the Union Solidarity De23 velopment Association, shall promptly report those funds

24 or assets to the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
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1 (b) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY.—The President may

2 take such action as may be necessary to impose a sanc3 tions regime to freeze such funds or assets, subject to such

4 terms and conditions as the President determines to be

5 appropriate.

6 (c) DELEGATION.—The President may delegate the

7 duties and authorities under this section to such Federal

8 officers or other officials as the President deems appro9 priate.

10 SEC. 5. LOANS AT INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITU11 TIONS.

12 The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the

13 United States executive director to each appropriate inter14 national financial institution in which the United States

15 participates, to oppose, and vote against the extension by

16 such institution of any loan or financial or technical assist17 ance to Burma until such time as the conditions described

18 in section 3(a)(3) are met.

19 SEC. 6. EXPANSION OF VISA BAN.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—

21 (1) VISA BAN.—The President is authorized to

22 deny visas and entry to the former and present lead23 ership of the SPDC or the Union Solidarity Develop24 ment Association.
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1 (2) UPDATES.—The Secretary of State shall co2 ordinate on a biannual basis with representatives of

3 the European Union to allow officials of the United

4 States and the European Union to ensure a high de5 gree of coordination of lists of individuals banned

6 from obtaining a visa by the European Union for the

7 reason described in paragraph (1) and those banned

8 from receiving a visa from the United States.

9 (b) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary of State shall post

10 on the Department of State’s website the names of individ11 uals whose entry into the United States is banned under

12 subsection (a).

13 SEC. 7. CONDEMNATION OF THE REGIME AND DISSEMINA14 TION OF INFORMATION.

15 Congress encourages the Secretary of State to high16 light the abysmal record of the SPDC to the international

17 community and use all appropriate fora, including the As18 sociation of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum and

19 Asian Nations Regional Forum, to encourage other states

20 to restrict financial resources to the SPDC and Burmese

21 companies while offering political recognition and support

22 to Burma’s democratic movement including the National

23 League for Democracy and Burma’s ethnic groups.
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1 SEC. 8. SUPPORT DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS IN BURMA.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President is authorized to

3 use all available resources to assist Burmese democracy

4 activists dedicated to nonviolent opposition to the regime

5 in their efforts to promote freedom, democracy, and

6 human rights in Burma, including a listing of constraints

7 on such programming.

8 (b) REPORTS.—

9 (1) FIRST REPORT.—Not later than 3 months

10 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec11 retary of State shall provide the Committees on Ap12 propriations and Foreign Relations of the Senate

13 and the Committees on Appropriations and Inter14 national Relations of the House of Representatives

15 a comprehensive report on its short- and long-term

16 programs and activities to support democracy activ17 ists in Burma, including a list of constraints on such

18 programming.

19 (2) REPORT ON RESOURCES.—Not later than 6

20 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the

21 Secretary of State shall provide the Committees on

22 Appropriations and Foreign Relations of the Senate

23 and the Committees on Appropriations and Inter24 national Relations of the House of Representatives

25 a report identifying resources that will be necessary
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1 for the reconstruction of Burma, after the SPDC is

2 removed from power, including—

3 (A) the formation of democratic institu4 tions;

5 (B) establishing the rule of law;

6 (C) establishing freedom of the press;

7 (D) providing for the successful reintegra8 tion of military officers and personnel into Bur9 mese society; and

10 (E) providing health, educational, and eco11 nomic development.

12 (3) REPORT ON TRADE SANCTIONS.—Not later

13 than 90 days before the date on which the import

14 restrictions contained in section 3(a)(1) are to ex15 pire, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the

16 United States Trade Representative and the heads

17 of appropriate agencies, shall submit to the Commit18 tees on Appropriations, Finance, and Foreign Rela19 tions of the Senate, and the Committees on Appro20 priations, International Relations, and Ways and

21 Means of the House of Representatives, a report

22 on—

23 (A) bilateral and multilateral measures un24 dertaken by the United States Government and
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1 other governments to promote human rights

2 and democracy in Burma;

3 (B) the extent to which actions related to

4 trade with Burma taken pursuant to this Act

5 have been effective in—

6 (i) improving conditions in Burma, in7 cluding human rights violations, arrest and

8 detention of democracy activists, forced

9 and child labor, and the status of dialogue

10 between the SPDC and the NLD and eth11 nic minorities;

12 (ii) furthering the policy objections of

13 the United States toward Burma; and,

14 (C) the impact of actions relating to trade

15 take pursuant to this Act on other national se16 curity, economic, and foreign policy interests of

17 the United States, including relations with

18 countries friendly to the United States.

19 SEC. 9. DURATION OF SANCTIONS.

20 (a) TERMINATION BY REQUEST FROM DEMOCRATIC

21 BURMA.—The President may terminate any provision in

22 this Act upon the request of a democratically elected gov23 ernment in Burma, provided that all the conditions in sec24 tion 3(a)(3) have been met.

25 (b) CONTINUATION OF IMPORT SANCTIONS.—
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1 (1) EXPIRATION.—The import restrictions con2 tained in section 3(a)(1) shall expire 1 year from the

3 date of enactment of this Act unless renewed under

4 paragraph (2) of this section.

5 (2) RESOLUTION BY CONGRESS.—The import

6 restrictions contained in section 3(a)(1) may be re7 newed annually for a 1-year period if, prior to the

8 anniversary of the date of enactment of this Act,

9 and each year thereafter, a renewal resolution is en10 acted into law in accordance with subsection (c).

11 (3) LIMITATION.—The import restrictions con12 tained in section 3(a)(1) may be renewed for a max13 imum of three years from the date of the enactment

14 of this Act.

15 (c) RENEWAL RESOLUTIONS.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this section,

17 the term ‘‘renewal resolution’’ means a joint resolu18 tion of the 2 Houses of Congress, the sole matter

19 after the resolving clause of which is as follows:

20 ‘‘That Congress approves the renewal of the import

21 restrictions contained in section 3(a)(1) of the Bur22 mese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003.’’

23 (2) PROCEDURES.—

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—A renewal resolution—
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1 (i) may be introduced in either House

2 of Congress by any member of such House

3 at any time within the 90-day period be4 fore the expiration of the import restric5 tions contained in section 3(a)(1); and

6 (ii) the provisions of subparagraph

7 (B) shall apply.

8 (B) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION.—The

9 provisions of section 152(b), (c), (d), (e), and

10 (f) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2192

11 (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f)) apply to a renewal

12 resolution under this Act as if such resolution

13 were a resolution described in section 152(a) of

14 the Trade Act of 1974.

Passed the House of Representatives July 15, 2003.

Attest:

Clerk.
108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2330

AN ACT

To sanction the ruling Burmese military junta, to

strengthen Burma’s democratic forces and support and recognize the National League of Democracy as the legitimate representative of theBurmese people, and for other purposes.