III 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 554 

Expressing the Sense of the Senate on humanitarian assistance to Burma 

after Cyclone Nargis. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 7, 2008 

Mr. KERRY (for himself, Mr. LUGAR, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mrs. 

FEINSTEIN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. DODD, Mr. OBAMA, Mr. WEBB, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. FEINGOLD, Mr. 

LIEBERMAN, Mr. HAGEL, Mrs. BOXER, Mrs. CLINTON, Mrs. DOLE, Mr. 

MCCAIN, and Mr. COLEMAN) submitted the following resolution; which 

was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the Sense of the Senate on humanitarian 

assistance to Burma after Cyclone Nargis. 

Whereas, on May 3, 2008, Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma, 

leaving an estimated 22,500 people dead, 41,000 missing, 

and 1,000,000 homeless; 

Whereas, on May 5, 2008, the United States embassy in 

Burma issued a disaster declaration authorizing 

$250,000 in immediate humanitarian assistance to the 

people of Burma; 

Whereas, on May 5, 2008, First Lady Laura Bush stated 

that the United States will ‘‘work with the U.N. and 

other international nongovernmental organizations to 


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•SRES 554 ATS 

provide water, sanitation, food, and shelter. More assistance will be forthcoming’’; 

Whereas, on May 5, 2008, Department of State Deputy 

Spokesman Tom Casey stated that the United States has 

‘‘a disaster assistance response team that is standing by 

and ready to go in to Burma to help try to assess need 

there’’; 

Whereas, on May 6, 2008, President George W. Bush said, 

‘‘The United States has made an initial aid contribution, 

but we want to do a lot more. We’re prepared to move 

U.S. Navy assets to help find those who’ve lost their 

lives, to help find the missing, to help stabilize the situation. But in order to do so, the military junta must allow 

our disaster assessment teams into the country.’’; 

Whereas, on May 6, 2008, President Bush pledged 

$3,000,000 in emergency assistance to victims of Cyclone 

Nargis, and stated that allowing the disaster assistance 

response team to enter the country would facilitate additional support; 

Whereas the European Union has pledged to deliver 

$3,000,000 in initial emergency disaster assistance to 

Burma; 

Whereas according to the United Nations Country Team in 

Burma, the average household in Burma is forced to 

spend almost 3⁄4 of its budget on food and 1 in 3 children 

under the age of 5 is suffering from malnutrition; 

Whereas the prevalence of tuberculosis in Burma is among 

the highest in the world, with nearly 97,000 new cases 

detected annually, malaria is the leading cause of mortality in Burma, with 70 percent of the population living 

in areas at risk, at least 37,000 died of HIV/AIDS in 


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•SRES 554 ATS 

Burma in 2005 and over 600,000 are currently infected, 

and the World Health Organization has ranked the 

health sector of Burma as 190th out of 191 countries; 

Whereas the failure of Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council to meet the most basic humanitarian 

needs of the people of Burma has caused enormous suffering inside Burma and driven hundreds of thousands of 

Burmese citizens to seek refuge in neighboring countries, 

creating a threat to regional peace and stability; and 

Whereas, in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, the State Peace 

and Development Council continues to restrict the access 

and freedom of movement of international nongovernmental organizations to deliver humanitarian assistance 

throughout Burma: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the Sense of the Senate— 

2 (1) to express deep sympathy to and strong 

3 support for the people of Burma, who have endured 

4 tremendous hardships over many years and face es5 pecially dire humanitarian conditions in the after6 math of Cyclone Nargis; 

7 (2) to support the decision of President Bush to 

8 provide immediate emergency humanitarian assist9 ance to Burma through nongovernmental organiza10 tions that are not affiliated with the Burmese re11 gime or its officials and can effectively provide such 

12 assistance directly to the people of Burma; 

13 (3) to stand ready to appropriate additional 

14 funds, beyond existing emergency international disVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:23 May 08, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR554.ATS SR554

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•SRES 554 ATS 

1 aster assistance resources, if necessary to help ad2 dress dire humanitarian conditions throughout 

3 Burma in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis and be4 yond; 

5 (4) to call upon the State Peace and Develop6 ment Council to immediately lift restrictions on de7 livery of humanitarian assistance and allow free and 

8 unfettered access to the United States Government’s 

9 disaster assistance response team and any organiza10 tions that legitimately provide humanitarian assist11 ance; and 

12 (5) that the United States Agency for Inter13 national Development should conduct a comprehen14 sive evaluation of which organizations are capable of 

15 providing humanitarian assistance directly to the 

16 people throughout Burma without interference by 

17 the State Peace and Development Council. 

Æ 


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