III 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 317 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 7, 2008 

Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Condemning the Burmese regime’s undemocratic draft 

constitution and scheduled referendum. 

Whereas in 1974, then-dictator General Ne Win and his regime redrew the 1947 State Constitution and held a referendum for a military-backed constitution, endorsing a 

civilian front for military rule, known as the Burmese Socialist Program Party; 

Whereas in 1988, the people of Burma came to the streets 

in a massive popular democracy uprising to call 


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for democracy, human rights, and an end to military rule 

and a single party system; 

Whereas the current military regime violently crushed the 

mass democracy uprising in 1988, killing more than 

3,000 peaceful protesters and taking over power from the 

previous regime; 

Whereas the current military regime, officially known as the 

State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), known 

previously as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), held multi-party elections in 1990; 

Whereas despite the threat and pressure by the military regime to vote for the candidates of the military-backed 

National Unity Party (NUP), the people of Burma voted 

82 percent of Parliament seats for the candidates of the 

National League for Democracy (NLD) party, led by detained leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and allied ethnic 

political parties; 

Whereas the military regime refused to honor the election results and arrested and imprisoned both democracy activists and elected members of parliament; 

Whereas the SPDC over a period of 14 years held a National 

Convention to draft a new constitution in which the process was tightly controlled, repressive and undemocratic; 

Whereas the NLD walked out of the convention in 1995 because participants were not allowed to table alternative 

proposals or voice disagreement with the military regime; 

Whereas in 2005, the leaders of the Shan Nationalities 

League of Democracy (SNLD) were all arrested on false 

charges and sentenced to more than 90 years in prison 

each; 


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Whereas the people of Burma, led by democracy activists and 

Buddhist monks in August and September 2007, took to 

the streets in nationwide peaceful protests demanding the 

military regime participate in a meaningful tri-partite 

dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the elected political parties from the 1990 elections and representatives 

of the ethnic nationalities for national reconciliation and 

a transition to democracy; 

Whereas according to the United Nations Special Rapporteur 

on the Human Rights Situation in Burma, Professor 

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, leading human rights groups and 

foreign diplomats based in Burma estimate the death toll 

from the August and September 2007 peaceful protests 

is much higher than reported by the regime; 

Whereas the military regime brutally crushed the peaceful 

protests, killing at least 31 people, leaving nearly 100 

missing, and arresting 700 additional political prisoners 

bringing the number of Burma’s political prisoners to approximately 1,800; 

Whereas the United Nations Security Council Presidential 

Statement, issued by unanimous consent of all members 

of the Council on October 11, 2007, stated that ‘‘the Security Council strongly deplores the use of violence 

against peaceful demonstrators in Myanmar, emphasizes 

the importance of the early release of all political prisoners and remaining detainees’’. 

Whereas the United Nations Security Council Presidential 

Statement also stressed ‘‘the need for the Government of 

Myanmar to create the necessary conditions for a genuine 

dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all concerned 

parties and ethnic groups, in order to achieve an inclusive 


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HCON 317 RFS 

national reconciliation with the direct support of the 

United Nations’’; 

Whereas the United Nations and governments around the 

world also repeatedly called for the SPDC to hold a political dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, her party, the 

NLD, and representatives of ethnic nationalities to 

achieve national reconciliation and democratization and 

reverse the decades-long misrule by the regime which has 

resulted in a downward spiral of Burma’s economic, educational, social, public health and infrastructure sectors; 

Whereas the SPDC has ignored the repeated requests of the 

United Nations and the international community to release all political prisoners, end attacks against civilians, 

and engage in a meaningful dialogue with Daw Aung San 

Suu Kyi, her party, the NLD, and representatives of ethnic nationalities; 

Whereas at the same time, the SPDC assigned a commission 

to draft a constitution on October 18, 2007, with 54 

hand-picked participants, in an attempt to ignore past 

election results, to lock in a process that excludes representatives of ethnic nationalities and the NLD from political participation, and to legitimize continued military 

rule; 

Whereas the latest version of the draft constitution seeks to 

codify military rule by reserving 25 percent of parliamentary seats for military appointees, permits the head of 

the military to intervene in national politics, and ensures 

that key government ministries are held by military officers; 

Whereas in October 2007, the SPDC appointed Labor Minister U Aung Kyi as liaison minister to engage with Daw 


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Aung San Suu Kyi for possible talks with Senior General 

Than Shwe, leader of the SPDC, but there has been no 

true exchange or tangible result from the few talks that 

were held; 

Whereas recently, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi expressed through 

her party leaders that she is unhappy with the SPDC’s 

unwillingness to establish political dialogue and she even 

urged the people of Burma to be prepared for the worst; 

Whereas on February 9, 2008, the military regime announced 

that it will hold a constitutional referendum in May 2008 

and a general election in 2010; 

Whereas on February 12, 2008, the SPDC extended for another year the house arrest of U Tin Oo, Deputy Chairman of the NLD; and 

Whereas early reports concerning the referendum voting indicate that Burmese voters were instructed how to vote 

under supervision of officials, sometimes under threat of 

physical violence and without an opportunity to read the 

ballot they were forced to cast: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That Congress— 

3 (1) denounces the one-sided, undemocratic, and 

4 illegitimate actions of the State Peace and Develop5 ment Council (SPDC) that seek to legitimize mili6 tary rule through a flawed referendum process to 

7 adopt a new, undemocratic constitution; 

8 (2) strongly urges that Burma’s military regime 

9 begin a meaningful tri-partite dialogue with Daw 

10 Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1990 election-winning parVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:24 May 08, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HC317.RFS HC317

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1 ties and representatives of ethnic nationalities to2 ward national reconciliation, democracy, freedom of 

3 assembly, freedom of movement, freedom of speech, 

4 freedom of the press, and internationally recognized 

5 human rights for all Burmese citizens; 

6 (3) demands the immediate and unconditional 

7 release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, detained Bud8 dhist monks, and all other political prisoners and 

9 prisoners of conscience; 

10 (4) denounces the SPDC for its failure to com11 ply with the United Nation’s recommendations and 

12 engage in a meaningful time-bound tri-partite dia13 logue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1990 elec14 tion winning parties and representatives of ethnic 

15 nationalities; 

16 (5) calls for the SPDC to comply fully and im17 mediately with the recommendations made by the 

18 United Nations Security Council Presidential State19 ment issued on October 11, 2007; 

20 (6) urges the President to call for the United 

21 Nations Security Council to condemn the undemo22 cratic referendum process and the SPDC’s flawed 

23 constitution which will be the outcome of the ref24 erendum; 


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1 (7) urges the President to call for the United 

2 Nations Security Council to pass a binding resolu3 tion, which will instruct the regime to fully comply 

4 with the recommendations made by United Nations 

5 Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari and the United Na6 tions Security Council Presidential Statement, and 

7 strengthen the mandate of Secretary-General Ban 

8 Ki-moon to engage in a meaningful and time-bound 

9 dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1990 

10 election winning parties and ethnic nationality rep11 resentatives towards an inclusive democratic national 

12 reconciliation; 

13 (8) urges the President to push for a com14 prehensive arms embargo against the Burmese mili15 tary regime at the United Nations Security Council 

16 so that weapons produced by foreign countries, in17 cluding Ukraine, China, and Russia, that currently 

18 sell weapons to Burma’s military regime, can no 

19 longer be used by Burma’s military regime against 

20 civilians; and 

21 (9) urges the Association of Southeast Asian 

22 Nations to involve itself more deeply in reaching out 

23 to the Burmese democracy movement and to work 

24 with the United Nations Security Council and the 


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1 Secretary-General to promote meaningful political 

2 dialogue. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 6, 2008. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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