II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1511

To impose sanctions on Burma.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

DECEMBER 29, 1995

Mr. MCCONNELL (for himself, Mr. MOYNIHAN, Mr. D’AMATO, and Mr.

LEAHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

A BILL

To impose sanctions on Burma.

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 ‘‘Burma Freedom and

5 Democracy Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) Since 1962, Burma has been ruled by a

9 military dictatorship.

10 (2) As part of a crackdown against the Bur11 mese pro-democracy movement, the State Law and
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1 Order Restoration Council (SLORC) was established

2 by the military dictatorship in 1988.

3 (3) On May 27, 1990 the people of Burma

4 voted overwhelmingly in a free election for Daw

5 Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for De6 mocracy (NLD).

7 (4) Despite numerous pledges, the SLORC has

8 failed to honor the results of the 1990 elections.

9 (5) The United States has not sent an ambas10 sador to Rangoon in protest of the failure of the

11 SLORC to honor the 1990 elections and the contin12 ued human rights abuses suffered by the Burmese

13 people.

14 (6) In response to the massacre of thousands of

15 Burmese participating in peaceful democratic dem16 onstrations, Congress adopted a provision as part of

17 the Customs and Trade Act of 1990 requiring the

18 President to impose appropriate economic sanctions

19 on Burma.

20 (7) Currently the United States has suspended

21 economic aid to Burma, placed an embargo on arms

22 sales, denied GSP trade preferences, and decertified

23 Burma as a narcotics cooperating country.

24 (8) On April 30, 1994, the Foreign Relations

25 Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995
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1 (Public Law 103–236), placed Burma on the list of

2 international ‘‘outlaw’’ states that includes Libya,

3 North Korea, and Iraq and which is set forth in sec4 tion 307 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22

5 U.S.C. 2227(a)), thus mandating that voluntary

6 United States funding for any United Nations agen7 cy will be automatically reduced if the agency con8 ducts programs in Burma.

9 (9) On July 15, 1994 the Senate adopted Sen10 ate Resolution 234 calling on the Administration to

11 encourage members of the Association of Southeast

12 Asian Nations (ASEAN) to work with the United

13 States to achieve the transfer of power to the win14 ners of Burma’s 1990 democratic election.

15 (10) On July 10, 1995 after six years of unlaw16 ful detention, the SLORC released Nobel Peace

17 Prize winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of

18 the NLD.

19 (11) Since the release of Daw Aung San Suu

20 Kyi, SLORC has rejected her efforts to establish a

21 timetable for dialogue and national reconciliation

22 and has denied the NLD a meaningful role in a

23 credible political process.
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1 SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF POLICY.

2 Congress declares that it is the policy of the United

3 States—

4 (1) to support actively the prompt transition

5 from a military dictatorship to a democratic govern6 ment in Burma;

7 (2) to encourage the State Law and Order Res8 toration Committee to immediately and uncondition9 ally release all political prisoners and allow them to

10 participate in the political process;

11 (3) to recognize the individuals who won the

12 1990 democratic election as the legitimate represent13 atives of the Burmese people; and

14 (4) to expand contact with the democratically

15 elected leaders of Burma through the United States

16 mission in Rangoon in order to facilitate the demo17 cratic process in Burma.

18 SEC. 4. SANCTIONS.

19 (a) PROHIBITION.—Until such time as the President

20 determines and certifies to the appropriate congressional

21 committees that an elected government of Burma has been

22 allowed to take power—

23 (1) the sanctions described in subsection (b)

24 shall be imposed on Burma; and
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1 (2) the appropriate Government officials may

2 apply the sanctions described in subsection (c)

3 against Burma.

4 (b) MANDATORY SANCTIONS.—

5 (1) INVESTMENT SANCTION.—United States na6 tionals shall not make any investment in Burma.

7 (2) UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE.—United

8 States assistance for Burma is prohibited.

9 (3) MULTILATERAL ASSISTANCE.—The Sec10 retary of the Treasury shall instruct the United

11 States executive director of each financial institution

12 to vote against any loan or other utilization of the

13 funds of the respective bank to or for Burma.

14 (4) ADMISSION TO UNITED STATES.—Except as

15 required by treaty obligations, any Burmese national

16 who formulates, implements, or benefits from poli17 cies which hinder the transition of Burma to a

18 democratic country, and any member of the imme19 diate family of such national, shall be ineligible to

20 receive a visa and shall be excluded from admission

21 into the United States.

22 (c) DISCRETIONARY SANCTIONS.—

23 (1) IMPORT SANCTIONS.—The President is au24 thorized to prohibit the importation into the United
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1 States of articles which are produced, manufactured,

2 grown, or extracted in Burma.

3 (2) BAN ON TRAVEL TO BURMA.—The Sec4 retary of State may prohibit the use of United

5 States passports for travel to Burma, except for

6 travel by United States officials.

7 (3) DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION.—The

8 President is urged not to accept diplomatic represen9 tation from Burma at a level greater than the level

10 of diplomatic representation accorded the United

11 States in Burma.

12 (4) CONTRIBUTIONS TO INTERNATIONAL FI13 NANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.—The President is author14 ized to withhold from each international organization

15 that funds activities in Burma other than humani16 tarian activities an amount equal to the United

17 States proportionate share of that funding.

18 SEC. 5. REPORT ON BURMESE LABOR PRACTICES.

19 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment

20 of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with

21 the Secretary of State, shall submit a report to the appro22 priate congressional committees on—

23 (1) Burmese compliance with international

24 labor standards including the use of forced labor,
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1 child labor, slave labor, and involuntary prison labor

2 by the junta;

3 (2) the degree to which foreign investment in

4 Burma contributes to violations of fundamental

5 worker rights;

6 (3) labor practices in support of Burma’s for7 eign tourist industry; and

8 (4) efforts by the United States to end viola9 tions of fundamental labor rights in Burma.

10 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

11 As used in this Act:

12 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT13 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com14 mittees’’ means the Committee on Appropriations

15 and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen16 ate and the Committee on Appropriations and the

17 Committee on International Relations of the House

18 of Representatives.

19 (2) INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITU20 TIONS.—The term ‘‘international financial institu21 tions’’ includes the International Bank for Recon22 struction and Development, the International Devel23 opment Association, the Asian Development Bank,

24 and the International Monetary Fund.
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1 (3) INVESTMENT.—The term ‘‘investment’’ in2 cludes any contribution or commitment of funds,

3 commodities, services, patents, processes, or tech4 niques, in the form of—

5 (A) a loan or loans;

6 (B) the purchase of a share of ownership;

7 (C) participation in royalties, earnings, or

8 profits; and

9 (D) the furnishing of commodities or serv10 ices pursuant to a lease or other contract.

11 (4) UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE.—The term

12 ‘‘United States assistance’’ means assistance of any

13 kind which is provided by grant, sale, loan, lease,

14 credit, guaranty, or insurance, or by any other

15 means, by any agency or instrumentality of the

16 United States Government to any foreign country.

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