I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4392 

To direct the President to withdraw the application of the duty-free treatment 

with respect to Burma under the Generalized System of Preferences 

program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 

Mr. SHERMAN (for himself and Mrs. WAGNER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To direct the President to withdraw the application of the 

duty-free treatment with respect to Burma under the 

Generalized System of Preferences program, and for 

other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Allowing for the Safe 

5 Return of Rohingyas to Burma Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Since August 2017, the Burmese military, 

2 the Tatmadaw, has engaged in a brutal crackdown 

3 on the Rohingya population in the northern Rakhine 

4 state of Burma (formerly Myanmar). 

5 (2) Before the 2017 crisis, an estimated 

6 1,000,000 Rohingya people lived in the Rakhine 

7 state. 

8 (3) As a result of the brutal crackdown of 

9 2017, 740,000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh 

10 and another 127,000 Rohingya fled to camps for in11 ternally displaced persons (IDPs) in the central 

12 Rakhine state. 

13 (4) Bangladesh was already enduring a humani14 tarian crisis as a result of approximately 287,000 

15 Rohingya refugees fleeing Burma during earlier 

16 crackdowns by the Burmese military in 2012 and 

17 2016. 

18 (5) In March 2019, the United Nations Office 

19 for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs esti20 mated there were 909,000 registered Rohingya in 

21 Bangladeshi refugee camps. 

22 (6) On March 5, 2019, the United States Agen23 cy for International Development reported that the 

24 United States has contributed more than 

25 $494,000,000 to Bangladesh since August 2017 in 


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1 order to help Bangladesh cope with the influx of 

2 Rohingya refugees. 

3 (7) The U.S. Secretary of State has called the 

4 Burmese security forces attacks on the Rohingya an 

5 ‘‘ethnic cleansing’’ but has yet to recognize them as 

6 a crime against humanity or genocide. 

7 (8) On December 13, 2018, the United States 

8 House of Representatives passed House Resolution 

9 1091, which expressed the sense of the House that 

10 ‘‘the atrocities committed against the Rohingya by 

11 the Burmese military and security forces since Au12 gust 2017 constitute crimes against humanity and 

13 genocide’’ and called upon the Secretary of State to 

14 review the available evidence and make a similar de15 termination. 

16 (9) The United Nations Human Rights Coun17 cil’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission 

18 on Myanmar (the Mission) concluded in August 

19 2018 and August 2019 reports that ‘‘there is suffi20 cient information to warrant the investigation and 

21 prosecution’’ of Tatmadaw officials to determine 

22 their ‘‘liability for genocide’’ and also found that a 

23 ‘‘pervasive culture of impunity at the domestic 

24 level,’’ which led the Mission to conclude that ‘‘the 


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1 impetus for accountability must come from the inter2 national community’’. 

3 (10) The ability of Rohingyas to leave Ban4 gladesh to return home is impeded by many factors, 

5 not least of which: the lack of Burmese citizenship 

6 for the Rohingya minority, that the homes of the 

7 Rohingya were largely destroyed in the 2017 vio8 lence, and that Rohingya still fear the ongoing vio9 lence due to the civil war and military officers who 

10 act with impunity against the local civilian popu11 lation. 

12 (11) In 2016, after a 27-year suspension pe13 riod, the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) 

14 program for Burma was re-instated, and Burma was 

15 designated as a least-developed beneficiary devel16 oping country under the program. 

17 (12) Just one year after having the GSP pro18 gram reinstated, Burma’s GSP-eligible exports to 

19 the United States were valued at $93,900,000, the 

20 second highest value for least-developed beneficiary 

21 developing countries after Cambodia. 


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1 SEC. 3. WITHDRAWAL OF DESIGNATION OF BURMA UNDER 

2 THE GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREF3 ERENCES PROGRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall with6 draw the application of the duty-free treatment under title 

7 V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) with 

8 respect to Burma. 

9 (b) CERTIFICATION.—The President may reinstate 

10 the application of duty-free treatment under title V of the 

11 Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) with respect 

12 to Burma after the date on which the authority of sub13 section (a) is exercised only if the President submits to 

14 the appropriate congressional committees a certification 

15 that contains a determination of the President that the 

16 Government of Burma— 

17 (1) allows for the safe, voluntary, and dignified 

18 return of Rohingya refugees; 

19 (2) has taken the necessary steps to provide 

20 Burmese citizenship to such Rohingya refugees; and 

21 (3) has addressed the root causes of the crisis 

22 in Rakhine State. 

23 SEC. 4. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE24 FINED. 

25 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com26 mittees’’ means— 


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1 (1) the congressional defense committees (as 

2 such term is defined in section 101 of title 10, 

3 United States Code); 

4 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Per5 manent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the 

6 Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 

7 Representatives; and 

8 (3) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 

9 Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Com10 mittee on Finance of the Senate. 

Æ 


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