I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4377 

To place conditions on assistance to the Government of Burma. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 2, 2014 

Mr. CHABOT (for himself and Mr. CROWLEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To place conditions on assistance to the Government of 

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 Human Rights 

5 and Democracy Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF BURMA. 

7 (a) LIMITATION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—No funds authorized to be 

9 appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal 

10 year 2014 or 2015 may be made available for secu11 rity assistance described in paragraph (2) to the 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 4377 IH

1 Government of Burma unless the Secretary of State 

2 certifies to the appropriate congressional committees 

3 that— 

4 (A) the Government of Burma has taken 

5 concrete steps toward— 

6 (i) establishing civilian oversight of 

7 the armed forces; 

8 (ii) addressing human rights abuses 

9 by the Burmese military, including publicly 

10 acknowledging that human rights abuses 

11 have been and continue to be committed by 

12 the Burmese military, and committing to a 

13 zero tolerance policy against such human 

14 rights abuses; and 

15 (iii) terminating military relations 

16 with North Korea; 

17 (B) the Government of Burma has taken 

18 concrete steps to establish a fair, transparent 

19 and inclusive process to amend the Constitution 

20 of Burma, including the full participation of the 

21 political opposition and all ethnic minority 

22 groups, and the constitutional reform process 

23 will provide the basis for free, fair, and com24 petitive elections in Burma; 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 4377 IH

1 (C) the Government of Burma has amend2 ed its constitution and laws to ensure civilian 

3 control of the military and implemented reforms 

4 to increase the transparency and accountability 

5 of the military’s budget and operations, and the 

6 Burmese military has taken substantial and 

7 meaningful steps to divest itself from ownership 

8 of commercial businesses; 

9 (D) the Government of Burma is showing 

10 meaningful and well-documented efforts to pro11 mote peace agreements or political reconcili12 ation and equal and fair treatment of all ethnic 

13 groups in conflict areas or areas of unrest, and 

14 to actively address the resettlement and human15 itarian situation of displaced persons; and 

16 (E) the Burmese military is— 

17 (i) improving its human rights record, 

18 as measured by consistent decreases in re19 ports of forced labor, indefinite detention, 

20 torture, or cruel, inhumane, and degrading 

21 treatment of detainees, and use in armed 

22 conflict of indiscriminate or dispropor23 tionate methods and means of attack; 

24 (ii) demonstrating a genuine interest 

25 in reform by ceasing attacks against ethnic 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 4377 IH

1 minority groups in both ceasefire and non2 ceasefire areas; 

3 (iii) taking steps to withdraw forces 

4 from conflict zones, including by halting 

5 the use of soldiers in economic develop6 ment projects; 

7 (iv) adhering to the conditions of 

8 ceasefire agreements; and 

9 (v) signing and implementing a code 

10 of conduct. 

11 (2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

12 ‘‘security assistance’’ means— 

13 (A) assistance under chapter 2 (military 

14 assistance), chapter 5 (military education and 

15 training), or chapter 6 (peacekeeping oper16 ations) of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act 

17 of 1961; 

18 (B) assistance under chapter 8 of part II 

19 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, chapter 

20 9 of part II of such Act, section 504 of the 

21 FREEDOM Support Act, section 23 of the 

22 Arms Export Control Act, or the Foreign As23 sistance Act of 1961 for demining programs 

24 and activities to be carried out by or in conVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:58 Apr 05, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4377.IH H4377

tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 4377 IH

1 junction with military units or personnel of a 

2 foreign country; 

3 (C) sales of defense articles or defense 

4 services, extensions of credits (including partici5 pations in credits), and guaranties of loans 

6 under the Arms Export Control Act; or 

7 (D) any license in effect with respect to 

8 the export of defense articles or defense services 

9 to or for the armed forces, police, intelligence, 

10 or other internal security forces of Burma 

11 under section 38 of the Arms Export Control 

12 Act. 

13 (3) APPLICABILITY TO FY 2014 FUNDS.—The 

14 limitation on the availability of funds under this sub15 section for fiscal year 2014 shall apply with respect 

16 to funds that are unobligated as of the date of the 

17 enactment of this Act. 

18 (4) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—Nothing in this Act 

19 should be construed either to prevent participation 

20 by Burmese authorities in training on civil-military 

21 relations and human rights, as carried out by the 

22 Defense Institute of International Legal Studies, or 

23 to prevent United States disaster assistance in 

24 Burma. 

25 (b) REPORT.— 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 4377 IH

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an3 nually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit 

4 to the appropriate congressional committees a report 

5 on the strategy for, and plans and status of, engage6 ment between the United States and the Burmese 

7 military. 

8 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required under 

9 paragraph (1) shall include the following elements: 

10 (A) A description and assessment of the 

11 Government of Burma’s strategy for security 

12 sector reform, an identification and comprehen13 sive analysis of those reform elements that the 

14 United States Government should support, and 

15 a multi-year cost estimate for providing such 

16 support. 

17 (B) The United States strategy for the re18 lationship between the United States and the 

19 Burmese military, including a description of 

20 how and why such engagements are necessary 

21 for United States national security. 

22 (C) An assessment of the human rights 

23 record of the Burmese military over the past 

24 decade, including— 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 4377 IH

1 (i) an account of violations of human 

2 rights and laws of armed conflict by the 

3 Burmese military and all paramilitary and 

4 security forces under its command, includ5 ing against ethnic minority groups; 

6 (ii) a description of efforts by the 

7 Burmese military to implement human 

8 rights reforms; and 

9 (iii) a description of progress in the 

10 relationship between the United States and 

11 the Burmese military and such reforms. 

12 (D) An assessment of any substantial and 

13 meaningful steps taken by the Burmese military 

14 to implement reforms to increase transparency 

15 and accountability of the military’s budget and 

16 operations and to divest itself from ownership 

17 of commercial business. 

18 (E) A list of ongoing activities conducted 

19 by the United States Government and other 

20 international donors with the Burmese military, 

21 including a description of each such activity. 

22 (F) An update on activities that were listed 

23 in previous reporting. 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 4377 IH

1 (G) A list of activities that are planned to 

2 occur over the upcoming year, with a written 

3 description of each. 

4 (H) A description of progress on the peace5 ful settlement of armed conflicts between the 

6 Government of Burma and ethnic minority 

7 groups, including the steps taken by the Bur8 mese military to demonstrate respect for 

9 ceasefires, laws of armed conflict, and human 

10 rights provisions prohibiting rape, torture, 

11 forced labor, trafficking, and the use of child 

12 soldiers. 

13 (I) A description of the concrete steps the 

14 Government of Burma has taken— 

15 (i) to establish a fair, transparent, 

16 and inclusive process to amend the Con17 stitution of Burma; 

18 (ii) to promote peace agreements or 

19 political reconciliation and equal and fair 

20 treatment of all ethnic groups in conflict 

21 areas or areas of unrest; and 

22 (iii) to actively address the resettle23 ment and humanitarian situation of dis24 placed persons. 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 4377 IH

1 (J) An assessment of the status of the 

2 Burmese military’s cooperation with civilian au3 thorities to investigate and resolve cases of 

4 human rights violations. 

5 (3) FORM.—The report required under para6 graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, 

7 but may contain a classified annex as necessary. 

8 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE9 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres10 sional committees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Af11 fairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

12 on Foreign Relations of the Senate. 

Æ 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS