IV

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 603

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the seat in the

United Nations that is reserved to Burma should be occupied by a

representative of the National League for Democracy.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 15, 1998

Mr. ROHRABACHER submitted the following resolution; which was referred to

the Committee on International Relations

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that

the seat in the United Nations that is reserved to Burma

should be occupied by a representative of the National

League for Democracy.

Whereas in 1988 the ruling military junta in Burma massacred thousands of demonstrators who were demanding

human rights and a democratic form of government;

Whereas in each year since 1988 the Department of State of

the United States has included Burma, renamed

Myanmar by its military regime, on its list of countries

that provide support for international terrorism, which

also includes the ‘‘outlaw’’ states of Libya, North Korea,

and Iraq;
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•HRES 603 IH

Whereas in 1990 the National League for Democracy, led by

Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, won over 80 percent of the seats in the Burmese parliament in the first

democratic elections held in Burma in decades;

Whereas despite assurances from leaders of the military regime that governmental power in Burma would be ceded

to the newly elected parliament, a crackdown ensued and

the military regime did not permit the newly elected parliament to be seated;

Whereas the military regime arrested hundreds of members

of the newly elected parliament to prevent them from

convening a government;

Whereas there is clear and convincing evidence that many

leaders of the military regime in Burma are involved in

the growth, production, and transportation of opium and

its deadly derivative, heroin;

Whereas the military regime in Burma has given, and continues to give, safe haven to international drug kingpins,

such as the infamous Khun Sa (also known as Chang

Qifu), who are under indictment in the United States for

heroin trafficking;

Whereas the United States and international organizations,

including the United Nations, have demonstrated that the

military regime in Burma is among the worst offenders

of human rights in the world;

Whereas the United Nations has continually sought visas

from the military regime in Burma to enable United Nations representatives to meet with political prisoners, democracy activists, and refugees in Burma, but the military regime has refused and continues to refuse to issue

the visas;
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•HRES 603 IH

Whereas in 1997 the United States imposed economic sanctions against the military regime in Burma as a demonstration of support for the National League for Democracy;

Whereas on September 16, 1998, the National League for

Democracy formed a committee to represent the members

of parliament who were duly elected in 1990;

Whereas the military regime in Burma has demonstrated a

clear intent to disregard the fundamental rights that

countries that are members of the United Nations should

ensure for their citizens; and

Whereas the seat in the United Nations that is reserved to

Burma should be occupied not by a representative of the

military regime of Burma but by a representative of the

duly elected parliament: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that the Secretary of State should instruct the

3 United States Ambassador to the United Nations to use

4 appropriate procedures in the United Nations—

5 (1) to obtain the removal of the representative

6 of the Burmese military regime from the seat in the

7 United Nations that is reserved to Burma;

8 (2) to enable the seat to be occupied by a rep9 resentative of the duly elected parliament of Burma;

10 and

11 (3) to hold the seat vacant until such time as

12 it can be so occupied.

Æ