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 re-
gime redrew the 1947 State Constitution and held a ref-
erendum for a military-backed constitution, endorsing a 
civilian front for military rule, known as the Burmese So-
cialist 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 Coun-
cil (SLORC), held multi-party elections in 1990; 
Whereas despite the threat and pressure by the military re-
gime 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 de-
tained leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and allied ethnic 
political parties; 
Whereas the military regime refused to honor the election re-
sults and arrested and imprisoned both democracy activ-
ists 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 proc-
ess was tightly controlled, repressive and undemocratic; 
Whereas the NLD walked out of the convention in 1995 be-
cause 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 polit-
ical 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 ap-
proximately 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 Se-
curity Council strongly deplores the use of violence 
against peaceful demonstrators in Myanmar, emphasizes 
the importance of the early release of all political pris-
oners 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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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 polit-
ical 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, edu-
cational, social, public health and infrastructure sectors; 
Whereas the SPDC has ignored the repeated requests of the 
United Nations and the international community to re-
lease 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 eth-
nic 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 rep-
resentatives of ethnic nationalities and the NLD from po-
litical 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 parliamen-
tary 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 offi-
cers; 
Whereas in October 2007, the SPDC appointed Labor Min-
ister 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 an-
other year the house arrest of U Tin Oo, Deputy Chair-
man of the NLD; and 
Whereas early reports concerning the referendum voting indi-
cate 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 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress— 
(1) denounces the one-sided, undemocratic, and 
illegitimate actions of the State Peace and Develop-
ment Council (SPDC) that seek to legitimize mili-
tary rule through a flawed referendum process to 
adopt a new, undemocratic constitution; 
(2) strongly urges that Burma’s military regime 
begin a meaningful tri-partite dialogue with Daw 
Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1990 election-winning par-
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ties and representatives of ethnic nationalities to-
ward national reconciliation, democracy, freedom of 
assembly, freedom of movement, freedom of speech, 
freedom of the press, and internationally recognized 
human rights for all Burmese citizens; 
(3) demands the immediate and unconditional 
release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, detained Bud-
dhist monks, and all other political prisoners and 
prisoners of conscience; 
(4) denounces the SPDC for its failure to com-
ply with the United Nation’s recommendations and 
engage in a meaningful time-bound tri-partite dia-
logue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1990 elec-
tion winning parties and representatives of ethnic 
nationalities; 
(5) calls for the SPDC to comply fully and im-
mediately with the recommendations made by the 
United Nations Security Council Presidential State-
ment issued on October 11, 2007; 
(6) urges the President to call for the United 
Nations Security Council to condemn the undemo-
cratic referendum process and the SPDC’s flawed 
constitution which will be the outcome of the ref-
erendum; 
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(7) urges the President to call for the United 
Nations Security Council to pass a binding resolu-
tion, which will instruct the regime to fully comply 
with the recommendations made by United Nations 
Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari and the United Na-
tions Security Council Presidential Statement, and 
strengthen the mandate of Secretary-General Ban 
Ki-moon to engage in a meaningful and time-bound 
dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1990 
election winning parties and ethnic nationality rep-
resentatives towards an inclusive democratic national 
reconciliation; 
(8) urges the President to push for a com-
prehensive arms embargo against the Burmese mili-
tary regime at the United Nations Security Council 
so that weapons produced by foreign countries, in-
cluding Ukraine, China, and Russia, that currently 
sell weapons to Burma’s military regime, can no 
longer be used by Burma’s military regime against 
civilians; and 
(9) urges the Association of Southeast Asian 
Nations to involve itself more deeply in reaching out 
to the Burmese democracy movement and to work 
with the United Nations Security Council and the 
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Secretary-General to promote meaningful political 
dialogue. 
Passed the House of Representatives May 6, 2008. 
Attest: 
LORRAINE C. MILLER, 
Clerk. 
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