IIB 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3190 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 
AN ACT 
To authorize humanitarian assistance and impose sanctions 
with respect to human rights abuses in Burma, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Burma Unified through Rigorous Military Accountability 
Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘BURMA Act of 2019’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Definitions. 
Sec. 3. Findings. 
TITLE I—MATTERS RELATING TO THE CONFLICT IN BURMA 
Sec. 101. Statement of policy. 
Sec. 102. Sense of Congress with respect to humanitarian assistance, freedom 
of movement, and rights of returnees. 
Sec. 103. Sense of Congress on freedoms of press and association. 
Sec. 104. Imposition of sanctions for the violation of human rights. 
TITLE II—ASSISTANCE AND SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO 
BURMA 
Sec. 201. Authorization to provide humanitarian assistance. 
Sec. 202. Imposition of sanctions with respect to human rights abuses in 
Burma. 
TITLE III—GOVERNANCE OF THE BURMESE MINING AND 
GEMSTONE SECTORS 
Sec. 301. Sense of Congress on the mining sector of Burma. 
Sec. 302. Guidance relating to responsibility and transparency in the mining 
sector of Burma. 
TITLE IV—ACCOUNTABILITY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES AND 
STRATEGY FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH 
Sec. 401. Report on accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity, 
and genocide in Burma. 
Sec. 402. Authorization to provide technical assistance for efforts against 
human rights abuses. 
Sec. 403. Strategy for promoting economic development in Burma. 
TITLE V—DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS 
Sec. 501. Determination of budgetary effects. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 
Committee on Financial Services, and the Com-
mittee on Armed Services of the House of Rep-
resentatives; and 
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 
the Committee on Banking, and the Committee 
on Armed Services of the Senate. 
(2) CRIMES
AGAINST
HUMANITY.—The term 
‘‘crimes against humanity’’ includes, when com-
mitted as part of a widespread or systematic attack 
directed against any civilian population, with knowl-
edge of the attack— 
(A) murder; 
(B) deportation or forcible transfer of pop-
ulation; 
(C) torture; 
(D) extermination; 
(E) enslavement; 
(F) rape, sexual slavery, or any other form 
of sexual violence of comparable severity; 
(G) persecution against any identifiable 
group or collectivity on political, racial, na-
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tional, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender, or 
other grounds that are universally recognized as 
impermissible under international law; and 
(H) enforced disappearance of persons. 
(3) GENOCIDE.—The term ‘‘genocide’’ means 
any offense described in section 1091(a) of title 18, 
United States Code. 
(4) TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE.—The term ‘‘tran-
sitional justice’’ means the range of judicial, non-
judicial, formal, informal, retributive, and restorative 
measures employed by countries transitioning out of 
armed conflict or repressive regimes to redress leg-
acies of atrocities and to promote long-term, sustain-
able peace. 
(5) WAR CRIME.—The term ‘‘war crime’’ has 
the meaning given the term in section 2441(c) of 
title 18, United States Code. 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) On August 25, 2017, Burmese military and 
security forces violently and disproportionately re-
sponded to an attack on security outposts, resulting 
in a mass exodus of Rohingya from the Rakhine 
State of Burma into Bangladesh, which the Inter-
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national Organization of Migration called ‘‘unprece-
dented in terms of volume and speed’’. 
(2) Between August 2017 and March 2019, in 
response to the violence perpetrated by the Burmese 
military and security forces, the United Nations esti-
mates more than 740,000 Rohingya, approximately 
75 percent of whom are women and children, have 
fled to Bangladesh, fearing loss of life, livelihoods, 
and shelter. Rohingya have continued to flee Burma 
in significant numbers, including in 2019. According 
to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refu-
gees, more than 1,400 Rohingya have arrived in 
Bangladesh since January 1, 2019. 
(3) Even after the Burmese military scaled 
back attacks against Rohingya in late 2017, security 
forces continued to impose restrictions on the basic 
freedoms of Rohingya in Rakhine State, including on 
freedom of movement. In November 2017, Amnesty 
International determined that Rohingya remaining 
in Rakhine are ‘‘trapped in a vicious system of state- 
sponsored, 
institutionalized 
discrimination 
that 
amounts to apartheid’’. 
(4) Despite the steps taken toward democracy 
in Burma, there exists limited control by the civilian 
government over civilian agencies as well as military 
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and security forces that carried out the violence in 
Rakhine State. The military and security forces con-
tinue to engage in grave human rights abuses 
against ethnic minorities throughout in the country. 
(5) Both government- and military-initiated in-
vestigations into human rights abuses in Burma in-
volving violence between ethnic minorities and Bur-
mese security forces have failed to yield credible re-
sults or hold perpetrators accountable. 
(6) In a public address on October 12, 2017, 
State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi laid out the fol-
lowing goals for the State of Rakhine: 
(A) Repatriation of those who have crossed 
over to Bangladesh. 
(B) Effective provision of humanitarian as-
sistance. 
(C) Resettlement of displaced populations. 
(D) Economic development and durable 
peace. 
(7) Due to restrictions enforced by the Rakhine 
State government and the national military and se-
curity forces, there has been little progress made 
since that time and limited ability for the inter-
national community to support, verify, or evaluate 
the Government of Burma’s efforts. There are also 
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