Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. First of all, let me thank Congressman King for offering this very important resolution, and my good friend and colleague, Chairman Lantos, for bringing this to the floor, as well as Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who serves very admirably as the ranking member.
This is a very important and very timely resolution. Chairman Lantos has been speaking out on behalf of Burma and human rights in Burma for years, and this today is another expression of our collective bipartisan support for the beleaguered pro-democracy activists in that country.
Madam Speaker, the shocking, unprovoked actions of Burma's brutal regime in recent days are part of a long history of repression by that country's dictators. The wanton bloodshed, Tiananmen Square-like, was just another serious manifestation of hate and cruelty by the junta in Rangoon.
Members will recall, that in 1988 Burmese military forces slaughtered several thousand peaceful demonstrators, sending even more into hiding in the hills and border areas. The military regime took no heed of international criticism of these crimes and continued to suppress the most basic freedoms of its people.
When the National League for Democracy won control at the ballot box, the generals nullified that election and harassed, tortured and killed parliamentarians and pro-democracy activists. They also harassed, incarcerated and put under house arrest Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, one of the greatest people on Earth.
Meanwhile, in 1998, Madam Speaker, a 19-year-old student from my district, Michelle Keegan, traveled to Burma to commemorate in a peaceful way with other pro-democracy activists the 10th anniversary of those 1988 massacres. She and others were locked up, convicted and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment. Her only crime was to distribute pamphlets calling for democracy in Burma. As a matter of fact, it was a very small business card. Very small. They handed those out, and for that she got 5 years.
I travelled to the region at the time in an effort to help negotiate the release of these young people, including my constituent. I repeatedly was denied a visa to enter Burma, but from Bangkok remained in close contact with the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon, and others as we were pressing for the release of Ms. Keegan and the five other Americans.
Together, along with family members of the detainees and others, we made these dictators understand that the whole world, including the U.S. Congress and the American people, were watching and would somehow hold them accountable. In response to international pressure, the government soon released them and then expelled them from the country. She and those other Americans were the lucky ones. Others from other countries regrettably spent long periods of time in jail.
Sorry to say, the members of the junta in Rangoon are not people who readily listen to reason. This body has addressed the situation in Burma several times over the years. I chaired a hearing on human rights abuses in Burma in September of 1998, and we shed further light on these issues in February of 2006 at a hearing entitled ``Human rights in Burma. Where are we now and what do we do next?''
Clearly we need to do more. Yes, we have sanctions. Chairman Lantos is the prime sponsor of legislation imposing sanctions on Burma. But, unfortunately, the other countries, the ASEAN countries and other countries of the world, have not followed suit the way they ought to.
We need to be united in this effort. That is when we will get the junta to stand up and take notice, especially when the PRC does something other than enable and facilitate these abuses.
Madam Speaker, now as the courageous Burmese people again dare to demonstrate peacefully for change in their society, the junta has once again unleashed the military, killing more of their people and imprisoning at least 700 Buddhist monks and 500 others. Former prisoners in Burmese jails have told us at hearings and at meetings of the torture, humiliation and deprivation that they experienced.
One called it the closest thing to hell on Earth that he could imagine. We have good reason to fear that those who are arrested in recent days, that they too now are spending time in hell.
So we have a duty, Madam Speaker, an obligation, to speak out in the face of these outrages. We need to call in the strongest way possible for the restoration of democracy and the restoration of human rights in Burma and the unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Those with interests in Burma, especially the Chinese government, would like to turn a blind eye to these continuing abuses. China may be happy to have another egregious human rights abuser in the spotlight deflecting attention as it prepares to host the world for the Olympics amidst its own repression. But we must hold the Chinese accountable, as well, at home and abroad, and they need to step up to the plate and do what they can to stop this terrible repression in Burma.
Madam Speaker, I wholeheartedly endorse this resolution. I ask my colleagues and the global community to act to end the suffering in Burma and bring about democratic reforms that the Burmese people so desperately desire.
