P R E S S R E L E A S E:
_______________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 12, 2003
Contact: Jeremy Woodrum, 202-547-5985, Aung Din, 301-602-0077 (cell)

U.S. HOUSE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE GREEN-LIGHTS NEW SANCTIONS
AGAINST BURMA'S REGIME

Move Follows Near Unanimous Senate Vote to Begin "Effort to Squeeze Military Regime"

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. House International Relations Committee today unanimously passed a bill that will expand U.S. sanctions against Burma's military regime. The vote comes less than a day after the Senate passed almost identical legislation in a nearly undivided vote. The bill, called the "Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003" (HR 2330), will ban all U.S. imports from Burma, freeze the regime's assets, and effectively deny IMF or World Bank loans to the brutal military regime of General Than Shwe. The legislation has received overwhelming bipartisan support, garnering dozens of Congressional co-sponsors. The legislation will become law once it passes in the full House of Representatives and is signed by the President.

"This bill represents the strongest action that any actor in the
international community is taking so far against Than Shwe's regime during this time of political crisis," said Aung Din, Director of Policy for the Free Burma Coalition. "The Committee and the U.S. Senators are right to push other countries to follow suit and to pursue additional pressure for regime change in Burma."

Representative Tom Lantos (D-CA), who introduced the legislation, slammed Burma's regime yesterday, saying, "The Rangoon regime has sunk to new lows and secured its place among the world's rogues gallery of chronic human rights abusers, which includes North Korea and Iran." Rhetoric from the bill 's supporters in the committee echoed that of Senators who see the new sanctions as the first step towards regime change in Burma.

Before the extraordinary 97 to one vote in the Senate, Senators including McConnell (R-KY) and Feinstein (D-CA), McCain (R-AZ), Biden (D-DE), and Leahy (D-VT) derided Burma's regime in an hour of condemnation. Senator John McCain harshly criticized the governments of Japan, Thailand, and China for continuing to support Than Shwe's regime politically and economically, and stated that Secretary of State Colin Powell should boycott both the ASEAN Regional Forum and the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference meetings in Phnom Penh next week if the crisis in Burma does not top the agenda for the meetings. Such a nearly unanimous Senate vote is extremely rare, underlying
the strong opposition to Burma's regime in the U.S. Government.

"These sanctions will hurt Burma's regime, but this is only a first step,"
Aung Din said. "The U.S. is pressuring Asian countries to act on Burma, and is raising the issue with members of the U.N. Security Council to seek an end to Than Shwe's tyranny."

The U.S. imported $356 million worth of goods from Burma last year, mostly apparel and textiles, but exported only about $10 million to Burma. Burma's regime completely controls the garment sector and derives considerable revenue through its exports, including a 10% export tax.