The new constitution will provide military control, as Dr. Williams has said, over the society.

the major contributor to the openness that we have seen--however imperfect--in Vietnam was lifting the trade embargo.

the United States has no military ambitions or objectives of any kind inside the country.

What is the view of the administration with respect to the elections process, the constitution, and the potential timing of implementing legislation, and the timing of the elections following the implementing legislation?

The administration unequivocally supports the initiation of a credible dialogue among the regime, the democratic opposition, and ethnic minority groups to discuss a shared vision for Burma's future.

The goal of our government... ought to be to try and take this document, move it from fraud into transition.

I'd like to go back to an important point that Professor Williams made, that Burma's problems began in ethnic conflict, and will continue until the underlying issues are addressed.

We should, I think, as U.S. policy, not be dependent on any individual or group, however benign, on the development of our foreign policy.

Does our State Department have indications that the NLD and other opposition groups are prepared to support the elections process?

This afternoon the East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee will examine American policy toward Burma.

I support very much the administration's new support for increased humanitarian assistance, and scaling up of aid, I believe, should be a top priority.

I was one of those who resisted lifting the trade embargo against Vietnam, for a number of years.

I think if we're going to exploit that fluidity we have to think beyond the process itself, and think a little bit more creatively about how to exploit the changes that are going to take place within the system.

I am greatly disappointed that no Buddhist Monks or members of Burma's democracy movement were invited to testify in this hearing.

that's something we do need to make sure that's being said as we pursue this process.

Along those lines, if the government itself were to request technical and other assistance with respect to the elections, is the State Department prepared to provide that?

I think the United States--we prepared intensively, we laid out what our goals were and how we would want to go about a dialogue.

It has been estimated that around the globe, the Green Revolution has saved over a billion lives from starvation and countless millions more from the ravages of disease and sickness due to malnutrition.