Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to express my support for the joint resolution to renew the import ban on Burma for another year. I am proud to be joined in this effort once again by Senator McConnell, a true champion for democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Burma. The House passed this resolution unanimously on July 20 and I urge the Senate to begin action on it now by supporting the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed. These sanctions expired on July 26 and we should extend them as soon as possible. We must send a message to the people of Burma that we continue to stand with them in their struggle for a truly representative government. I have been involved in the struggle for freedom and democracy in Burma for over 10 years. In 1997, former Senator William Cohen and I authored legislation requiring the President to ban new U.S. investment in Burma if he determined that the Government of Burma had physically harmed, re- arrested or exiled Aung San Suu Kyi or committed large-scale repression or violence against the democratic opposition. President Clinton issued the ban in a 1997 Executive order and the ban remains on the books today. In 2003, after the regime attempted to assassinate Aung San Suu Kyi, Senator McConnell and I introduced the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003 which placed a complete ban on imports from Burma. It allowed that ban to be renewed 1 year at a time.…”