Max Baucus: “a little more than 2 years ago, thugs working for the military strongmen of Burma attacked Aung San Suu Kyi and members…”

“a little more than 2 years ago, thugs working for the military strongmen of Burma attacked Aung San Suu Kyi and members of the opposition party that she leads, the National League for Democracy. The Government put Suu Kyi into what they call ``protective custody.'' She remains under house arrest to this day. In response to this heinous attack, America banned imports from Burma. We in Congress believed something had to be done. In 2002, those imports were valued at $350 million, mostly in garments. In the autumn of 2003, Burmese Prime Minister Nyunt, who had opposed the attack on the opposition party, called for a seven-point road map to Democracy. But the road map led to nowhere. And a rigged national convention broke down when opposition representatives rightly decided to boycott it. The strongmen of Burma then removed Prime Minister Nyunt from his post. They placed him under house arrest, for supposed corruption. And they replaced him with a hard-line general, whom many believe to have planned the attack. Where does this leave Burma? In short, the ruling generals have consolidated their grip on power. And government security forces continue to inflict innumerable human rights violations on the Burmese people. This is a tragic situation. The long-suffering people of Burma deserve to be rid of the criminals who purport to represent them. But what is the best way to do that?…”