Joe Crowley: “In recognition of the Burmese State Peace and Development Council's (SPDC) failure to comply with the conditions…”

“In recognition of the Burmese State Peace and Development Council's (SPDC) failure to comply with the conditions described in H.R. 2330, ``Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003,'' I commend my colleague and the ranking Member of the Committee on International Relations, Rep. Tom Lantos for his strong stand on restoring democracy in Burma and holding the military Junta accountable. Seventeen years ago the people of Myanmar rose up in mass protest against the SPDC, which had established power through a military coup. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of the country's founding hero, U Aung San, was arrested as a result of her pro-democracy stance during these protests. Following in her father's footsteps, she devotes her life to the people of Burma and freedom. As a leader of the National League for Democracy, NLD, she was seen as a threat to the SPDC power basis and unjustly imprisoned. In 1990 Parliamentary elections were held, in which an eighty percent majority voted in support the NLD. In 1991, Mrs. Kyi was awarded the Nobel peace prize in recognition for her instrumental role in Burma's struggle for freedom. Since the SPDC has taken power, it has continued to dismiss and neglect any meaningful dialogue with the United Nations in addressing their continuing persecution of opposition members. The SPDC continually fails to address their past and present human rights violations and fails to cooperate with U.S.…”