Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, as the Ranking Member of the Asia-Pacific Subcommittee, I rise today in support of H.R. 5497, the BURMA Act, bipartisan legislation Chairman Meeks and I introduced last year in response to the coup in Burma. And I want to thank Ranking Member McCaul and Ms. Tenney and all those who have supported this legislation on both sides of the aisle. As everyone who follows the situation in Burma knows, on February 1, 2021 the Burmese military perpetrated a coup against the civilian government, detained its elected leaders and set up a junta. This is by no means the first time the generals have seized power but this time the response has been different. The people of Burma, in all walks of life have courageously stood up against the military with peaceful protests, mass strikes, and other civil disobedience. The military's response bas been predictable--they initiated a crackdown that continues today. They've killed over seventeen hundred people and imprisoned thousands more. This repression has pushed the country into civil war, essentially, as the generals stubbornly refuse to restore democracy. Let me be clear, this coup is a blatant violation of the rights of the Burmese people. Self-government and self-determination are rights of all people around the world, not a gift from a small handful of elites who pretend to be entitled to rule over their fellow citizens. The generals cannot simply back out of democracy when it no longer serves their purposes.…”