Steve Cohen: “this is one of the so-called Burma amendments. I will take a few moments to explain the nature of what I am seeking to…”

“this is one of the so-called Burma amendments. I will take a few moments to explain the nature of what I am seeking to achieve. I am offering this amendment on behalf of myself, Senator Feinstein, and Senator Chafee, and Senator McCain. Let me begin, Mr. President, by stating that nothing that we do or say on the floor of the Senate today is going to magically bring democracy, freedom and prosperity to the long-suffering people of Burma. Burma's history, since gaining independence after World War II, has been a series of oppressive regimes unable to set the Burmese economy on its feet, unwilling to grant the peoples of Burma the democracy and justice that motivated their heroic struggle for independence in the years leading up to the British withdrawal. When decades of isolation and economic mismanagement gave way in the late 1980's to a transitional period under military rule, there was a slight glimmer of hope that Burma might finally be moving toward a more bright and democratic future. But stolen elections, student riots, and the jailing of democratic politicians, including the Nobel Prize winning leader of the democracy movement, Aung San Suu Kyi, soon made clear freedom's day had not yet arrived for Burma.”