Burma

Floor Speech

BURMA -- (Senate - September 25, 2007)

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, for the last several months I have been coming to the floor with some frequency to speak about the tragic events in Darfur. That ongoing humanitarian crisis is a constant reminder of how many in this world still live under tragic circumstances and brutal governments.

Yet the human spirit continues to fight for change, even under these difficult conditions, something that has been so movingly evident in the recent days in the country of Burma. During the last week, the world has watched as thousands of Burmese have peacefully called for political change in one of the world's most repressive countries. Reuters reported today that 10,000 Buddhist monks continue to march through the largest city, Rangoon, chanting ``democracy, democracy.''

The streets are lined with between 50,000 to 100,000 clapping, cheering supporters. I speak today to lend my support to these peaceful protests and call on the Burmese military to immediately begin working with Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and U.N. Envoy Ibrahim Gambari to bring about a peaceful transition to real democracy in Burma. It should also unconditionally release all political prisoners.

I also call on the Government of China to use its special relationship with the Burmese Government to constructively foster these long overdue changes. As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, China has a particular responsibility to take action and to do it rapidly.

Sadly, this tragedy has been going on for way too long. Following decades of totalitarian rule, the Burmese people, in 1998, began widespread protests for greater democracy, 9 years ago.

The military responded by seizing power and brutally suppressing the popular movement. Two years later, the military government allowed relatively free elections. Aung San Suu Kyi, despite being under house arrest, led her National League for Democracy Party to an overwhelming victory that captured more than 80 percent of the seats in Parliament. Yet to this date, 16 years later, the military has refused to recognize the sweeping democratic mandate by the Burmese people. Sixteen years after a landslide victory, they still wait for the results of the election to be followed.

Can any one of my colleagues in the Senate even imagine being so brazenly denied representation. Following the vote, those elected from her party attempted to take office. The military responded by detaining hundreds of members of the Parliament-elect and other democracy activists. Many remain under arrest even today, with estimates of well over 1,000 political prisoners. Conditions for these prisoners are horrible. Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for the majority of the last 16 years.

During the last two decades, the Burmese military has created an Orwellian state, one where simply owning a fax machine can lead to a harsh prison sentence. Government thugs beat a Nobel laureate for simply speaking in public. Forced labor and resettlement are widespread. Government-sanctioned violence against ethnic minorities, rape and torture are rampant.

The military suddenly moved the capital 300 miles into the remote interior out of fear of its own people, and the state watches over all aspects of daily life in a way we thought was almost forgotten in today's world.

Under military rule the country has plunged into tragic poverty and growing isolation. The educational and economic systems have all but collapsed. The military is hidden under the facade of a prolonged constitutional drafting process that is a sham.

The junta has no intention of ever allowing a representative government. All the while, it displays its naked fear of its own people as it keeps Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest. It is understandable that the Burmese people are demanding change. Even after Suu Kyi's husband Michael Aris was diagnosed with cancer in London in 1997, the military would not allow him to visit his wife. The junta would allow her to leave Burma to visit him but, undoubtedly, would never let her return.

She refused to leave because of her dedication to the Burmese people. Sadly, her husband, Michael Aris, died in 1999 without having seen his wife for more than 3 years. Leaders from around the world have spoken in support of her and about the need for change in Burma. Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton, as well as Senators FEINSTEIN and MCCAIN, have all voiced repeated concerns. Earlier today, my colleague, Senator McConnell, shared similar concerns on the floor of the Senate.

In 1995, then U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Madeleine Albright became the first Cabinet level official to visit Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma since the original Democratic upheavals.

Later, as Secretary of State, she continued to advocate for change in Burma, at one point saying its government was ``among the most repressive and intrusive on earth.''

The sweeping calls for change are truly global. South African archbishop and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu and former Czech President Vaclav Havel have called on the U.N. to take action in Burma.

In December 2000, all living Nobel Peace laureates gathered in Oslo to honor fellow laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. In May of this year, the Norwegian Prime Minister released a letter he organized with 59 former heads of state from five continents calling for her release and the release of all Burmese political prisoners. Now thousands of extraordinarily brave Burmese monks and everyday citizens are filling the streets of Burma. They are saying it is time for peaceful change. In recent days, the monks even reached Suu Kyi's heavily guarded home where witnesses said she greeted them at her gate in tears.

One need only look at the dramatic images being shown on television and on the front pages of newspapers around the world to see the bravery and dignity of these peaceful protesters.

This is a Reuters photograph. It is so touching to look at this demonstration in Burma, monks and supporters literally risking their lives fighting for democracy, fighting for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the Burmese prisoners. We are hoping this force in the streets, a force for peace, a force for change, will prevail. We salute their courage, and let the Burmese military know they can't get by with this forever. I want the Burmese people to know the world knows what is happening in their country. There is strong support in the Senate among Republicans and Democrats for peaceful change and democratic government. To those in Burma fighting for peaceful democratic change, our message is simple--we are with you. I call on the Burmese military to immediately release Aung San Suu Kyi and all Burmese political prisoners, to respect peaceful protests of its own citizens, and begin a timely transition to democratic rule. The eyes of the world are watching.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

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