Approving the renewal of import restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003.

Mr. Speaker, this week, the military dictators in Burma opened a ``constitutional convention'' whose purported aim is to establish democracy in Burma. Anyone who has followed the situation in Burma knows that the brutal dictators of the State Peace and Democracy Council (SPDC) are the last people who should be guiding the democratic process.

While on the one hand, the SPDC talks of democracy and peace among Burma's ethnic and political groups, it continues to terrorize these same groups, impress people into forced labor for the military, and imprison those working for democratic change. This constitutional convention is a deception designed to give the perception of democracy while maintaining maximum military control.

While the SPDC organizes its constitutional convention, the legal and duly elected leader of Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest. Nearly one year ago, the SPDC engineered an unprovoked attack on Aung San Suu Kyi's motorcade as she traveled throughout Burma spreading her message of freedom and democracy. In the aftermath of the attack, she was taken into custody for her own safety--at least that is what the Burmese military wants us to believe.

Wherever she goes crowds gather to hear her message. Despite the danger of attending these rallies, the Burmese people do not care. Countless Burmese of all ethnic persuasions look to Aung San Suu Kyi as the very heart and soul of the Burmese democracy movement. The credibility and charisma of Aung San Suu Kyi cannot be denied; it cannot be sold; it cannot be bought. It comes only from standing up for what is right.

To be sure, the movement is bigger than one person, but Aung San Suu Kyi has led the forces of democracy in Burma for many years. On many occasions, she could have left Burma behind, but at great personal sacrifice, she has remained. She provides a shining example of standing tall and standing firm in the face of relentless opposition and hardship. And although she has been in prison or under house arrest for 9 of the last 15 years, her commitment to freedom, democracy, and a better life in Burma has never wavered and never faltered. She is the public face of thousands of men, women, and children who have suffered unspeakably harsh conditions and who remain prisoners in their own country.

As leader of the National League for Democracy, it would seem natural that Aung San Suu Kyi and NLD Vice Chairman Tin Oo, who is also in the hands of Burma's merciless thugs, would attend the convention. Shamefully, the SPDC has refused to release either freedom fighter before, during, or after the convention.

Equally regrettable is that the SPDC has refused to allow NLD offices to reopen around the country. The SPDC has also failed to clarify procedures of discussion and has limited the parameters for discussion. The convention is being held in grim isolation with limited access by outside observers. In short, the SPDC is so tightly controlling the convention that it would seem that the participants can only rubber stamp the SPDC's agenda. That is not democracy; that is dictatorship.

The National League for Democracy is boycotting the convention, and I support that decision. Participation in such an obvious fraud can only undermine all for which the NLD is working.

Democracy in Burma is a goal that cannot be compromised. The United States believes in that goal. American sanctions on Burma have had a profoundly positive impact over the last year. Reports coming from inside Burma and from groups knowledgeable about the situation in that country have praised the tough stance the United States has taken against the dictatorship in Rangoon.

Our tough stance is in danger of faltering unless the sanctions are renewed during this Congress. H.J. Res. 95, which has 46 bipartisan co- sponsors, approves the renewal of American sanctions and show our continuing commitment to freedom, liberty, and emancipation from tyranny. I urge all of my colleagues to fight for the passage of this important resolution.

If the daylight of freedom feels like it's a long way off, it will be even longer unless the United States stands side by side with Aung San Suu Kyi, the NLD, and the people of Burma struggling under the heavy yoke of oppression and cruelty.