Please do this (re. Burma sanctions

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Received: (from strider) by igc4.igc.apc.org (8.6.12/Revision: 1.15 ) id JAA00888; Tue, 26 Sep 1995 09:40:42 -0700
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 09:40:42 -0700
Subject: Please do this (re. Burma sanctions bill)

Dear BurmaNet readers,

The Congress of the United States has passed the most far-reaching 
sanctions bill ever to be aimed at the military regime in Burma.  
Unlike some of the previous efforts, the current bill is likely to do 
serious damage to the State Law and Order Council's efforts to gain 
legitimacy and attract investment.  Unfortunately, the struggle to get 
this bill passed isn't finished.

There are differences between the versions of the bill which the Senate 
and House have passed.  What happens next is that a committee made up 
of a few members of both the House and Senate will meet and come up 
with a compromise between the two versions.  That bill will then go 
back to both houses, where it is likely to pass, and then to President 
Clinton, who is likely to sign it.

It is in the current stage that is the most dangerous.  The person who 
is responsible for appointing the conferees from the House side has 
close connections with the oil industry and the Unocal Corporation in 
particular.  Rep. Livingstone recently travelled to Burma as (I 
believe) a guest of Unocal and the SLORC and has expressed his support 
for the current regime's effort to gain legitimacy. Rep. Livingstone is 
almost certain to be hostile to the intent of the bill and may have
significant influence on what emerges from the conference committee.
The most effective way to prevent the bill from being gutted is to 
speak up now.

We have now reached the most critical point of pushing sanctions in the U.S.
-- this advocacy effort which must happen in the next 24 to 48 hours will
decide whether or not the McConnell sanctions pass or fall.  Specifically,
we must persuade Congresspersons who are named to the committee to decide
the final form of the bill (and whether to keep the McConnell provision,
which was passed by the Senate but not by the House of Representatives) to
support Burma sanctions. 

Burma democracy activists from around the world should:

 1 send letters and human rights information to the Congressman to 
demonstrate the wider size of the movement for restoration of democracy 
in Burma.  

 2 This needs to be done in the next 24 to 48 hours because the meeting 
to take the decision will occur this week.  The letters should be 
polite in tone and clearly indicate that they are urging support for 
"the McConnell amendment on Burma in the House-Senate conference on the 
Foreign Operations bill".  

The letter can have the same text to each person it is sent to, but it
should be personalized using that Congressman's name and address (and not
"to whom it may concern"). This amendment contains the same language as the
same as the McConnell sanctions bill that was widely publicized.  Letter
writers should include their address and contact information at the bottom
of their letters.  

This bill is too important to the prospects for democracy in Burma 
and it is too close to passage to let it be quietly dropped in 
committee.  Whether you are an American citizen or not, please contact the 
Congresspeople below to let them know how important their decision is.

Thank you,

     Strider

[Note: If your email to these Congresspeople "bounces," ignore it; your 
message almost certainly got delivered despite the "bounce" messages.  The 
United States may be one of the most technologically advanced countries on 
the planet but the e-mail system used by the Congress is, well, dodgy.]

************
e-mail:  MPForbes@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Congressman Michael Forbes
House Foreign Operations Subcommittee
502 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C.  20515

e-mail:  RPackard@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Congressman Ron Packard
House Foreign Operations Subcommittee
2162 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.  20515

e-mail:  CWilson@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Congressman Charles Wilson
House Foreign Operations Subcommittee
2256 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.  20515

e-mail: sfnancy@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi
House Foreign Operations Subcommittee
Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515


Faxes can also be sent to these other House conferees who don't have e-mail.
The address is House Foreign Operations Subcommittee, U.S. House,
Washington, D.C.  20515
                                                FAX
Congressman Robert Livingston ---               202-225-0379
Congressman John Edward Porter --             202-225-0157  
Congressman Frank R. Wolf ---                      202-225-0437             
Congressman Jim Lightfoot ---                   202-225-6973
Congressman Sonny Callahan ---                    202-225-0562      
Congressman Joseph Knollenberg ---              202-226-2356
Congressman Jim Bunn ---                           202-225-2994     
Congressman David Obey ----                             
Congressman Sidney Yates ----                   202-225-3493
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi --                    202-225-8259       
Congressman Esteban Edward Torres --            202-225-9711