Keep Pressing Governor Weld to Sign

[simon_billenness@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Keep Pressing Governor Weld to Sign Burma Bill (H2833)

KEEP PRESSING GOVERNOR WELD TO SIGN BURMA BILL (H2833) INTO LAW

June 11

I have now received copies of 19 letters to Governor Weld (14 from
out-of-state people and 5 from Massachusetts residents.) I am sure that
people have made many phone calls and sent many letters that I have not seen.

The letters need to keep arriving at Governor Weld's office through Monday,
June 17 at the earliest. If you have not yet faxed a letter to Governor
Weld, please do so this week!

New Developments

Last night (June 10), the Cambridge City Council approved a resolution
urging Governor Weld to sign the Burma bill (H2833) into law. Our thanks go
to Cambridge Vice-Mayor Kathy Born for taking the initiative to file the
resolution.

Dow Jones, Bloomberg Business News and the Boston Globe ran stories on the
Burma bill today, June 11.

The text of the Dow Jones story is at the end of this email message.

Watch out for another story tomorrow (June 12) by the Boston Globe focusing
on the Burma bill's impact on the upcoming US Senate race between Governor
Weld and Senator John Kerry. There may also be a story by Wayne Woodlief in
the Boston Herald on Thursday, June 13.

Word is that Senator John Kerry is concerned that Governor Weld may sign the
bill into law and make Senator Kerry look bad on human rights.  Word is also
that Governor Weld may understand that he has a political opportunity.
Since Governor Weld and Senator Kerry are locked in a tough race for the
U.S. Senate, Burma could turn into an election issue (albeit a minor one).

CONTINUE TO FAX AND CALL GOVERNOR WELD

Please continue to fax and call Governor Weld. If you fax a letter, please
send a fax to me at the number below.

Call Daily !

I am also asking all Burma activists to MAKE ONE PHONE CALL PER DAY to
Governor Weld's office to ask if the Governor has taken a position on the
Burma bill (H2833). 

Governor William Weld
State House
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Boston, MA 02133-1053

(617) 727-3600
(617) 727-9725 fax
(617) 727-9727 fax

Please fax me a copy of your letters. If he people at Governor Weld's office
do tell you the Governor's position on H2833, call me straight away at the
number below.

Simon Billenness
Franklin Research & Development
(617) 423 6655
(800) 482 6179
(617) 482 6179 fax
simon_billenness@xxxxxxxxxxxx

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP !   VICTORY IS IN OUR SIGHTS: DON'T GIVE UP NOW !

--------------------------------------------------------------

BACKGROUND ON THE MASSACHUSETTS BURMA BILL

Timeline

Following the June 5 passage of the H2833 in the Massachusetts, the bill
should reach Governor Weld's desk by Thursday, June 13. The Governor may
well be back from vacation on Monday, June 17.

When the bill reaches the Governor's desk, he has ten days to take one of
four actions:

1.  Sign the bill
2.  Take no action and let the bill become law automatically
3.  Veto the bill
4.  Veto the bill but send back to the Massachusetts legislature an amended
version of the bill

We are not sure whether we have the two-thirds majority in both the House
and Senate to override a veto. 

Background

Sponsored by state Rep. Byron Rushing, H2833 would effectively bar the
state's purchasing managers from buying goods or services from any company
doing business in Burma. The bill would put billions of dollars of state
purchasing power behind all of the boycotts of companies doing business in
Burma.

ASK GOVERNOR WELD TO SIGN H2833 INTO LAW !

If signed by the Governor, H2833 would be the FIRST state-wide Burma law and
the LARGEST in terms of purchasing power. This will be the most significant
Burma selective purchasing law passed this year.

PLEASE MAKE SURE GOVERNOR WELD HEARS FROM YOU BY JUNE 14 ! !

The letters can come from outside Massachusetts. (After all. Governor Weld
has, on occasion, exhibited aspirations for national office.)

*  Ask Governor to support the Burmese democracy movement by signing H2833
into law as soon as it reaches his desk.

*  Tell him that Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Burmese democracy movement
leader Aung San Suu Kyi has specifically called on companies not to invest
in Burma at this time.

*  Stress the how the importance of H2833. Tell him that signing the bill
will give the Burmese military junta second thoughts about further cracking
down on the democracy movement.

*  Mention that no company headquartered in Massachusetts has any investment
in Burma.

*  Tell the Governor that it is a Republican, Senator Mitch McConnell (R,
Kentucky) who has taken the lead in sponsoring federal economic sanctions
legislation: the "Burma Freedom and Democracy Act" (S.1511).

*  Mention that six US cities have already enacted similar legislation. Ask
the Governor to make Massachusetts the first state in the nation to enact
legislation in support of the Burmese democracy movement.

*  If you are a Massachusetts voter, tell the Governor that his action on
H2833 will greatly determine how you will vote in his upcoming race for the
U.S. Senate.

---------------------------
Subject: Dow Jones: Selective Contracting Bill at Massachusetts Gov.

      By Lauren Young 
  
  NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--A tough ''selective contracting'' bill targeting
companies that do business in Burma is expected to cross the desk of
Massachusetts Gov. William Weld soon, but it's unclear whether he'll sign
it into law. 
  Bill H2822, sponsored by state Rep. Byron Rushing, would prohibit the
state from buying the goods or services of companies that do business with
Burma (also known as Myanmar). It would make Massachusetts - which was the
first state to pass legislation to divest itself of South Africa holdings
in the 1980s - the first to enact a selective contracting law involving
Burma. The bill was informally passed by the state senate last week and now
is awaiting official approval. 
  Ruled by a military junta, Burma has been under intense scrutiny for
human rights violations. The country's most vocal opponent, Nobel Prize
Winner Aung San Suu Kyi - who was under house arrest for six years - has
called for an economic boycott of the Southeast Asian nation. 
  Some of the companies affected by Massachusetts' sanctions, if signed
into law by Gov. Weld, would include Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL), UPS,
Eastman Kodak Co. (EK) and Pepsico Inc. (PEP), according to Simon
Billenness, senior analyst at Franklin Research and Development Corp., a
socially oriented Boston money management firm that supports Burmese
sanctions. 
  Activists in Massachusetts and elsewhere are taking a new approach in
their attempts to establish economic boycotts. The 1980s approach was to
urge shareholders to divest - most notably in the case of South Africa.
Today's is to encourage shareholders to hold onto their Burma-related
investments - hold on and apply pressure. 
  ''Shareholder resolutions are having much more of an impact on companies
than divestiture. It's a minor change in tactics,'' Billenness says. ''On
the purchasing side you make a direct impact on a company's bottom line.'' 
  According to Billenness, at least 10 cities and states are expected to
enact Burma-related sanctions by the end of this year. Several cities -
including such usual suspects as Berkeley, Calif., Madison, Wis., and San
Francisco - already have selective purchasing laws, and New York City is
considering similar legislation. And universities are also feeling the
pressure, thanks to pressure from students - now using the Internet to
spread their message around the globe. Student protests led Harvard
University, for example, to cancel a $1 million contract with Pepsico
earlier this year. 
  But the prospects for the Massachusetts bill remain uncertain. Analysts
say Gov. Weld, a Republican, may be reluctant to make waves because he is
challenging Democratic Sen. John Kerry this year in one of the nation's
most hotly contested Senate campaigns. 
  Gov. Weld himself isn't talking. He has not received the bill yet and
will not make a decision until he reviews it, a Weld spokeswoman says -
though she does note that as a rule, Weld doesn't advocate legislation that
''interferes with the free trade or Massachusetts' competitive advantage
over other states.'' 
  (END) DOW JONES NEWS 06-10-96
   3:29 PM