Congressman Rohrabacher's Birthday

[maung@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Congressman Rohrabacher's Birthday Message

SPEECH BY CONGRESSMAN DANA ROHRABACHER 
FOR THE 51ST BIRTHDAY OF AUNG SAN SUU KYI 

Dirksen Senate Office Building
June 19, 1996
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It's my pleasure to be here to wish Aung San Suu Kyi a happy 
birthday, and I hope that she gets this message personally, 
that we're all thinking of her, and that we have her in our 
hearts, but I hope that when she celebrates her next 
birthday we will see a democratic Burma and the people of 
Burma will be free.

This will not happen on its own, and each and every one of 
us is playing a role, and achieves that role; we are lucky, 
we are grateful, we should be grateful, especially today on 
her birthday, that there is a strong leader in Burma, 
someone who can be a spokesman for the Burmese people and 
spokesman for Burmese democracy and freedom. Many people who 
are struggling for freedom don't have a such a great 
spokesman as this, someone who captured the attention of the 
world, communicate with every people of the world, so we are 
grateful to her today_for her very being_and she constantly 
supports the spirit of the Burmese people and her family has 
deep roots in the freedom movement and the independence 
movement of Burma itself. 

Let us today look into ourselves; we cannot permit time to 
continue to go by while these dictators continue to rob the 
people of Burma, not only of the natural resources but of 
the rightful ownership that belongs to the people of Burma 
they are stealing these, consuming them, and selling them. 
The people throughout the world, they can't let that go on, 
we can't let that go on while the people of Burma continue 
to experience tyranny and continue to go through their lives 
when a militaristic regime is actually stealing not only the 
minerals from their country but stealing the time from the 
people; they're stealing their lives. And together, we can 
make a difference.

I think that here in this country in particular, we should 
understand that, because in America, one gets  freedom. It 
took many years for America to win its independence; people 
think it just happened like that ((smack!))_it was 
relatively easy_because they focus again on the 
personalities; well in the future, people may look back and 
see, "Well there was Aung San Suu Kyi, and it was very easy 
for them to be freed." Well, it was not easy to win freedom. 
And in the United States it wasn't as well. We had Thomas 
Jefferson. I relate in my mind, relate Aung San Suu Kyi to 
Thomas Jefferson, because he was such an inspiration to the 
American people, to the cause of freedom. And if you 
remember our struggle for independence, it took many years; 
there were many people who were divided over what tactics or 
trick to use; and it took many, many years for the American 
people to mobilize behind this cause, behind the American 
Revolution.  But once we did, we won the case, and how did 
we win? We won because there was another power in the world, 
the French, who actually came with their fleet_and an army, 
I might add_to come and help us so that at the battle of 
Georgetown, it was the British fleet that was stopped by the 
French fleet, and some French troops that were there to help 
us with our independence.

Well the United States isn't going to send troops, and 
they're not going to send ships to free the people of Burma. 
But, we the people of the United States can stand together 
with the people of Burma, and we can be a mighty army of 
freedom of the spirit, and that's what we have to do: we 
have to unite the people who believe in freedom throughout 
the world. This is an appropriate date, I want to say that a 
year from now, we will have organized that mighty army of 
freedom, and we will free the people of Burma, and join them 
hand-in-hand to celebrate Aung San Suu Kyi's 52nd birthday 
in a free Burma.

Thank you very much.