SENATOR EYES PERMANENT BURMA SANCTI

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Subject: SENATOR EYES PERMANENT BURMA SANCTIONS

Tuesday April 22 4:53 PM EDT 

Senator eyes permanent Burma sanctions

WASHINGTON, April 22 (UPI) _ A Republican senator says he will push to
cement in legislation
the economic sanctions President Clinton imposed on Burma for human rights
abuses. 

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday he wants something more permanent
than the action of
Clinton, who invoked his privilege under an existing law to ban new American
investment in Burma.
Clinton cited the ruling military junta's ``continuing pattern of
repression,'' intended to the squelch the
nation's democratic movement. 

McConnell says that ``overdue'' decision is ``an important step in our
effort to restore democracy in
Burma.'' 

But he says he wants the sanctions couched in law since Clinton's action
``is an executive order
which can be rescinded as quickly as it was issued.'' The Kentucky lawmaker
says that would
``keep the pressure on and eventually convert policy into law.'' 

McConnell's bill would go further than Clinton, banning U.S. investment in
Burma and prohibiting
U.S. assistance through international lending institutions. The president's
move would not affect
current American projects in Burma. 

McConnell says those economic threats, to be followed by possible action,
will help force the ruling
State Law and Order Restoration Council to acknowledge its ouster with the
1991 election of
Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and National League for Democracy to office.