BURMA LAW RULING MAY AFFECT 46 STAT

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: BURMA LAW RULING MAY AFFECT 46 STATES

Burma law ruling may affect 46 states
Boston Globe; Boston, Mass.; Nov 6, 1998; Associated Press; 

Sub Title: 
          [City Edition]
Start Page: 
          C3
ISSN: 
          07431791

Abstract:
A federal judge's decision to strike down a Massachusetts law preventing
state government
from dealing with companies doing business in Burma could affect purchasing
laws in 46
states.

"If this ruling stands, taxpayers and local governments around the country
will lose the right
to decide whether to do business that supports brutal regimes like Burma,"
said Byron
Rushing, the Boston state representative who wrote the law.

According to Robert Stumberg, law professor at Georgetown University, 46
states have laws
for domestic, environmental and minority purchasing that would be affected
if the US Supreme
Court ultimately upheld [Joseph] Tauro's decision. Cities in California and
Colorado have Burma
laws, while the states that lack purchasing laws are Arizona, Kentucky,
Nebraska and New
Hampshire.

Full Text:
Copyright Boston Globe Newspaper Nov 6, 1998


BOSTON -- A federal judge's decision to strike down a Massachusetts law
preventing state government
from dealing with companies doing business in Burma could affect purchasing
laws in 46 states.

The state expects to decide by today whether to appeal the decision handed
down by US District Judge
Joseph Tauro on Wednesday.

"If this ruling stands, taxpayers and local governments around the country
will lose the right to decide
whether to do business that supports brutal regimes like Burma," said Byron
Rushing, the Boston state
representative who wrote the law.

"If selective purchasing had been banned 10 years ago, Nelson Mandela might
still be in prison today,"
Rushing said.

Tauro ruled that Massachusetts' Burma law "impermissibly infringes on the
federal government's power to
regulate foreign affairs."

The lawsuit was brought by the National Foreign Trade Council, which
represents major US corporations
that it won't name for fear consumers will boycott them.

The legal challenge has been called the first salvo in an international
battle to eliminate local sanction laws.

According to Robert Stumberg, law professor at Georgetown University, 46
states have laws for
domestic, environmental and minority purchasing that would be affected if
the US Supreme Court
ultimately upheld Tauro's decision. Cities in California and Colorado have
Burma laws, while the states
that lack purchasing laws are Arizona, Kentucky, Nebraska and New Hampshire.

In the United States, 23 cities -- including New York, San Francisco and
Portland, Ore. -- have laws
prohibiting municipal governments from dealing with companies doing business
in Burma, also known as
Myanmar.

The town of North Olmsted, Ohio, has a law forbidding the local government
from buying goods made by
slave labor.

Pennsylvania has a so-called "McBride Principle" law requiring state pension
funds to make sure
companies in Northern Ireland don't discriminate before investing in them.

"If it {the court decision} applies to the Burma laws it certainly would
apply to the McBride legislation,"
said Kevin Muldowney, board member of Pennsylvania's Ancient Order of
Hibernians. "I think it's
outrageous."

Frank Kittredge, NFTC director, said he shares concerns about reported human
rights abuses in Burma.

"However, our system of government was not designed to allow the 50 states
and hundreds of
municipalities to conduct their own individual foreign policies," he said.

Kittredge said at the outset his goal was to get a decision that would stop
state and local sanctions around
the country.

Los Angeles has been considering a sanctions law against Burma, and
opponents routinely mention the
Massachusetts lawsuit, said Kevin Rudiger, spokesman for the Los Angeles
Burma Forum.