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Action Alert! Fax or Write Your Mem



Subject: Action Alert! Fax or Write Your Member of Congress

NEW ENGLAND BURMA ROUNDTABLE

Action Alert! Fax or Call Your Member of Congress

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October 5, 1999

1. Update: 13 Members of Congress Sign Amicus Brief!
2. Background: Massachusetts Files With U.S. Supreme Court
3. Suggestions For Your Fax or Phone Call
4. List of Current Congressional Amicus Brief Signers
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1. Update: 13 Members of Congress Sign Amicus Brief!

As of October 4, 13 Members of Congress have signed on to an amicus - or
friend of the court - brief in support of Massachusetts petition to the
U.S. Supreme Court. In its petition, Massachusetts is seeking the Supreme
Court's review of the decision by Federal Appeals Court striking down as
unconstitutional the Massachusetts Burma selective purchasing law.

Our goal is to persuade 50 Members of Congress to sign on to the amicus
brief. (Last time, 26 Members of Congress signed on to a similar amicus
brief filed in Federal Appeals Court.) 

To achieve this, we need your help and your phone calls. Please call your
Members of Congress - both in the House and the Senate - toll-free at (888)
449-3511 or at (202) 224-3121. Suggested talking points for your phone call
are below.

Our deadline is: October 15, 1999. So make your call today!

If you'd like more information - or of you want to be added to the email
list to receive these action alerts directly - contact the New England
Burma Roundtable at the address below:

Simon Billenness
*for the New England Burma Roundtable*
Trillium Asset Management
711 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, MA 02111
(617) 423-6655, x225
(617) 482-6179 - fax
sbillenness@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.trilliuminvest.com/
=========================================================

2. Background: Massachusetts Files With U.S. Supreme Court

On September 17, Massachusetts filed its Petition for Certiorari and
supporting brief with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the court to review the
case of the Massachusetts Burma Law.

On June 22, 1999, the Massachusetts Burma Law was struck down in federal
appeals court. The National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC), which represents
major multinational corporations, brought the case. The NFTC claims that
the law is unconstitutional. But this decision - if it stands - would
greatly restrict our ability as citizens to direct how our elected
officials spend our tax money. 

Modeled on similar anti-apartheid statutes, the Massachusetts Burma Law
effectively barred the state from buying goods or services from companies
that did business in Burma. Had the courts struck down South Africa-related
laws in the 1980's, Nelson Mandela might still be in prison today.

The decision by Federal Appeals Court puts in jeopardy a broad variety of
state and local laws that restrict procurement on environmental or human
rights grounds. At risk are procurement laws that restrict the purchase of
old-growth or rainforest woods as well as laws that effectively bar
contracts with companies connected to human rights abuses in Burma, East
Timor, Nigeria, China and Tibet.

There will be several amicus - or "friend of the court" - briefs filed in
support of the Massachusetts petition on the Burma Law. These are due to be
filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on October 20th. The deadline for
officials and organizations to sign on to these briefs is **Friday, October
15th**.

Those filing the amicus briefs will include:

* state attorneys general;
* local governments;
* Members of Congress; and
* nonprofit organizations that support human rights, consumer protection
and environmental protection.

It is crucial that - over the next three weeks - we send as many letters as
possible to our state attorneys general and Members of Congress to urge
them to sign on to these amicus briefs.

Signers of the previous Congressional amicus brief:  Senator Edward Kennedy
and Representatives David Bonior, Sherrod Brown, Michael Capuano, Peter
DeFazio, William Delahunt, Lane Evans, Barney Frank, Marcy Kaptur, Dennis
Kucinich, Edward Markey, James McGovern, Martin Meehan, Joseph Moakley,
George Miller, Richard Neal, Robert Ney, John Olver, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,
Bernard Sanders, Janice Shakowsky, Christopher Smith, Ted Strickland, John
Tierney, James Traficant, and Henry Waxman.

Themes of the Amicus Brief:  The Burma-law decision upsets the World Trade
Organization (WTO) sovereignty protections that Congress enacted in 1994.
In response to the states' fears about private litigation, Congress banned
private cause of action "in connection with" obligations of the United
States under the World Trade Organization (such as the WTO Agreement on
Government Procurement).  This limit on litigation explicitly covers
"indirect" causes of action that are based on federal constitutional powers
such as the commerce clause.  In the WTO implementing legislation, Congress
stated that "suits of this nature may interfere with the President's
conduct of trade and foreign relations and with suitable resolution of
disagreements or disputes under those agreements."  By ignoring this
sovereignty protection for state and local governments, the lower court
opinions could unravel the political consensus that enabled Congress to
adopt both NAFTA and the Uruguay Round of WTO Agreements.

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3. Suggestions For Your Fax or Phone Call

Please contact your Members of Congress - both in the House and the Senate
- toll-free at (888) 449-3511 or at (202) 224-3121. Suggested talking
points for your phone call or faxed letter are below.

Don't know your U.S. Representative or U.S. Senators? Check:
<http://thomas.loc.gov/> for your Member's names and contact information.]

If you do call, always ask for the Member's aide who covers foreign policy.
Be prepared to leave a brief message in the aide's voicemail. Ask the aide
to call you back and leave your phone number.

Please let us know of any interest or objection raised by your Member's
aide. Email a brief report to Simon Billenness at
<sbillenness@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Suggested Talking Points/Sample Letter

Start your letter: "Dear Representative ________" or "Dear Senator
__________" as appropriate.

I am writing to urge that you sign on an amicus brief to be filed with the
U.S. Supreme Court in support of the Massachusetts Burma selective
purchasing law.

[Describing yourself, identify yourself as a constituent and member of your
local community, as well as your interest in Burma.]

On June 22, 1999, the Boston Federal Appeals Court struck down the
Massachusetts Burma Law. Sponsored by state rep. Byron Rushing, this law
effectively barred companies that do business with the Burmese military
junta from receiving state procurement contracts. On September 17, the
Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly filed its Petition for Certiorari
and supporting brief with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the court to review
the case of the Massachusetts Burma Law.

How Massachusetts - or any state -spends its tax dollars is matter for the
citizens of Massachusetts and their elected officials. It is a violation of
state sovereignty and local democracy for the federal government or
corporations to try to micro-manage state or local spending.

Inspired by the anti-apartheid campaign, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace
Prize laureate and leader of the Burmese democracy movement, has called for
economic sanctions on Burma to press the ruling military junta to restore
democracy in that country. She has described selective purchasing laws -
such as the Massachusetts Burma Law - as an effective way of supporting the
Burmese democracy movement.

I urge you to offer your support in defending the Massachusetts Burma Law.
I specifically urge you to sign on the amicus brief by Members of Congress
in support of the petition filed by Massachusetts on September 20 asking
the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. To do this, please contact the
coordinator of the amicus brief, Professor Robert Stumberg at (202)
662-9603 or <stumberg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>.

I look forward to your support on this critical issue. Please call or write
back and tell me what action you intend to take.

***************

Please send copies of your letter to:

Simon Billenness
New England Burma Roundtable 
c/o Trillium Asset Management, 711 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, MA 02111
(617) 423-6655, x225
(617) 482-6179 - fax
sbillenness@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.trilliuminvest.com

Pofessor Robert Stumberg
Harrison Institute for Public Law
Georgetown University Law Center
111 F Street, NW  -  Suite 102
Washington, DC  20001-2095
Phone 202-662-9603
Fax 202-662-9613
stumberg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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4. List of Current Congressional Amicus Brief Signers

Rep. David Bonior (MI)
Rep. Sherrod Brown (OH)
Rep. Michael Capuano (MA)
Rep. Eva Clayton (NC)
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (OH)
Rep. Bill Luther (MN)
Rep. Martin Meehan (MA)
Rep. John Olver (MA)
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL)
Rep. Bernie Sanders (VT)
Rep. John Tierney (MA)
Rep. James Traficant (OH)
Sen. Paul Wellstone (MN)
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Simon Billenness
*for the New England Burma Roundtable*
Trillium Asset Management
711 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, MA 02111
(617) 423-6655, x225
(800) 548-5684
(617) 482-6179 - fax
sbillenness@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.trilliuminvest.com/
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"I see my life...as part of a procession, a dynamic process, doing all that
we can do to move toward more good and justice; a process that is not
isolated from what has happened before or what will come after.  And I do
whatever I have to do along the path, whether it's sowing seeds or reaping
the harvest or tending the plants half grown."

Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's democratic leader under house arrest, in "On the
Issues," Fall '98
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