Bill on Burma sanctions attracts bipartisan support

A bipartisan group of lawmakers, led by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), presented legislation Thursday that would impose tighter sanctions against Burma’s ruling military junta.

{mosads}The Block Burmese JADE (Junta’s Anti-Democratic Efforts) Act is being co-sponsored by several Republicans, including Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.), who is the panel’s ranking member. Other co-sponsors of the measure include Democratic Reps. Carolyn Maloney (N.Y.) and Rosa DeLauro (Conn.) as well as Republican Reps. Chris Smith (N.J.), Joe Pitts (Pa.), Frank Wolf (Va.) and Pete King (N.Y.).

Lantos said he does not see any difficulty in getting the bill passed, while Ros-Lehtinen praised the bipartisan support for the measure.

“By acting together — as Republicans and Democrats — to deny markets for the ill-gotten gains of the regime, we will speed up that day when the people of Burma will be strong enough to throw off the shackles of their oppressors and embrace a new birth of freedom,” Ros-Lehtinen said.

The bill aims to close a loophole in existing Burmese sanctions by banning the importation of precious gemstones harvested in Burma and then laundered through a third country before being sold to the United States. The ban is being supported by the Jewelers of America, which had previously asked Congress to act on the gem-laundering practice.

Jeremy Woodrum, director of the U.S. Campaign for Burma, said the economic sanctions are an important step in trying to bring Burma to engage in diplomatic talks.

“It’s a really important part of the equation,” Woodrum said. “The military regime won’t respond to calls for diplomatic dialogue unless they are pressured. This will push them quite a bit to diplomacy.”

Woodrum said the sanctions will be effective in closing the importation loophole, which will cut off a “real cash cow” for the regime.

The sanctions package also freezes the assets of Burmese political and military leaders, prevents Burma from using U.S. financial institutions to launder the funds of those leaders or their immediate families, prohibits Burmese junta officials and their immediate families from receiving visas to the United States and denies tax benefits to anyone associated with the regime. The sanctions will automatically renew each year until Burma becomes democratic.