Washington, DC – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell delivered the following statement on the Senate floor Wednesday on the political situation in Burma:

“Imagine living under a brutal regime that sends out troops to shoot and kill unarmed, innocent people in the streets.

“Imagine living under a regime that rewards the winner of a popular election not with political office, but with house arrest.

“And imagine a regime that carelessly allows the bloody and bruised body of a Buddhist monk, whose only crime was presumably to protest on behalf of peace, to float down a river.

“But we don’t have to use imagination. These horrific events are real. They are occurring right now.

“They are actually taking place in Burma, a country ruled by an illegitimate military junta, the State Peace and Development Council, or SPDC. And since their seizure of power, the Burmese people have seen very little peace or development.

“The world was reminded of the SPDC’s oppression recently as Burmese democracy activists, led by Buddhist monks, demonstrated for freedom.

“The government’s reaction was brutal and barbaric, like something rarely seen since the end of the Cold War. They unleashed soldiers to fire at the unarmed demonstrators, killing untold numbers.

“No one can be sure of the exact number because of the secrecy in which the SPDC cloaks the entire country. Nor can we be sure how many activists the government has imprisoned.

“But we do know the fate of democracy leader and Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the winner of Burma’s last free parliamentary elections in 1990. The SPDC has kept her under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years.

“We are reminded that such tyranny still exists in the 21st century. This despotic regime does not even pretend to seek to adhere to basic standards of human dignity.

“The SPDC’s reign of terror is so complete that even simply turning off the television set is an act of political courage for a Burmese citizen.

“The AP reported yesterday that people in Rangoon are switching off the first 15 minutes of the government-run nightly news broadcast. It is one of the last acts of protest they have left, after the uniformed thugs and the barbed-wire barricades have taken over the streets.

‘This is the least dangerous anti-government activity that I can take,’ the AP quoted one Rangoon woman, who was too afraid to reveal her name, as saying. ‘By doing this, I am showing that I am not listening to what the government is saying.’

Well, this Senate shares her contempt for the SPDC’s empty words. Listen to how one SPDC ambassador explained events in Burma since the crackdown: ‘As all are aware, things have calmed down. We are able to bring normalization to the situation.’

“Such a description, reminds me of the ancient Roman dictum, ‘They made a desert, and then called it peace.’

“Just because the protests have been ruthlessly suppressed, and Burma is fading from the pages of Western newspapers, does not mean the value of Burma’s pro-democracy cause has diminished.

“On the contrary, now more than ever, America and our allies must continue to press the members of the UN Security Council for a strong resolution against the Burmese regime.

“And here in Washington, D.C., we’re going to leave our televisions turned on, and continue to help in any way we can to support these brave people’s cries for freedom.”

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