NO ONE KNOWS for sure where Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma’s democracy movement, is being held captive by the military junta that has ruled her country since 1988. Sources say Suu Kyi, who pro-government forces captured in a bloody attack on May 30, is a prisoner at Insein, Burma’s most infamous jail. But wherever she is, Suu Kyi should know she has friends in the U.S. Congress. In a pair of overwhelming votes, both the House and Senate passed the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003 last week. The vote was 94-1 in the Senate and 418-2 in the House. The president is expected to sign the bill, which would ban Burmese exports, freeze the junta’s assets in the United States, and block visas for Burmese leaders.
It’s noteworthy that the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act was shepherded through Congress by Republicans. Senators Mitch McConnell and John McCain and Representative Jim Leach all played an important role. (Representative Tom Lantos, a Democrat from California, also played a key role.) But it’s also noteworthy that the bill’s only opposition came from Republicans. Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi voted against the bill, as did Representatives Jeff Flake of Arizona and Ron Paul of Texas.
All three of the legislators say they voted against the bill because they don’t believe sanctions work. “Congressman Flake believes that indiscriminate trade sanctions are only effective when you’re dealing with a country that cares about its people, and that’s clearly not the case with Burma,” says Flake’s spokesperson.
“If one country implements sanctions, the ruling government is just going to get what they want from others,” adds a spokesman for Senator Enzi. “And sanctions could also end up hurting the people more than they hurt the party.”
Representative Paul takes a more nationalist approach. “In our view, it’s simply a tax on Americans,” says Paul’s press secretary. “When we impose trade sanctions on another country, we either do not accept their goods, or they cost more. A low income person goes to Wal-Mart and his sneakers are more expensive.”
Sanctions might not make strict economic sense, but they often do make political sense. U.N. sanctions frustrated Saddam Hussein’s regime for 12 years. And sanctions against the non-democratic South African government in the 1980s arguably helped end apartheid. As White House press secretary Scott McClellan said in a statement after the bill was passed, the legislation “sends a clear message to the Burmese regime that their continued detention of Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and their assaults on freedom cannot stand.”
The three congressmen who voted against the Burma Freedom and Democracy Act haven’t suggested any alternative means of sending “a clear message” to the Burmese government. But at least they are consistent. All three have voted to remove the trade blockade against Cuba, too.
Matthew Continetti is an editorial assistant at The Weekly Standard.
