In a new report published today, Amnesty International has documented new shipments of aviation fuel to Myanmar’s military. We join Justice for Myanmar – and many Burmese civil society groups – in calling on the Biden Administration to enforce jet fuel sanctions on Myanmar to effectively curtail the capacity of the Myanmar junta to continue its indiscriminate and deadly airstrikes.
We can best put pressure on the Biden Administration through our friends in Congress. Through the recently introduced BRAVE Burma Act (H.R.8863), Congress is increasing its pressure on the Administration to sanction the foreign corporations involved in the supply of jet fuel to the Myanmar military.
Introduced by Reps. Bill Huizenga (R, MI-4), Betty McCollum (D, MN-4), Ann Wagner (R, MO-2), and Brad Sherman (D, CA-32), the “Bringing Real Accountability Via Enforcement in Burma Act,” or BRAVE Burma Act (H.R.8863) aims to curtail the Myanmar’s military’s sources of money, arms, aviation fuel, and legitimacy that it needs to stay in power.
The bill presses the U.S. Administration to sanction:
- Burmese state-owned enterprises, such as Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE)
- Myanma Economic Bank (MEB)
- Any foreign persons or companies involved in the jet fuel sector of the Burmese economy
It would also create a U.S. Special Coordinator for Burmese Democracy within the State Department to develop and help implement a comprehensive U.S. strategy to promote human rights and the restoration of civilian government in Burma.
Additionally, the BRAVE Burma Act would require the Secretary of the Treasury to limit any increase in Myanmar’s influence at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as long as it is governed by the military junta.
Please follow up your message in these three simple ways.
If you have extra time, you may follow up your message with an email, phone call, and/or meeting with the staff of your House Member. Just follow the steps below!
We have new resources to make this easier for you. We’ve created an online listing of key staff of every member of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.
Click here to find the staffers to your U.S. House Member.
Follow up #1: send a direct email
Click to find the names, emails, and phone numbers of key staffers to your U.S. senators and representative:
- Click here to enter your zip code and find your House Member
- Click here to find the staffers to your U.S. House Member.
- Click here to check if your U.S. representative is already a co-sponsor of the BRAVE Burma Act (H.R.8863). (If your U.S. representative is already a co-sponsor, thank them. We don’t do that enough!)
You may wish to use a succinct and direct subject line such as: “Co-sponsor the BRAVE Burma Act (H.R.8863)”
Start your message with a mention of where you live in the district of your Member of Congresss. Feel free to include a sentence or two on why you care about human rights and Myanmar in particular. Please use or adapt the following text in your email. Please blind copy (bcc) us on your email at [email protected].
I ask that you co-sponsor and support the BRAVE Burma Act (H.R.8863).
The United States must show leadership in holding the Myanmar military accountable for its coup d’etat and its brutal crimes against humanity. Congress must also show support for Myanmar’s Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and its democratic and multi-ethnic new National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG).
The BRAVE Burma Act will help deprive the Myanmar military of the money, arms, aviation fuel, and legitimacy it needs to stay in power.
Please write back and tell me if you have co-sponsored the BRAVE Burma Act (H.R.8863). Thank you.
Follow up #2: make a phone call
- Click here to enter your zip code and find your House Member
- Click here to find the staffers to your U.S. House Member.
- Click here to check if your U.S. representative is already a co-sponsor of the BRAVE Burma Act (H.R.8863). (If your U.S. representative is already a co-sponsor, thank them. We don’t do that enough!)
- When you reach their office, ask to be connected directly to the staffer, either in person on their voicemail.
- Simply tell the staffer – in person or on their voicemail – that you want your U.S. representative to co-sponsor and the BRAVE Burma Act (H.R.8863).
- Leave your name, number, and city of residence to indicate that you live in the state.
- Email us at [email protected] and tell us how your calls went.
Follow up #3 meet your Members of Congress in person or by video
We’re seeking one or more people in each state and House district. We would work with you to set up a video or in-person meeting with the staff of your House Member or senators. We’d also prepare you beforehand with talking points. The goal is to let you – voters from the district – lobby your Members of Congress effectively.
We have been impressed at how many people have already contacted us to meet their Members of Congress. Nothing has more impact on Congress than the voice of voters from the district. If you wish to organize or just participate in a meeting with staffers of your Members of Congress, just email us at [email protected]
Just one meeting, email, or phone call from a constituent can make a difference. Your Members of Congress need to know that you want Congress to act. The people of Myanmar can’t wait any longer.