Before the new Congress convenes next January, we need your help to pass the BURMA Act. This week, Congress resumes in its post-election “lame duck” session. On the docket is the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2023 (H.R. 7900), a must-pass bill that is the vehicle for the BURMA Act.
This week, tell your Members of Congress to pass the BURMA Act. Originally introduced in both the Senate (S.2937) and the House (H.R.5497), the BURMA Act provides crucial U.S. support for the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) in Myanmar. The BURMA Act will, not only sanction and hold accountable the Myanmar military, but also provide support to Burmese civil society and much needed humanitarian assistance directly to the Myanmar people.
Thanks to your emails, calls, and meetings with your Members of Congress, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the BURMA Act by unanimous consent. But in the Senate, we’ve been frustrated by the lack of support for the BURMA Act by key Republican senators, including Senators Mitch McConnell (Kentucky), Todd Young (Indiana), and James Risch (Idaho). As a result the BURMA Act is stuck in the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee awaiting markup and a vote.
Thanks to the leadership of U.S. Representative Gregory Meeks (D, New York), the BURMA Act has also been incorporated as an amendment to House version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2023 (H.R. 7900). Our task now to insist that this BURMA Act language remains in the final bill that goes to President Biden for his signature.
The decision of whether the Burma Act remains in the NDAA depends principally on the leadership of the Senate and House Armed Services committees: Senator Jack Reed (D, Rhode Island), Senator James Inhofe (R, Oklahoma), Representative Adam Smith (D, Washington), and Representative Mike Rogers (R, Alabama). Send us a message at [email protected] if you live in the district of one of those Members of Congress.
Please follow up your message with phone calls and emails to the staff of your Members of Congress.
We have a 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. Check it out here:
U.S. Senate: https://bit.ly/USSenateMyanmar
U.S. House: https://bit.ly/USHouseMyanmar
If you have extra time, please make a phone call and follow up email to the staff of your U.S. senators and representative. Just follow the steps below! Sometimes just one call or direct email from you can make the difference.
Action #1: make a phone call
- Click here to enter your zip code and find your House Member
- Click to find the names, emails, and phone numbers of key staffers to your U.S. senators and representative:
- U.S. Senate: https://bit.ly/USSenateMyanmar
U.S. House: https://bit.ly/USHouseMyanmar
- U.S. Senate: https://bit.ly/USSenateMyanmar
- 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 senator or representative to contact the chairs and ranking members of the Armed Services Committees to keep the BURMA Act language in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2023 (H.R. 7900).
- 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 #2: send a direct email
Click to find the names, emails, and phone numbers of key staffers to your U.S. senators and representative:
U.S. Senate: https://bit.ly/USSenateMyanmar
U.S. House: https://bit.ly/USHouseMyanmar
You may wish to use a succinct and direct subject line such as: “Keep the BURMA Act in the NDAA – National Defense Authorization Act”
Start your message with a mention of where you live in the state. 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 help keep the BURMA Act in the NDAA – National Defense Authorization Act.
Specifically, I ask you to contact the Chair and Ranking Member of both the Senate and House Armed Services committees: Senator Jack Reed (D, Rhode Island), Senator James Inhofe (R, Oklahoma), Representative Adam Smith (D, Washington), and Representative Mike Rogers (R, Alabama).
Please ask them to ensure that BURMA Act amendment of Rep. Gregory Meeks be included in the final text of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2023 (H.R. 7900) that goes to President Biden for his signature.
Congress 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 (NUG).
Please write back and tell me if you contacted the the Chair and Ranking Member of both the Senate and House Armed Services committees. Thank you.
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.