U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ed Markey (D-MA), lead Democrat on the East Asia Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Jim Risch (R-ID), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and Ben Cardin (D-MD) released the following statement upon the announcement by the Biden administration of new sanctions against members of the Burmese military.
Last week, the Senators urged the Biden Administration to take several key steps on human rights, targeted sanctions, and international coordination to help preserve Burma’s fragile democratic transition following a military coup on February 1st against the democratically-elected, civilian-led government of Burma, also known as Myanmar.
Rubio is the Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations’ Subcommittee that oversees human rights.
“We applaud the Biden administration decision to impose targeted sanctions against Burma’s military leaders who directed the coup that removed the democratically elected, civilian-led government from power on February 1st,” the Senators said. “We also appreciate the administration’s pledge to continue strong U.S. support for Burmese civil society and humanitarian efforts.
“We remain committed to continuing to work with the Biden administration to ensure that the U.S. and international response to the recent military coup is coordinated and targeted to have a strong impact on those responsible, while also encouraging a peaceful transition of power back to the civilian government. We stand in solidarity with hundreds of thousands of peaceful protesters who have lined the streets throughout Burma and condemn any violence against them.”