12 2 STA T .7 21 PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 20 9—M A Y6, 200 8PublicLaw1 1 0–2 0 9 110 thCongres s A n Act Toaw a rd a c o ng r es s i ona l gold m edal t o D aw Au ng S an Suu Ky i in recognition o fh er courageous and unwa v ering commitment to p eace , nonviolence, human rights, and democracy in B urma .Beit e nac te dby t h e S enate and Hous eo fR e pr esentati v es of the U nited States of Am erica in C on g ress assemb l ed ,SECTION1.F IN D IN G S. TheCongr e s s fi n d s a sfo l lo w s
- (1)Au
ng S an Suu Ky i was b orn on J une 1 9, 19 45 ,in R angoon, B ur m a, t o Aung San, c ommander of the Burma I nde p endence Army, and M a Khin Kyi . ( 2 ) O n August 15, 19 8 8, Ms. Suu Kyi, in her first political action, sent an open letter to the military controlled go v ernment as k ing for free, open, and multi - party elections. ( 3 ) On September 24, 1988, the N ational L eague for D emoc- racy (NLD) was formed, with Ms. Suu Kyi as the general- secretary, and it was, and remains, dedicated to a policy of non-violence and civil disobedience. (4) Ms. Suu Kyi was subse q uently placed under house arrest, where she remained for the ne x t 6 years — without being charged or put on trial—and has been imprisoned twice more
she currently remains under house arrest. (5) Despite her detention, the National League for Democ- racy won an open election with an overwhelming 82 percent of the vote—which the military j unta nullified. (6) W hile under house arrest, she has bravely refused offers to leave the country to continue to promote freedom and democ- racy in Burma. ( 7 ) F or her efforts on behalf of the Burmese people, she has been awarded the Sakharov P ri z e for Freedom of Thought in 199 0 , the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000, and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. (8) Ms. Suu Kyi continues to fight on behalf of the Burmese people, even donating her $ 1.3 million from her Nobel Prize to establish a health and education fund for Burma. (9) She is the world ’ s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient, spending more than 12 of the past 17 years under house arrest. (10) Despite an assassination attempt against her life, her prolonged illegal imprisonment, the constant public vilification of her character, and her inability to see her children or to see her husband before his death, Ms. Suu Kyi remains com- mitted to peaceful dialogue with her captors, Burma’s military 31USC5 111 note.May6,20 0 8[H . R . 4 286 ]
�
