Congress votes to reject junta

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution yesterday calling for the U.N. Security Council not to accept the Myanmar military junta's constitution. The bill will now go to the Senate for a vote.

U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D-Hopewell Township, along with 50 co- sponsors, presented the resolution that denounces "the one-sided, undemocratic, and illegitimate constitution drafting process and referendum by the Myanmar military junta, known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)."

Yesterday's vote comes in the wake of a fierce cyclone that claimed the lives of tens of thou sands of people in Myanmar, also known as Burma. According to the Associated Press, up to 1 million may be homeless as foreign coun tries mobilized to rush in aid after the country's deadliest storm on record.

In a prepared statement, Holt said, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the Burmese people today. Despite this horrific natural disaster, the Burmese junta has announced it will go ahead with its scheduled constitutional referendum on Saturday. This referendum is a sham, a farce, fake, pretend, bogus, fraudulent, spurious, and phony."

Myanmar's military leaders said a vote scheduled for this Saturday on a key referendum in their proposed constitution would be delayed until May 24 in areas strongly affected by the storm, according to the Associated Press. State radio indicated that balloting in other areas would proceed as had been scheduled, which has drawn criticism from pro-democracy and human rights groups.

"More than natural disasters of the moment, however high their toll may be, the heavy yoke of the Burmese military has victimized the people of Burma for more than 20 years. By passing this resolution, we condemn the scheduled referendum for the sham that it is and urge Burmese rulers instead to engage in a real dialogue," Holt said.

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