Senator, Others Push for Myanmar Sanctions
Several speakers at a Capitol Hill event hosted by the Burma Research Institute April 28 called for sanctioning Myanmar’s military junta for human rights violations against civilians.
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Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and former Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., both urged the Trump administration to fully implement the Burma Unified Through Rigorous Military Accountability Act, or BURMA Act, a law enacted in 2022 that includes junta sanctions provisions.
“The junta continues to commit heinous acts of violence against its own people, especially ethnic and religious minorities,” said Van Hollen, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “There are people being shot and killed and bombed every day,” said Brownback, former U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom.
Susie Gelman, a member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, noted that her organization's 2025 annual report, released in March, recommends that Congress reintroduce and pass the Bringing Real Accountability Via Enforcement in Burma Act, or the BRAVE Burma Act, which is designed to strengthen sanctions against several sources of funding for Burma’s military (see 2407020031). Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., is expected to reintroduce the legislation in the coming days or weeks.
In early April, Van Hollen co-signed a letter by Senate Democrats urging the administration to ensure that sanctions don't block aid to Myanmar following that country’s deadly March 28 earthquake.