As relations continue to thaw with the diplomatically isolated country of Myanmar, Hill staffers have made the first privately financed trip to the country in more than a decade.
Three House and Senate aides made the trip to the military-controlled nation late last month, although the first disclosure of the travel was released Thursday. Janice Kaguyutan, the chief Democratic counsel for Rep. Elliot Engel (D-N.Y.) on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, reported spending nine days in the Southeast Asian country, along with staffers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). The $13,616 trip, which was sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, included meetings with the U.S. ambassador and Nobel laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The pro-democracy activist is attempting to amend the constitution to eliminate the de facto veto power that the military currently holds.
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, was until recently ruled tightly by a military junta. However, international pressure on the ruling party to institute human rights and civil reforms forced the announcement of a new constitution in 2008. Since then, the United States has eased economic sanctions against the undeveloped nation. On a recent trip, Secretary of State John Kerry stated that "the United States is going to do everything we can to help reformers."
The last privately financed congressional trip to Myanmar was in 2001, when an aide to Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Myat Moe "Phyllis" Khaing, stopped off in the country as part of a trip to Taiwan.
