Kansas:
Help Stop Mass Atrocities in Burma!

Read This Urgent Email and
Call your Congressperson

Dear Friends in Kansas,

This is Mike from the U .S. Campaign for Burma writing to you with a special, urgent request.  I hate sending long emails but this one is really important -- I recommend that you print it out and keep it for easy use.

Burma's regime is attacking, killing, raping, and destroying the homes of Burmese people in the country's rural areas.  Although these crimes have persisted for two decades, the situation has received almost no international attention because the military regime keeps media and international observers away from the areas of attack.  These crimes perpetuated by the military have gone on for too long.

I'm asking everyone in Kansas to telephone the office of your member of the U.S. House of Representatives (your "Congressperson"). Ask their staff person who handles foreign policy if your Congressperson will sign a letter, which some members of Congress are organizing that calls for an official United Nations investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma.

10 Quick Easy Steps for Calling Your Congressperson

1) Background on the Issue
2) How to Find Your Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
3) Who to Ask for When You Call
4) The Number to Call
5) What to Say
6) What the Receptionist Will Say
7) What to Do Once You are Transferred to the Staff Member
8) Report Back to Me
9) List of Members of Congress from Your State
10) List of Members Who Signed the Letter Already

1) BACKGROUND ON THE ISSUE

For years, Burma's military regime has carried out brutal human rights abuses against its own civilians.  Their abuses include the conscription of tens of thousands of child soldiers, the destruction and forced displacement of over 3,300 ethnic minority villages, widespread rape of Burmese women, the killing of civilians, and forcing hundreds of thousands of Burmese people into forced labor, what some call modern-day slavery.

These are not simply human rights abuses -- they are mass atrocities called "crimes against humanity" and "war crimes," meaning that they are illegal under international law such as the Geneva Conventions and Rome Statute. 

In the past, the United Nations Security Council has voted to create a "Commission of Inquiry" to investigate abuses of a major magnitude -- such as in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and the Darfur region of Sudan.  The Commission of Inquiry then makes recommendations to the U.N. Security Council for action. However, no such Commission of Inquiry been created for Burma.

Now, two leading members of the U.S. Congress, Joseph Crowley (D-NY) and Don Manzullo (R-IL) have organized a letter to President Obama asking him to press the U.N. Security Council to create a Commission of Inquiry to investigate crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Burma's military regime.  They are circulating a letter in  Congress and asking other Congressmembers to sign-on.  They want as many members as possible to sign the letter, which will then be sent to President Obama.

We need your help to get more members of Congress to sign. When members of Congress organize letters like this they are called "Dear Colleague" letters.  We want you to call your member of Congress and ask them to sign this "Dear Colleague" letter.

Every American is represented in the U.S. Congress by one member of the U.S. House of Representatives.  We would like you to call your Congressional office to urge your member of the U.S. House of Representatives (NOT the U.S. Senate) to sign the "Dear Colleague" letter along with Congressman Crowley and Manzullo.  You do not have to be a citizen; just live or work in your Congressperson's district. Below are specific instructions on how you can do this.

2) HOW TO FIND YOUR MEMBER OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Go to this url: "www.house.gov." 
--Enter your zipcode into the window on the upper left. After you find out, move to the next step.

3)  WHO TO ASK FOR WHEN YOU CALL

Locate the the name of your Representative's foreign policy staffer on the list at the bottom of this email.  Every Representative has a staff member who handles foreign policy, by talking directly to the foreign policy staffer you increase your chances of getting your Congressperson to sign-on

4) WHAT NUMBER TO CALL

Call them at the number that we have provided (also on the list below).  It is best to call between the hours of 9:30am and 5pm, eastern time (Monday through Friday).

5) WHAT TO SAY

When a receptionist answers the phone, ask to speak to the foreign policy staffer by name.

• "Hi my name is  [your name] from [name of your town], may I speak to [name of the foreign policy staffer]?" 

Tell the receptionist that you live in the Congressperson's district and that you want to speak to the staffer about signing a "Dear Colleague" letter regarding regarding the country of Burma.  Be sure to be polite, and say something like:

• "I am calling because I would like to ask [name of staff member] if my Representative will sign on to a Dear Colleague letter regarding crimes against humanity in the country of Burma."

6) WHAT THE RECEPTIONIST WILL SAY

At this point the receptionist will either:

A) Transfer you to the telephone of the staff member.  If this happens see section "A" below. or

B) Transfer you to the voicemail of the staff member.  If this happens see section "B" below.


7) WHAT TO DO ONCE YOU ARE TRANSFERRED

A) IF YOU SPEAK DIRECTLY TO THE STAFFER

I.) Thank them for speaking with you and tell them why YOU think they should sign-on. 

II.) Tell them why you called.  Here is a suggestion of what to say:

• "Hi my name is _______ I am from _________, a town in the Congressperson's district.  I am calling because I'm very concerned about the human rights abuses and crimes against humanity that Burma's military dictatorship continues to commit in the country of Burma.  I would like to urge Representative _________ to sign on to a "Dear Colleague" letter asking president Obama to support a U.N. Security Council investigation into the crimes against humanity that are being committed in the country of Burma.  The letter is being circulated by Representative Joe Crowley and Representative Don Manzullo."
• Offer to email them the letter; there is a good chance that the staffer may not have seen the letter yet. To do this, cut and paste the letter from this website: http://uscampaignforburma.org/congressletter

III.) OPTIONAL You might want to tell them some key facts about Burma, such as:

•  Burma's military regime has recruited tens of thousands of child soldiers (according to Human Rights Watch)
  
•  Burma's military regime has destroyed over 3,300 ethnic minority villages, forcing at least 1 million people to flee as refugees and internally displaced persons (According to the United Nations)
  
• Burma's military regime uses rape as a weapon of war against ethnic minority women (According to many different organizations, and the State Department investigated this and found it to be true)
  
  

IV.) Ask whether or not your Representative will sign the letter. 
It is likely that they will not give you an immediate answer because they need to ask your Representative.  If that is the case, ask them politely when you will know about the final decision and how you can be informed. 

V. How Your Congressperson Can Sign.
Ask them to contact the following staffer, based on their party affiliation:
--Republicans Contact Nien Su in Rep. Manzullo's office at nien.su@mail.house.gov 202-225-5676.
--Democrats contact Gregg Sheiowitz with Rep. Crowley's office at gregg.sheiowitz@mail.house.gov or 202-225-3965.

VI.) Ask them when you can call back to follow-up. 

VII.) OPTIONAL:  Add additional information about why YOU care about Burma. 
-As Speaker of the House Tip O'Neal once observed "All Politics is Local," meaning to be successful you must bring the issue home. Your Congressperson represents YOU and it is you they want to hear from.  If you have traveled to refugee camps on the Thailand-Burma border, know Burmese people, or care about human rights, be sure to let the staff member know.

VIII) IMPORTANT: Let us know how it went!
-Send an email to: mikejen@uscampaignforburma.org to let us know what happened.  Please be as detailed as you can.

B) IF YOU LEAVE A VOICEMAIL

I.) Leave a brief message with the foreign policy staffer.  Here is a suggestion for a message to leave:

• "Hi my name is _______ I am from _________, a town in the Congressperson's district.  I am very concerned about the human rights abuses and crimes against humanity that Burma's military dictatorship continues to commit in Burma.  I would like Representative _________ to sign on to a "Dear Colleague" letter asking President Obama to support a U.N. Security Council Commission of Inquiry into the crimes against humanity that are being committed in Burma.  The letter is being circulated by Representative Crowley and Representative Manzullo. I would appreciate it if you could call me back so we can discuss this further, or if you need a copy of the letter.  My number is (XXX)XXX-XXXX.  Thank you!

II.) Call back (politely) every day until you talk to the staff member on the phone.  Members of Congress are very busy, so it often takes a few calls to get their attention.  Once you reach them on the phone, follow the instruction in section "A."

III.) Let us know how it went -Send an email to: mikejen@uscampaignforburma.org to let us know what happened.  Please be as detailed as you can.

8) REPORT BACK TO ME

Call me at any time. Let me know if you spoke to your Representative's office, or let me know if you are having a hard time getting through to the right person.  I am here to help -- contact me as much as you need.  Write both Jen and I at "mikejen@uscampaignforburma.org" or you can call me anytime at (202) 234-8022.

9) LIST OF REPRESENTATIVES AND STAFF MEMBERS IN YOUR STATE

Jerry Moran (1st District), contact staffer: Jason Wiens at 202-225-2715

Lynn Jenkins (2nd District), contact staffer: Joshua Lewis at 202-225-6601

Dennis Moore (3rd District), contact staffer: Laura Hall at 202-225-2865

Todd Tiahrt (4th District), contact staffer: Jim Richardson at 202-225-6216

10) LIST OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS WHO HAVE ALREADY SIGNED THE LETTER

Joe Crowley (D-NY)
Don Manzullo (R-IL)
Rush Holt (D-NJ)
Peter King (R-NY)
Anna Eshoo (D-CA)
Madeline Bordallo (D-Guam)

Thank you for helping to end crimes against humanity in Burma!

Michael Haack
Campaigns Coordinator
U.S. Campaign for Burma
(202) 234-8022
www.uscampaignforburma.org