Please Help Me Trace This Bill

Vanity | 8-4-08 | Self

[Bernard Marx]

Help please!

I belong to a forum devoted to gems and gemology. Members there, 99% ultra-liberal, are going into a tizzy because Bush signed a bill that outlaws certain gem imports from Burma. It's silly feel-good legislation that accomplishes nothing toward toppling the junta but makes it appear our Congress-critters are "doing something." It's named the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE Act of 2008.

Forum members there are trying to rewrite history by saying Bush and Cheney are responsible instead of the Democrats who wrote it and pushed it through Congress. They're really incensed because the bill blocks certain gem imports from Burma but doesn't put Chevron's natural gas pipeline there out of business. (Gems good, oil and gas bad).

The bill was sponsored by Tom Lantos, the late very liberal California Democrat. Pelosi and Howard Berman, both CA Democrats, helped push it through the House. From what I can find, Joe Biden seems to have spearheaded the bill through the Senate (which approved it unanimously).

I'm mainly interested in finding out who wrote the bill, its legislative history and sponsors, who pushed it in Congress other than those mentioned, who lobbied for it (especially liberal front groups), etc. I want to expose the liberal innards of this beast.

Most vital is the truth regarding Chevron's operations in Burma. It owns a 28% interest in the pipeline project but the majority owner is Total, the French company. It's apparently okay for a French company to profit from Burmese natural gas but not Chevron. Critics say Chevron used slave labor to build the pipeline and that it's paying huge royalties to Burma's repressive junta. I need all the facts I can get about that.

Thanks in advance.

[paulat]

Try doing research on thomas.gov

[xcamel]

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-3890

[3AngelaD]

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:hj44:

[xcamel]

Sponsors are mostly all moonbats.

Rep. Gary Ackerman [D-NY]
Rep. Earl Blumenauer [D-OR]
Del. Madeleine Bordallo [D-GU]
Rep. Dan Burton [R-IN]
Rep. Michael Capuano [D-MA]
Rep. Joseph Crowley [D-NY]
Rep. Susan Davis [D-CA]
Rep. Peter DeFazio [D-OR]
Rep. William Delahunt [D-MA]
Rep. Rosa DeLauro [D-CT]
Rep. Lloyd Doggett [D-TX]
Rep. Eliot Engel [D-NY]
Rep. Anna Eshoo [D-CA]
Rep. Barney Frank [D-MA]
Rep. Raul Grijalva [D-AZ]
Rep. Rush Holt [D-NJ]
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee [D-TX]
Rep. Patrick Kennedy [D-RI]
Rep. Peter King [R-NY]
Rep. James Langevin [D-RI]
Rep. Carolyn Maloney [D-NY]
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter [R-MI]
Rep. James McGovern [D-MA]
Rep. George Miller [D-CA]
Rep. James Moran [D-VA]
Rep. John Olver [D-MA]
Rep. Joseph Pitts [R-PA]
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen [R-FL]
Rep. Janice Schakowsky [D-IL]
Rep. Brad Sherman [D-CA]
Rep. Christopher Smith [R-NJ]
Rep. Mark Souder [R-IN]
Rep. Ellen Tauscher [D-CA]
Rep. Christopher Van Hollen [D-MD]
Rep. Zach Wamp [R-TN]
Rep. Maxine Waters [D-CA]
Rep. Peter Welch [D-VT]
Rep. Frank Wolf [R-VA]
Rep. Lynn Woolsey [D-CA]
Rep. David Wu [D-OR]

[mnehring]

It isn't anything new, it is a renewal of an existing act.
http://blogs.customhouseguide.com/news/?p=1307

It is basically a follow up on a long standing policy to not to business with Burma as long as the existing political power is in control.

Here is some more information on the bill as a whole.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-3890

It is funny that the libs are so outraged and blaming President Bush considering the sanctions against Burma started with Clinton (The 1995 Free Burma Act) and this was a Dem authored renewal of the bill.

[3AngelaD]

I wouldn’t want my name on the same list as the lovely Rosa DeLauro, Barney Frank and Patrick Kennedy. What was Ileana thinking?

[mnehring]

Here is some history for ya.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2006/05/mil-060519-usia02.htm

[PissAndVinegar]

Try these:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR3890:
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h3890/show
http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/110_HR_3890.html

[LuxMaker]

The sponsors of the bill.
Projection is thy name.

[Bernard Marx]

Thanks. It's an amendment, not a renewal. They're trying to close a loophole that allowed Burmese gems to be smuggled into Thailand, where they were cut and exported as Thai products.

It's the very hypocrisy you mention that I want to document. The thing that really has them up in arms is the fact that Chevron wasn't affected by the bill. So far I've found that Obamamessiah has received significantly more Chevron campaign money than McCain. But any research along those lines would be very helpful, especially Chevron contributions to other liberal Dems involved with the bill.

[sauropod]

Hmmm...

No more Maw Sit-sit?

[Bernard Marx]

I think maw sit-sit technically classifies as jadeite, so no maw.

I;m trying to untangle whether the ban applies just to rubies and jadeite or all gems of Burmese origin. There seems to be some confusion between the original bill that banned ALL Burmese products and the amendment which only specifies rubies and jadeite.

[sauropod]

Interesting conundrum.

What I’ve read about Maw sit-sit is that jadeite is a component of it, and there is a big debate about what just is maw sit-sit.

That being said, I don’t have very much respect for Burma or Tom Lantos. I just love gems.

[Bernard Marx]

It's a rock, aka kosmochlor jade. Jadeite is a component, as are lots of other arcane minerals. This site gives as good an explanation as any I've found: Maw Sit Sit

[Bernard Marx]

Thanks for all the posts so far. They’ve given me some interesting new leads. But don’t stop now...