1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Burma Political Prisoners Assistance Act . 2. Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) The United States has been a longstanding friend and partner of the people of Burma, and has sought to promote their democratic aspirations. (2) Despite a campaign pledge that Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD) would not arrest anyone as political prisoners, they have failed to fulfill this promise since they took control of Burma’s Union Parliament and the government’s executive branch in April 2016. (3) As of March 1, 2019, there were 354 political prisoners in Burma, 43 of them serving sentences, 86 awaiting trial inside prison, and 225 awaiting trial outside prison according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners in Burma. (4) During its 3 years in power, the NLD government has provided pardons for Burma’s political prisoners on three occasions. State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi took steps to secure the release of nearly 235 political prisoners. On May 23, 2017, former President Htin Kyaw granted pardons to 259 prisoners, including 89 political prisoners. On April 17, 2018, current President Win Myint pardoned 8,541 prisoners, including 36 political prisoners. (5) The Burmese security forces have historically and recently used a range of repressive laws to arrest and prosecute political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. These laws include provisions of the Penal Code, the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Act, the 1908 Unlawful Associations Act, the 2013 Telecommunications Act, and the 1923 Official Secrets Act. (6) On January 5, 2015, then-President Thein Sein announced the reconstitution of the Scrutinizing Committee into the Prisoners of Conscience Affairs Committee , which was to comprise 28 members and which would promptly [carry] out prisoners of conscience affairs at the grassroots level . However, it appears that the Committee never even met and no information has been made publicly available regarding its