The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Myanmar in spotlight
Congress honors activist Suu Kyi. Nobel laureate also gets an audience with the president.
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers united by their respect of Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday presented her with Congress’ highest civilian honor in a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, ahead of a meeting with President Barack Obama.
Suu Kyi described it as “one of the most moving days of my life.”
She was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2008 while under a 15year house arrest for her peaceful struggle against military rule.
Her long-awaited visit to America finally provided an opportunity for her to receive the honor in person in Congress’ most majestic setting, beneath the dome of the Capitol and ringed by marble statues of former presidents.
The 67-year-old Nobel laureate said it was worth the years of waiting, being honored “in a house undivided, a house joined together to welcome a stranger from a distant land.”
Previous recipients of the medal include George Washington, Tibetan Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama and Pope John Paul II.
House and Senate leaders joined Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in paying tribute to Suu Kyi. Speaker after speaker marveled that this was a moment they thought they would never see: Suu Kyi before them, not only free but herself now a lawmaker.
“It’s almost too delicious to believe, my friend,” said Clinton, “that you are in the Rotunda of our Capitol, the centerpiece of our democracy as an elected member of parliament.”
Buddhist monks in saffron robes and women in traditional Burmese dresses crammed into the venue alongside members of Congress, who set aside the intense rivalries ahead of the Nov. 6 election.
Lawmakers talked about years of working together across party lines on the behalf of Suu Kyi’s democracy movement. When sanctions against the Myanmar junta were imposed, and over the past year when they have been suspended, Democrats and Republicans alike have set aside their increasingly bitter differences to pass and renew legislation annually.
That’s due in large part to their respect for Suu Kyi. Lawmakers who have spoken or met with her, and even those who haven’t, speak of her in reverential terms. Her photo adorns some office walls in Congress and her views have been critical in shaping U.S. policy toward the country also known as Burma.