A new bill, the Burma Democracy Promotion Act, was introduced on the floor of the United States Senate on Tuesday. The proposed legislation would strengthen even further existing United States sanctions directed at the Burmese military junta.

"It is time for Burma to begin a new day in which all of the people, including Burma's many minority groups, work together to rebuild what nearly 20 years of disastrous military rule have destroyed," urged Democratic Senator Joseph Biden who introduced the bill.

It's proposed measurements aim to "help create the right conditions for the peaceful, negotiated transfer of power from the generals who have ruled Burma for almost two decades to a newly-constituted civilian, democratic government," according to a Senate press release yesterday.

Features of the proposed bill build on and attempt to plug holes of the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act from 2003. Issues that are being revisited are a further tightening of the ban on travel for senior members of the junta and those deemed to actively support them, as well
as additional restrictions on the import of gems and timber originating from Burma. Also, it suggests the creation of a new post under the title of Special Representative and Political Coordinator for Burma.

According to Senator Biden's bill, existing extensive sanctions are not effective enough. Millions of dollars worth of gems originating from Burma still find their way onto the U.S. market, after having been processed through third countries.

The bill comes only days after reports of the alleged travel of several family members of top level Burmese generals and their associates to the United States. A group of Burmese Americans had detailed those trips in a letter addressed to the United States Chargé d'Affaires in Rangoon.

It is envisioned that the Special Representative and Political Coordinator for Burma would work with governments around the world and international organizations. The mission would be to better address issues such as "sanctions, dialogue, and support for non-governmental
organizations providing humanitarian relief to the Burmese people."

The bill is co-sponsored by Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, a longstanding hard line critic of the junta. In 2003, President Bush spearheaded the drive for the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act.