1 May 1998
Boston Herald
Bernard J. Wolfson

Group decries Mass. law on business with Burma

An industry-backed free trade group yesterday challenged a Massachusetts law that effectively denies state contracts to companies doing business in Burma, also known as Myanmar.

In a federal lawsuit filed in Boston, the National Foreign Trade Council asked the court to find the law unconstitutional.

The council, comprised of 580 companies, argued that the Bay State statute usurps the federal government's authority to set foreign policy. It also violates federal commerce laws and conflicts with federal sanctions imposed on Burma last year, the council asserted.

Don Baldini, a lobbyist for the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, said the law "is a throwback to the whole attitude that this state is not business-friendly."

But supporters of the law rushed to its defense, and predicted the court challenge would fail. They said the law was justified in the face of Burma's notoriously brutal military dictatorship.

Attorney General Scott Harshbarger said he would "vigorously" defend the law. "The constitution allows states to choose not to buy goods and services from people who do business with countries that violate civil rights," Harshbarger said.

"These choices do not interfere with the federal government's conduct of foreign affairs or foreign commerce in any way."

State Rep. Byron Rushing (D-Boston), the leading proponent of the 1996 law, said, "they know they can't win this. I think they're suing because they want to put a chilling effect on similar legislation around the country."

There are municipal anti-Burma laws on the books in Cambridge, Somerville, Newton, Brookline, and numerous cities around the United States.

National Foreign Trade Council President Frank Kittredge said he hoped a successful lawsuit would set a precedent against trade sanctions imposed by local governments. He said sanctions don't work, and only serve to cut U.S. firms out of lucrative deals while giving them a reputation for unreliability.

But Simon Billenness, an analyst at Franklin Research and Development Corp., a social activist investment firm, noted that Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma's democracy movement, has repeatedly endorsed trade sanctions against Burma's ruling military junta.

"Who do you trust?" Billenness asked. "Frank Kittredge or Aung San Suu Kyi Kyi, who actually lives there and actually represents the people of Burma?"

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