Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons, alongside four other colleagues from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, have addressed concerns to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent over the U.S. response to the earthquake in Burma. The Senators' letter calls for stronger U.S. relief efforts and clarity on sanctions to ensure they do not hinder aid delivery, especially as China and Russia are actively deploying teams and financial aid.
“This is the first test of the United States's ability to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in the wake of the administration’s foreign assistance review and dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID),” the Senators stated.
The Trump Administration has announced $2 million in aid but reportedly does not plan to send a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART). Citing the scale of the disaster, the Senators demanded future relief plans and assessed the impact of USAID's dismantling on America's global humanitarian role.
"Even as the Administration has wittingly undercut our ability to efficiently save lives and promote U.S. interests, we call on the State Department and USAID to rapidly assess what the United States can still do for people in Burma, including with resources already in the region,” continued the letter.
Additionally, the Senators have urged the Treasury Department to confirm that U.S. sanctions allow for necessary relief in Burma. They highlighted recent actions taken for another earthquake in Turkiye and Syria in 2023 as a precedent.
“We also urge the Department of the Treasury to expeditiously issue public documentation clearly authorizing all transactions related to earthquake relief efforts in Burma that would otherwise be prohibited by U.S. sanctions,” the Senators wrote.
The letter was co-signed by Senators Tim Kaine, Tammy Duckworth, Chris Van Hollen, and Jeff Merkley.
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