The resolution passed with a lopsided 398-14 vote, well above the necessary two-thirds majority needed, with Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), a member of the Freedom Caucus, voting present.
The resolution condemns the Myanmar military’s seizure of power last month and its detention of a number of the nation’s elected civilian leaders, labeling the development a “direct assault on the country’s transition to democracy and the rule of law.”
The resolution also calls for the Biden administration to impose new sanctions and restrictions on the military junta until power is restored to the elected parliament.
Most of the House Republicans who voted against the resolution are members of the Freedom Caucus, including Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), the chair of the caucus, and Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas).
Biggs, in a video posted to Twitter, said the violence is “tragic,” but “there is suffering everywhere in the world” and the U.S. “can’t be the military police for the entire world,” claiming the resolution is a way to “put our foot in the door in Burma.”
Other members of the caucus who voted no are Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Andy Harris (R-Md.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Mary Miller (R-Ill.) Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.), Barry Moore (R-Ala.), Jody Hice (R-Ga.) and Ken Buck (R-Colo.).
Jay Ostrich, a spokesperson for Perry – who objected to Pennsylvania’s electors on Jan. 6 – told Forbes the resolution is an “overt attempt to trap Republicans into condemning the claims of evidence of election fraud in Burma” while “perpetuating similar claims (in the Democrat’s views) of evidence in US elections.”
Harris said in a statement that Congress should be dealing with “COVID positive illegal aliens being dispersed into our communities” rather than “wasting time on useless resolutions about a foreign country.”
Two other Republicans, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), a staunch Trump ally, and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a libertarian-leaning Republican who often breaks with his caucus on foreign policy issues, also voted no.
Forbes has reached out to the 14 Republicans for comment.
BIG NUMBER
5. That’s how many of the 14 Republicans were also among the dozen who voted against awarding congressional gold medals to law enforcement who responded to the Jan. 6 attack: Biggs, Gaetz, Greene, Harris and Massie.
CHIEF CRITIC
“The House QAnon Caucus refuses to condemn the military coup in Burma,” tweeted Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), a reference to the right-wing conspiracy movement that both Greene and Boebert have expressed support for in the past.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
“Today, I voted to condemn the military coup in Burma,” tweeted Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.). “What’s going on there is pure evil. Senseless violence, military rule, and imprisoning political opponents all fly directly in the face of the democratic values we cherish as Americans.”