Sen. Cotton travels with Congressional delegation to Burma and Thailand

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., on Tuesday (Jan. 5) returned Tuesday (Jan. 5) from a congressional delegation trip to Thailand and Burma to learn about and strengthen U.S. relations with them.

Cotton, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, was joined by U.S. Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Shelley Moore Capito, R-WV, Ben Sasse, R-Neb., and U.S. Reps. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, Cynthia Lummis, R-WY, Luke Messer, R-Ind., Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio and Steve Russell, R-Okla.

In Thailand, a partner of the United States since the early 1800s, the delegation met with government leaders and U.S. embassy personnel. Specifically, they discussed the importance of U.S.-Thailand security cooperation for regional stability. The delegation also urged Thai leaders to move past last year’s coup by abiding by the country’s schedule for adopting a new constitution and holding new elections.

In Burma, the delegation met with leaders of both the current government and the new incoming government that won power in historic elections in November. The delegation congratulated Burmese leaders on the country’s progress on constitutional democratic reform and discussed how the U.S. could continue to support that progress.

“Strong U.S. relationships in Asia are vital to ensuring the security and prosperity of all Americans,” Cotton said in a statement. “Throughout the past week, my colleagues and I had the opportunity to meet with government officials and local business leaders to better understand our current relationships with Thailand and Burma and to identify ways to strengthen them. We gained invaluable, first-hand knowledge of these two countries and look forward to working with them in the future.”

The group also stopped at Yokota Air Base, a U.S. military base in Japan, where they received briefings and met with base leadership.