BRAVE Burma Act
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Bringing Real Accountability Via Enforcement in Burma Act or the BRAVE Burma Act
This bill extends and expands a law imposing sanctions on Burma. The bill also requires the Department of State to appoint a Special Envoy for Burma.
Current law authorizes, and in some cases requires, the President to impose sanctions on certain Burmese state-owned enterprises, Burmese officials and family members, and other foreign persons. The bill extends this law through December 23, 2032. The bill also requires the President to annually determine, for the next seven years, whether the Myanma Economic Bank, any Burmese state-owned enterprise financially benefiting the Burmese military and not operating in the industrial or extractive sectors, or foreign persons operating in Burma's jet fuel sector meet the criteria for required sanctions under (1) the previously mentioned law; or (2) Executive Order 14014 , Blocking Property With Respect to the Situation in Burma .
The U.S. Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) must advocate and vote to limit any increase to Burma's IMF shareholding while Burma's State Security and Peace Commission (SSPC) or any successor governing authority is in power. (The SSPC, led by military commander Min Aung Hlaing, existed from July 31, 2025, until April 10, 2026. It was dissolved when a nominally civilian but military-led government was installed, led by now President Min Aung Hlaing.)
The State Department must appoint a Special Envoy for Burma with the rank and status of ambassador and responsibility for coordinating all aspects of U.S. policy regarding Burma.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on March 4, 2026. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on March 4, 2026: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced it on March 4, 2026, and 11 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 9 Democrats, 2 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 4, 2026, 190 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 190 days ago, on March 4, 2026.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 119th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2027 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers