Senators urge Biden to impose more sanctions on Myanmar junta

FILE PHOTO: Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) speaks during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing on the nomination of Former Senator Bill Nelson to be NASA administrator, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 21, 2021. Graeme Jennings/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Tuesday urged the Biden administration to slap more sanctions on the military junta in Myanmar, including choking revenues to a state energy company, in response to its coup and violent crackdown on protesters.

Senators Jeff Merkley, a Democrat, and Marco Rubio, a Republican, and four others urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a letter to "explore new avenues to support the people of Burma in their ongoing struggle for democracy in the face of escalating crimes against humanity."