"The Asian Development Bank has quietly started providing modest assistance to Rangoon. Is more to follow?... On April 8, 2004 Mitch McConnell, a prominent American senator from Kentucky with an interest in the Burma debate, expressed concerns over multilateral assistance to Burma and threatened to cut US funding to institutions that might provide such assistance. At a hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, he stated: ?Unfortunately, I am hearing that international financial institutions—particularly the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank—are keen on re-engaging Burma. They do so at their own risks, and should begin finding other funding sources for the upcoming fiscal year because none will be forthcoming from this Subcommittee.” Senator McConnell?s statement reflects the unease shared by many in the Burma democracy movement about multilateral assistance going to Rangoon, which has a poor track record regarding transparency and public participation in development projects and has been accused of a range of human rights abuses. So what exactly are the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, or ADB, doing with respect to Burma? As yet the numbers are small, but imply an effort to renew assistance..."