Boston's bill on RI

BOSTON, Massachusetts (UPI): Massachusetts lawmakers are considering a selective purchasing bill to deny contracts to firms doing business in Indonesia, the Boston Globe said Friday.

This follows the enactment of a law that denies state contracts to firms that do business with Myanmar because of its repressive military dictatorship, the newspaper said.

Japan has already protested the Myanmar law and has also expressed displeasure with the Indonesian bill, the Globe said.

The Japanese government reportedly has filed protests with the Clinton administration, the U.S. trade representative, Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, and is considering a formal complaint to the World Trade Organization.

Massachusetts is the only state with such a law, but Japan -- which has some 30 firms on the state's no-contract list -- reportedly is concerned other states may do the same.

There are 126 Japanese companies in Massachusetts that employ 13,000 American citizens, and Boston is a popular destination for Japanese tourists.

Japan has asked the Clinton administration for a prompt legal opinion on the so-called "Burma law," a selective purchasing bill signed by Weld last June.

Simon Billenness of the Boston-based human rights group the Massachusetts Burma Round Table says "this is a battle between the corporate interest and the democratic process."