The State - News from Nov. 20, 1988

Congressman-elect Dana Rohrabacher’s apparently illegal entry into strife-torn Burma last week was part of an unofficial fact-finding trip designed to encourage “freedom fighters around the world,” a former aide said. “He is acting as a private citizen and this is not being paid for at taxpayer expense,” said Bob Rule, Rohrabacher’s former press spokesman. Press reports indicate that Rohrabacher crossed from Thailand into Burma last Tuesday and promised anti-government students he would seek U.S. support for their cause. The State Department said it was not consulted about the trip. Rohrabacher, a Republican and former Reagan speech writer, was elected this month in the conservative 42nd Congressional District in Los Angeles and Orange counties.