[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 68 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]

  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 68

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                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Whereas on September 3, 1918, the United States Government recognized the 
        Czecho-Slovak National Council as the official Government of 
        Czechoslovakia;
Whereas on October 28, 1918, the peoples of Bohemia, Moravia, and part of 
        Silesia, comprising the present Czech Republic, and peoples of Slovakia, 
        comprising the present Slovak Republic, proclaimed their independence in 
        a common state of the Czechoslovak Republic;
Whereas on November 17, 1939, the Czech institutions of higher learning were 
        closed by the Nazis, many students were taken to concentration camps, 
        and nine representatives of the student movement were executed
Whereas between 1938 and 1945, the Nazis annexed part of Bohemia, set up a 
        fascist ``protectorate'' in the rest of Bohemia and in Moravia, and 
        installed a puppet fascist government in Slovakia;
Whereas the Communists seized power from the democratically elected government 
        of Czechoslovakia in March 1948;
Whereas troops from Warsaw Pact countries invaded Czechoslovakia in August 1968, 
        ousted the reformist government of Alexander Dubcek, and restored a 
        hard-line communist regime;
Whereas on November 17, 1989, the brutal break up of a student demonstration 
        commemorating the 50th anniversary of the execution of Czech student 
        leaders and the closure of universities by the Nazis triggered the 
        explosion of mass discontent that launched the Velvet Revolution, which 
        was characterized by reliance on nonviolence and open public discourse;
Whereas the peoples of Czechoslovakia overthrew 40-years of totalitarian 
        communist rule in order to rebuild a democratic society;
Whereas since November 17, 1989, the people of the Czech and Slovak Republics 
        have established a vibrant, pluralistic, democratic political system 
        based upon freedom of speech, a free press, free and fair open 
        elections, the rule of law, and other democratic principles and 
        practices as they were recognized by President Wilson and President 
        Thomas G. Masaryk;
Whereas the Czech Republic joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on 
        March 12, 1999, the admission of which was approved by the Senate of the 
        United States on April 30, 1998;
Whereas the Czech and Slovak Republics are in the process of preparing for 
        admission to the European Union;
Whereas the people of the United States and the Czech and Slovak Republics have 
        maintained a special relationship based on shared democratic values, 
        common interests, and bonds of friendship and mutual respect; and
Whereas the American people have an affinity with the peoples of the Czech and 
        Slovak Republics and regard the Czech and Slovak Republics as trusted 
        and important partners: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) recognizes the 10th anniversary of the historic events 
        in Central and Eastern Europe that brought about the collapse 
        of the communist regimes and the fall of the Iron Curtain, and 
        commemorates with the Czech and Slovak Republics the 10th 
        anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, which 
        underscores the significance and value of reclaimed freedom and 
        the dignity of individual citizens;
            (2) commends the peoples of the present Czech and Slovak 
        Republics for their achievements in building new states and 
        pluralistic democratic societies nearly 60 years of 
        totalitarian fascist and communist rule;
            (3) supports the peoples of the Czech and Slovak Republics 
        in their determination to join trans-Atlantic institutions 
        through memberships in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization 
        (NATO) and the European Union;
            (4) reaffirms the bonds of friendship and close cooperation 
        that have existed between the United States and the Czech and 
        Slovak Republics; and
            (5) extends the warmest congratulations and best wishes to 
        the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic and their people for a 
        peaceful, prosperous, and successful future.

            Passed the Senate November 8, 1999.

            Attest:

                                                             Secretary.
106th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                            S. CON. RES. 68

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

     Expressing the sense of Congress on the occasion of the 10th 
     anniversary of historic events in Central and Eastern Europe, 
 particularly the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, and reaffirming 
 the bonds of friendship and cooperation between the United States and 
                    the Czech and Slovak Republics.