[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 892 Engrossed in House (EH)]

H. Res. 892

                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                      November 7, 2009.
Whereas the year 1989 witnessed a series of remarkable events in Europe that 
        helped lead to the end of the Cold War and the beginning of the creation 
        of a Europe whole, free, and at peace;
Whereas, on February 6, 1989, after almost 10 years of unarmed struggle, the 
        Polish free trade union Solidarity finally succeeded in forcing the 
        Government of Poland to begin talks on broad political and economic 
        change;
Whereas, on April 6, 1989, Solidarity was legalized, enabling it to contest 
        elections for 35 percent of the seats in the Sejm and all the seats in 
        the Senat, resulting in the historic election victory for Solidarity on 
        June 4 in which Solidarity won all the seats available to it in the Sejm 
        and 99 out of 100 seats in the Senat, leading to the installation of the 
        first non-Communist government since January 1945;
Whereas, on May 2, 1989, the Hungarian government began dismantling the barbed 
        wire fence separating Hungary in the Soviet-controlled East from Austria 
        in the free West, causing a ``tear in the Iron Curtain'' that was never 
        to be closed again;
Whereas, following the exodus of several hundred East Germans from Hungary 
        between May and mid-July 1989, the Hungarian government announced on 
        September 10, that as of midnight, the border to the West would be open 
        for all East Germans wishing to leave, leading to the departure of 
        thousands of East Germans and representing the first break in the Warsaw 
        Pact policy of preventing each other's citizens from fleeing to the 
        West;
Whereas, on August 23, 1989, 2,000,000 people living in the Baltic states of 
        Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania linked hands to form a human chain almost 
        400 miles long in a peaceful protest of Soviet rule and in order to 
        demand the restoration of independent statehood;
Whereas, on November 9, 1989, in response to protests that had grown to include 
        over a million people in Berlin's Alexanderplatz, now referred to as the 
        ``Peaceful Revolution'', Gunter Schabowski, the communist East German 
        Minister of Propaganda, announced that the border would be opened for 
        ``private trips abroad'';
Whereas, on November 9, 1989, thousands of East Germans streamed into West 
        Berlin, following the opening of checkpoints between the two halves of 
        the divided city and resulting in the days that followed in one of the 
        most momentous events of the 20th century, the tearing down of the 
        Berlin Wall;
Whereas, on November 24, 1989, months of protests by pro-democracy forces in 
        Czechoslovakia led by visionary leader Vaclav Havel resulted in the 
        culmination of the ``Velvet Revolution'' and the en masse resignation of 
        the entire Czechoslovak ruling Politburo, followed by the resignation of 
        President Gustav Husak on December 10, and a new democratic beginning 
        with the election of President Havel on December 29;
Whereas in November 1989, the first-known post-war public protests in Bulgaria 
        organized by civil rights groups led to the ouster and resignation of 
        Communist Party leader Todor Zhivkov after 34 years in power, and the 
        first free elections since 1946 in Bulgaria the following June;
Whereas, on December 17, 1989, in the town of Timisoara, Romania, citizens 
        protesting against the arrest of a local priest were brutally killed by 
        Romanian security forces under orders of President Ceausescu, causing 
        international outrage and condemnation, and leading to mass protests and 
        escalating violence throughout the country, resulting at the end of the 
        year in the overthrow of the Ceausescu regime and his execution;
Whereas the events of 1989 prove that the will and the desire of millions of 
        people for freedom cannot be forever repressed and that the actions of a 
        few courageous leaders can inspire millions of others to join the 
        inexorable struggle to be free;
Whereas in the past 20 years, most of the countries of Central and Eastern 
        Europe have become stable, prosperous, and vibrant democracies, with 
        many becoming members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 
        and the European Union (EU);
Whereas in the past 20 years, the prospect of membership in NATO and the EU has 
        been a major stabilizing force and has helped promote greater peace and 
        prosperity within Europe; and
Whereas there is still much work that needs to be done to overcome the remaining 
        challenges within Europe and to create a Europe whole, free, and at 
        peace: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes the events of 1989 that helped lead to the end of the 
        Cold War;
            (2) congratulates the countries of Central and Eastern Europe who 
        have made great progress in the past 20 years and emerged as strong, 
        vibrant democracies;
            (3) expresses strong support and friendship for the countries of 
        Central and Eastern Europe, and reaffirms its commitment to the solemn 
        obligations set forth in article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty;
            (4) welcomes the commitment by the European Union (EU) and the North 
        Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to keep the door to membership open 
        for all European countries which meet the conditions for accession; and
            (5) supports the continued efforts to create a Europe whole, free 
        and at peace.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.