[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 332 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 332

Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the 
 end of the division of Europe, and the beginning of the peaceful and 
                  democratic reunification of Germany.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 2, 2009

   Mr. Kerry (for himself, Mr. Lugar, and Mr. Cardin) submitted the 
        following resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the 
 end of the division of Europe, and the beginning of the peaceful and 
                  democratic reunification of Germany.

Whereas, between 1945 and 1961, more than 2,500,000 people, or 15 percent of the 
        total population of the German Democratic Republic (referred to in this 
        preamble as ``East Germany''), left the country to pursue economic 
        opportunity and enjoy the benefits of liberty and political freedom in 
        the Federal Republic of Germany (referred to in this preamble as ``West 
        Germany'') and other countries;
Whereas, at midnight on August 13, 1961, East Germany sealed its border with 
        West Berlin and began construction of a 100-mile barrier that would 
        later include bunkers, watchtowers, searchlights, minefields, barbed 
        wire, concrete walls, and armed guards, to prevent the emigration of the 
        people of East Germany to seek freedom and opportunity elsewhere;
Whereas, during the 28 years the Berlin Wall existed, approximately 5,000 people 
        successfully fled East Germany for West Germany and West Berlin, more 
        than 75,000 people were imprisoned for attempting to leave East Germany, 
        and an estimated 1,200 people were killed trying to escape;
Whereas Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan declared their vision of 
        Berlin as a free city, in the heart of a free Germany;
Whereas Chancellor Willi Brandt of West Germany and others demonstrated great 
        foresight in their pursuit of ``Ostpolitik'', a policy of engagement 
        that lowered tensions and ultimately helped undermine the authoritarian 
        rule of the wall-builders;
Whereas more than 22,000,000 Americans served in the Cold War, supporting the 
        efforts to bring military, economic, and diplomatic pressure to bear in 
        the defense of Germany and the West, and ultimately helping more than 
        400,000,000 people gain their freedom from the bondage of communism in 
        the Soviet Bloc;
Whereas the Solidarity Movement in Poland demonstrated that the will of a people 
        united could not be silenced by winning a surprise landslide victory in 
        elections to the Contract Sejm in June 1989;
Whereas, on August 23, 1989, Hungary officially opened the border between 
        Hungary and Austria, resulting in 13,000 refugees from East Germany 
        fleeing into West Germany through Hungary;
Whereas, on September 4, 1989, after prayers for peace in the Nikolai Church, 
        crowds that would eventually number in the hundreds of thousands 
        gathered in Leipzig, East Germany, to repeatedly and peacefully protest 
        the authoritarian regime of East Germany and to demand basic freedoms;
Whereas, in September 1989, thousands of people in East Germany took refuge in 
        the embassy of West Germany in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in order to 
        emigrate to West Germany and the West;
Whereas, on October 18, 1989, faced with widespread civil unrest and a 
        deteriorating political situation, East German leader Erich Honecker, 
        who had predicted that the Wall ``will stand in fifty or a hundred 
        years,'' resigned;
Whereas, on November 4, 1989, more than 1,000,000 people gathered in 
        Alexanderplatz in East Berlin and 40 other cities and towns in East 
        Germany to demand free elections and basic civil rights, such as 
        freedoms of opinion, movement, press, and assembly;
Whereas, on November 9, 1989, East German politbureau member Gunter Schabowki 
        announced that the government would allow ``every citizen of the German 
        Democratic Republic to leave the GDR through any of the border 
        crossings,'' and East German leader Egon Krenz promised ``free, general, 
        democratic and secret elections'';
Whereas thousands of people in East Berlin immediately flooded the border 
        checkpoints at the Berlin Wall and demanded entry into West Berlin, 
        causing the overwhelmed border guards of East Germany to open the 
        checkpoints to allow people to cross into West Berlin;
Whereas, in the days following the fall of the Berlin Wall, hundreds of 
        thousands of people from East Germany freely crossed the border into 
        West Berlin and West Germany for the first time in more than 28 years;
Whereas the Chancellor of West Germany Helmut Kohl and Foreign Minister Hans 
        Dietrich Genscher managed the political situation and foreign diplomacy 
        with great tact and in close cooperation with Western allies, leading to 
        the peaceful reunification of Germany as a sovereign, democratic state 
        on October 3, 1990;
Whereas, on November 9, 2009, the people of Germany will celebrate on both sides 
        of the Brandenburg Gate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin 
        Wall with the ``Festival of Freedom'';
Whereas the fall of the Berlin Wall was one of the milestones of the 20th 
        century, brought about by the actions of many ordinary and some 
        extraordinary people; and
Whereas the fall of the Berlin Wall embodied the end of the division of Europe, 
        the opening of the Iron Curtain, and the triumph of democracy over 
        communism: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes the 20th anniversary of the fall of the 
        Berlin Wall;
            (2) celebrates 20 years of an undivided Europe, free from 
        the oppression of authoritarianism, with the people of the 
        former communist countries and Western Europe;
            (3) honors the service and sacrifice of the people of 
        Germany, the United States, and other countries who served in 
        the Cold War to bring freedom to Central and Eastern Europe;
            (4) expresses its appreciation to the people of Germany for 
        their commitment to preserving the dignity and freedom of 
        others in their leadership on international assistance, 
        peacekeeping, and security efforts, including in Afghanistan, 
        Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Lebanon, Sudan, and 
        off the coast of the Horn of Africa; and
            (5) reaffirms the friendship between the Government and 
        people of the United States and the Government and people of 
        Germany.
                                 <all>