[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 97 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 97

  Expressing the sense of Congress in honor of the life and legacy of 
                             Vaclav Havel.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 27, 2012

 Ms. Ros-Lehtinen (for herself, Mr. Berman, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. 
Meeks, Mr. Mack, Mr. Sires, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Mr. Rivera, and Mr. Engel) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
                    the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of Congress in honor of the life and legacy of 
                             Vaclav Havel.

Whereas Vaclav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic, passed away on 
        December 18, 2011, at 75 years of age, at his country home in Hradecek 
        in the Czech Republic;
Whereas Vaclav Havel was widely recognized and respected throughout the world as 
        a defender of democratic principles and human rights;
Whereas through his extensive writings, Vaclav Havel courageously challenged the 
        ideology and legitimacy of the authoritarian communist regimes that 
        ruled Central and Eastern Europe during the Cold War;
Whereas Vaclav Havel, who was imprisoned 3 times by the Communist Party of 
        Czechoslovakia for his advocacy of universal human rights and democratic 
        principles, maintained his convictions in the face of repression;
Whereas Vaclav Havel was one of the leading organizers of Charter 77, a group of 
        242 individuals who called for the human rights guaranteed under the 
        1975 Helsinki accords to be realized in Czechoslovakia;
Whereas Vaclav Havel was a cofounder of the Committee for the Defense of the 
        Unjustly Prosecuted, an organization dedicated to supporting dissidents 
        and their families, which helped to advance the cause of freedom and 
        justice in Czechoslovakia;
Whereas Vaclav Havel, as leader of the Civic Forum movement, was a key figure in 
        the 1989 peaceful overthrow of the Czechoslovakian communist government 
        known as the Velvet Revolution;
Whereas following the Velvet Revolution, Vaclav Havel was democratically elected 
        as President of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic in 1990, and after 
        a peaceful partition forming 2 separate states, democratically elected 
        President of the Czech Republic in 1993;
Whereas under the leadership of Vaclav Havel, the Czech Republic became a 
        prosperous, democratic country and a respected member of the 
        international community;
Whereas under the leadership of Vaclav Havel, the Czech Republic became a member 
        of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on March 12, 1999, and 
        continues to be a valued friend and treasured ally of the United States;
Whereas during his lifetime, Vaclav Havel received praise as one of the world's 
        great democratic leaders and awarded many international prizes 
        recognizing his commitment to peace and democratic principles;
Whereas on July 23, 2003, President George W. Bush honored Vaclav Havel with the 
        Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the United 
        States Government, for being ``one of liberty's great heroes'';
Whereas after leaving office as president of the Czech Republic in February 
        2003, Vaclav Havel remained a voice on behalf of democratic dissidents 
        worldwide and against authoritarian regimes, including Belarus, Iran, 
        Cuba, China, and Burma;
Whereas Vaclav Havel, the author of Charter 77 for human rights and political 
        reform in the former Czechoslovakia and an inspiration for Liu Xiaobo in 
        the drafting of the Charter 08 manifesto for democratic reform in China, 
        joined other Nobel Peace Prize laureates in 2010 to call for the 
        nomination of Liu Xiaobo for the Nobel Peace Prize which the Chinese 
        dissident won that year;
Whereas Vaclav Havel was a long time advocate for the advancement of human 
        rights in Burma and nominated Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi 
        for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, and upon hearing of his death Aung 
        San Suu Kyi released a statement noting that ``this is not only a loss 
        for one person or one country, it is a great loss for humankind.'';
Whereas Vaclav Havel supported the democratic dissidents in Cuba and sought to 
        increase international cooperation through his involvement with the 
        International Committee for Democracy in Cuba, an organization created 
        after the brutal 2003 Black Spring crackdown, which promotes 
        international solidarity with the Cuban democracy movement;
Whereas Vaclav Havel has often condemned the oppressive nature of the Cuban 
        regime and in March 2008 stated, ``Cuba's regime has remained in power . 
        . . by using propaganda, censorship, and violence to create a climate of 
        fear.'';
Whereas the government of the Czech Republic continues to be a strong supporter 
        of a free and democratic Cuba on the international stage;
Whereas Cuban democracy activists in the United States and Cuba have honored the 
        steadfast commitment and support by Vaclav Havel to bring freedom, 
        justice, and democracy to the Cuban people;
Whereas Vaclav Havel supported the democratic opposition in Iran, calling for 
        the release of illegally detained Human Rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh 
        and expressing support for the Iranian student protestors in March 2010, 
        and stated, ``I have an elevated sensitivity for certain things and am 
        deeply outraged and shocked that for participating in similar 
        demonstrations in Iran, people are not only being sentenced to several 
        years in prison, but are even being executed. It seems to me like an 
        endless barbarity and I firmly believe this savagery is about to come to 
        an end.'';
Whereas Vaclav Havel was a long-standing advocate for human rights and greater 
        political freedoms in Belarus, and spoke out against the illegal 
        detention of democratic activists in Belarus following the fraudulent 
        elections in 2010; and
Whereas in one of the final public messages Vaclav Havel issued prior to his 
        death he once again expressed solidarity with political prisoners in 
        Belarus through a public letter to jailed activists Andrey Sannikau and 
        Mikalay Statkevich, in which he stated, ``I wish you all the best and 
        freedom for your country . . . I will continue to use any opportunity in 
        the future, together with my friends, to draw the international 
        community's attention to the violations of basic civil rights in 
        Belarus.'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) mourns the loss of Vaclav Havel and offers its 
        heartfelt condolences to the Havel family and the people of the 
        Czech Republic;
            (2) recognizes Vaclav Havel's courage and commitment to 
        democratic values in the face of communist repression;
            (3) recognizes Vaclav Havel's pivotal historical legacy in 
        defeating the ideology of communism, peacefully ending the Cold 
        War, and building a Europe that is democratic, united, and at 
        peace;
            (4) recognizes Vaclav Havel's solidarity with democratic 
        dissidents throughout the world and support for the expansion 
        of freedom, including in Belarus, Iran, Cuba, China, and Burma; 
        and
            (5) reaffirms the commitment of the United States to the 
        causes of freedom, democracy, and human rights for which Vaclav 
        Havel stood.
                                 <all>