[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 34 Referred in House (RFH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. CON. RES. 34


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 31, 2012

              Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

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                         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, and Burma:
Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 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, 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.

            Passed the Senate January 30, 2012.

            Attest:

                                                NANCY ERICKSON,

                                                             Secretary.