[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 99 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 99

     Expressing the sense of Congress on the occasion of the 100th 
anniversary of the proclamation of independence of Czechoslovakia, the 
  25th anniversary of the independence of the Czech Republic and the 
     Slovak Republic, and reaffirming the bonds of friendship and 
 cooperation between the United States and the Czech Republic and the 
                            Slovak Republic.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 19, 2018

 Mr. Blum (for himself, Mr. Visclosky, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Barton, and 
Mrs. Dingell) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
     Expressing the sense of Congress on the occasion of the 100th 
anniversary of the proclamation of independence of Czechoslovakia, the 
  25th anniversary of the independence of the Czech Republic and the 
     Slovak Republic, and reaffirming the bonds of friendship and 
 cooperation between the United States and the Czech Republic and the 
                            Slovak Republic.

Whereas President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points, outlined on January 8, 1918, 
        were the basis for the formation of the Czechoslovak state in 1918;
Whereas, on May 31, 1918, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the representatives of 
        Slovak and Czech organizations and expatriate communities in the United 
        States signed the Pittsburgh Agreement, based on the Cleveland Agreement 
        signed on October 22, 1915, calling for an independent state of 
        Czechoslovakia in their European homeland;
Whereas the Czechoslovak Legions formed during World War I in Russia, France, 
        and Italy and supportive of the effort to create an independent state of 
        Czechs and Slovaks were recognized as Allied forces by the United States 
        and supported by the Government of the United States in their evacuation 
        from Siberia in July 2018;
Whereas, on September 3, 1918, the United States Government recognized the 
        Czecho-Slovak National Council as the official Government of 
        Czechoslovakia;
Whereas the Declaration of Independence of the Czechoslovak Nation by its 
        Provisional Government was drafted by Tomas G. Masaryk, the Prime 
        Minister of the Czechoslovak Provisional Government who later became the 
        first President of Czechoslovakia, while residing in the United States, 
        signed by the leaders of the Czechoslovak Provisional Government Tomas 
        G. Masaryk, Milan R. Stefanik, and Edvard Benes, and submitted to the 
        Department of State on October 18, 1918;
Whereas the peoples of the present day Czech Republic and the present day Slovak 
        Republic proclaimed their independence in the common state of the 
        Republic of Czechoslovakia on October 28 and October 30, 1918;
Whereas, on November 12, 1918, diplomatic relations between the United States 
        and Czechoslovakia were formally established;
Whereas the Munich Agreement signed on September 30, 1938, permitted Nazi 
        Germany's annexation of portions of Czechoslovakia, however failed to 
        prevent World War II and therefore fully discredited the policy of 
        appeasement of tyrants and dictators;
Whereas between 1938 and 1945, Nazi Germany 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 during World War II, the Slovak and Czech resistance movements against 
        Nazi occupation and fascism, with the support of the Czechoslovak 
        government-in-exile, launched the Slovak National Uprising in August 
        1944 and the Prague uprising in May 1945, and in their determination to 
        stand united against hatred and oppression these movements contributed 
        to the defeat of Nazism and fascism;
Whereas the Communists seized power from the democratically elected government 
        of Czechoslovakia in February 1948;
Whereas troops from Warsaw Pact countries invaded Czechoslovakia in August 1968, 
        ousted the reformist leadership of Alexander Dubcek, and restored a 
        hard-line communist regime;
Whereas in November 1989 the peoples of Czechoslovakia in a nonviolent Velvet 
        Revolution overthrew 40 years of totalitarian communist rule in order to 
        rebuild a democratic society, and since then have established vibrant, 
        pluralistic, democratic political systems based upon freedom of speech, 
        a free press, free and fair open elections, the rule of law, and other 
        democratic principles and practices, values embodied for many in the 
        personality of the first post-communist president Vaclav Havel;
Whereas the Slovak National Council passed the Constitution of the Slovak 
        Republic on September 1, 1992, and the Czech National Council passed the 
        Constitution of the Czech Republic on December 16, 1992;
Whereas the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic came into existence on 
        January 1, 1993, after a peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia;
Whereas the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic joined the North Atlantic Treaty 
        Organization on March 12, 1999, and March 29, 2004, respectively, 
        becoming responsible and reliable allies to the United States and other 
        NATO members;
Whereas committed to the idea of peaceful and prosperous Europe the Czech 
        Republic and the Slovak Republic became members of the European Union on 
        May 1, 2004;
Whereas the people of the United States, the Czech Republic, and the Slovak 
        Republic have maintained a special relationship based on shared 
        democratic values, common interests, and the strong bonds of friendship, 
        mutual respect, and close cooperation; and
Whereas the people of the United States have an affinity with the people of the 
        Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic and regard them as trusted and 
        important partners and allies: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) recognizes the 100th anniversary of proclamation of 
        independence of Czechoslovakia, as well as the 25th anniversary 
        of the independence of the Czech Republic and the Slovak 
        Republic;
            (2) commemorates with the Czech Republic and the Slovak 
        Republic these anniversaries, underscoring the significance and 
        value of independence and sovereignty based on democratic 
        principles, values and practices, most of all freedom and 
        dignity of individual citizens;
            (3) commends the peoples of the Czech Republic and the 
        Slovak Republic for their remarkable achievements over the past 
        25 years in building free, democratic, and prosperous 
        societies;
            (4) recognizes the importance of the alliance between the 
        United States and the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic in 
        common defense, enduring commitment to the free and unified 
        Europe, and expanding and deepening economic prosperity of our 
        nations under the rule of law;
            (5) appreciates the contribution of the Czech Republic and 
        the Slovak Republic as members of the North Atlantic Treaty 
        Organization and the European Union to the promotion and 
        defense of common values of freedom, democracy, and liberty 
        around the world and for their support in the fight against 
        violent extremism;
            (6) reaffirms the bonds of friendship and close cooperation 
        that have existed between the United States and the Czech 
        Republic and the Slovak Republic; and
            (7) extends the warmest congratulations and best wishes to 
        the people of the Czech Republic and the people of the Slovak 
        Republic for a peaceful, prosperous, and successful future.
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