[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 8 (Thursday, February 3, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 3, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       TRIBUTE TO MANFRED WOERNER

  Mr. NUNN. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to Manfred 
Woerner, the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty 
Organization. This weekend, on February 5, in Munich Germany, Manfred 
Woerner will receive the prestigious Eric M. Warburg Award for 
achievements in German-American friendship. This award is given 
annually to distinguished Germans or Americans who have furthered the 
cause of German-American friendship. American recipients of this award 
have included Dr. Henry Kissinger and Ambassador Paul Nitze.
  Mr. President, many of our colleagues know that Manfred Woerner is a 
man who has dedicated his life to the security of Germany and to the 
nations of the NATO alliance. NATO has been the most successful 
alliance in which the United States has ever taken part. NATO has kept 
the peace in Europe for over 45 years, one of the longest periods of 
peace ever enjoyed by that troubled continent. NATO has also been 
instrumental in bringing to a peaceful end the long and dangerous 
nuclear confrontation that existed between East and West during the 
cold war.
  Manfred Woerner began his service to Germany in 1961 at the height of 
the cold war. He held various important positions in the German 
Government, eventually rising to become Federal Minister of Defense in 
1982. These were critical years for Germany, and Manfred Woerner's 
service and leadership was an important factor in laying the foundation 
fro the eventual reunification of Germany.
  Next year we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the end of World 
War II. Looking back over the years that have passed since that 
terrible and costly war, we have seen a new Germany develop in the 
heart of Europe. In Western Germany we have seen a thriving free 
economy and democracy develop under leaders like Manfred Woerner. In 
Eastern Germany we saw a dictatorship which not only enslaved its 
people, but a government that ruined its economy and despoiled its 
ecology to a shocking degree unknown in the west.
  During those troubled years of the cold war it was leaders with 
vision like Manfred Woerner who demonstrated to all Germans and to 
people all over Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union that the 
path of freedom in political and economic sectors was the path to 
follow. Nowhere was the contrast between East and West so clear as it 
was between the two Germanies.
  In 1988 Manfred Woerner became Secretary General of NATO. Under his 
leadership that great Alliance began the transformation that is still 
taking place as the alliance adjusts to the realities of the end of the 
cold war. During Manfred Woerner's tenure as Secretary General the 
Warsaw Pact has disbanded. Former members of the Warsaw Pact are 
clamoring to join NATO. The Soviet Union also collapsed during this 
period bringing on a new era full of promise but also full of new 
dangers and instabilities. Throughout this period NATO has stood firm 
as a bulwark against instability and a forum for its members to 
coordinate their mutual security in the face of such vast changes.
  Mr. President, Manfred Woerner's vision and leadership have helped 
lead the way for the unification of his beloved Germany, kept the NATO 
alliance strong and effective, and contributed to our own national 
security. Recently, Manfred underwent serious surgery. I know that all 
of our colleagues in the Senate join with me in congratulating him on 
his receipt of the Warburg Award.
  His wife will be receiving the award for him. This is an award, as I 
said, that is for recipients who have promoted German-American 
friendship and who have strengthened the NATO alliance.
  Manfred Woerner is a most worthy recipient, and all of us join in 
wishing him a rapid and complete recovery from his recent operation.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.

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