[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 48 (Thursday, April 28, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 28, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       ELECTIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA

  (Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate 
the people of South Africa, who have taken a giant step on the road to 
democracy. For the first time, all South Africans, regardless of color, 
have been allowed to participate in the political process. The result 
of this week's historic elections will be a multiracial government that 
represents each segment of the population.
  These elections signal the end of white minority rule which has been 
the main feature of South African politics through centuries of 
colonial domination and more than four decades of apartheid. 
International opinion has been outraged as blacks, Indians, and other 
nonwhites have been denied fundamental human rights on the basis of 
their race. Only now, after so much suffering and bloodshed, can all 
South Africans exercise the right which we as Americans often take for 
granted: the right to vote.
  I would like to commend Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk for their 
roles in this process. After 27 years as a political prisoner, Mandela 
has emerged as the unifying force behind the struggle for freedom and 
equality in South Africa. For his part, President de Klerk recognized 
the importance of change, and has helped pave the way for the recent 
political reforms. Without the cooperation of these two men, these 
historic elections would never have been possible.
  The time for racial hatred and division is over. With the elections 
completed, all South Africans, black and white, must work together for 
a peaceful transition to democracy. The whole world hopes they succeed.

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