[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 52 (Wednesday, May 4, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 4, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
         CONGRATULATING THE PEOPLE AND LEADERS OF SOUTH AFRICA

  Mr. LEVIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Senate Resolution 210, a 
resolution submitted earlier today by Senators Wofford, Simon, 
Jeffords, and others, congratulating the people and leaders of South 
Africa on their first democratic election; that the resolution and 
preamble be agreed to; that the motion to reconsider be laid on the 
table; and that any statements thereon appear in the Record at the 
appropriate place as though read.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  So the resolution (S. Res. 210) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, is as follows:

                              S. Res. 210

       Whereas the people of South Africa have demonstrated by 
     their recent election a desire to move toward full democratic 
     government;
       Whereas, despite the efforts of extremists, those elections 
     have moved South Africa towards a new era of multiracial 
     cooperation and government;
       Whereas President-elect Nelson Mandela, former President 
     F.W. DeKlerk, Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, and many others 
     have by their cooperation helped to achieve these good 
     results; and
       Whereas the people of South Africa now enter a new and 
     important period in their history: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate, on behalf of the people of the 
     United States, hereby extends its congratulations to the 
     people of South Africa and their leaders on the results of 
     their first democratic election, and expresses the strong 
     hope of all Americans that South Africa and its citizens 
     continue on the road to freedom and national unity.

  Mr. WOFFORD. Madam President, a few years ago, in the moving South 
African theater piece ``Sarafina,'' the schoolchildren of Soweto sang a 
joyous hymn to what seemed like a distant future called Freedom Is 
Coming Tomorrow. But now, that tomorrow has come. Freedom is here 
today.
  Millions in South Africa and, indeed, around the world, have good 
reason to celebrate. The recently concluded election in South Africa 
was a resounding victory for human rights. It is a call for a renewed 
dedication in all of Africa to the cause of human freedom, racial 
tolerance, and nonviolent change.
  I have spent a good deal of my life dealing with issues affecting the 
people of Africa. I and many others here in the United States and 
elsewhere have waited a long time to see this great day. Many people 
have dedicated themselves to making it happen.
  But true credit must go to those South Africans who sacrificed so 
much--even their lives--to gain this new, great measure of democracy. 
Their common struggle can best be remembered by their uncompromising 
devotion to freedom and unremitting opposition to the brutality of 
apartheid. It is to them that the people of South Africa will always 
owe a debt of gratitude.
  For millions more the work has not yet ended. For Nelson Mandela, 
whose faith in the future of South Africa was unshaken by 27 years of 
imprisonment, the real work has only just begun. As President, it will 
be his task to unify the country, to reconcile old animosities and to 
focus the attention of South Africans on building their future. For 
F.W. De Klerk, Chief Buthelezi, and other leaders, it will be their 
task to join with President Mandela in building the common ground on 
which the future of a new South Africa will rest.
  When Nelson Mandela and F.W. De Klerk came to Philadelphia last year 
to receive the Liberty Medal on the steps of Independence Hall, few of 
us could miss the symbolism. There, in the very place where Americans 
crafted our founding documents of freedom and democratic self-
government, these two historic adversaries were coming together to 
dedicate themselves to their own new birth of freedom. Since then, 
against all the forces of violence and opposition arrayed against them, 
they stuck to the path and arrived at their great destination: the 
ballot box. And this past week, millions of South Africans waited 
peacefully on lines to reach that same destination for themselves and 
their country.
  I believe that there is a common bond between Americans and South 
Africans, a bond which was established by implacable opposition to 
apartheid in recognition of our own struggle for racial equality. I am 
sure that the American people share the hope of all South Africans that 
this election be only the first step on the road to national 
reconciliation. It is for these reasons that I have submitted this 
resolution to congratulate the South African people on their new day of 
freedom.

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