[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 111 (Thursday, July 31, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H6686-H6687]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          INDIA'S INDEPENDENCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Pallone] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak in support of House 
Resolution 157, which was passed by unanimous consent just a few 
minutes ago this evening.
  It is a great pleasure for me to join with the people of India and 
the Indian-American community in paying tribute to the 50th anniversary 
of India's independence, which is one of the things that is mentioned 
in the House Resolution.

[[Page H6687]]

  After years of determined and dignified struggle, the people of India 
finally gained their independence at midnight on August 14, 1947. That 
midnight hour, evoked by India's first Prime Minister Nehru in a 
stirring speech to the parliament, marked the beginning of an inspiring 
effort by the people of India to establish a republic devoted to the 
principles of democracy and secularism.
  In the five decades since then, despite the challenges of sustaining 
economic development while reconciling her many ethnic, religious and 
linguistic communities, India has stuck to the path of free and fair 
elections, a multiparty political system, and the orderly transfer of 
power from one government to a successor.
  Anyone who doubted India's lasting commitment to these values would 
have had to be converted into a believer in Indian democracy after 
witnessing the elections of the spring of last year in 1996. In what 
proved to be the largest exercise in democracy in world history, half a 
billion people voted to shape their country's direction heading into a 
new century.
  The coalition governments that followed that election in the spring 
of 1996 have shown their commitment basically not only to democracy but 
also to representing the broad spectrum of the Indian population and 
continuing on the path of economic reform.
  Although many Americans may not necessarily recognize it, there is a 
rich tradition of shared values between the United States and India. 
Just as the United States proclaimed its independence from the British 
colonial order, so was India born of the struggle for freedom and self-
determination. India derived key aspects of its constitution, 
particularly its statement of fundamental rights, from our own Bill of 
Rights; and the Indian independence movement, under the inspired 
leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, had strong moral support from American 
intellectuals, political leaders and journalists.

  In turn, Dr. Martin Luther King, in his struggle to make the promise 
of American democracy a reality for all of our citizens, derived many 
of his ideas of nonviolent resistance to injustice from the teachings 
of Gandhi. Thus, we see a clear pattern of Indian and American 
democracy inspiring and enriching one another at almost every 
historical turn.
  I happen to be, Mr. Speaker, the founder and also now the cochairman 
of the Congressional Caucus on India, and I represent in my district in 
New Jersey one of the largest Indian-American communities in our 
country. I want to continue to work for stronger ties of friendship and 
cooperation between the United States and India, in part because we 
have such a legacy and we are the two greatest democracies.
  It is an honor for me to pay tribute to India for 50 years of 
independence. I know there will be a number of events celebrating the 
50th anniversary as we lead up to it in August over the next couple of 
weeks, some of them in Washington, some of them in almost every major 
city and a lot of other places in this country. So as we adjourn today 
in the House of Representatives, I think it is particularly fitting 
that we pay tribute to the 50th anniversary. Many of us will be joining 
in these celebrations over the next 2 weeks.

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