[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 50 (Wednesday, April 29, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E707-E708]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    MAY 3RD--POLISH CONSTITUTION DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. NANCY L. JOHNSON

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 29, 1998

  Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, it is Spring, and we live 
in a glorious time of rebirth and renewal. We meet to celebrate Polish 
Constitution Day. And how appropriate it is that we celebrate as well 
the Senate vote approving NATO expansion.
  In 1791, enormous challenges faced Polish reformers. Prussia, Russia 
and Austria, aggressive, imperial states, threatened the Polish 
Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1772, they partioned the Commonwealth, and 
were threatening to repeat the disgraceful deed. The Commonwealth was 
but a Russian satelite, and its once powerful parliamentary democracy 
weakened by political corruption. The moment was now to transform 
Poland into a new nation, with the full benefits of liberty, equality, 
and fratenity available to every citizen.
  The reformers gathered in Warsaw on May 3, 1791, met the challenge. 
Motivated by a deep desire for freedom, they set about to liberate 
themselves ``from the disgraceful shackles of foreign influence.'' 
``Prizing more than life and every personal consideration, political 
existence, external independence, and internal liberty of the nation,'' 
they adopted a constitution for ``future generations, for the sake of 
the public good, for scurring our liberty, and maintaining our kingdom 
and our possessions.'' \1\
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     \1\ ``New Constitution of the Government of Poland 
     established by the Revolution of The Third of May, 1791.'' 
     (London: J. Debrett, 2nd edition, 1791), 4.
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  The new constitution electrified Europe. Shunning the violence of the 
French Revolution, the Polish reformers revolutionized their government 
and their society. The King, Stanislaus August, was now a 
constitutional monarch. The political devices which had opened the way 
for the corruption of the Commonwealth--the liberum veto (free veto) 
and the confederation--were abolished forever. Religious freedom was 
proclaimed. The burgers acquired political rights. The new constitution 
also implied a radical improvement for the peasant serfs, the largest 
social class.
  Poland's rebirth threatened her feudal neighbors. In 1793 and 1795 
they partioned the Commonwealth twice more. For 123 years, until the 
end of World War 1, Poland was missing from Europe's map. President 
Woodrow Wilson supported Poland's rebirth, and independence come again, 
but it was brief. In 1939, Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia repeated the 
crimes of their 18th century predecessors; they invaded and partitioned 
Poland. And at the war's end, Churchill and Roosevelt conceded Eastern 
Europe to Soviet control.
  The memories of May 3rd, of 19th century insurrections against 
Russia, and of heroism and martyrdom during the Holocaust of World War 
II, sustained the Polish people during the long-night of Soviet 
occupation. Poles objected to being cutoff from Europe and confined to 
an alien empire. In 1956, 1968, 1970, and 1976, Poles protested.
  Inspired by Pope John II, Poles underwent a modern rebirth. 
Solidarity and Lech Walcsa challenged the false Soviet ideology. The 
weapons were not guns and tanks, but the truth, human dignity and civil 
rights, and the eternal insistence upon individual freedom. The West 
hailed the Polish workers' heoric, non-violent struggle. In 1983 Lech 
Walesa received the Nobel Peace Prize.
  The patient struggle finally bore fruit in 1989. The countries of 
Eastern Europe regained their sovereignty, and the civil empire 
distingrated.
  The Soviet Empire collapsed because of internal pressures, but also 
because of Western

[[Page E708]]

resolve. Since 1949, NATO, a system of collective security based on 
shared democratic values, kept the peace and kept the Soviets in check. 
NATO is history's most successful alliance.
  Now is the moment to consolidate the western victory in the Cold War, 
and to take into NATO the new democracies of Eastern Europe. NATO 
expansion will enhance Europe's political stability. It will strengthen 
the new democracies. These countries can no longer be the target of 
Russian or other imperial ambitions.
  Since 1989, the countries of Eastern Europe have undergone a 
remarkable rebirth. the reconstruction of democracy and of democratic 
societies is underway. Free elections are a hallmark of new political 
cultures. The East Europeans have also begun to integrate themselves 
into Western economic institutions. They are on the way back to Europe.
  Membership in NATO is a culminating moment in Eastern Europe's 
political and economic rebirth. Today we gather here to celebrate 
Poland's constitution of May 3rd, 1791 and her rebirth in the 18th 
century. At the same time, we celebrate and recognize her modern 
rebirth. We welcome Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary as 
America's newest NATO allies. With a Europe renewed and re-invigorated, 
we move forward with confidence into the next millenium. In securing 
north Atlantic collective security, we secure and pass on to the next 
generation our common democratic values.

                          ____________________