[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 86 (Friday, June 26, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7305-S7306]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING THE BERLIN AIRLIFT

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Foreign 
Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Con. 
Res. 81, and further that the Senate proceed to its immediate 
consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 81) honoring the 
     Berlin airlift.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the immediate 
consideration of the concurrent resolution?
  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
concurrent resolution.


                           Amendment No. 3049

              (Purpose: To provide a complete substitute)

  Mr. LOTT. Senator Coverdell has a substitute amendment at the desk, 
and I ask for its consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Mississippi [Mr. Lott], for Mr. Coverdell, 
     proposes an amendment numbered 3049.

  Mr. LOTT. I ask unanimous consent that further reading of the 
amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

       Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the 
     following:
       That it is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the Berlin Airlift, which marks its 50th anniversary of 
     commencement in June 1998, is one of the most significant 
     events in post-war European history; and
       (2) the Berlin Sculpture Fund should be commended for 
     commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift by 
     presenting to the citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany 
     a gift of representational art, funded by private 
     subscriptions from citizens of the United States.
       Amend the preamble to read as follows:
       Whereas the date of June 26, 1998, marks the 50th 
     anniversary of the commencement of the Allied effort to 
     supply the people of Berlin, Germany, with food, fuel, and 
     supplies in the face of the illegal Soviet blockade that 
     divided the city;
       Whereas this 15 month Allied effort became known throughout 
     the free world as the ``Berlin Airlift'' and ultimately cost 
     the lives of 78 Allied airmen, of whom 31 were United States 
     fliers;
       Whereas this heroic humanitarian undertaking was 
     universally regarded as an unambiguous statement of Western 
     resolve to thwart further Soviet expansion;
       Whereas the Berlin Airlift was an unqualified success, both 
     as an instrument of diplomacy and as a life saving rescue of 
     the 2,000,000 inhabitants of West Berlin, with 2,326,205 tons 
     of supplies delivered by 277,728 flights over a 462-day 
     period;
       Whereas historians and citizens the world over view the 
     success of this courageous action as pivotal to the ultimate 
     defeat of international tyranny, symbolized today by the fall 
     of the Berlin Wall; and
       Whereas this inspiring act of resolve must be preserved in 
     the memory of future generations in a positive and dramatic 
     manner: Now, therefore, be it

  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on a resolution I 
introduced honoring the heroes of the Berlin Airlift. Today marks the 
fiftieth

[[Page S7306]]

anniversary of this great undertaking. This massive Allied effort to 
provide relief to a post war Berlin held hostage by the Soviet Union 
displayed to the world, the resolve of the western world to fight 
oppression and began a long fight against Soviet Communism that 
culminated with the collapse of the Berlin Wall.
  The former Soviet Union, Britain, France and the United States 
occupied separate sectors of Germany after World War II. Berlin, 
located in the Soviet zone of Germany, was occupied in a similar 
fashion. In response to a failing economy the Western powers undertook 
an effort to reform the German currency. The Soviet Union, meanwhile, 
kept the old German currency from entering its zones by banning, on 
June 24, 1948, all travel into and out of the Western half of the city. 
The Soviets also cut the supply of electricity to this zone. Berlin's 
economy was in ruins and its citizens were under virtual seige.
  The response to this blockade was one of the most heroic and 
monumental undertakings in history. For fifteen months Allied transport 
planes shipped food, coal and supplies into Berlin. During the height 
of this effort airplanes were taking off every three minutes, twenty 
four hours a day, while delivering daily 14,000 tons of supplies. All 
told, 2,326,205 tons of supplies were delivered by 277,728 flights in 
the face of Soviet efforts to thwart the Allies.
  Mr. President, these numbers do not speak to the personal stories of 
those who organized and participated in the Berlin airlift, the 
sacrifices they made and the selflessness they displayed. They do not 
speak to the lives lost during the operation, 31 of which were 
American. They do not speak to the gratitude those in Berlin felt 
toward the Allies who were so willing after such a brutal war, to 
provide them with life-sustaining relief. Mr. President, let us all 
keep these ideas in mind as we remember the Berlin Airlift, what it 
meant to the world in a post World War II environment, and what it has 
come to mean to us today.
  Finally, Mr. President I would like to note that next week, on July 
2, 1998, a delegation with representatives from the Berlin Sculpture 
Fund will visit Berlin to present a gift of art to the citizens of the 
Federal Republic of Germany in commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of 
the Berlin Airlift. The Berlin Sculpture Fund and its Chairman, General 
John Mitchell, should be commended for their work to commemorate this 
event and the impact it made on our world's history.
  Mr. LOTT. I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be agreed to, 
the resolution, as amended, be agreed to, the amendment to the preamble 
be agreed to, and the preamble, as amended, be agreed to, the amendment 
to the title be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 
table, and any statements relating to this resolution appear at the 
appropriate place in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 3049) was agreed to.
  The resolution, as amended, was agreed to.
  The amendment to the preamble was agreed to.
  The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 81), as amended, with its 
preamble, as amended, reads as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 81

       Whereas the date of June 26, 1998, marks the 50th 
     anniversary of the commencement of the Allied effort to 
     supply the people of Berlin, Germany, with food, fuel, and 
     supplies in the face of the illegal Soviet blockade that 
     divided the city;
       Whereas this 15 month Allied effort became known throughout 
     the free world as the ``Berlin Airlift'' and ultimately cost 
     the lives of 78 Allied airmen, of whom 31 were United States 
     fliers;
       Whereas this heroic humanitarian undertaking was 
     universally regarded as an unambiguous statement of Western 
     resolve to thwart further Soviet expansion;
       Whereas the Berlin Airlift was an unqualified success, both 
     as an instrument of diplomacy and as a life saving rescue of 
     the 2,000,000 inhabitants of West Berlin, with 2,326,205 tons 
     of supplies delivered by 277,728 flights over a 462-day 
     period;
       Whereas historians and citizens the world over view the 
     success of this courageous action as pivotal to the ultimate 
     defeat of international tyranny, symbolized today by the fall 
     of the Berlin Wall; and
       Whereas this inspiring act of resolve must be preserved in 
     the memory of future generations in a positive and dramatic 
     manner: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the Berlin Airlift, which marks its 50th anniversary of 
     commencement in June 1998, is one of the most significant 
     events in post-war European history; and
       (2) the Berlin Sculpture Fund should be commended for 
     commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift by 
     presenting to the citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany 
     a gift of representational art, funded by private 
     subscriptions from citizens of the United States.
  The title was amended so as to read: ``Concurrent Resolution Honoring 
the Berlin Airlift and Commending the Berlin Sculpture Fund.''

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