[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 158 (Wednesday, November 10, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14575-S14576]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 73--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE CONGRESS 
                         REGARDING FREEDOM DAY

  Mr. LIEBERMAN submitted the following concurrent resolution; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                            S. Con. Res. 73

       Whereas on November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall was torn down 
     by those whom it had imprisoned;
       Whereas the fall of the Berlin Wall has become the 
     preeminent symbol of the end of the Cold War;
       Whereas the Cold War, at is essence, was a struggle for 
     human freedom;
       Whereas the end of the Cold War was brought about in large 
     measure by the dedication, sacrifice, and discipline of 
     Americans and many other peoples around the world united in 
     their opposition to Soviet Communism;
       Whereas freedom's victory on the Cold War against Soviet 
     Communism is the crowning achievement of the free world's 
     long 20th century struggle against totalitarianism; and
       Whereas it is highly appropriate to remind Americans, 
     particularly those in their formal educational years, that 
     America paid the price and bore the burden to ensure the 
     survival of liberty on this planet: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that--
       (1) a Freedom Day should be celebrated each year in the 
     United States; and
       (2) the United States should join with other nations, 
     specifically including those which liberated themselves to 
     help end the Cold War, to establish a global holiday called 
     Freedom Day.

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, we have just marked the 10th 
anniversary of the fall of the Berln Wall, one of the most important 
milestones of our era. In honor of this event, I am submitting a 
resolution urging that a ``Freedom Day'' be celebrated each year in the 
United States. It also calls on the United States to work with other 
nations to establish a global holiday called ``Freedom Day.'' The House 
already passed an identical resolution, introduced by my friend House 
Policy Chairman Christopher Cox, by a vote of 417-0, and it is my hope 
that we can pass it in the Senate before adjournment.
  A decade later, it is sometimes easy to forget the profound 
significance of November 9, 1989, the day that Berlin Wall came down. 
It was the symbolic end of four decades of a Cold War that had 
dominated our foreign and defense policies and threatened international 
stability. The Cold War's end was a resounding success for the United 
States and the international community, that set off a worldwide 
movement toward greater democratization and the embrace of free 
markets.
  In the United States, credit for this success can be generously 
distributed to generations of American leaders, both Democrats and 
Republicans, who never wavered in their courageous determination to 
contain the Soviet Union and resist totalitarianism. The end of the 
Cold War was truly a bi-partisan effort and a national achievement, and 
is a model of cooperation that we should not forget as we seek to 
address the international concerns we face now and in the future.
  The fall of the wall was a transcendent moment in the struggle 
against totalitarianism and for democracy, a smashing victory for the 
human spirit and the cause of human rights. It is only fitting that we 
choose the anniversary of this epochal triumph to honor and celebrate 
freedom's march of progress across the planet.
  This effort to establish a ``Freedom Day,'' in recognition of the end 
of the Cold War, was inspired by my good friend Ben Wattenberg, Senior 
Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a long time champion of 
freedom and democracy. His recent column entitled ``moving Forward With 
Freedom Day'' is particularly noteworthy.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the complete text of Mr. 
Wattenberg's column be inserted in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                    Moving Forward With Freedom Day

       Ten years ago, on Nov. 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall was 
     battered down by the people it had imprisoned. The event is 
     regarded as the moment the Cold War ended. For Americans 
     without sentiment memories of World War II, the end of the 
     Cold War has been the most momentous historical event of 
     their lifetimes, and so it will likely remain.
       Long yearned for, the end of the Cold War has more than 
     lived up to expectations: Democracy is on the march globally, 
     defense budgets are proportionately down, market economies 
     are beginning to flourish most everywhere, everyday people 
     are benefiting each and every day.
       The end of the Cold War actually was a process, not an 
     event. By early 1989, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev had 
     pulled his troops from Afghanistan, whipped. Poles elected a 
     noncommunist government; the Soviets did nothing. Hungary, 
     Czechoslovakia, East Germany and later Bulgaria installed 
     non-communist governments. It was called ``the velvet 
     revolution,'' with only Romania the exception; Nicolae 
     Ceausescu and his empress were executed.
       For almost two years, the U.S.S.R. remained a one-party 
     communist state, gradually eroding. Hard-liners attempted to 
     resist the slow motion dis-memberment. On Aug. 19, 1991, 
     Boris Yeltsin stood on a tank to resist a hard-line coup. The 
     hammer-and-sickle came down; the Russian tricolor went up. 
     Other Soviet republics declared independence, including the 
     big guy on the block, Ukraine.
       U.S. diplomats did not ``gloat'' about it. The sovereign 
     state of Russia would be unstable enough without the United 
     States rubbing it in.
       On Dec. 4, 1991, I proposed in a column that a new national 
     holiday be established to

[[Page S14576]]

     commemorate the end of the Cold War. I asked readers to 
     participate in a contest to: 1. Name it; 2. pick a date; and 
     3. propose a method of celebration.
       Several hundred submissions came in. Some of the most 
     imaginative entries for a name were: ``Defrost Day,'' ``Thaw 
     Day,'' ``Ronald Reagan Day,'' ``Gorbachev Day,'' ``Borscht 
     Day,'' ``Peace Through Strength Day,'' ``E Day'' (which would 
     stand for ``Evil Empire Ends Day''), ``E2D2'' (``Evil Empire 
     Death Day''), ``Jericho Day,'' ``Pax Americana Day'' and 
     ``Kerensky Future Freedom Day'' (recalling that Mr. Yeltsin 
     was not the first pro-democratic leader of Russia).
       Scores of respondents offered ``Liberty Day,'' ``Democracy 
     Day,'' and, mostly, ``Freedom Day.'' In June of 1992, I 
     publicly proclaimed '`Freedom Day'' the winner.
       One suggestion for the date of the new holiday was June 5, 
     for Adam Smith's birthday. But the most votes went for Nov. 
     9, the day the wall fell. So today I proclaim that date 
     Freedom Day.
       There were ideas about how to celebrate and commemorate 
     Freedom Day: Build a sibling sculpture to the statue of 
     Liberty; eat potatoes, the universal food; build a tunnel to 
     Russia across the Bering Strait; thank God for peace; welcome 
     immigrants; meditate; issue a U.N. stamp; build ice 
     sculptures; send money to feed Russians; and do something you 
     can't do in an unfree country--make a public speech, see a 
     dirty movie, celebrate a religion, travel across a border.
       I propose that discussion on the matter of how to celebrate 
     be put on hold until we get the holiday established.
       How? Because all the major presidential candidates 
     participated in the Cold War, they should endorse the 
     holiday. Legislators ought to push for it. Anyone who worked 
     in a defense industry, or paid federal taxes from 1945 to 
     1989, ought to support it. President Clinton ought to go to 
     the Reagan Library to endorse it.
       I met with Mark Burman of the Reagan Presidential 
     Foundation. He says they are on board for a campaign. The 
     other great presidential libraries--Truman, Eisenhower, 
     Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford and Carter--should join in.
       So should anyone concerned with the teaching of American 
     history. The holiday will remind American children that their 
     recent ancestors preserved freedom. The Cold War generation 
     may not be ``the greatest'' but they did their job--victory 
     without a major hot war.
       Americans can only create an American holiday. But we ought 
     to invite all other countries to join in, Russia first. The 
     citizens of Russia won the Cold War as surely as we did. If I 
     were a Chinese dissident I'd promote the idea; it might give 
     their leaders a clue.
       If you like the idea, or have ideas, you may e-mail me at 
     W[email protected]. I'll pass the correspondence along to the 
     appropriate persons, as soon as I figure out who they are.

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