[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 39 (Thursday, March 22, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E438]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TUNISIA 45TH ANNIVERSARY OF INDEPENDENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. NICK J. RAHALL II

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 22, 2001

  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the people and 
government of Tunisia on the anniversary of the country's forty-fifth 
year of independence on March 20, 2001.
  Our two countries have maintained a steadfast alliance since signing 
the Treaty of Peace in 1797. Whether securing Mediterranean shipping 
lines, fending off Nazi aggression in North Africa as part of the 
Allied defensive, or standing by us during the Cold War, Tunisia has 
always shown us her loyalty.
  Today, Tunisia stands as an example to developing countries and the 
promise of North Africa. It has quickly progressed from a country that 
receives aid to a nation of growing financial influence through its 
efforts to privatize state owned companies, lifting of price controls 
and reducing tariffs, reforming the banking and financial sectors, and 
development of trade in order to create an aggressive free market 
economy. Today, over sixty percent of the population of Tunisians can 
be counted in the middle class. We congratulate the country on its 
progressive social and health programs and most extraordinarily for its 
leadership in the region as a supporter of women's legal rights.
  Tunisia has also become a moderating force in the Middle East peace 
process, taking an active role within the international community in 
fighting terrorism, while maintaining internal stability in the face of 
external chaos.
  1 am pleased with the increasingly strong ties between the United 
States and Tunisia, and join the American people in congratulating the 
people of Tunisia on this historic occasion. I encourage my colleagues 
to do the same.

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