[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 64 (Thursday, May 10, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E781]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONGRATULATING ESTONIA, LATVIA, AND LITHUANIA ON THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY 
                         OF THEIR INDEPENDENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 10, 2001

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, ten years ago with the collapse 
of the Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania threw off the yoke 
of Soviet domination and regained their independence. Between World War 
I and World War II, they had been sovereign nations and respected 
members of the international community. In 1939, however, they were 
illegally partitioned between Hitler and Stalin as part of the infamous 
Molotov-Ribbentrop agreement. Based on this agreement, Hitler gave 
Stalin the green light to seize the Baltic states. I am proud to state 
that the illegal incorporation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania into 
the Soviet Union was never recognized by the United States Government.
  Stalin's NKVD killed or exiled thousands of Estonians, Latvians, and 
Lithuanians who resisted the takeover and subjugation. If not murdered 
outright, tens of thousands of Baltic citizens were rounded up and 
loaded into railroad cars to be shipped to distant regions of the 
Soviet Union. The current president of Estonia, for instance, grew up 
in Siberia. The President of Latvia, whom I recently had the pleasure 
of meeting, grew up in a refugee camp in Germany where her family had 
fled from the Soviet incursion. Almost 300,000 Lithuanians were 
deported to Siberia in the 1940s and 1950s. Those Estonians, Latvians, 
and Lithuanians who remained in their homelands saw their native 
languages and cultures denigrated in favor of Soviet ``culture'' and 
linguistic ``Russification.''
  Among the political prisoners in the post-Stalin GULAG, the Balts 
were well represented. We still remember the names of Baltic political 
prisoners such as Mart Niklus, Gunars Astra, and Nijole Sadunaite, and 
many others willing to sacrifice their freedom and, in some cases, give 
their lives to resist Soviet oppression of their homelands.
  But the Soviet system was doomed and the people of the Baltic nations 
knew it. ``Glasnost'' and ``perestroika'' gave them the opportunity to 
resolutely, but peacefully, work to regain their independence. In 
August 1989, on the 50th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop 
agreement, about one million Balts created a human chain the ``Baltic 
Way,'' stretching about 400 miles from Estonia, through Latvia, to 
Lithuania to protest Soviet rule over their nations. Two years later, 
after a bloody but ultimately fruitless attempt by Moscow to regain 
armed control over its unruly subjects, the people of Estonia, Latvia, 
and Lithuania had regained the independence they had dreamed of for so 
long.
  And now, ten years after that momentous event, the Baltic nations are 
again sovereign nations, respected members of the international 
community. Their David-and-Goliath struggle is an inspiration to 
enslaved peoples everywhere.
  Today, Mr. Speaker, I am joined by Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Cardin, 
Mr. Wamp, and Mr. Hastings of Florida, in submitting a resolution which 
congratulates the people of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania on the tenth 
anniversary of the restoration of their full independence. This 
resolution also calls upon the United States Government to continue the 
close and mutually beneficial relations with these countries that have 
existed since the restoration of full independence.
  I hope my colleagues will join us in supporting this resolution.

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