[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 16 (Wednesday, January 29, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E96-E97]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 INDIA'S REPUBLIC DAY, JANUARY 26, 2003

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR.

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 29, 2003

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to pay tribute to one of the 
most important dates on the calendar for the people of India, as well 
as for the people of Indian descent who have settled in the United 
States and around the world. January 26th is Republic Day, an occasion 
that inspires pride and patriotism for the people of India.
  On January 26, 1950, India became a Republic, devoted to the 
principals of democracy and secularism. At that time, Dr. Rajendra 
Prasad was elected as the nation's first president. Since then, despite 
the challenges of sustaining economic development and promoting 
tolerance and cooperation amongst its many ethnic, religious and 
linguistic communities, India has stuck to the path of free and fair 
elections, a multi-party political system and the orderly transfer of 
power from one government to its successor.
  On that special day in 1950, India adopted its Constitution. It 
should be noted that India derived key aspects of her Constitution, 
particularly its statement of Fundamental Rights, from our own Bill Of 
Rights. On the eve of Republic Day several years ago, India's President 
K.R. Narayanan stated in his address to the nation: ``Let us remember, 
it is under the flexible and spacious provisions of our Constitution, 
that democracy has flourished during the last fifty years and that 
India has achieved an unprecedented unity and cohesion as a nation and 
made remarkable progress in the social and economic fields.''
  India and the United States both proclaimed their independence from 
British colonial rule. The Indian independence movement under the 
leadership of Mahatma Gandhi had strong moral support from American 
intellectuals, political leaders and journalists. Just this week, we 
paid tribute to one of our greatest American leaders, the Rev. Martin 
Luther King, Jr. Dr. King derived many of his ideas of non-violent 
resistance to injustice from the teachings and the actions of Mahatma 
Gandhi.
  As the world's two largest democracies, the United States and India 
have a natural relationship, based on their shared values of diversity, 
democracy and prosperity. These two countries have steadily grown 
closer for the past ten years, and most recently, the United States' 
campaign to fight global terrorism has brought the two countries even 
closer.
  Following the tragic events of September 11, 2001 India was one of 
the first countries to come forward to the United States with an offer 
of full assistance and cooperation in this new global fight against 
terrorism. Prime Minister Vajpayee expressed his deep sympathy 
regarding the World Trade Center attacks. The attacks in fact took the 
lives of 250 Indians and Indian-Americans.
  Since September 11, there have been terrorist attacks against India 
on a near daily basis. India has sadly been afflicted with terrorism 
from Pakistani-based terrorist groups that are to be blamed for over 
53,000 deaths of innocent Indian citizens throughout the last 15 years. 
These are in fact the same terrorist groups that belong to the 
terrorist networks the United States is now fighting against. It is 
only natural that these two countries are now united in the global 
fight against terrorism.
  Lastly, I want to note that throughout the South Asian region, India 
stands alone as a pillar of democracy, stability and growth. I join 
both Indians in India and over 1.8 million Indians living here in the 
United States in celebrating India's Republic Day.

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