[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 27 (Thursday, February 13, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E246]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING CZECH REPUBLIC PRESIDENT VACLAV HAVEL

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 13, 2003

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. I rise today in strong support of this 
resolution commending Vaclav Havel. He served as president of 
Czechoslovakia from 1989 to 1992 and president of the Czech Republic 
from 1993 to 2003.
  Mr. Havel has lead an interesting and exemplary life. In 1948 his 
homeland of Czechoslovakia was taken over by the Communist Party. He 
served in the Czechoslovakian army from 1957 to 1959 and later achieved 
great esteem as a playwright during the politically tolerant period 
between 1962 and 1968. This period was quickly brought to a conclusion 
by the Soviet invasion of 1968.
  The era of Soviet control over the Czechoslovakian people was a very 
difficult period in Mr. Havel's life. This new government banned his 
plays and arrested him in 1975, 1977 and 1978 for anti-government 
activities. In 1979, Mr. Havel was given a choice between exile and 
imprisonment. He chose imprisonment and was therefore in prison until 
1983. He was imprisoned for another nine months in 1989 for leading 
anti-government demonstrations.
  Mr. Havel was one of the many people whose hard work led the 
Communist Party to fall from power in December of 1989. He was elected 
interim president of Czechoslovakia on December 29, 1989 and was 
elected to the presidency on July 5, 1990. His main initiatives and 
reforms during his time in office included abolishing the death 
penalty, encouraging political tolerance and establishing a democratic 
government.
  Mr. Havel resigned as president of Czechoslovakia on July 20, 1992 in 
protest of the dissolution of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic 
and Slovakia. He was subsequently elected president of the Czech 
Republic on January 26, 1993 and reelected president on January 20, 
1998. Under his leadership the Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and 
will become a member of the European Union in 2004.
  Vaclav Havel should be commended for many reasons. His devotion to 
freedom and democracy stands as a model for all nations. He has never 
stopped working hard for human rights and other causes that he believes 
in strongly. His leadership has carried both Czechoslovakia and the 
Czech Republic through tumultuous periods in their histories.

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