[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 97 (Friday, June 27, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1391-E1392]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          EDITORIAL BY MR. JOSEPH SZALAY ON DEFENDING FREEDOM

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                           HON. CHRIS CHOCOLA

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 26, 2003

  Mr. CHOCOLA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to 
enter into the Record an article written by Mr. Joseph Szalay, of South 
Bend, Indiana. A child of the political ``powder keg'' that was Eastern 
Europe in the early part of the twentieth century, Mr. Szalay has a 
vast amount of knowledge from which he paints a vivid picture of 
America's historical role in helping to liberate all those who want to 
be free. He tells of the many times, from World War I to the first Gulf 
War, when America took a stand against governments who enslave their 
people. A true embodiment of the American Dream, Mr. Szalay came to 
America from his native Hungary poor; illiterate, and alone. He built a 
fine tailor shop in South Bend, from which he recently retired. As a 
member of the greatest generation that saw this nation ascend to global 
prominence, we should value his perspective and revere his patriotism. 
I urge all of my colleagues to use this article as a reminder of the 
historical precedent set for the recent liberation of the Iraqi people.

[[Page E1392]]

             [From the South Bend Tribune, April 27, 2003]

           World's History Shows That U.S. Position Is Right

                           (By Joseph Szalay)

       As an American of European descent, I have strong reactions 
     to this war and the anti-American sentiment I hear expressed 
     both at home and abroad. It reminds me of a Hungarian 
     proverb: ``The dog barks but the caravan progresses.''
       In the former Serbia, the 1914 assassination of Crown 
     Prince Ferdinand, son of Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria-
     Hungary, ignited World War I.
       In 1917, before that was over, revolutionaries took over 
     Russia. This Communist revolution had been planned in 
     Germany. A key piece of Communist strategy was to starve the 
     people in order to subjugate them more easily. This plan also 
     encompassed the Starvation of 12 million (out of 40 million) 
     Germans.
       How could such a plan work? Human beings have a drive to 
     survive. Starving people do not care what form of government 
     they have, as long as they can put enough in their stomachs 
     to survive.
       German nationalists were aware of the Communist plan. They 
     knew that if Germany capitulated, all of Europe could easily 
     become Communist. They reacted by turning the Communist 
     strategy to their own advantage. When Hitler came to power in 
     Germany, the first thing he did was to stop starvation by 
     feeding the people. I vividly remember that many Hungarians 
     and people from other neighboring countries went to work in 
     Germany. So successful was his economy that Hitler's regime 
     developed a plan to take over the whole world, beginning with 
     Europe--just what the Russian Communists had originally 
     planned. Hitler's slogan was ``Deutschland uber alles--
     Germany (taking) over the world.''
       What is still incomprehensible to me is the sad sequel: 
     Hitler forced the Jews into concentration camps and gas 
     chambers and took over countries one by one: Austria, Poland, 
     Hungary . . . where was France? Where was the rest of the 
     free world? Because we did not stop Hitler's conquest at the 
     beginning, stopping him later cost the lives of 85 million 
     people and caused unthinkable suffering not only in 
     casualties but in the destruction of irreplaceable historical 
     and artistic treasures.
       One result of that war was to destroy the bloc of neutral 
     states which for centuries had been able to resist the 
     expansion of Russia and Germany alike. Masterminded by the 
     French, the peace plan after World War I created weak 
     artificial ``nations'' such as Yugoslavia; thus it paved the 
     way for the Second World War:
       World War II gave the Russian Communists the opportunity to 
     expand their influence, giving them a free path to world 
     conquest, their original goal.
       I knew all of this through my father's experience. As a 
     young man, he was drafted and spent four years on the front 
     lines. When the Second World War started, he was again 
     drafted, along with my two older brothers. As soon as I 
     turned 18, I was also drafted, leaving my mother home alone 
     to raise my 13-year-old sister and 7-year-old brother. With 
     God's help, I defected from the army, living in the forest 
     like a hermit.
       Only one government was able to rescue Europe from Nazism; 
     the United States.
       After World War II, the United Nations was initiated with 
     noble hopes by France, England, the United States and the 
     Soviet Union. What has become of those high ideals? The U.N. 
     has become an impotent, socialistic, bureaucratic 
     organization full of anti-American sentiment.
       Where was the United Nations when people rose up demanding 
     their God-given right of freedom in Poland, in Hungary, in 
     Czechoslovakia? Thousands died, thousands were imprisoned, 
     tortured or deported to Siberia while the United Nations 
     stood by idle.
       And what of the war in Vietnam? Did the United Nations move 
     a hair to stop it? The Communists activated their propaganda 
     machine, trying to divide Americans. World opinion expressed 
     at the United Nations pressured the United States to pull out 
     of Vietnam without winning a victory over Communism. Even 
     after the American forces departed from Vietnam, neighboring 
     Laos and Cambodia, millions were killed to ``cleanse'' the 
     country. Where was the United Nations? Where were the 
     ``peace'' demonstrators? Where were the human rights 
     advocates?
       While the United Nations was clueless, the United States 
     took leadership in eliminating Communism, whose vulnerability 
     had been demonstrated by the freedom fighters in Poland, 
     Hungary and Czechoslovakia. These uprisings had also shown 
     the people's unquenchable thirst for freedom. President 
     Reagan combined forces with the great spiritual leader and 
     Polish hero Pope John Paul II to initiate the collapse of the 
     ``Evil Empire'' of the Communist Soviet Union.
       Notice that it was the United States, not the United 
     Nations, that saved Europe yet another time.
       When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, it was the United 
     States and its allies who fought and freed Kuwait. The United 
     Nations decided that a cease-fire agreement in which Saddam 
     promised to liquidate all his weapons of mass destruction was 
     sufficient peace insurance. Of course, Saddam did not fulfill 
     his obligations, but the United Nations was unable to enforce 
     them. The United Nations did not even act when it became 
     known that Saddam was using his arsenal of chemical weapons 
     to eradicate his own people's fight for freedom.
       Those who harbored hatred toward the United States were 
     emboldened by the lame and indecisive attitude of the United 
     Nations. The result? Sept. 11, 2001.
       President Bush requested that the United Nations live up to 
     its contractual obligation to defend the world against 
     weapons of mass destruction.
       There was a lengthy bureaucratic debate in which those 
     nations whose freedom our country restored in World War II 
     turned against the proposals of the United States. Those who 
     had a financial interest in Saddam's rearmament blocked 
     enforcement of the conditions imposed by the cease-fire 
     agreement. Once again, the United States has been forced to 
     act on its own to protect our country and the world from the 
     danger of terrorist destruction.
       On April 4, a headline in The Tribune read, ``Former Soviet 
     army generals helped Saddam with War strategy.'' Could this 
     have something to do with Russia's reluctance to support any 
     action against Saddam?
       I have sketched this history to show how our country has 
     always been willing to defend freedom, not only our own but 
     that of the whole world. President Bush follows the example 
     of the great presidents of the United States. He shows 
     unwavering dedication to keeping his presidential oath. While 
     other countries follow their economic interests, he stands 
     tall, fulfilling his duty to God and country.

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