[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 26 (Wednesday, March 3, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E296-E297]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNIZING A KANSAS CITY PHOTOJOURNALISM EXHIBIT AND CULTURAL EXCHANGE 
      COMMEMORATING THE 35TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1968 INVASION OF 
                             CZECHOSLOVAKIA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. KAREN McCARTHY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 3, 2004

  Ms. McCARTHY of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the opening of 
Ladislav Bielik's photojournalism exhibit at the Art Incubator Gallery 
in Kansas City, Missouri. Ross P. Marine, Honorary Consul of the Slovak 
Republic, along with the Czech and Slovak Club of Greater Kansas City 
have arranged for this outstanding public showing from March 5 to March 
31. Mr. Miroslav Wlachovsky of the Embassy of the Slovak Republic will 
officially welcome guests to the exhibit on March 4. The collection 
commemorates the 35th anniversary of the 1968 invasion of 
Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Pact armies, pictorially recorded through 
Ladislav Bielik's photographs.
  On the evening of August 20, 1968, Warsaw Pact armies comprised of 
soldiers from the Soviet Union, East Germany, Poland, Hungary and 
Bulgaria invaded Czechoslovakia with the strength of approximately 
200,000 troops and 5,000 tanks to squelch the Czech movement toward 
democracy. Bielik's photograph of one Czechoslovakian's desperate 
attempt to halt a tank captured the attention of the world and became 
Life Magazine's 1968 photograph of the year. This exhibit further 
pictorially illustrates the haunting images of sacrifice made in 
pursuit of democracy from the first days of the invasion at Bratislava, 
Czechoslovakia.
  The invasion crushed Secretary Alexander Dubcek's new Action Program 
that promoted democratic elections and basic liberties. Prior to the 
invasion, the country had enjoyed a short period referred to as Prague 
Spring that revitalized their national culture. The impetus that 
perpetuated the Warsaw Pact wrath was a petition known as Two Thousand 
Words which called for democracy in Czechoslovakia. The Warsaw Pact 
invasion in 1968 crushed Czechoslovakia's quest for democracy, seized 
control of the government and killed hundreds of protesters. In 1993, 
following the 1989 Velvet Revolution, Czechoslovakia, through peaceful 
negotiations, evolved into two independent countries, the Slovak 
Republic and the Czech Republic.
  On March 12, 1999, the Czech Republic officially became a member of 
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) at a ceremony I attended 
at the Harry S Truman Library in Independence, Missouri. The Slovak 
Republic is expected to become a full member of NATO and the European 
Union in May of this year, thus completing a long journey for 
independence and achieving world status with acceptance into NATO.

[[Page E297]]

  Mr. Speaker, please join me in congratulating Ross P. Marine, 
Honorary Consul for the Slovak Republic in Kansas City, Missouri for 
arranging this significant cultural exchange. Mr. Ladislav Bielik's 
historic photo exhibit celebrates courage and perseverance and serves 
as a timely reminder of how important democracy is to free thinking 
people throughout the world.
    




                          ____________________