[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 58 (Thursday, May 5, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E883]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E883]]


              COMMUNITY OF DEMOCRACIES AND SECRETARY RICE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 5, 2005

  Mr. LANTOS. Last week, the Community of Democracies held its third 
meeting of Foreign Ministers in Santiago, Chile. This unique group of 
democracies from around the world met to discuss how democratic nations 
can cooperate to promote democracy around the world.
  I would like to inform my colleagues that at the opening plenary 
meeting of that Ministerial on Thursday April 29, 2005, Secretary of 
State Condoleezza Rice made a compelling speech regarding United States 
support for those efforts. She expressed her deep seated views 
regarding the responsibilities of all democratic nations to do so and 
welcomed the establishment of a new International Center for Democratic 
Transition to be established in my hometown of Budapest, Hungary. Mr. 
Speaker, when Hungary was under the communist Boot, I would have never 
dreamed that such a Center would become a reality.
  I am putting Secretary Rice's speech in the Record and I urge all my 
colleagues to read it in the coming days.

        Remarks at the Community of Democracies Opening Plenary

                    (By Secretary Condoleezza Rice)

       Thank you very much to the Chilean government, particularly 
     to President Lagos and to Foreign Minister Walker for hosting 
     this year's meeting of the Community of Democracies I think 
     we have been all warmly welcomed here in Chile. I know that I 
     speak for all my distinguished colleagues when I say that we 
     are honored to gather here together in the name of democracy.
       Every democracy in the world has shared the triumph of 
     Chile's citizens, as they have renewed their commitment to 
     democracy. Indeed we have all experienced the profound hope 
     of people here throughout Latin America, who have transformed 
     their continent through their desire to live in liberty. 
     Today, all the members of the Community of Democracies 
     declare our deep conviction that freedom is the universal 
     longing of every soul and democracy is the ideal path for 
     every nation.
       The past year has brought forth a dramatic shift in the 
     world's political landscape. Since our last meeting in Seoul, 
     we have seen free elections in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and 
     in the Palestinian territories. We have witnessed tremendous 
     developments in places like Georgia and Ukraine and 
     Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon.
       There comes a time when the spark of freedom flashes in the 
     minds of all oppressed people, and they raise their voices 
     against tyranny. The Community of Democracies must match the 
     bravery of these men and women with the courage of our own 
     convictions. We on the right side of freedom's divide have an 
     obligation to help those on the wrong side of that divide.
       To support democratic aspirations, all free nations must 
     clarify the moral choice between liberty and oppression. We 
     must let all governments know that successful relations with 
     our democratic community depend on the dignified treatment of 
     their people. To strengthen democratic principles, all free 
     nations must demand that leaders who are elected 
     democratically have a responsibility to govern 
     democratically. Abandoning the Rule of Law for the whim of 
     rulers only leads to the oppression of innocent people.
       To advance our democratic consensus, all free nations must 
     insist that upholding democratic principles is the surest 
     path to greater international status. The Community of 
     Democracies is one of a growing number of international 
     organizations that make democracy an actual condition for 
     membership.
       In the western hemisphere, the Organization of American 
     States has adopted the Interamerican Democratic Charter and 
     here in the southern cone, Mercosur is helping to bolster 
     democracy. In Europe, only democracies can belong to the 
     European community, and democratic principles have always 
     been the cornerstone of NATO. The democratic character of 
     states must become the cornerstone of a new, principled 
     multilateralism.
       The real division in our world is between those states that 
     are committed to freedom, and those who are not. 
     International organizations like the Community of Democracies 
     can help to create a balance of power that favors freedom. 
     One positive action that we can take together is to work 
     through the United Nations Democracy Caucus, to support 
     reform of the United Nations. In particular, we should 
     encourage the creation of a legitimate human rights body 
     within the United Nations. Serious action on human rights can 
     only come from countries that respect and protect human 
     rights. Our Democratic Community can cooperate in other ways 
     at the United Nations. The UN Democracy Fund, which President 
     Bush proposed last fall at the general assembly, is an ideal 
     way to provide tangible support to emerging democracies. 
     Financial assistance is essential for all nations working to 
     build firm foundations for freedom.
       The world's democracies must also help countries with their 
     democratic transitions, every nation in this room has 
     experienced a democratic transition of its own, some quite 
     recently. Hungarian Foreign Minister Somogyi has proposed the 
     creation of a democratic transition center. This is a 
     terrific way, Minister, for our community to share with young 
     democracies and democratic movements, the important lessons 
     that we have learned from our own traditions and transitions.
       Democratization is after all, not an event, it is a 
     process. It takes many years, even decades to realize the 
     full promise of democratic reform. For nearly a century after 
     the founding of the United States, millions of black 
     Americans like me were still condemned to the status below 
     that of full citizenship. When the founding fathers of 
     America said ``We the People'', they did not mean me; many of 
     my ancestors were thought to be only 3/5 of a man. And it is 
     only within my lifetime that the United States has begun to 
     guarantee the right to vote for all of our citizens. And so 
     we know, in the United States, that this is a long and 
     difficult process, and every nation in this room has 
     experienced moments of tyranny in its history, some not too 
     long ago.
       Today, our citizens share the common bond of having 
     overcome tyranny through all our commitment to freedom and 
     democracy. Now it is our historic duty to tell the world that 
     tyranny is a crime of man, not a fact of nature. Our goal 
     must always be the elimination of tyranny in our world. We, 
     at the Community of Democracies must use the power of our 
     shared ideals to accelerate democracies movement, to ever 
     more places around the globe. We must usher in an era of 
     democracy that thinks of tyranny as we thought of slavery 
     today, a moral abomination that could not withstand the 
     natural desire of every human being for a life of liberty and 
     of dignity: This is our great purpose, together we will 
     succeed.

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