[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 147 (Tuesday, September 16, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8889-S8890]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      CONGRATULATING LATVIA ON 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF DECLARATION OF 
                              INDEPENDENCE

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee 
on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration of S. 
Con. Res. 87, and that the Senate then proceed to its immediate 
consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the concurrent resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 87) congratulating 
     the Republic of Latvia on the 90th anniversary of its 
     declaration of independence.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
concurrent resolution.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I further ask unanimous consent that the 
concurrent resolution be agreed to, the

[[Page S8890]]

preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the 
table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements 
relating to the measure be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 87) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 87

       Whereas, on November 18, 1918, in the City of Riga, the 
     members of the People's Council proclaimed Latvia a free, 
     democratic, and sovereign nation;
       Whereas, on July 24, 1922, the United States formally 
     recognized Latvia as an independent and sovereign nation;
       Whereas Latvia existed for 21 years as an independent and 
     sovereign nation and a fully recognized member of the League 
     of Nations;
       Whereas Latvia maintained friendly and stable relations 
     with its neighbors, including the Soviet Union, during its 
     independence, without any border disputes;
       Whereas Latvia concluded several peace treaties and 
     protocols with the Soviet Union, including a peace treaty 
     signed on August 11, 1920, under which the Soviet Union 
     ``unreservedly recognize[d] the independence and sovereignty 
     of the Latvian State and forever renounce[d] all sovereign 
     rights . . . over the Latvian people and territory'';
       Whereas, despite friendly and mutually productive relations 
     between Latvia and the Soviet Union, on August 23, 1939, Nazi 
     Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop 
     Pact, which contained a secret protocol assigning Latvia, 
     Estonia, and Lithuania to the Soviet sphere of influence;
       Whereas, under the cover of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, on 
     June 17, 1940, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania were forcibly 
     incorporated into the Soviet Union in violation of pre-
     existing peace treaties;
       Whereas the Soviet Union imposed upon the people of 
     Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania a communist political system 
     that stifled civil dissent, free political expression, and 
     basic human rights;
       Whereas the United States never recognized this illegal and 
     forcible occupation, and successive United States presidents 
     maintained continuous diplomatic relations with these 
     countries throughout the Soviet occupation, never accepting 
     them to be ``Soviet Republics'';
       Whereas, during the 50 years of Soviet occupation of the 
     Baltic states, Congress strongly, consistently, and on a 
     bipartisan basis supported a United States policy of legal 
     non-recognition;
       Whereas, in 1953, the congressionally-established Kersten 
     Commission investigated the incorporation of Latvia, Estonia, 
     and Lithuania into the Soviet Union and determined that the 
     Soviet Union had illegally and forcibly occupied and annexed 
     the Baltic countries;
       Whereas, in 1982, and for the next nine years until the 
     Baltic countries regained their independence, Congress 
     annually adopted a Baltic Freedom Day resolution denouncing 
     the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and appealing for the freedom of 
     the Baltic countries;
       Whereas, in 1991, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania regained 
     their de facto independence and were quickly recognized by 
     the United States and by almost every other country in the 
     world, including the Soviet Union;
       Whereas, in 1998, the United States and the three Baltic 
     nations signed the U.S.-Baltic Charter of Partnership, an 
     expression of the importance of the Baltic Sea region to 
     United States interests;
       Whereas the 109th Congress resolved (S. Con. Res. 35 and H. 
     Res. 28) that ``it is the sense of Congress that the 
     Government of the Russian Federation should issue a clear and 
     unambiguous statement of admission and condemnation of the 
     illegal occupation and annexation by the Soviet Union from 
     1940 to 1991 of the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and 
     Lithuania, the consequences of which will be a significant 
     increase in good will among the affected people'';
       Whereas Latvia has successfully developed as a free and 
     democratic country, ensured the rule of law, and developed a 
     free market economy;
       Whereas the Government of Latvia has constantly pursued a 
     course of integration of that country into the community of 
     free and democratic nations, becoming a full and responsible 
     member of the United Nations, the Organization for Security 
     and Cooperation in Europe, the European Union, and the North 
     Atlantic Treaty Organization;
       Whereas the people of Latvia cherish the principles of 
     political freedom, human rights, and independence; and
       Whereas Latvia is a strong and loyal ally of the United 
     States, and the people of Latvia share common values with the 
     people of the United States: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) congratulates the people of Latvia on the occasion of 
     the 90th anniversary of that country's November 18, 1918, 
     declaration of independence;
       (2) commends the Government of Latvia for its success in 
     implementing political and economic reforms, for establishing 
     political, religious and economic freedom, and for its strong 
     commitment to human and civil rights;
       (3) recognizes the common goals and shared values of the 
     people of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, the close and 
     friendly relations and ties of the three Baltic countries 
     with one other, and their tragic history in the last century 
     under the Nazi and Soviet occupations;
       (4) calls on the President to issue a proclamation 
     congratulating the people of Latvia on the 90th anniversary 
     of the declaration of Latvia's independence on November 18, 
     1918;
       (5) respectfully requests the President to congratulate the 
     Government of Latvia for its commitment to democracy, a free 
     market economy, human rights, the rule of law, participation 
     in a wide range of international structures, and security 
     cooperation with the United States Government; and
       (6) calls on the President and Secretary of State to urge 
     the Government of the Russian Federation to acknowledge that 
     the Soviet occupation of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania under 
     the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and for the succeeding 51 years 
     was illegal.

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