[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 11, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H3318]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   SALVADORAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

  (Mr. FRANKS of Arizona asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, the Salvadoran presidential 
elections will be held on March 15. If the FMLN wins the election, it 
would be devastating for the people of El Salvador as well as for the 
relationship between our two countries.
  FMLN party leadership is expected to follow the anti-U.S. agenda of 
Venezuela's radical president, Hugo Chavez, and join Cuba in a pro-
Chavez, pro-Cuba, pro-Iran axis.
  Moreover, Mr. Speaker, the FMLN is a pro-terrorist party with direct 
ties to sponsors of terror. After the 9/11 attacks, they marched in 
their capital city to celebrate the attack by al Qaeda, and they burned 
the American flag. The leader of that march was Salvador Sanchez Ceren, 
who is now the FMLN's candidate for vice president.
  Mr. Speaker, should the pro-terrorist FMLN party replace the current 
government in El Salvador, the United States, in the interest of 
national security, would be required to re-evaluate our policy toward 
El Salvador, including cash remittance and immigration policies, to 
compensate for the fact there will no longer be a reliable counterpart 
in the Salvadoran government.
  It is my hope that the El Salvadoran people continue the history of a 
positive relationship between our two countries and ensure that they 
elect pro-freedom, pro-peace, life-loving officials to their 
government.

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