[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 162 (Tuesday, November 3, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H12247-H12249]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    RECOGNIZING 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY

  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution (H. Res. 641) recognizing the 60th anniversary of the 
founding of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 641

       Whereas Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) was 
     founded in 1949 by the National Committee for a Free Europe 
     with the mission to promote democratic values and 
     institutions by broadcasting unbiased and factual information 
     and ideas to audiences behind the communist ``Iron Curtain'', 
     and transmitted its first program to the former 
     Czechoslovakia on July 4, 1950;
       Whereas many Central European and Russian leaders, 
     including Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic, and the late 
     Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation, have testified to 
     the important role RFE/RL broadcasts played in ending the 
     Cold War;
       Whereas the former President of Estonia, Lennart Meri, 
     nominated RFE/RL for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991;
       Whereas Nobel laureate and former President of Poland, Lech 
     Walesa, testified to the role played by RFE/RL in Poland's 
     struggle for freedom when he stated that its influence 
     ``cannot even be described. Would there be earth without the 
     sun?'';
       Whereas RFE/RL programs were so comprehensive that 
     communist authorities relied on secret transcripts of the 
     broadcasts for information they could not obtain from the 
     local media they themselves controlled;
       Whereas RFE/RL was subjected to efforts to undermine its 
     operations through offensive actions launched by communist 
     regimes and intended to discredit the broadcasts;
       Whereas the Soviet KGB and Warsaw Pact intelligence 
     services penetrated the radio stations with their spies, 
     jailed sources, and even resorted to violence in attempts to 
     intimidate RFE/RL staff;
       Whereas RFE/RL Bulgarian Service correspondent Georgi 
     Markov was murdered in London in 1978, evidently by the 
     Bulgarian communist intelligence service;
       Whereas the Romanian communist security service detonated a 
     bomb at RFE/RL's headquarters in Munich, West Germany, in 
     1981, critically injuring six employees;
       Whereas today, after having played a significant role in 
     the collapse of communism in the former Soviet Union, RFE/RL 
     continues to provide news, information, and open discussion 
     of domestic and international issues to countries where free 
     and independent media are not permitted, or are not yet fully 
     established;
       Whereas RFE/RL is available via FM, AM, shortwave and 
     satellite radio, and employs a range of newer technologies 
     including SMS text messaging, Facebook, Twitter, and other 
     interactive social media;
       Whereas RFE/RL broadcasts in 28 languages to 30 million 
     listeners in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Russia, the 
     Caucasus, the Middle East, and Central and Southwest Asia;
       Whereas during the June 2009 presidential election in Iran, 
     RFE/RL's ``Radio Farda'' provided 24 hour news coverage of 
     the post-election protests;
       Whereas beginning in 2002, RFE/RL began ``Radio Azadi'', 
     reaching nearly 50 percent of the Afghan people in the Pashto 
     and Dari languages and making RFE/RL the largest 
     international broadcaster in Afghanistan;
       Whereas in August 2009, RFE/RL's Radio Azadi hosted a 
     historic presidential debate featuring President Hamid Karzai 
     and his two top opponents, the first ever in Afghanistan's to 
     feature an incumbent Afghan President;
       Whereas in early 2010, RFE/RL will begin Pashto language 
     broadcasting to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, 
     including the Swat Valley, promoting democratic values and 
     institutions by providing the people of the region a source 
     of independent and factual media to compete in the battle of 
     ideas with those radical elements that have disrupted the 
     peace in the Afghan-Pakistan border region;
       Whereas RFE/RL employees and freelance journalists are 
     subject to intimidation and oppression by the authorities of 
     regimes in many countries to which RFE/RL broadcasts; and
       Whereas RFE/RL has a proven history of promoting freedom 
     and liberty in oppressive and autocratic regimes through news 
     broadcasts based upon the principle that the first 
     requirement of democracy is a well-informed citizenry: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) recognizes the 60th anniversary of the founding of 
     Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and honors its 
     contribution to promoting freedom and liberty around the 
     world; and
       (2) commends the employees and reporters of RFE/RL for 
     their commitment to provide fair and unbiased news to people 
     living under oppressive regimes.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Berman) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

[[Page H12248]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 641, and 
I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution celebrates 60 years of broadcasting 
history and the continuing mission of an effective instrument of public 
diplomacy.
  Radio Free Europe was established in 1949 by the National Committee 
for a Free Europe, an anticommunist organization, and made its first 
broadcast to what was then Czechoslovakia on July 4 of the next year.
  From its start, the organization approached the Cold War as a war of 
ideas, pushing back on propaganda that was being spread by autocratic 
governments behind the Iron Curtain. As it grew and merged with Radio 
Liberty to reach more people, its purpose became all the more urgent as 
its broadcasts were banned and Communist authorities used jamming 
techniques to keep their citizens from tuning in.
  In fact, those very authorities were said to have relied upon secret 
transcripts of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty programs so they could 
have better information about what was happening in their own countries 
than their own national media could provide.
  After the Cold War ended, many paid tribute to the role that the 
American radio programs had played. Nobel Laureate and former Polish 
President Lech Walesa, who recalled listening to RFE/RL's broadcasts in 
secret, said their influence ``cannot even be described,'' asking, 
``Would there be an Earth without the Sun?''
  Today, RFE/RL is located in the very country to which it once beamed 
its first broadcast, now known as the Czech Republic. From its Prague 
headquarters, the organization serves as a surrogate broadcaster to 
places where uncensored or reliable information is hard to come by, 
where independent media are banned or not yet fully established.
  Using AM, FM, shortwave, and satellite radio, as well as the Internet 
and newer social media tools, RFE/RL reaches an estimated 30 million 
people in Eastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, the Middle East, and 
Central and Southwest Asia.
  Its programs in Farsi, under the banner of Radio Farda, are widely 
followed in Iran. Radio Azadi provides unbiased reporting of current 
events in Afghanistan. And next year, RFE/RL will begin Pashto-language 
broadcasts to the troubled Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, 
including the Swat Valley.
  Mr. Speaker, as this resolution notes, ``RFE/RL has a proven history 
of promoting freedom and liberty in oppressive and autocratic regimes 
through news broadcasts based upon the principle that the first 
requirement of a democracy is a well-informed citizenry.''
  H. Res. 641 congratulates the organization on six decades of helping 
to keep the spark of freedom alive in some of history's darkest hours 
and salutes the men and women of RFE/RL for their continuing commitment 
to the free flow of information.
  I commend the author of this resolution, the ranking member of the 
House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ms. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and encourage 
its support.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I thank my esteemed chairman for his words, and I join him in the 
declaration of support for the work of Radio Free Europe and Radio 
Liberty.
  As we know, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, also known as RFE/
RL, was established 60 years ago and was a powerful voice for freedom 
in the battle of ideas against communist tyranny.
  Former Polish President Lech Walesa and Vaclav Havel, the former 
President of the Czech Republic, have all testified that by means of 
its broadcast of unbiased and independent news programs behind the Iron 
Curtain, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty played a vital role in the 
collapse of the Soviet Union and its communist allies. In fact, the 
Soviet KGB and the Warsaw Pact intelligence services, appreciating the 
threat posed by Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty to their communist 
regimes, conducted massive operations to foil its operations. They even 
resorted to violence.
  Just two instances: For example, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's 
Bulgarian service correspondent was believed to have been murdered by 
Bulgarian intelligence services; and six Radio Free Europe/Radio 
Liberty employees were critically injured when a bomb paid for by 
Romanian security services exploded at the headquarters of Radio Free 
Europe/Radio Liberty in Munich, West Germany.
  Today, as our generation engages in yet another battle of ideas, 
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty continues to prove its worth. Radio 
Free Europe/Radio Liberty's broadcasts in 28 different languages reach 
people in 20 countries throughout southeastern Europe, Russia, the 
Middle East, and Central and South Asia.
  Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Afghanistan service is now the most 
popular media program in that country, and it intends to expand next 
year to reach the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, providing a much-
needed source of independent and accurate news to compete with the 
shrill rhetoric of the extremists in that area.
  Today, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty and its personnel continue 
to suffer attacks, some mounted in new ways. Just last year, for 
example, a new style of attack, a cyberattack, was mounted against the 
Belarusian service of RFE/RL to prevent the broadcast of a rally 
against the regime in that country.
  But in the more traditional style of attack, an Iranian American 
journalist was convicted and sentenced in Iran to a year in prison, Mr. 
Speaker, and her 98-year-old mother was threatened with eviction from 
her housing unit because of the journalist's antirevolutionary work 
with RFE/RL's Iranian news service.
  Also recently, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist in 
Turkmenistan was tortured by authorities who tried to coerce him into 
signing a pledge that he would stop working for Radio Free Europe/Radio 
Liberty's Turkmen service, and then they detained him against his will 
and put him in a government-run psychiatric center.
  Journalists such as these, Mr. Speaker, who work for Radio Free 
Europe/Radio Liberty are heroes, fighting with determination for 
freedom. I am proud to have authored this resolution in recognition of 
their brave efforts and proud of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's six 
decades of service in the promotion of freedom.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to yield such time as he 
may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), the ranking 
member on the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, 
Nonproliferation and Trade.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlelady for yielding, and I 
rise in support of this resolution, of which I am a cosponsor, and to 
note that for 60 years, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has been 
basically a free press for societies suffering authoritarian rule, and 
that is the intent.
  The RFE/RL has said that this model of surrogate broadcasting 
irritates authoritarian regimes, inspires democrats and creates greater 
space for civil society, and that is the goal. Vaclav Havel and others 
have testified to the role that the radios played in bringing down the 
Iron Curtain.
  As noted in the resolution, Warsaw Pact intelligence went to great 
lengths to silence these broadcasts. We have heard some of the examples 
of the correspondents who were murdered and the headquarters that were 
bombed.
  RFE/RL has expanded its work to countries that are critical to 
today's national security challenges. Shortly after September 11, the 
House passed legislation establishing Radio Free Afghanistan, RFE's 
brand in that country. Actually, I authored that legislation. And 
today, with 50 percent market share, it is the most popular radio 
station in the country, offering an alternative to the Taliban's dark 
leaflets and the type of radio that people hear in that part of Central 
Asia and South Asia from the Taliban.
  The Iranian regime has targeted RFE/RL broadcasts. They have spent a

[[Page H12249]]

lot of money to jam those broadcasts. RFE/RL has still managed to 
provide valuable coverage of the recent uprising there, allowing 
Iranian democrats to know that they are not alone in this world.
  These broadcasts are all the more important now that the 
administration has muffled itself when it comes to the Iranian 
democratic movement. As it trims back on programs supporting democracy-
seeking Iranians, one expert notes that the administration views the 
green revolution as a wrench in the works of nuclear negotiations with 
the Iranian regime.
  These broadcasts could be greatly complimented by the White House 
bully pulpit. They aren't.
  A divide between the broadcasters and the diplomats is not new, 
frankly. In the 1960s, Washington moved to improve relations with 
Ceausescu's Romania, despite its abysmal human rights record, but RFE 
kept a spotlight on Bucharest, irritating some of the diplomats. Today, 
it keeps a spotlight on Tehran's transgressions--the jailing, the 
abuse, the murder of those who abuse the regime.
  Importantly, this resolution commends the employees and reporters of 
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty for their services and acknowledges 
their sacrifices. Just as the communist police took steps to prevent 
the truth from penetrating their house of lies, so has the Iranian 
regime.
  The Iranian Government harasses the journalists for RFE/RL's Persian 
service, its headquarters in Prague, and their families back in Iran. 
Those inside Iran who might provide the station with information have 
been threatened. This fall, two young journalists with the service were 
killed and a third went into a coma when their car was struck by a 
truck outside of Prague.
  This is the information war happening today. Radio Free Europe/Radio 
Liberty and its sister surrogates are keeping us in the game. As 
technology evolves, they can and need to do better, while staying true 
to their support for freedom and respect for human rights and for the 
rule of law.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California 
for those statements.
  I have no further requests for time, Mr. Speaker, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I stand here today in support 
of H. Res. 641, which recognizes the 60th anniversary of the founding 
of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. I support this resolution because 
of the incredible role that Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty played in 
helping to end the cold war.
  In 1949, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, RFE/RL, was established by 
the United States to promote democracy in communist-controlled parts of 
Europe. RFE/RL broadcasted unbiased and factual information and ideas, 
providing valuable reporting and demonstrating the value of the freedom 
of the press. The information provided in the broadcasts was more 
comprehensive than the information provided on state-controlled media 
sources, leading some Communist authorities to use secret transcripts 
to stay informed.
  Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty played an important role in bringing 
about the demise of communism in Europe. Leaders from Russia and other 
former Soviet Union countries have extolled the virtues of Radio Free 
Europe and Radio Liberty. Former Polish President Lech Walesa famously 
said that RFE/RL's influence ``could not be described.'' Former 
President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic and former President of 
the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin, have also described the 
significant role that RFE/RL played in bringing the end of communism in 
Europe. Its virtue was encapsulated by the former President of Estonia, 
Lennart Meri, who nominated RFE/RL for the Nobel Peace Price in 1991.
  During the cold war, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was subject to 
attacks by Communist governments of the Soviet Union. The Soviet 
intelligence agency and secret police, the KGB, as well as other 
Communist intelligence agencies infiltrated radio stations with spies 
and attempted to disrupt reporting by jailing and intimidating sources. 
Georgi Markov, an RFE/RL correspondent in Bulgaria, was murdered in 
London in 1978 by Bulgarian Communist intelligence service agents. In 
1981, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was attacked when Romanian 
security agents exploded a bomb outside of the RFE/RL headquarters in 
Munich, West Germany. Such acts of violence by the Soviet Union and 
Eastern Bloc countries demonstrate the fear that the Communist leaders 
had for the democratizing influence of the free press.
  Today, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty continues to operate in 
Eastern Europe, Eurasia, and Asia. RFE/RL broadcasts in 28 languages to 
over 30 million listeners in 20 countries, including Ukraine, Russia, 
Moldova, Georgia, the Balkans, Belarus, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, and 
Afghanistan. To this day, RFE/RL correspondents and employees are 
subject to violence and intimidation by regimes that consider the free 
press threatening.
  In 1823, Thomas Jefferson said, ``The only security of all is in a 
free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when 
permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be 
submitted to. It is necessary, to keep the waters pure.'' From the cold 
war to today, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has demonstrated 
Jefferson's words throughout the world. By bringing the free press to 
countries with repressive governments, RFE/RL has proven for over 60 
years that governments that use censorship to protect their authority 
cannot stand forever.
  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Berman) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 641, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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