[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 23, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E209-E210]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   INTRODUCING A RESOLUTION TO CELEBRATE THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
RELEASE OF NELSON MANDELA AND HONOR HIS LIFELONG DEDICATION TO BUILDING 
                   A MORE EQUITABLE AND UNITED WORLD

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 23, 2010

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce a 
resolution that celebrates the 20th anniversary of Nelson Rolihlahla 
Mandela's release from prison and honors his lifelong dedication to 
building a more equitable and united world.
  On February 11, 1990, Nelson Mandela exited Victor Verster Prison in 
Paarl, South Africa, after 27 years of imprisonment. Years of 
international pressure from activists, artists and politicians in South 
Africa and the international community had finally convinced the South 
African government to reinstate the African National Congress (ANC) as 
a legitimate political party, and release Nelson Mandela.
  In the hours following his release, tens of millions around the world 
watched as Mandela stood at the City Hall in Cape Town and proclaimed 
his commitment to abolish apartheid and institute a system of 
government that protected the rights and freedoms of all people. For 
over 40 years, racial segregation was enforced under the law of 
apartheid, and severely restricted black South Africans and other 
people of color from basic human rights and social and economic 
equality.
  Madam Speaker, Nelson Mandela never wavered from his commitment to 
combat apartheid and create a free and democratic country whether he 
was rallying support for the ANC as a young lawyer and activist, or 
serving as an inmate at the infamous prison on Robin Island. Decades of 
menial work and degrading conditions in South Africa's prisons did not 
make Nelson Mandela's drive to achieve a more just and equal society 
any less potent. Once released, 71-year-old Nelson Mandela and his ANC 
colleagues continued their efforts to dismantle apartheid until it 
finally ended in 1994.
  More than four years after his release, 20,000,000 South Africans of 
all colors lined the streets to vote in South Africa's first election 
that was held under a law of universal suffrage. The people of South 
Africa elected Nelson Mandela as the first President of the fully 
representative democratic state, a man whose resilience, humility and 
eloquence symbolized a new era in which South Africa strove to achieve 
equality, communication and cooperation within its government and 
communities. The newly elected President Mandela addressed the world 
and pledged to lead a ``united, democratic, non-racial and non-sexist 
government'' for all people of South Africa.
  Madam Speaker, 20 years after his release, Nelson Mandela's wisdom, 
strength and work continues to inspire people of all walks of life. I 
urge my colleagues to support this resolution

[[Page E210]]

that commemorates the 20th anniversary of an important moment in world 
history and recognizes an extraordinary man's dedication to equality, 
peace and reconciliation.

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