[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 14 (Monday, January 30, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF VACLAV HAVEL

  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the 
Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Con. Res. 34, which was 
submitted earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the concurrent 
resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 34) expressing the 
     sense of Congress in honor of the life and legacy of Vaclav 
     Havel.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
concurrent resolution.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to 
reconsider be laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 34) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 34

       Whereas Vaclav Havel, former President of the Czech 
     Republic, passed away on December 18, 2011, at 75 years of 
     age, at his country home in Hradecek in the Czech Republic;
       Whereas Vaclav Havel was widely recognized and respected 
     throughout the world as a defender of democratic principles 
     and human rights;
       Whereas through his extensive writings, Vaclav Havel 
     courageously challenged the ideology and legitimacy of the 
     authoritarian communist regimes that ruled Central and 
     Eastern Europe during the Cold War;
       Whereas Vaclav Havel, who was imprisoned 3 times by the 
     Communist Party of Czechoslovakia for his advocacy of 
     universal human rights and democratic principles, maintained 
     his convictions in the face of repression;
       Whereas Vaclav Havel was one of the leading organizers of 
     Charter 77, a group of 242 individuals who called for the 
     human rights guaranteed under the 1975 Helsinki accords to be 
     realized in Czechoslovakia;
       Whereas Vaclav Havel was a cofounder of the Committee for 
     the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted, an organization 
     dedicated to supporting dissidents and their families, which 
     helped to advance the cause of freedom and justice in 
     Czechoslovakia;
       Whereas Vaclav Havel, as leader of the Civic Forum 
     movement, was a key figure in the 1989 peaceful overthrow of 
     the Czechoslovakian communist government known as the Velvet 
     Revolution;
       Whereas following the Velvet Revolution, Vaclav Havel was 
     democratically elected as President of the Czech and Slovak 
     Federal Republic in 1990, and after a peaceful partition 
     forming 2 separate states, democratically elected President 
     of the Czech Republic in 1993;
       Whereas under the leadership of Vaclav Havel, the Czech 
     Republic became a prosperous, democratic country and a 
     respected member of the international community;
       Whereas under the leadership of Vaclav Havel, the Czech 
     Republic became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty 
     Organization (NATO) on March 12, 1999, and continues to be a 
     valued friend and treasured ally of the United States;
       Whereas during his lifetime, Vaclav Havel received praise 
     as one of the world's great democratic leaders and awarded 
     many international prizes recognizing his commitment to peace 
     and democratic principles;
       Whereas on July 23, 2003, President George W. Bush honored 
     Vaclav Havel with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the 
     highest civilian award of the United States Government, for 
     being ``one of liberty's great heroes'';
       Whereas, after leaving office as president of the Czech 
     Republic in February 2003, Vaclav Havel remained a voice on 
     behalf of democratic dissidents worldwide and against 
     authoritarian regimes, including Belarus, Iran, Cuba, and 
     Burma:
       Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) mourns the loss of Vaclav Havel and offers its 
     heartfelt condolences to the Havel family and the people of 
     the Czech Republic;
       (2) recognizes Vaclav Havel's courage and commitment to 
     democratic values in the face of communist repression;
       (3) recognizes Vaclav Havel's pivotal historical legacy in 
     defeating the ideology of communism, peacefully ending the 
     Cold War, and building a Europe that is democratic, united, 
     and at peace;
       (4) recognizes Vaclav Havel's solidarity with democratic 
     dissidents throughout the world and support for the expansion 
     of freedom, including in Belarus, Iran, Cuba, and Burma; and
       (5) reaffirms the commitment of the United States to the 
     causes of freedom, democracy, and human rights for which 
     Vaclav Havel stood.

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