[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 45 (Monday, March 19, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E381]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CELEBRATING THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION

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                            HON. ANDY HARRIS

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 19, 2012

  Mr. HARRIS. Mr. Speaker, on the anniversary of the Hungarian 
Revolution of 1848 1849, I would like to salute the people of Hungary, 
a trusted ally of the United States, for the great heritage of those 
freedom fighters who stood up against tyranny and risked their lives in 
the name of liberty. I know that Hungarians today are no less committed 
to the principles of freedom, self-reliance and national sovereignty 
than our heroic ancestors.
  As an American of Hungarian origin I recognize that celebrating 1848 
is nothing less than celebrating freedom. And indeed, it is the ideals 
of freedom and liberty that have linked our countries so inextricably 
together for centuries.
  It is a little known fact, that after the Revolution was crushed with 
the help of the Russians, it was the United States that negotiated 
Kossuth's release and thanks to this, the great freedom fighter could 
sail across the Atlantic to raise public awareness about the situation 
in Hungary. And this year marks the 160th anniversary of his 
Congressional address which he delivered in these very chambers to U.S. 
Representatives.
  In his address he said: ``Your generous part in my liberation is 
taken by the world for the revelation of the fact, that the United 
States are resolved not to allow the despots of the world to trample on 
oppressed humanity.'' Even in the most difficult times, when domestic 
affairs in Hungary were hard to decipher, Americans found the proper 
and prudent way both officially and unofficially to help those who were 
truly committed to freedom against those who strove to ignore the will 
of the people.
  Hungarians in 1848 took up arms in order to reclaim their national 
sovereignty, an ideal that I know Hungary's current government values 
very much. As Kossuth said while in America, ``The sovereign right of 
whatever nation to dispose of itself to alter its institutions, to 
change the form of its government, is a common public law of nations, 
common to all, and therefore put under the common guarantee of all.'' 
Americans treasure our own independence and share in the celebration of 
the Hungarian revolution.

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