[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 174 (Tuesday, December 10, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8597-S8598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise today in recognition of 
International Human Rights Day. Sixty-five years ago, on December 10, 
1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights, which serves as a foundation for human 
rights initiatives internationally, and is an enduring guide for human 
rights advocates around the globe.
  On this annual celebration of International Human Rights Day we all

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mourn with heavy hearts the loss of Nelson Mandela, a man who devoted 
his life to promoting human rights, freedom, and harmony.
  Humanity has lost one of its greatest leaders with the passing of 
Madiba, or ``father,'' as he was lovingly called. My prayers go out to 
his family and all the people of South Africa. He was a personal hero 
of mine, and of those who work to uphold human rights around the world. 
He led his nation not only in overcoming the divisions of racism, but 
in reconciling and healing. Throughout his life Nelson Mandela never 
stopped fighting for the oppressed, speaking out for the voiceless, and 
given hope to the hopeless. One of the greatest leaders may have left 
this world but the lessons he taught us about human dignity, sacrifice, 
perseverance, and perhaps the most powerful lesson of all--
forgiveness--will live on forever.
  In 1964, Nelson Mandela was convicted of treason and sentenced to 
life in prison for his part in the fight for racial equality in 
apartheid South Africa. At his trial Mandela said:

       I have fought against white domination, and I have fought 
     against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a 
     democratic and free society in which all persons live 
     together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an 
     ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs 
     be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

  Thankfully Mandela did not die during his years of imprisonment, and 
instead after enduring the unthinkable with grace and dignity, he 
emerged to lead a country to self determination, reconciliation, and 
forgiveness.
  In 1990, when Nelson Mandela was finally released after 10,000 days 
of imprisonment, his spirit was stronger than ever. Ten thousand days 
in prison were not enough to break his spirit and his devotion to the 
freedom of all people. In his autobiography, Mandela wrote ``. . . to 
be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way 
that respects and enhances the freedom of others.''
  And that he did. His democratic ideals were unwavering. He led by 
example, living a relatively modest life, refusing to reside in the 
presidential mansion, and serving only one term as South Africa's first 
black President.
  Mandela's influence on the continent, and indeed around the world, 
does not end with his passing. His story and moral courage has changed 
countless lives forever. As he once said, ``the true test of our 
devotion to freedom is just beginning.'' State and Federal lawmakers 
across the United States looked to Mandela as an inspiration when 
crafting laws that mandated divestment from South Africa's cruel 
Apartheid regime. I had the privilege of serving as speaker of the 
Maryland House of Delegates when we passed such legislation. Years 
later, our Nation is still striving to follow in Mandela's footsteps 
and fully realize his dream of peace and equality for all of mankind.
  As President Obama said, Mandela ``took history in his hands, and 
bent the arc of the moral universe toward justice.'' And so on this 
International Human Rights Day, we pay tribute to the great Madiba, the 
father of a free and peaceful South Africa, a legendary African, and a 
shining example for future generations of change-makers who have 
inherited a better world because of his great deeds.

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