[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 139 (Friday, November 14, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1582-E1583]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         HONORING THE HONG KONG PROTESTORS STAND FOR DEMOCRACY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 14, 2014

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to recognize the 
brave protestors in Hong Kong who, starting in September of this year, 
engaged in, and continue to engage in, peaceful protests against 
Mainland China's recent moves to undermine the implementation of 
universal suffrage for Hong Kong's upcoming 2017 elections.
  As Aristotle made plain in the Politics, ``liberty and equality. . . 
. will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government 
to the utmost.'' It is the hope of realizing this foundational 
principle that has brought tens of thousands of protesters to the 
streets of Hong Kong.
  As Americans, we champion Aristotle's view that liberty and equality 
are more fully achieved when the many, instead of the few, have a voice 
in how they are governed. We support this view with foundational 
principles such as freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and 
transparency in government. These are ideals that we must not turn away 
from even when, as is the case with China, we know we will have 
meaningful economic and foreign policy contact with countries that make 
it more difficult for people to fully realize these ideals. People 
around the world yearn for freedom, and where they do so peacefully and 
with bravery, like our friends in Hong Kong, we ought to stand with 
them in solidarity as they seek those democratic ideals that we 
champion at home and abroad.
  I, along with many of my colleagues, have a long history of 
supporting human rights, democracy and the rule of law around the 
world. The protesters occupying the streets of Hong Kong have sustained 
repeated acts of violence in the face of their peaceful protests as 
they act to join us in the march toward a more

[[Page E1583]]

humane and democratic world that is governed by the rule of law. I 
welcome them to this cause and wish them a safe and peaceful journey.

                          ____________________