[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 139 (Tuesday, August 21, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1165-E1166]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN RECOGNITION OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1968 SOVIET INVASION OF 
                             CZECHOSLOVAKIA

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, August 21, 2018

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in remembrance of the 50th 
anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.
  Even at the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union was struggling 
to maintain order in its brutally enforced communist bloc.
  Czechoslovakia, a vibrant democracy prior to the Second World War, 
had been annexed by the Nazis then subjugated by the Russians in the 
postwar Soviet takeover in 1948.
  For 20 years, the pro-Soviet government installed in Prague stifled 
public dissent and maintained the charade of communist paradise amidst 
a crumbling economy.
  But in early 1968, conservative leader Antonin Novotny was ousted as 
the head of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, and he was replaced 
by Alexander Dubcek.
  The Dubcek government ended censorship in Czechoslovakia, and in 
April, the Czech Government issued a formal plan for further reforms.
  Recalling the 1956 uprising in Hungary, leaders in Moscow worried 
that if Czechoslovakia carried reforms too far, other satellite states 
in Eastern Europe might follow, leading to a widespread rebellion 
against Moscow's control of the Warsaw Pact, the eastern bloc of 
nations created by the Soviets to rival the NATO alliance.
  These fears, rising from the Kremlin's determination to maintain 
totalitarian control of its subjugated peoples, was the chief reason 
for Russian aggression 50 years ago today.
  In addition, the Kremlin guessed--correctly--that given past U.S. 
pronouncements on non-intervention in the Eastern Bloc, the United 
States would condemn the invasion but might refrain from intervening.
  An emboldened Soviet government under Leonid Brezhnev asserted as 
justification for the invasion ``the Brezhnev Doctrine,'' which held 
that Moscow would intervene in any nation where a communist government 
was under threat.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope to have spoken today of these egregious Russian 
violations of sovereignty and self-determination as a recollection of 
times past; an episode consigned to the annals of history.
  But this history provides a lesson that we dare not ignore.
  In 2008, Vladimir Putin's Russia invaded the nation of Georgia in 
coordination with separatists in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
  Putin's Kremlin claimed that it was protecting Russian nationals in 
the region, but the American intelligence community accurately assessed 
that Moscow's involvement in South Ossetia and Abkhazia was a gambit to 
prevent Georgia's accession to NATO.
  In Crimea and the Donbas, too, the Kremlin pursued its aggressive 
violation of international laws to illegally occupy those territories 
under the pretense of protecting Russian nationals and Russian 
interests.
  The emboldened Putin regime continues its efforts to destabilize not 
only Georgia and Ukraine, which have expressed interest in joining the 
Western Alliance, but also linchpins of liberalism in Europe--from 
supporting populist nationalists in Austria and Hungary, to conducting 
extralegal assassinations in England, to influencing our very own 
elections in the United States.
  Putin's actions have been further emboldened by the President's 
pronouncements casting doubt on the value of the Western Alliance and 
his moral ambivalence on Russian violations of international law.
  Mr. Speaker, those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
  Russian aggression in Georgia, Ukraine, and elsewhere--as well as the 
continued human suffering thereafter--unequivocally reveals Vladimir 
Putin's disregard for international law and hostility to our Western 
alliance.
  When confronted with such a foe, the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia 
demonstrates that it is imperative that we draw our allies and partners 
in Europe closer, not antagonize them.
  Between its oppression of the Georgian people, poisoning of 
expatriates, assassination and imprisonment of dissenters, ruthless 
bombing of Syrian civilians, illegal occupation and deployment of 
mercenaries in Ukraine, and its active undermining of U.S. alliances 
and political systems, we must now, more than ever, stand fast with our 
allies and clearly signal our commitment to democratic institutions and 
international organizations and alliances.
  Mr. Speaker, our partnerships in Europe advance U.S. interests and 
protect our allies from Russian aggression.
  So on this 50th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, 
it is critical that the United States Congress reaffirm our nation's 
unwavering commitment to Article 5 of the NATO Treaty and maintain its 
vigilance to the lasting humanitarian, social, and other costs that 
Russian aggression has imposed in Georgia, Ukraine, and elsewhere.

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