[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 190 (Monday, December 3, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1592-E1593]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  COMMEMORATING THE ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF POLAND'S INDEPENDENCE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, December 3, 2018

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, earlier this month on November 11, 2018, the 
Polish people celebrated 100 years of regained independence for their 
nation. I am delighted to rise along with my fellow Congressional 
Poland Caucus Co-chairs to introduce a bipartisan resolution to 
commemorate this historic event as well as the democratic values the 
United States and Poland have shared since the 1700s.
  As a proud Polish American, I join thousands of members in the Polish 
diaspora across our nation and in the world to acknowledge this very 
auspicious achievement.
  Indeed, the United States-Polish friendship precedes the birth of the 
United States, where Polish Generals Taddeus Kosciuszko and Casmir 
Pulaski bravely fought for independence and freedoms for both the 
United States and Poland.
  In the late 1700s, Poland adopted its first constitution in Europe, 
inspired by ours, based on the ideas of liberty and constitutional 
monarchy, which paved the way for future democratic reforms. Tragically 
just four years later, Poland was invaded and succumbed to the third 
partition between the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the 
Hapsburg Monarchy, and as a result lost its sovereignty for the next 
123 years.
  Then in 1918, following World War I, with the support of President 
Woodrow Wilson, Poland was restored to the map of Europe and resumed 
its persistent climb to freedom. Heroic Polish resistance fighters and 
soldiers fought in World War II against tyranny on all fronts and at 
home only to find that liberation from the Nazis became domination by 
the Soviet Union. Yet, Poland refused to surrender.
  Poland's Solidarity movement, the largest European resistance 
movement, led to the ultimate defeat of communism and the fall of the 
Soviet Empire. In 1989, after 43 years of increasing resistance to 
occupation, Poland's fierce love of liberty spilled over into a massive 
electoral victory won by Solidarnosc.
  Poland's accomplishments in the generation of freedom which followed 
are nothing short of remarkable. Today we celebrate Poland's membership 
in the NATO Alliance and the European Union as a sign of its continued 
commitment to liberal democratic values, rule of law, human rights, and 
freedom of the press.
  Let this 100th anniversary year of Poland's rebirth serve as an 
occasion to honor the

[[Page E1593]]

courage and sacrifice of the people of Poland, who never lost their 
determination to advance the cause of Polish independence. Let us come 
together to wish the Polish people one hundred years more of close 
friendship between our nations and the democratic values that bind us.

                          ____________________