[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 156 (Thursday, September 26, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S5752]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE RESOLUTION 343--CONGRATULATING THE PEOPLE OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC 
 AND THE PEOPLE OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC ON THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
 VELVET REVOLUTION, THE 26TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FORMATION OF THE CZECH 
  REPUBLIC AND THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC, AND THE 101ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
             DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA

  Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Cramer, Mr. 
Coons, and Mr. Murphy) submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 343

       Whereas, on January 8, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson, in 
     the ``Fourteen Points'' address to a joint session of 
     Congress, called for the free ``autonomous development'' of 
     the peoples of Austria-Hungary;
       Whereas the Fourteen Points address became the basis for 
     the founding of an independent Czech-Slovak nation-state;
       Whereas, on September 3, 1918, the United States recognized 
     the Czecho-Slovak National Council in Paris as a de facto 
     government at war with the German and Austro-Hungarian 
     Empires;
       Whereas, on October 14, 1918, the Czecho-Slovak National 
     Council formed a provisional government, which declared 
     independence from Austria-Hungary on October 18, 1918;
       Whereas the peoples of the present day Czech Republic and 
     the peoples of the present day Slovak Republic proclaimed 
     independence on October 28, 1918, and October 30, 1918, 
     respectively, forming the common state of the Republic of 
     Czechoslovakia;
       Whereas, on November 12, 1918, the United States and 
     Czechoslovakia established formal diplomatic relations;
       Whereas the United States never recognized--
       (1) the annexation of the Czech Sudetenland by Nazi Germany 
     in October 1938;
       (2) the subsequent establishment of a German protectorate 
     over Bohemia and Moravia; or
       (3) the creation of the German puppet Slovak State in March 
     1939;

       Whereas the Slovak and Czech resistance movements against 
     the Nazi occupation, with the support of the Czechoslovak 
     government-in-exile, launched the Slovak National Uprising in 
     August 1944 and the Prague uprising in May 1945, accelerating 
     the collapse of the Third Reich and demonstrating the 
     courage, patriotism, and freedom-loving spirit of the Czech 
     and Slovak peoples;
       Whereas, in February 1948, the Communist Party of 
     Czechoslovakia seized power from the democratically elected 
     government of Czechoslovakia;
       Whereas, on August 20, 1968, 20 Soviet and Warsaw Pact 
     military divisions invaded Czechoslovakia in order to crush 
     the ``Prague Spring'', a period of greater political and 
     economic liberty that followed the appointment of Alexander 
     Dubcek as First Secretary of the Czechoslovakian Communist 
     Party;
       Whereas, in the nonviolent Velvet Revolution of November 
     1989, the peoples of Czechoslovakia overthrew 40 years of 
     totalitarian communist rule;
       Whereas, after the Velvet Revolution, the peoples of 
     Czechoslovakia established vibrant, pluralistic, democratic 
     political systems based on freedom of speech, a free press, 
     free and fair elections, the rule of law, and individual 
     rights, values embodied by Vaclav Havel, the first president 
     of Czechoslovakia after the fall of communism in that 
     country;
       Whereas, on January 1, 1993, the Czech Republic and the 
     Slovak Republic were formally created as independent nation-
     states after a peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia;
       Whereas the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic joined 
     the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on March 12, 1999, and 
     March 29, 2004, respectively, and have made significant 
     contributions to the operations of the North Atlantic Treaty 
     Organization around the world; and
       Whereas the peoples of the United States, the Czech 
     Republic, and the Slovak Republic have forged a special 
     relationship based on mutual respect, close cooperation, and 
     the shared values of democracy, the rule of law, economic 
     liberty, and individual rights and responsibility: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commends the peoples of the Czech Republic and the 
     Slovak Republic for their considerable achievements in 
     building free, democratic, and prosperous societies over the 
     past 30 years since the fall of communist dictatorship in 
     Czechoslovakia;
       (2) congratulates the peoples of the Czech Republic and the 
     Slovak Republic on--
       (A) the 26th anniversary of the formation of each country; 
     and
       (B) the 101st anniversary of the independence of 
     Czechoslovakia;
       (3) expresses profound gratitude for the sacrifices made by 
     the people of the Czech Republic and the people of the Slovak 
     Republic in support of the operations of the North Atlantic 
     Treaty Organization in Afghanistan and elsewhere;
       (4) reaffirms the strong historical and cultural ties that 
     bind the people of the Czech Republic, the people of the 
     Slovak Republic, and the people of the United States 
     together; and
       (5) expresses the continued commitment of the United States 
     to a free, peaceful, and prosperous Europe.

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