[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 181 (Wednesday, November 13, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H8793]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   COMMEMORATING THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
commemorate the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
  In a 1987 speech in West Berlin, President Ronald Reagan famously 
declared: ``Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.''
  For nearly 30 years, East and West Berlin were separated, both 
physically and ideologically.
  On November 9, 1989, freedom prevailed. East Germany's communist 
government and the Berlin Wall, one of the starkest symbols of the Cold 
War, would fall.
  That evening, on a West German television channel, reporter Hanns 
Friedrichs proclaimed:

       This 9th of November is a historic day. East Germany has 
     announced that, starting immediately, its borders are open to 
     everyone.

  While East and West Germany would not officially unify until the 
following year, East and West Berliners rushed to the Brandenburg Gate 
to celebrate this historic moment that would lead to the end of the 
Cold War.
  Let today serve as a reminder that freedom is always worth fighting 
for.

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