[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 185 (Tuesday, November 19, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6649-S6650]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Freedom Around the World

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, it really has been quite a year here 
in Washington for drawn-out policy battles. It is November, and we are 
still fighting over defense spending, trade, and the results of an 
election long since decided in 2016.
  A quick flip through this morning's world news sections serves as my 
daily reminder that Americans really do have so much for which to be 
thankful. One might even feel inclined to say we are really lucky to 
live here in the United States. Yet I will tell you that luck really 
doesn't have a lot to do with it. Our freedom was bought with the blood 
of thousands who instigated a revolution in spite of being outspent, 
outmanned, and outgunned by the global superpower of their time, and 
thank goodness they had that fighting spirit. That same absolute belief 
in the

[[Page S6650]]

right to self-determination went on to fuel the abolitionists, the 
women's suffragists, and the civil rights warriors. Their fearlessness 
inspires freedom movements that we are seeing all across the globe 
today.
  Just a few months ago, heads turned toward China as thousands of Hong 
Kong people poured into the streets and said no to Beijing's 
stranglehold, but just saying no wasn't enough. Now their neighborhoods 
and universities have morphed into war zones, and Chinese authorities 
have long since justified shooting live rounds of ammunition into the 
crowds.
  Imagine the intensity of the fear it takes to push a government to 
fire on its own people when the entire world is watching. Beijing is 
worried, but Beijing will also not hesitate to use any force it deems 
necessary to tighten its grip on Hong Kong.
  Now, here in the Senate, we are working on a few pieces of 
legislation to let the Chinese and the Hong Kong Governments know that 
the United States is watching. We have included a bill that will 
prevent U.S. companies from exporting crowd control supplies to the 
Hong Kong Police Force. It is important, though, for everyone to 
understand that the motivating factors behind political oppression have 
nothing to do with tear gas or with stun guns. There is only so much 
that legislation can do.
  Governments in Iraq, Vietnam, Algeria, and Lebanon are also hard at 
work in doing whatever they can to prevent their citizens from stepping 
out of line, because they know what will happen if their citizens are 
free to criticize the state, and they are terrified of losing power.
  This month, the entire world looks toward Central Europe to 
commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall. When East Berliners first 
stepped into the western half of their city, they revealed to the rest 
of the world the horrors of living under a political regime that 
sustained itself by consuming the autonomy of its subjects. History 
serves as an enduring warning against the dangers of the all-powerful 
state.
  As we watch mass protests play out a half a world away, many 
Americans still see social chaos not as a symptom of a disease but as a 
spontaneous expression of some nebulous desire to be free. They don't 
stop to recall what sparked the first feelings of unease long before 
the Molotov cocktails started flying through the air.
  This is why, here in the United States, my colleagues in the majority 
have forced many conversations on the perils of degrading the 
foundations of our Republic. We have debated ad nauseam the 
Constitution's place in civil and legal discourse, asking: Does it 
provide a workable standard or is it just an outdated piece of paper 
now rendered illegitimate by the male whiteness of its drafters? I 
think the Presiding Officer knows my response.
  We defend the Constitution and the system of government it created 
because we know, from studying history and from observing current 
events, that freedom does not suddenly expire. Freedom begins to wither 
the moment those in power convince themselves that a reprieve from 
uncomfortable policy debates over speech, self-defense, or the size of 
government will be worth the risk of shelving the standards that 
protect individual liberty.
  The current blase tolerance and, in some cases, incomprehensible 
enthusiasm for socialism and other authoritarian philosophies is 
sending a strong message to the rest of the world that the standard for 
global freedom is up for debate. If we acquiesce to the argument that 
America's founding principles have passed their expiration date, we 
will have failed as a people and as a world leader. That failure will 
change the course of our history, and it will be used as a weapon to 
quash dissent elsewhere in the world.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.

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