[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 206 (Thursday, December 19, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H12286]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           APPRECIATING INDIA

  (Mr. WILSON of South Carolina asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, as we, today, close this 
year's legislative session, I am grateful to reflect on significant 
opportunities experienced in 2019.
  My highlight was my continued association with India as former co-
chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, 
continuing my family's 75-year appreciation of India.
  In August, I visited Mumbai to pay respects at the locations of the 
Islamic extremist attacks of November 26, 2018, the Indian equivalent 
of the 9/11 mass murder.
  The Independence Day address by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New 
Delhi was inspiring on August 15.
  In September, it was extraordinary to be present in Houston for the 
Howdy Modi welcome of Prime Minister Modi by President Donald Trump. 
With 52,000 persons attending, it was the largest welcome event in 
American history for a head of state.
  At the same time, the Indian Parliament, with multiparty support, 
voided the constitutional autonomy of Kashmir, supporting the Prime 
Minister's efforts to boost economic development, fight corruption, and 
end gender, cast, and religious discrimination.

  In conclusion, God bless our troops, and we will never forget 
September the 11th in the global war on terrorism with the leadership 
of President Donald Trump.
  Americans are grateful, as the world's oldest democracy, to see India 
succeed as the world's largest democracy.

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