[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 45 (Tuesday, March 11, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S1641]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Lithuania

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, 35 years ago today, the freely elected 
Parliament of Lithuania declared that country was restoring its 
independence after about 50 years of Soviet occupation. This started 
the breakup of the Soviet Union. The end of that evil empire made the 
world safer and millions of people freer. So I say: Thank you, 
Lithuania--or I should say, in their language, ``aciu.''
  Lithuania didn't become a country just in the 1990s, however. It is a 
very old country. In fact, it was a significant regional power in the 
Middle Ages. The modern Republic of Lithuania was born on February 16, 
1918. The United States has maintained continuous diplomatic relations 
with Lithuania for now 103 years, going back to 1922.
  As an American, I am proud that our country never recognized the 
Soviet annexation of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, just as we don't 
recognize Russia's annexation of any part of Ukraine to this very day.
  Today, Lithuania is free, and Lithuania is prosperous. Lithuania is a 
close U.S. ally and a beacon of Western values on the frontlines of 
freedom. I thank Lithuania for its friendship, for its important 
contribution to the NATO alliance, and for its vocal defense of our 
shared values.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.