[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 20]
[Senate]
[Pages 29024-29025]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



   10TH ANNIVERSARY OF HISTORIC EVENTS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
now proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 380, S. Con. 
Res. 68.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the concurrent 
resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 68) expressing the 
     sense of Congress on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of 
     historic events in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly 
     the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, and reaffirming the 
     bonds of friendship and cooperation between the United States 
     and the Czech and Slovak Republics.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
concurrent resolution.
  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I rise to congratulate my colleagues for 
having supported S. Con. Res. 68, a sense-of-the-Senate resolution, 
which I cosponsored with Senator Helms, commemorating the tenth 
anniversary of the so-called Velvet Revolution, whereby the people of 
Czechoslovakia overthrew the communist dictatorship that had oppressed 
them for four decades.
  Since then, Czechoslovakia decided to effect a ``Velvet Divorce.'' 
Today both successor states, the Czech Republic and the Slovak 
Republic, are in the process of integrating into the West. The Czech 
Republic is already a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 
and Slovakia is emerging as a strong candidate for the next round of 
enlargement. Both countries are busily preparing to qualify for 
membership in the European Union.
  Both countries have growing pains associated with the difficult 
transitions from dictatorship to democracy, and from a command economy 
to the free market. Both have ongoing challenges to guarantee equal 
rights for minorities. But the overall picture for the Czech Republic 
and for the Slovak Republic is bright.
  I am delighted that the Senate has recognized the accomplishments of 
the Czechs and the Slovaks and has wished them continued success in the 
future as partners of the United States.
  I thank the Chair.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to this 
resolution be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 68) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 68

       Whereas on September 3, 1918, the United States Government 
     recognized the Czecho-Slovak National Council as the official 
     Government of Czechoslovakia;
       Whereas on October 28, 1918, the peoples of Bohemia, 
     Moravia, and part of Silesia, comprising the present Czech 
     Republic, and peoples of Slovakia, comprising the present 
     Slovak Republic, proclaimed their independence in a common 
     state of the Czechoslovak Republic;
       Whereas on November 17, 1939, the Czech institutions of 
     higher learning were closed by the Nazis, many students were 
     taken to concentration camps, and nine representatives of the 
     student movement were executed;
       Whereas between 1938 and 1945, the Nazis annexed part of 
     Bohemia, set up a fascist ``protectorate'' in the rest of 
     Bohemia and in Moravia, and installed a puppet fascist 
     government in Slovakia;
       Whereas the Communists seized power from the democratically 
     elected government of Czechoslovakia in March 1948;
       Whereas troops from Warsaw Pact countries invaded 
     Czechoslovakia in August 1968, ousted the reformist 
     government of Alexander Dubcek, and restored a hard-line 
     communist regime;
       Whereas on November 17, 1989, the brutal break up of a 
     student demonstration commemorating the 50th anniversary of 
     the execution of Czech student leaders and the closure of 
     universities by the Nazis triggered the explosion of mass 
     discontent that launched the Velvet Revolution, which was 
     characterized by reliance on nonviolence and open public 
     discourse;
       Whereas the peoples of Czechoslovakia overthrew 40-years of 
     totalitarian communist rule in order to rebuild a democratic 
     society;
       Whereas since November 17, 1989, the people of the Czech 
     and Slovak Republics have established a vibrant, pluralistic, 
     democratic political system based upon freedom of speech, a 
     free press, free and fair open elections, the rule of law, 
     and other democratic principles and practices as they were 
     recognized by President Wilson and President Thomas G. 
     Masaryk;
       Whereas the Czech Republic joined the North Atlantic Treaty 
     Organization on March 12, 1999, the admission of which was 
     approved by the Senate of the United States on April 30, 
     1998;
       Whereas the Czech and Slovak Republics are in the process 
     of preparing for admission to the European Union;

[[Page 29025]]

       Whereas the people of the United States and the Czech and 
     Slovak Republics have maintained a special relationship based 
     on shared democratic values, common interests, and bonds of 
     friendship and mutual respect; and
       Whereas the American people have an affinity with the 
     peoples of the Czech and Slovak Republics and regard the 
     Czech and Slovak Republics as trusted and important partners: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That the Congress--
       (1) recognizes the 10th anniversary of the historic events 
     in Central and Eastern Europe that brought about the collapse 
     of the communist regimes and the fall of the Iron Curtain, 
     and commemorates with the Czech and Slovak Republics the 10th 
     anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, which 
     underscores the significance and value of reclaimed freedom 
     and the dignity of individual citizens;
       (2) commends the peoples of the present Czech and Slovak 
     Republics for their achievements in building new states and 
     pluralistic democratic societies nearly 60 years of 
     totalitarian fascist and communist rule;
       (3) supports the peoples of the Czech and Slovak Republics 
     in their determination to join trans-Atlantic institutions 
     through memberships in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization 
     (NATO) and the European Union;
       (4) reaffirms the bonds of friendship and close cooperation 
     that have existed between the United States and the Czech and 
     Slovak Republics; and
       (5) extends the warmest congratulations and best wishes to 
     the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic and their people for a 
     peaceful, prosperous, and successful future.

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