[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5556]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              POPE JOHN PAUL'S DREAM FOR FREEDOM LIVES ON

  (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, as the world mourns the passing of His 
Holiness Pope John Paul II, it is important to note that the struggle 
for which the Pope lived goes on today. I remember very vividly, back 
in June of 1989, being in Krakow, Poland, when we saw those active in 
the Solidarity movement clawing their way to freedom. We all know the 
outcome of that.
  As we watched the Pope decline over the past several weeks and 
months, I had the honor over the Easter break to join with a bipartisan 
delegation of our colleagues to travel throughout the Middle East. It 
is interesting to note, as I said, that the Pope's dream is alive and 
well. The dream that Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and today 
George W. Bush has is one that is encouraging people throughout the 
world to seek an opportunity to enjoy freedom.
  While we were in the Middle East, we had the chance to go to Beirut, 
Lebanon, where we met with university students who stood in Martyr 
Square, and who said they are imprisoned today by the Syrians and that 
they are trying to claw their way to freedom. So the exact same 
message, Mr. Speaker, that came forth in 1989 in Eastern and Central 
Europe is alive and well today. Thank God this Pope lived.

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