[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 10190-10192]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 ADDRESS BY HER EXCELLENCY DR. VAIRA VIKE-FREIBERGA, PRESIDENT OF THE 
                           REPUBLIC OF LATVIA

  President VIKE-FREIBERGA. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, 
distinguished Members of the House of Representatives, honorable 
Senators, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it is with deep emotion 
that I stand within these august walls and thank you for the honor of 
addressing you on behalf of the Latvian people.
  I believe this honor to be bestowed upon me in recognition of 
Latvia's strivings, sacrifices and extraordinary success in 
transforming itself from a captive nation under the yoke of a foreign 
totalitarian regime into a reestablished democracy with a flourishing 
market economy.
  Fifteen years ago, Latvia, along with neighboring Estonia and 
Lithuania, regained its independence after 50 years of Soviet 
occupation. The Baltic Singing Revolution achieved this by nonviolent 
means and the sheer courage and determination of the peoples of these 
countries. They were ready to face Soviet guns and tanks with nothing 
but their unarmed bodies and the deep conviction of their rights, 
knowing full well that, at any moment, these guns and tanks might crush 
them as they had crushed so many before.
  After the collapse of the once powerful Soviet empire, Latvians at 
long last recovered their fundamental rights and freedoms. They 
regained the right to forge their own destiny; they recovered the 
freedom to shape their own future.
  For too long the Iron Curtain had kept Europe divided and the nations 
of the world confronted each other in two opposing camps. We thank the 
Lord that these times are behind us at last. Dozens of nations have 
gained or regained their sovereignty. For them, right has triumphed 
over might, courage has overcome fear, and dignity has replaced 
humiliation and oppression.
  The wave of freedom and democratic reform has been spreading 
throughout Central and Eastern Europe, extending from the Baltic Sea to 
the Black Sea and into the Caucasus. One country after another, with 
the sad exception of Belarus, has been making a commitment to democracy 
and has accepted the need for the rule of law and the respect of human 
rights.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, distinguished Members of Congress, 
it is an honor and a pleasure to be addressing you as the elected 
Representatives of a great country, a mighty world power that has 
achieved its greatness by building its house on the solid rock of 
democracy. The United States of America has remained ever faithful to 
Lincoln's goal of having a government of the people, for the people and 
by the people.
  Born 230 years ago, your great Nation has grown strong by being a 
warm and welcoming Mother of Exiles as well as a land of hope and 
opportunity for its own sons and daughters. Among the exiles received 
in America, there were many Latvians who had fled their native land at 
the end of the Second World War.
  Latvia remains grateful to the United States for opening its doors to 
a good many of these exiles, who gained the right to live here in 
peace, justice and liberty, while many of their relatives back home 
suffered oppression and brutal persecutions. They quickly became loyal 
and patriotic citizens of America, productive members of your society, 
many achieving positions of distinction and responsibility.
  Latvia remains grateful to the United States for the firm refusal to 
recognize the illegal occupation of the three Baltic countries. Along 
with the other formerly captive nations of Central and Eastern Europe, 
we thank America for its steadfast and courageous stand on freedom and 
democracy.
  You were instrumental in assisting Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania in 
the withdrawal of former Soviet troops from their territories. The 
U.S.-Baltic Charter of Partnership of 1998 gave direction to our common 
goal and vision of the Baltic States joining Euro-Atlantic 
institutions. We recall the unanimous vote by the United States Senate 
in support of the latest enlargement of NATO. Since then, the United 
States has helped to ensure the collective defense of the Baltic 
airspace. For all this, we are grateful.
  Latvia has had the honor of receiving two American Presidents since 
recovering its independence: President Clinton in 1994 and President 
Bush last year. We look forward to receiving President Bush again this 
fall when the 2006 NATO Summit convenes in Riga. We count ourselves 
fortunate to have the United States of America as a true friend and 
trusted ally.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, distinguished Members of Congress, I 
stand before you as a former exile, who has had the rare privilege of 
returning to her native land, free and independent again; a former 
exile who has had the deep satisfaction of helping her country rise 
like a phoenix from the ashes of oppression. I am the representative of 
a resilient and stubborn nation whose people have struggled against all 
odds to preserve their ancient heritage, maintain their language alive, 
and remain true to their national identity. It has been indeed a 
privilege to lead this nation while it recovered its rightful place 
among the world community of free and democratic countries.
  The road has not been easy. Renewing independence was just the first 
step. We still had to rebuild a country, not just starting from 
scratch, but only after clearing away the rubble left by the previous 
system. Just 15 years ago, we had to make the transition from a 
stagnant, state-planned, command economy to a workable, liberal, free-
market economy. It was a formidable challenge. While we were fortunate 
in regaining our independence without significant bloodshed, our 
inhabitants did pay a heavy economic and social price for their 
freedom. They were ready to do so because they understood that this was 
an investment in a better future.
  Overcoming years of constant change, uncertainty and adaptation, 
Latvia has become a success story. An unfinished story by all means, 
especially as concerns the standard of living of our people, but a 
success story nevertheless. Last year, Latvia's economy grew by more 
than 10 percent, and this year my country continues to maintain the 
highest economic growth rate on the European continent. We are on our 
way, ready to share our experience and pass it on to others.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, distinguished Members of Congress, 
what has helped Latvia and its Baltic neighbors succeed where so many 
others are failing, in spite of not just years, but decades of help and 
encouragement of every kind?
  It was above all the faith of the Baltic nations in the values of 
freedom and democracy. It was their firm and irreversible determination 
to build a new and better future for their children and grandchildren. 
They wanted to rejoin the free world from which they had been cut off 
for half a century.
  What urged us on was our ardent desire to make up for lost time, and 
to catch up to those Western European countries that had enjoyed the 
freedom of growing and thriving ever since the end of the Second World 
War. The desire to join NATO and the European Union became a force 
driving us forward, as strong as the force driving us away from the 
past under Soviet dictatorship. This clear sense of purpose allowed us 
to transform our institutions and to reform our economy.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, distinguished Members of Congress, 
the challenge, ever since the fall of the Soviet empire and the breakup 
of the former Yugoslavia, has been to rebuild a Europe whole and free, 
a Europe free of dividing lines, of feudal dependencies, of imperialist 
spheres of influence; a Europe free from bloodthirsty ideologies and 
from murderous fanatics. We need a Europe without walls, barriers, 
exclusion or prejudice, a Europe in which every nation would be 
afforded equal dignity and would be treated with equal respect. All 
Europeans, after all, are part of the same Old Continent, and all of 
them need to work together to make it eternally new.

[[Page 10191]]

  Such a Europe is not and must not be a counterforce to the influence 
of the United States. It is and must continue to be an ally and a 
partner. All Europeans share the fundamentals of the same broad 
cultural heritage, a heritage that is also shared by Americans.
  This heritage includes outstanding achievements as well as resounding 
failures. A common European space of peace and stability, of economic 
growth and prosperity is the best guarantee that the Europe of the 21st 
century will never again repeat the errors and the horrors of the 20th. 
We have seen the depths to which Europe could sink as well as the 
heights to which it could rise. Never again should we allow such 
horrors as the Holocaust to be repeated. We need to aim for the heights 
and to help each other achieve them.
  Yet it is perfectly true that Latvia, along with other Central and 
Eastern European countries, feels a special bond of friendship and 
affinity with the United States. We might as well admit it. We, who had 
lost our liberty, look up to those who are ready to defend it. But if 
the bond of trust and friendship between the U.S. and the newer members 
of the EU and NATO is to be deepened, strengthened and maintained, we 
do need more face-to-face contacts between our peoples. We need more 
possibilities of visits and mutual exchanges. I trust that the U.S. 
Congress will find a nondiscriminatory solution for extending the Visa 
Waiver Program to all its allies in a united Europe. Such a step would 
be broadly welcomed as a signal of growing maturity in the alliance 
between our nations.
  We are partners, even though we differ in size, in influence, in 
power, in resources. We are partners even while having different 
opinions on certain issues. That, after all, is the whole point of 
living in democracies. Any disagreements must not steer us off our 
common course of consolidating peace and security in the world.
  My country sees Europe's transatlantic partnership with the United 
States as essential for our common security as well as for maintaining 
the security of the world at large. The U.S. has been a trusted partner 
whenever European liberties were endangered and proved it through the 
sacrifice of the lives of its soldiers. Throughout the decades of the 
Cold War, Western Europe was kept safe under the protection of NATO and 
through the significant role of American military capability.
  This coming November, Latvia will host the 2006 NATO Summit in its 
capital city of Riga. This will be a summit about the rejuvenation and 
the transformation of NATO, which remains the most powerful and 
effective military alliance in the whole world. We need a strong and 
vibrant alliance, able to face up effectively to the challenges of our 
age. The nature of threats may change, but the danger they pose does 
not.
  NATO is not only about protecting its members within their own 
borders. We are ready to work closely with the United States and other 
willing partners to aid those strife-ridden countries whose fragility 
is a bane for their own people and a threat to the rest of the world. 
Right now, Latvia is contributing to international peacekeeping 
operations in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Bosnia, in Kosovo, and 
elsewhere. Latvia's contribution is proportionately one of the largest 
in the world in terms of the country's size and available financial 
resources.
  From its very inception, NATO has been more than just a military 
alliance. That is why more and more nations are expressing their desire 
to join it. We support the strivings for freedom, democracy and the 
rule of law of countries struggling with the after-effects of imposed 
totalitarianism. Latvia supports Ukraine and Georgia in their endeavors 
to establish closer relations with NATO. We encourage the member states 
of the alliance to formulate concrete and enhanced forms of cooperation 
between NATO and these two countries at the Riga summit. We firmly 
believe that an open door policy must be maintained for the admittance 
of future member states.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, distinguished Members of Congress, 
one nation with which Latvia shares a common border, as well as a 
complicated history, is Russia.
  Last year marked the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World 
War. This victory brought freedom to one half of Europe, but not to the 
other. After being Hitler's partner for 2 years, Stalin had joined the 
Allies in ridding Europe of this bloodthirsty tyrant. In recognition of 
that role and in homage to the immense losses and casualties that the 
Russian people endured during the Second World War, I accepted the 
invitation of the President of the Russian Federation and traveled to 
Moscow on May 9 of last year.
  But I also pointed out that this victory over one despot still kept 
the other one in power. For the people of Latvia, one foreign 
occupation was only replaced by another. No one gained freedom under 
Stalinist tyranny and the oppression of totalitarian Communism. This is 
not rewriting history. These are plain facts. The simple acknowledgment 
and recognition of them would go a long way toward strengthening trust, 
understanding, and good neighborly relations between our nations.
  Latvia, for its part, stands ready for developing a friendly, future-
oriented, and pragmatic relationship with Russia as an important 
neighbor of the EU. We stand ready for an active and meaningful 
political dialogue based on mutual respect, noninterference, and the 
true respect for human rights.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, distinguished Representatives of the 
American people, as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, 
the United States of America has a crucial role to play in the 
international arena. The United States has been a beacon of liberty 
ever since its foundation. The United States has become a world power 
by giving free rein to the creativity, the initiative and the energy of 
its people by fostering their entrepreneurial spirit. But the United 
States has become a world leader only to the extent that it has not 
been indifferent to the fates, the aspirations and the opinions of 
other nations.
  For if no man is an island, neither is any country alone and self-
sufficient. All of us, large and small, are interlocked, intertwined, 
and interdependent. If we want peace in the world, if we want 
international cooperation, persuasion is as important as imposition by 
force. Smaller and weaker nations want to be meaningfully included in 
decisions that will affect us all. They want to be respected. When they 
clamor for multilateralism, nations are really saying: Listen to me. I 
want to be heard.
  Of course, among all this clamor, it may be hard to find a common 
denominator. It is not always easy to achieve a common purpose. We see 
this all too clearly in the difficulties that the United Nations is 
experiencing in bringing about all the reforms agreed to in principle 
during the General Assembly of their 60th anniversary year.
  As a Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on the reform of the 
United Nations last year, I was pleased that the General Assembly 
managed to agree in principle on the necessity for sweeping and 
fundamental reforms. The new Peace-Building Commission was created, 
which we need for diffusing long-lasting conflicts. Too often in the 
past, the U.N. has been unable to prevent genocide and lasting 
bloodshed: in the Congo, in Rwanda, in the former Yugoslavia, and now 
in the Darfur region of Sudan.
  One of the U.N.'s fundamental roles lies in the defense of human 
rights. The newly created Human Rights Council must become more 
credible and more effective than the commission that preceded it. Its 
best way to gain credibility would be by starting with a thorough and 
unbiased evaluation of the human rights record of its own newly elected 
council members.
  Only through a concerted international effort based on consensus and 
cooperation will the world community be able to overcome a number of 
other pressing global challenges. The degradation of our planet's 
environment is truly a global problem, as is the spread of epidemic 
disease. Most dangerous of all is the continuing and growing gap

[[Page 10192]]

between the developing and developed nations. The great divide between 
North and South, between haves and have-nots is as dangerous as the 
divide between Eastern and Western blocs ever was during the Cold War. 
We have to do our utmost to reach the U.N.'s millennium goals of 
reducing poverty in the developing world.
  Brutal and unremitting poverty is a scourge, unsolved in spite of 
decades of massive international aid and countless well-meant programs. 
Clearly, the quality of governance in aid-receiving countries has a 
crucial role to play, as well as their readiness to foster reforms and 
progress. But the quality of aid-providing efforts also needs to be 
improved. We need better international coordination of results-oriented 
programs, which should be constantly monitored for their effectiveness.
  The worldwide spread of terrorism as well as the growing signs of 
intolerance and xenophobia in many countries underscore the urgent 
worldwide need for a meaningful and sustained dialogue between 
civilizations. As already recognized at the Millennium General Assembly 
of the United Nations, our common goal is to overcome the prejudice, 
misperceptions and polarization that stand as barriers to better 
understanding and consensus among members of different races, religions 
and cultures.
  Due to the enormous importance of nuclear nonproliferation, the 
world's democracies should maintain a coherent position regarding the 
nuclear program of Iran. We welcome the recent joint initiatives by the 
United States, the United Nations Security Council and the European 
Union to offer a constructive solution to the Iranian nuclear issue and 
hope that the Iranian leadership will respond in kind.
  The longstanding conflict in the Middle East remains a major source 
of world tensions. We fully empathize with the desire of the Jewish 
people to live on their ancestral land in security and at peace with 
their neighbors. We also wish to see a free and prosperous Palestinian 
state coexist, peacefully, side by side with the State of Israel. For 
this to be achieved, the Hamas-led Palestinian administration must 
abide by previously signed international agreements. There is no other 
way.
  Education could play an important role in immunizing our societies 
against the dangers of extremism and prejudice. Children should not be 
raised in hatred; societies should have more constructive goals than 
the endless cultivation of grievances and the stark division of the 
human race into ``us'' and ``them.''
  Every society has experienced some dark events in its history, at 
times as victim, at others as perpetrator or collaborator. We must 
inform our children of our past mistakes, so that these may never be 
repeated again. An objective evaluation of the legacy of the past will 
free us to address the challenges of the future. We in Latvia believe 
in the importance of research, remembrance, and education, even on the 
most sensitive issues. This includes the crimes of the Holocaust while 
Latvia was under Nazi German occupation, as well as the crimes 
committed in the name of Communism under the Soviet occupation regime.
  It is also the duty of each country to preserve its historic, 
cultural, and religious heritage. Latvia is a country with a 
multiethnic and multireligious mosaic. We are proud of our ethnic 
communities and of the contributions that their sons and daughters have 
made to Latvia's human, economic, and cultural development. As a 
pluralistic and flourishing democracy, we enjoy freedom of religion and 
have been gradually renewing the houses of worship of different faiths, 
including the many desecrated Lutheran churches, desecrated in 
Communist times. Soon after recovering our independence, we received a 
visit by Pope John Paul II. Last month, the Patriarch of the Russian 
Orthodox Church, Aleksey II, paid a historic visit to my country. Just 
recently, with the support of the U.S. Government and the family of the 
late Latvian-born painter Mark Rothko, I attended the reconsecration 
ceremony of a reconstructed Jewish synagogue in the city of Daugavpils.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, distinguished Members of Congress, 
fanaticism and extremism remain a scourge of humanity, as they have 
been for many centuries. Violence and hatred continue to plague many 
nations and block their road to achieving progress. Greed, opportunism, 
and brute force oppress many peoples and deny them the most basic of 
human rights. Yet just as clearly, the world also knows charity, 
compassion, and the desire for kindness. Human beings everywhere are 
capable of change, and change for the better.
  Again and again in history, we have seen the victory of freedom over 
tyranny, exploitation and chaos. It may take decades, as it did for 
Latvia, but we did gain the freedom that is ours by right. We know the 
value of freedom and feel compassion for those who are still deprived 
of it. We know the price of freedom, for we have paid for it, and we 
would be ready to do it again and again.
  Every nation on Earth is entitled to freedom. It is a dream that must 
be kept alive, no matter how long it takes or how hard it is to 
achieve. We must share the dream that someday there won't be a tyranny 
left anywhere in the world. We must work for a future where every 
nation on Earth will have thrown off the shackles of injustice and of 
oppression, and where every person on Earth will enjoy the same rights 
and liberties that now are the privilege of the more democratic and the 
more developed countries. It will take time, it will take effort, but 
it must happen. And it will happen all the sooner the better we learn 
to work for it and plan for it, all of us, large and small, together.
  [Applause, the Members rising.]
  At 11 o'clock and 40 minutes a.m., Her Excellency Dr. Vaira Vike-
Freiberga, President of the Republic of Latvia, accompanied by the 
committee of escort, retired from the Hall of the House of 
Representatives.
  The Assistant to the Sergeant at Arms escorted the Acting Dean of the 
Diplomatic Corps from the Chamber.

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