[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10974]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 THE BERLIN WALL AND THE WAR ON TERROR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 31, 2006, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to call the attention of the 
House to an anniversary that should not pass without reflection. My 
colleagues, 19 years ago, President Reagan stood in a divided Berlin at 
the Brandenburg Gate and challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to ``tear down 
this wall.'' Today, as our brave men and women in the Armed Forces 
fight the global war on terror, we should remember the determination of 
President Reagan as he spoke those words in a divided city and the 
inspiration he brought to the people of Berlin and to the world.
  Asked how he felt about the wall, President Reagan called it, quote, 
an ugly scar on the face of Berlin, a city of culture and history which 
was celebrating its 750th anniversary when Reagan visited it.
  Today we recognize that the ideology of terror is an ugly scar on the 
face of Islam, and in our struggle against it we should bear in mind 
the lessons of the Cold War, a struggle that bears a deep resemblance 
and relevance to the global war on terror we wage today. Like the Cold 
War and the global war on terror, we face an ideology rather than a 
hostile state. Like communism, the creed of terror is expansionist, 
uncompromising, and poses a threat to freedom loving people everywhere.
  In waging war against such an ideology, victory cannot be found on a 
single battlefield. The Cold War stretched from Asia to Africa to the 
very heart of Europe, just as our struggle today reaches from the 
Philippines to the mountains of Afghanistan to, as we recently saw, our 
neighbor Canada. Terrorism will strike wherever freedom reigns, from 
London to Madrid, to a quiet field in Pennsylvania.
  The Cold War proved to be a generational conflict, spanning decades, 
and the global war on terror may prove an equally daunting task. But as 
in the Cold War, the fanaticism of our foes leaves no room for 
negotiation or compromise. The global war on terror is a fight we must 
win. The stakes are far too high to fail.
  At the time of his speech in Berlin, the Soviet news agency called 
President Reagan's words openly provocative and warmongering, while 
some sources in the American news media were no kinder. When President 
Reagan called the Soviet Union an evil empire, many criticized him for 
his black and white point of view.
  These criticisms sound familiar today, but the verdict of history is 
in. Within a decade of President Reagan's provocative speech, the Cold 
War ended with freedom's triumph.
  Today, each news report of a bombing in which Iraqi women and 
children are slaughtered is a glimpse of a new evil empire of terror, 
reminding us that evil is alive in the world and must be opposed, the 
words of Edmund Burke ring true: ``The only thing necessary for evil to 
triumph is for good men to do nothing.''
  I am proud to say that, as a Nation, we are meeting that challenge, 
not leaving evil unopposed. Last week we won a major victory with the 
death of the terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Our Armed 
Forces and intelligence services deserve congratulations for their fine 
work, along with the first responders, border agents, and other heroes 
at home who stand ever vigilant hoping their services will never be 
called into need.
  My colleagues, in a generational struggle like the one we face, we 
should remember that we are the strongest when we stand together. 
Fortunately, we do not stand alone. We stand with allies from across 
the world, including many who have come face to face with terror. As 
President Reagan addressed his remarks in Brandenburg to the people of 
Eastern Europe, let us remember that those living under oppression or 
fear of terrorism will be heartened by the determination we show in 
this fight.
  During his visit to Berlin 19 years ago, President Reagan was struck 
by the words of a young Berliner who had spray painted on the wall that 
divided the city: ``This wall will fall. Beliefs become reality.''
  America has always been a beacon of hope, a living example of the 
transformative power of freedom. As the people of Berlin took up 
sledgehammers against the infamous wall and broke Communist's grip on 
the city, Americans know that as freedom and democracies take root in 
the new Iraq, when we see ink-stained fingers raised in defiance of 
threats, the people of the Middle East and the world will demolish 
terror with their ballots, and freedom will again triumph.

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