[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Page 26424]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       VISIT TO THE SENATE BY MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

  Mr. REID. Madam President, one of the privileges I have as majority 
leader is the opportunity to welcome, on rare occasion, fellow 
legislators from various places. Today, we are fortunate to have 
legislators from the European Parliament who are here as part of a 
regular transatlantic legislative dialog. It is very important. This is 
a tradition that started in 1972 and has continued every year since.
  The current delegation includes members of the Parliament from the 
newest European Union countries of Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, as well 
as from the founding members of Italy, France, the Netherlands, and 
Germany. We are pleased as well to see colleagues from the United 
Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, the Czech Republic, Poland, Portugal, and 
Finland.
  The European Parliament today has 727 members who sit in 9 different 
political groups, not by country, representing the entire political 
spectrum of Europe from left to right. They work in more than 20 
languages, representing 450 million people who elect the Parliament in 
free and democratic elections every 5 years.
  It wasn't very long ago that some of these nations represented by our 
colleagues here today broke free from totalitarian communism. Now they 
are participating in the European Union as full and equal members, 
enjoying the benefits of growing market economies and stable democratic 
governments under the rule of law.
  Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the 
Record the names of our colleagues from the European Parliament.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                          European Parliament


            DELEGATION FOR RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES

     63rd EP/US Congress Interparliamentary Meeting, Transatlantic 
                          Legislators Dialogue

             (3-8 October 2007, Washington, DC and Nevada)

       Mr. Evans Jonathan, Chairman, PPE-DE, United Kingdom; Mr. 
     Hamon Benoit, Vice-Chairman, PSE, France; Mr. Belder 
     Bastiaan, IND/DEM, Netherlands; Mr. Burke Colm, PPE-DE, 
     Irlande; Mr. Cercas Alejandro, PSE, Spain; Ms. Cretu Corina, 
     PSE, Romania; Mr. Crowley Brian, UEN, Ireland; Ms. Descamps 
     Marie-Helene, PPE-DE, France; Mr. Duchon Petr, PPE-DE, Czech 
     Republic; Mr. Fatuzzo Carlo, PPE-DE, Italy; Mr. Giertych 
     Maciej Marian, NI, Poland; Ms. Gomes Ana Maria, PSE, 
     Portugal; Ms. Iacob-Ridzi Monica Maria, PPE-DE, Romania; Ms. 
     In't Veld Sophie, ALDE, Netherlands; Ms. Jaatteenmaki Anneli, 
     ALDE, Finland; Mr. Kuhne Helmut, PSE, Germany; Ms. Mikko 
     Marianne, PSE, Estonia; Mr. Millan Mon Francisco Jose, PPE-
     DE, Spain; Mr. Nicholson James, PPE-DE, United Kingdom; Ms. 
     Quisthoudt-Rowohl Godelieve, PPE-DE, Germany; Mr. Skinner 
     Peter, PSE, United Kingdom; Mr. Tatarella Salvatore, UEN, 
     Italy; Ms. Zdravkova Dushana Panayotova, PPE-DE, Bulgaria.

  Mr. REID. I would advise Senators that our colleagues from the 
European Parliament are available now to meet on the floor for the next 
few minutes. I welcome them.
  I would announce also, every time I meet a foreign dignitary, I say 
to them--because they go to Dallas and New York, Chicago, and L.A--that 
they never go to Nevada. Well, tomorrow they are headed for Las Vegas.

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