[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Pages 26524-26527]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 JOINT MEETING TO HEAR AN ADDRESS BY HER EXCELLENCY DR. ANGELA MERKEL, 
             CHANCELLOR OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY

  The Speaker of the House presided.
  The Majority Floor Services Chief, Mr. Barry Sullivan, announced the 
Vice President and Members of the U.S. Senate who entered the Hall of 
the House of Representatives, the Vice President taking the chair at 
the right of the Speaker, and the Members of the Senate the seats 
reserved for them.
  The SPEAKER. The Chair appoints as members of the committee on the 
part of the House to escort Her Excellency Dr. Angela Merkel, 
Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, into the Chamber:
  The gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer);
  The gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn);
  The gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson);
  The gentleman from California (Mr. Becerra);
  The gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro);
  The gentleman from California (Mr. Berman);
  The gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter);
  The gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Delahunt);
  The gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Carnahan);
  The gentleman from New York (Mr. McMahon);
  The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Boehner);
  The gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cantor);
  The gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Pence);
  The gentleman from Michigan (Mr. McCotter);
  The gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. McMorris Rodgers);
  The gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy);
  The gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier);
  The gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen);
  The gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson); and
  The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe).
  The VICE PRESIDENT. The President of the Senate, at the direction of 
that body, appoints the following Senators as members of the committee 
on the part of the Senate to escort Her Excellency Dr. Angela Merkel, 
Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, into the House Chamber:
  The Senator from Nevada (Mr. Reid);
  The Senator from Illinois (Mr. Durbin);
  The Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry);
  The Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley);
  The Senator from Kentucky (Mr. McConnell);
  The Senator from Arizona (Mr. Kyl);
  The Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Alexander);
  The Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski);
  The Senator from Texas (Mr. Cornyn); and
  The Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Thune).
  The Majority Floor Services Chief announced the Dean of the 
Diplomatic Corps, His Excellency Roble Olhaye, Ambassador from the 
Republic of Djibouti.
  The Dean of the Diplomatic Corps entered the Hall of the House of 
Representatives and took the seat reserved for him.
  The Majority Floor Services Chief announced the Cabinet of the 
President of the United States.
  The Members of the Cabinet of the President of the United States 
entered the Hall of the House of Representatives and took the seats 
reserved for them in front of the Speaker's rostrum.
  At 10 o'clock and 43 minutes a.m., the Majority Floor Services Chief 
announced Her Excellency Dr. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal 
Republic of Germany.
  The Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, escorted by the 
committee of Senators and Representatives, entered the Hall of the 
House of Representatives and stood at the Clerk's desk.
  (Applause, the Members rising.)
  The SPEAKER. Members of Congress, I have the high privilege and the 
distinct honor of presenting to you Her Excellency Dr. Angela Merkel, 
Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.
  (Applause, the Members rising.)
  (The following address was delivered in German, with a simultaneous 
translation in English.)
  Chancellor MERKEL. Madam Speaker, Mr. Vice President, distinguished 
Members of Congress:
  Thank you for the great honor and privilege to address you today, 
shortly before the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I 
am the second German Chancellor on whom this great honor is bestowed. 
Konrad Adenauer was the first when, in 1957, he addressed both Houses 
of Congress, albeit one after the other.
  Our lives could not have been more different. In 1957, I was a small 
child of 3 years. I lived in Brandenburg together with my parents, a 
region that at the time belonged to the German Democratic Republic, the 
part of Germany that was not free. My father worked as a Protestant 
pastor. My mother, who had studied English and Latin to become a 
teacher, was not allowed to work in her chosen profession in the GDR. 
In 1957, Konrad Adenauer was already 81 years old. He had witnessed the 
German Empire, the first World War, the Weimar Republic and the Second 
World War. The National Socialists ousted him from his office as Lord 
Mayor of the city of Cologne. After the war, he was one of the men and 
women who built the free and democratic Federal Republic of Germany. 
There is nothing more symbolic of this Federal Republic of Germany than 
its constitution, the basic law, the grundgesetz. It was adopted 
exactly 60 years ago.

[[Page 26525]]

  Article 1 of the basic law reads as follows, ``The dignity of man is 
inviolable.'' This short and simple sentence--``the dignity of man is 
inviolable''--was the response to the catastrophe of the Second World 
War, to the murder of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust, to the hatred, 
destruction and annihilation that Germany brought over Germany and the 
rest of the world.
  In only a few days will mark the 9th of November. On the 9th of 
November, 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. The 9th of November, 1938, 
however, also left an indelible mark on German and European history. On 
this day, the National Socialists pillaged and destroyed synagogues, 
set fire to them and killed innumerable people. It was the beginning of 
what later turned into the break with civilization that was the Shoah. 
I cannot stand before you today without remembering the victims of that 
very day and of the Shoah.
  There is one guest in the audience today who personally experienced 
the horrors of Germany under National Socialism and whom I got to know 
personally some time ago--Professor Fritz Stern. He was born in Breslau 
in 1926--then a German city, today a Polish city--and in 1938, he was 
able to flee with his family from the Nazis at the very last minute. In 
his autobiography, published in 2006 under the title ``Five Germanys I 
Have Known'' Fritz Stern recounts the moment he arrived in New York 
Harbor in 1938, reaching a haven of freedom and security.
  Ladies and gentlemen, it is wonderful that history willed that Fritz 
Stern, then a 12-year-old boy driven out of his native Germany, and 
myself, originally born in the GDR, now Chancellor of today's reunited 
Germany, meet here today before this august assembly under the same 
roof. This fills me with great pride and great gratitude.
  In my wildest dreams, I would not have thought this possible 20 years 
ago, before the fall of the wall, for at the time it was beyond my 
imagination to ever even travel to the United States, let alone stand 
here before you one day. The land of unlimited opportunity was, for me 
for a long time, impossible to reach. The wall, barbed wire and the 
order to shoot at those who tried to leave limited my access to the 
free world. Therefore, I had to rely on films and books, some of which 
were smuggled by relatives from the West to gain an impression of the 
United States. What did I see, and what did I read? What was it I was 
passionate about? I was passionate about the American Dream, the 
possibility for each and everyone to be successful, to actually make it 
in life through one's own personal effort. And like many other 
teenagers, I was passionate about jeans of a particular brand that you 
could not get in the GDR, which my aunt kindly sent me regularly from 
the West. I was passionate about the vast American landscapes that 
seemed to breathe the very spirit of freedom and independence. And 
immediately in 1990, my husband and I flew to America for the first 
time, to California. We shall never forget our first glimpse of the 
Pacific Ocean. It was simply gorgeous. And this, even though for me, 
America seemed completely out of reach until 1989.
  Then on the 9th of November, 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, and this 
border, which had divided a nation for decades, keeping people in two 
different worlds, was now open. This is why, for me, today is, first 
and foremost, a time to say thank you. I thank all those American and 
Allied pilots who heard and heeded the desperate appeal of then-mayor 
of Berlin, Ernst Reuter, in 1948 who said, ``You, the nations of this 
world, cast your eyes towards the city.'' For months, these pilots flew 
to Berlin for the airlift, saving the citizens from starvation. Many of 
these soldiers risked their lives; dozens lost their lives. We shall 
remember and honor them forever.
  I thank the 16 million Americans stationed in Germany throughout the 
last decades, without whose support as soldiers, diplomats and 
generally as facilitators, overcoming the division of Europe would 
simply not have been possible. Also, we would be more than pleased, not 
only today but also in the future, to have American soldiers in 
Germany. You are ambassadors of your country to Germany, just as many 
Americans with German roots continue to be ambassadors of my country 
over here in the United States of America.
  I think of John F. Kennedy who won the hearts of the Berliners when, 
during his visit in 1961 after the wall had been built, he reached out 
to the desperate citizens of Berlin by saying, ``Ich bin ein 
Berliner.'' I think of Ronald Reagan who, far earlier than most, 
clearly saw the sign of the times and, standing in front of the 
Brandenburg Gate already in 1987, called out, ``Mr. Gorbachev, open 
this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.'' This appeal shall 
remain forever in my heart.
  I thank George Herbert Walker Bush for the trust he placed in Germany 
and then Chancellor Helmut Kohl, offering something of immeasurable 
value to us Germans already in May 1989: ``Partnership in leadership.'' 
What a generous offer, 40 years after the end of the Second World War. 
It was actually only last Saturday that we met again in Berlin, 
incidentally together with Mikhail Gorbachev. And to him, too, we owe a 
debt of gratitude.
  Ladies and gentlemen, to put it in just one sentence, I know--we 
Germans know how much we owe to you, our American friends, and we shall 
never--I, personally--shall never, ever forget this.
  The common quest for freedom released incredible forces all over 
Europe: the trade union Solidarnosc in Poland, the reformers around 
Vaclav Havel in Czechoslovakia, the first opening of the Iron Curtain 
in Hungary, and the demonstrations in the GDR every Monday. Where there 
used to be a dark wall, a door suddenly opened, and we all walked 
through it out into the streets, into the churches, across borders. 
Each and everyone was suddenly given a chance to build something new, 
to help shape things, to dare a new beginning.
  I, too, saw a new beginning. I left my work as a physicist in the 
Academy of Science in East Berlin behind me and went into politics 
because I was finally able to do something to make a difference because 
I had gained the impression, Now things can be changed. Now you can do 
something. Ladies and gentlemen, 20 years have gone by since we were 
given this incredible gift of freedom, but still, nothing keeps me more 
involved, nothing spurs me on as much, nothing fills me with stronger 
positive feelings than the force of freedom.
  Whoever has been so positively surprised in his or her lifetime holds 
many things to be possible. Or, to borrow the words of Bill Clinton 
when he was in Berlin in 1994, ``Nothing will stop us. All things are 
possible.'' Yes, everything is possible. It is possible for a woman 
like myself to be here today. It is possible for a man like Arnold 
Vaatz, a dissident in Dresden during GDR times who spent time in prison 
because of this, to be here present today, a Member of the German 
Bundestag, the German Parliament and a member of my delegation. Yes, 
everything is possible. Also in our century, the 21st century, the age 
of globalization.
  Back home in Germany, just as here in America, many people are afraid 
of globalization. We don't simply pass over this fact and these fears. 
We do see the difficulties. And yet it is up to us to convince people 
that globalization is the great global opportunity for each and every 
continent, for it forces all of us to work together with others. The 
alternative to globalization would mean shutting ourselves off against 
others. But instead of being a viable alternative, this would only lead 
into isolation and misery. Thinking in terms of alliances, thinking in 
terms of partnerships, however, this will take us into a good future.
  Ladies and gentlemen, America and Europe have certainly had their 
share of disagreements. Some may sometimes consider the other to be too 
hesitant or too fearful or, from the opposite perspective, too 
headstrong and too pushy. And yet I am deeply convinced that Europe 
will not find a better partner than America, nor will America find a 
better partner than Europe. For what brings Europeans and Americans 
together and keeps them together is not only a common history,

[[Page 26526]]

what brings Europeans and Americans together and keeps them there are 
not only shared interests but common global challenges which exist 
among all regions of the world. This alone would not be sufficient to 
forge this very special partnership between Europe and America and to 
make it last. There is more to it. What brings Europeans and Americans 
together and keeps them close is a common basis of shared values. It is 
a common idea of the individual, and its inalienable dignity. It is a 
common understanding of freedom and responsibility. This is what we 
stand up for in this unique trans-Atlantic partnership and in this 
community of shared values that is NATO.
  Thus, partnership and leadership is filled with life, ladies and 
gentlemen. It was this basis of values that ended the Cold War, and it 
is this basis of values which enables us now to stand the test of our 
times, and we need to stand this test of our time. Germany is united. 
Europe is united. That is something that we've been able to do.
  Now today's generation needs to prove that it is able to meet the 
challenges of the 21st century and that, in a sense, we are able to 
tear down walls of today. What does this mean? Well, it means create 
freedom and security. It means create prosperity and justice, and it 
means protecting our planet. And here again, America and Europe are 
called upon in a very special way to do that, even after the end of the 
Cold War. Therefore, what is important is to see to it that we tear 
down walls in the minds of people, walls that separate different 
concepts of life that make it difficult time and again for us to 
understand each other all over the world. This is why the ability to 
show tolerance towards others is so important.
  For us, our way of life is the best possible way, but others do not 
necessarily feel that way or think that way. There are different 
solutions to create a peaceful coexistence and tolerance; and showing 
tolerance means showing respect for the history, the tradition, the 
religion and the cultural identity of others. But let there be no 
misunderstanding; tolerance does not mean anything goes. There must be 
zero tolerance towards all those who show no respect for the 
inalienable rights of the individual and who violate human rights, and 
zero tolerance needs to be shown when there is a risk of weapons of 
mass destruction falling, for example, into the hands of Iran and 
threatening our security.
  Iran needs to be aware of this. Iran knows our offer, but Iran also 
knows where we draw a line. A nuclear bomb in the hands of an Iranian 
president who denies the Holocaust, threatens Israel and denies Israel 
the right to exist is not acceptable. The security of the State of 
Israel is for me nonnegotiable, now and forever. Incidentally, not only 
Israel is threatened but the whole of the free world. Whoever threatens 
Israel also threatens us. This is where the free world meets this 
threat head-on; if necessary, through tough economic sanctions. And 
this is why we, in Germany, will do everything we can in order to lend 
our support to the Middle East peace process, with the aim of 
establishing a two-state solution, a Jewish State of Israel and a 
Palestinian state living peacefully side by side.
  We also stand up against the threat of international terrorism. We 
are aware of the fact that no country, no matter how strong, can do 
this alone. We all need partners. We are only strong if we are joined 
by others in a community of partners. Since we share then-President 
George W. Bush's views after the attacks of 9/11 that we had to prevent 
Afghanistan from ever harboring such a threat to the world again, 
Germany has been present there on the ground since 2002, with the 
third-largest troop contingent. We want to make the concept of an 
integrated or networked security successful. This means that civil and 
military commitment are inextricably linked.
  The international community's mission in Afghanistan is, without any 
doubt, a tough one. It demands a lot from all of us, and it now needs 
to be transferred to the next phase as soon as the new Afghan 
Government is in office. Our objective must be a strategy for transfer 
of responsibility which we intend to develop together during a joint 
U.N. conference at the beginning of next year. We will be successful if 
we, as we have done up to now, continue to travel this road together 
every step of the way. Germany stands ready to shoulder its 
responsibility.
  There is no doubt that NATO is and remains the crucial cornerstone of 
our common security. The security concept is continuously further 
developed and adapted to meet the challenges of the day, but its 
foundation and its clear compass for peace and freedom remain 
unchanged. We Europeans, I am convinced, may contribute even more in 
the future, for we Europeans are currently working on giving a new 
contractual basis to our European Union. The last signature has just 
been put on this document. This will make the European Union stronger 
and more capable of action, thereby turning it into a strong and 
reliable partner for the United States. We can build stable 
partnerships on this sound basis, first and foremost, with Russia, 
China and India. For, ladies and gentlemen, the world we live in today 
is both freer and more integrated than ever before.
  The fall of the Berlin Wall, the technological revolution and 
information and communication technology, and the rise of China, India, 
and other countries to become dynamic economies, all of this has 
changed the world of the 21st century into something completely 
different from what we knew in the 20th century. This is a good thing, 
for freedom is the very essence of our economy and our society. Man can 
only be creative when he's free, but what is also clear is that freedom 
does not stand alone. It is the freedom in responsibility and freedom 
to show and shoulder responsibility. For this, the world needs an 
underlying order. The near collapse of the international financial 
markets has shown what happens when there is none, when there is no 
underpinning order. If there is one lesson the world has learned from 
the financial crisis of last year, it is that a globalized economy 
needs a global order and a global framework of rules. Without global 
rules on transparency and supervision, we will not gain more freedom 
but rather risk the abuse of freedom and, thus, risk instability.
  In a way, this is a second wall that needs to fall, a wall standing 
in the way of a truly global economic order, a wall made up of regional 
and exclusively national thinking. The G-20 is key to this cooperation 
among the most important industrialized countries and emerging 
economies. Here, too, cooperation between the Americans and the 
Europeans is a crucial cornerstone. It is not an exclusive but an 
inclusive cooperation. The G-20 have shown that they are capable of 
action, and we need to resist the pressure of those who almost led the 
nations of this planet to the abyss. The long and short of it is that 
international economic policy needs to be more sustainable because this 
crisis was also the result of a way of thinking that was too short 
term. As a consequence, millions of people all over the world may lose 
their jobs and are threatened by poverty and hunger.
  To achieve prosperity and justice, we have to do everything to 
prevent such a crisis in the future. This also means not giving in to 
the temptation of protectionism. This is why the Doha negotiations and 
the framework of WTO are so important. The success of the Doha Round 
would send a very important message of openness for global trade, 
particularly in the current crisis. And just as much, the Transatlantic 
Economic Council can fulfill an important task in preventing the race 
for subsidies and giving incentives to reduce barriers to trade between 
Europe and America. Please, do let us jointly work for a global 
economic order that is in the interest of both America and Europe.
  Ladies and gentlemen, global challenges can only be met by 
comprehensive international cooperation. This is also true for the 
third great task we need to stand up to in the 21st century, the wall 
that seemingly separates the present from the future. This wall bars 
from view the needs of future generations. It prevents us from doing 
what is

[[Page 26527]]

urgently necessary to preserve the basis of our very life and our 
climate. We can already see now where this wasteful attitude towards 
our future leads: icebergs are melting in the Arctic; in Africa, people 
become refugees because their environment has been destroyed; the 
global sea level is rising.
  I am delighted to note that President Obama and you, in your daily 
work, consider the protection of our climate to be a very important 
task. We all know that we have no time to lose. We need an agreement at 
the climate conference in Copenhagen in December. We need an agreement 
on one objective: global warming must not exceed 2 degrees Celsius. To 
achieve this, we need the readiness of all countries to exact 
internationally binding obligations. We cannot afford missing the 
objectives in climate protection that science tells us have to be met. 
This would not only be irresponsible from an environmental point of 
view, it would also be technologically shortsighted, for the 
development of new technologies in the field of energy offers great 
opportunities for growth and innovative jobs.
  No doubt about it, in December the world will look to us, to the 
Europeans and to the Americans. And it is true, there can be no 
agreement without China and India. But I am convinced once we, in 
Europe and America, show ourselves ready to adopt binding agreements, 
that we will also be able to persuade China and India to join in. Then 
in Copenhagen, we shall be able to overcome this wall separating the 
present and the future in the interest of our children and 
grandchildren and in the interest of sustainable development all over 
the world.
  Ladies and gentlemen, I am convinced that just as we found the 
strength in the 20th century to bring about the fall of the wall made 
of concrete and barbed wire, we shall now show that necessary strength 
to overcome the walls of the 21st century, walls in our minds, walls of 
shortsighted self-interest, walls between the present and the future.
  Ladies and gentlemen, my confidence is nurtured and comes from a very 
important source, a very special sound, the sound of the Liberty Bell 
in Schoneberg Town Hall in Berlin. Since 1950, the bell, cast after the 
original American Liberty Bell, hangs there in the belfry. A gift from 
American citizens, it is a symbol of the promise of freedom, a promise 
that has been fulfilled. On the 3rd of October, 1990, the Liberty Bell 
rang again, signaling the unification of Germany, the greatest moment 
of joy for the German people. On the 13th of September, 2001, it tolled 
out again, 2 days after 9/11, the greatest day of mourning for the 
American people.
  (Spoken in English:)
  The freedom bell in Berlin is, like the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, 
a symbol which reminds us that freedom does not come about by itself. 
It must be struggled for and then defended anew every day of our lives. 
In this endeavor, Germany and Europe will also in the future remain 
strong and dependable partners for America. That, I promise you. Thank 
you very much.
  (Applause, the Members rising.)
  At 11 o'clock and 20 minutes a.m., Her Excellency Dr. Angela Merkel, 
Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, accompanied by the 
committee of escort, retired from the Hall of the House of 
Representatives.
  The Majority Floor Services Chief escorted the invited guests from 
the Chamber in the following order:
  The Members of the President's Cabinet;
  The Dean of the Diplomatic Corps.

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