[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 20]
[House]
[Pages 27114-27118]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       RECOGNIZING 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ENDING OF THE COLD WAR

  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution (H. Res. 892) recognizing the 20th anniversary of the 
remarkable events leading to the end of the Cold War and the creation 
of a Europe, whole, free, and at peace.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 892

       Whereas the year 1989 witnessed a series of remarkable 
     events in Europe that helped lead to the end of the Cold War 
     and the beginning of the creation of a Europe whole, free, 
     and at peace;
       Whereas, on February 6, 1989, after almost 10 years of 
     unarmed struggle, the Polish free trade union Solidarity 
     finally succeeded in forcing the Government of Poland to 
     begin talks on broad political and economic change;
       Whereas, on April 6, 1989, Solidarity was legalized, 
     enabling it to contest elections for 35 percent of the seats 
     in the Sejm and all the seats in the Senat, resulting in the 
     historic election victory for Solidarity on June 4 in which 
     Solidarity won all the seats available to it in the Sejm and 
     99 out of 100 seats in the Senat, leading to the installation 
     of the first non-Communist government since January 1945;
       Whereas, on May 2, 1989, the Hungarian government began 
     dismantling the barbed wire fence separating Hungary in the 
     Soviet-controlled East from Austria in the free West, causing 
     a ``tear in the Iron Curtain'' that was never to be closed 
     again;
       Whereas, following the exodus of several hundred East 
     Germans from Hungary between May and mid-July 1989, the 
     Hungarian government announced on September 10, that as of 
     midnight, the border to the West would be open for all East 
     Germans wishing to leave, leading to the departure of 
     thousands of East Germans and representing the first break in 
     the Warsaw Pact policy of preventing each other's citizens 
     from fleeing to the West;
       Whereas, on August 23, 1989, 2,000,000 people living in the 
     Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania linked hands 
     to form a human chain almost 400 miles long in a peaceful 
     protest of Soviet rule and in order to demand the restoration 
     of independent statehood;
       Whereas, on November 9, 1989, in response to protests that 
     had grown to include over a million people in Berlin's 
     Alexanderplatz, now referred to as the ``Peaceful 
     Revolution'', Gunter Schabowski, the communist East German 
     Minister of Propaganda, announced that the border would be 
     opened for ``private trips abroad'';
       Whereas, on November 9, 1989, thousands of East Germans 
     streamed into West Berlin, following the opening of 
     checkpoints between the two halves of the divided city and 
     resulting in the days that followed in one of the most 
     momentous events of the 20th century, the tearing down of the 
     Berlin Wall;
       Whereas, on November 24, 1989, months of protests by pro-
     democracy forces in Czechoslovakia led by visionary leader 
     Vaclav Havel resulted in the culmination of the ``Velvet 
     Revolution'' and the en masse resignation of the entire 
     Czechoslovak ruling Politburo, followed by the resignation of 
     President Gustav Husak on December 10, and a new democratic 
     beginning with the election of President Havel on December 
     29;
       Whereas in November 1989, the first-known post-war public 
     protests in Bulgaria organized by civil rights groups led to 
     the ouster and resignation of Communist Party leader Todor 
     Zhivkov after 34 years in power, and the first free elections 
     since 1946 in Bulgaria the following June;
       Whereas, on December 17, 1989, in the town of Timisoara, 
     Romania, citizens protesting against the arrest of a local 
     priest were brutally killed by Romanian security forces under 
     orders of President Ceausescu, causing international outrage 
     and condemnation, and leading to mass protests and escalating 
     violence throughout the country, resulting at the end of the 
     year in the overthrow of the Ceausescu regime and his 
     execution;
       Whereas the events of 1989 prove that the will and the 
     desire of millions of people for freedom cannot be forever 
     repressed and that the actions of a few courageous leaders 
     can inspire millions of others to join the inexorable 
     struggle to be free;
       Whereas in the past 20 years, most of the countries of 
     Central and Eastern Europe have become stable, prosperous, 
     and vibrant democracies, with many becoming members of the 
     North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European 
     Union (EU);
       Whereas in the past 20 years, the prospect of membership in 
     NATO and the EU has been a major stabilizing force and has 
     helped promote greater peace and prosperity within Europe; 
     and
       Whereas there is still much work that needs to be done to 
     overcome the remaining challenges within Europe and to create 
     a Europe whole, free, and at peace: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) recognizes the events of 1989 that helped lead to the 
     end of the Cold War;
       (2) congratulates the countries of Central and Eastern 
     Europe who have made great progress in the past 20 years and 
     emerged as strong, vibrant democracies;
       (3) expresses strong support and friendship for the 
     countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and reaffirms its 
     commitment to the solemn obligations set forth in article 5 
     of the North Atlantic Treaty;
       (4) welcomes the commitment by the European Union (EU) and 
     the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to keep the 
     door to membership open for all European countries which meet 
     the conditions for accession; and
       (5) supports the continued efforts to create a Europe 
     whole, free and at peace.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Berman) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  If, on January 1, 1989, anyone had predicted the events that would 
occur in Central and Eastern Europe during the following 12 months 
culminating in the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, 
he or she would have been called a hopeless dreamer, a lunatic, or a 
naive revolutionary. And yet by January 1 of 1990, the region and 
indeed the whole world had fundamentally changed.
  The events of 1989 were indeed remarkable, beginning with the opening 
of talks between the communist Polish Government and the Solidarity 
trade union in February and ending with the execution of Romanian 
dictator Ceausescu on Christmas Day.
  They began with a few ripples and became a tidal wave that swept 
throughout the region, toppling governments and destroying the walls, 
real and virtual, that had divided the continent of Europe for so many 
years.
  The initial fissures had begun some years before, aided by the 
actions and policies of the United States and Western Europe, as well 
as the reform measures of glasnost and perestroika introduced by Soviet 
General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. But the real cracks that led to 
the crumbling of the Wall and the entire regime were brought about by 
the courageous actions of the men and women of Central and Eastern 
Europe in 1989.
  This resolution commemorates those events and those people:
  The startling election victory of Solidarity, winning every seat it 
was allowed to contest in the lower House and 99 of 100 in the Senate;
  The unprecedented decision by the Hungarian Government to open the 
border to Austria, enabling thousands of East Germans to flee to the 
West;
  The amazing 400-mile-long human chain across Estonia, Latvia, and 
Lithuania, comprising 2 million citizens linking hands to protest 
Soviet rule and to demand restoration of independent statehood;
  The ``Velvet Resolution'' in Czechoslovakia, which caused the 
resignation of the communist government and the free election of 
President Vaclav Havel;

[[Page 27115]]

  The protests in Bulgaria that led to the end of the 34-year rule of 
Communist leader Zhivkov and the first free elections since 1946;
  The uprising of the people in Romania against the efforts to arrest a 
popular priest and the brutal killing of innocent protesters that 
followed, that led to the deposing and the execution of Romanian 
dictator Ceausescu;
  And, of course, the iconic event of 1989, the tearing down of the 
Berlin Wall and the joyous celebrations of people who were finally 
free.
  Today these countries are important, vibrant, strong democracies, 
important partners in NATO and the European Union. I am proud to call 
them our allies and our friends. We have worked together to address the 
challenges in Afghanistan, the threats posed by terrorists and the 
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the risks to our 
environment, to energy security and economic well-being. We share the 
same values and hope for the future.
  We still have much work to do to resolve difficult issues remaining 
within Europe, but 20 years after it was considered inconceivable, the 
dream of a Europe, whole, free, and at peace is finally within reach.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in commemorating the 20th anniversary 
of the remarkable events leading to the end of the Cold War and the 
creation of a Europe, whole, free, and at peace.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I rise in support of House Resolution 892 commemorating the 
extraordinary events in 1989 which led to the end of the Soviet 
regime's domination over Eastern Europe and those people it held 
captive within its borders.
  As this resolution points out, 1989 was an important and pivotal year 
for freedom in Europe. In the course of only 365 days, walls fell, free 
elections were held, dictators were washed away, and people who had 
long yearned for freedom crossed barriers and walked into liberty. The 
trade union Solidarity won its historic election victory leading to the 
first noncommunist government in Poland since 1945.
  Two million people living in the Baltic States linked hands to form a 
human chain almost 400 miles long in a dramatic, peaceful protest 
against Soviet rule.
  In response to protests that had grown to include over a million 
people, East Germany opened the border with West Berlin for ``private 
trips abroad''; then thousands of East Germans flooded across the 
border and the Berlin Wall fell.
  The ``Velvet Resolution'' protests in Czechoslovakia led to a free 
election of a new democratic government.
  Romanian security forces brutally murdered brave Romanians who were 
protesting the arrest of a local priest, but subsequent mass protests 
overthrew the communist regime there.
  Mr. Speaker, and while I do support this resolution, it might have 
been an even more important statement by this House if it had clarified 
more specifically the great importance that membership in the NATO 
alliance now holds for these countries formerly trapped behind the Iron 
Curtain.
  While this measure indeed reaffirms our commitment to article 5 of 
the alliance, I would like to point out some disturbing recent 
incidents involving some of our allies in Eastern Europe which would 
seem to call for an even stronger statement of the strength and 
commitment of our alliance.
  In April of 2007, the Russian Foreign Minister threatened serious 
consequences after the Estonian Government moved the site of a Soviet 
war memorial in Tallinn. Subsequently, Estonian Internet and 
technological information systems were subjected to large-scale, 
systematic cyberattacks suspected to have originated in Russia.
  Furthermore, Russian officials recently threatened undefined 
aggressive actions against Poland and the Czech Republic if those 
states agreed to the deployment by their NATO ally, the United States, 
of strategic missile defense components on their territory.
  In August of 2008, a Russian general stated, ``By hosting (missile 
defense components on its territory), Poland is making itself a target. 
This is 100 percent certain. It becomes a target for attack. Such 
targets are destroyed as a first priority.''
  Recent efforts undertaken by Russia and its state-controlled energy 
companies to monopolize control over energy supplies to European states 
have raised concerns over future Russian intentions regarding influence 
over political processes in those states. Again, this measure would 
have been a good opportunity to include specific references to those 
incidents.
  The kinds of statements and actions emanating from the Russian 
Government are extremely serious and they must be viewed with the 
utmost concern for the sake of security of the countries of Eastern 
Europe that did work so hard to gain the freedom they finally achieved 
in 1989, the subject of this resolution.

                              {time}  1745

  Overlooking such statements and actions, the measure before us today 
forgoes the opportunity to send a truly clear and powerful message that 
we will not ignore statements and actions of that nature aimed at our 
allies, that their hard-won freedom and security do matter to us, and 
that we will stand with them against such intimidation.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would like to note today's news report 
concerning comments just made by the Russian Foreign Minister. These 
statements can only be interpreted as a subtle warning to our Polish 
ally against allowing any U.S. troops--its NATO ally--being deployed on 
sovereign Polish territory.
  When told that the Polish Foreign Minister had stated that the United 
States should deploy troops in Central Europe, the Russian Foreign 
Minister replied, ``I'm astounded, because he and I discussed in tiny 
detail the objectives that Russia pursues with its initiative on a new 
treaty on European security.''
  With such comments in mind, let us take note of the serious 
challenges that our allies in Eastern Europe continue to face today and 
send a strong message of support against any attempts to threaten or 
intimidate them.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 6 minutes to my good friend, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton), who is the ranking member on the 
Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I thank the gentlelady for yielding.
  I was afraid you were going to leave, Mr. Chairman, before I got to 
talk to you. I always like to address you when I am down in the well.
  You made a comment about my colleague, Mr. Kingston, when he said 
something about our bill being so much smaller. You said, I think it 
was 10 times bigger because it did 10 times more. It does do a lot 
more. It spends a lot more. It is 1,990 pages--now don't walk away, I 
want you to hear this--and each word, each word in the bill is $2.25 
million. Each word, not each page out of 1,990 pages. Each word. And it 
is going to cost not $1 trillion but about $1.3 trillion. And it is 
going to cause rationing of health care. And it is going to cause a big 
cut of Medicare and Medicare Advantage.
  I see you moving. You are moving toward the door. I want to tell you, 
Mr. Chairman, I love you, but this is not the best bill that I have 
ever seen. In fact, I think it is a bill--well, he is leaving now. He 
is going out the door. So, Mr. Chairman, I will just tell you, I would 
like to take issue with that.
  I would like to just say one more thing before you leave, because I 
want to talk about Ronald Reagan for a minute. When you did your 
dissertation--hold it. When you did your dissertation, you didn't 
mention Ronald Reagan and what he did and when he said, ``Mr. 
Gorbachev, tear down this wall.''
  Now you can go.


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to address their 
remarks to the Chair.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I'm sorry. Oh well, he is gone now anyhow.
  Mr. Speaker, Madam Ranking Member, Ronald Reagan forced Gorbachev and 
the Soviet Union to spend money

[[Page 27116]]

they didn't have, like we are doing right now with that health care 
bill, spend money they didn't have to build T-55 tanks and weapons to 
keep up with us in the Cold War, and he forced that country, that 
Soviet Union, and all of the countries involved, to fall apart. And he 
said, ``Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.'' And I thought at the 
time, that's a great speech, Mr. President, but it will never happen.
  And I went to Namibia to monitor the election in Namibia with former 
Senator Edwin Muskie about a year and a half later, and we were going 
to a German beer garden for lunch before the election took place. I 
walked in, and everybody was holding steins, and I thought it was a big 
birthday party or wedding party. And I said, What's going on?
  And this guy with tears rolling down his cheeks, a German fellow, 
said, Haven't you heard? The Berlin Wall is coming down.
  I got tears in my eyes and said, I'll be darned; he got it done.
  Ronald Reagan is one of the greatest Presidents this country has ever 
had. I'm serious. I really mean that. He did whatever it took to deal 
with the Soviet Union, and he won.
  But not only that, Ronald Reagan said if we ever move toward 
government control of health care, it would be a strong move toward 
socialist control of everybody in this country. I'm paraphrasing him, 
but he actually said that. When Ronald Reagan came in, instead of 
moving toward more government control over our lives, he said instead 
of raising taxes and creating more government, we are going to cut 
taxes and give people more disposable income and we are going to give 
businesses more money so they can expand. And what happened, we ended 
up with the longest period of economic recovery that I can remember and 
probably in our history.
  So the Obama administration comes in and they take over the car 
industry, the financial industry, the banking industry. They want to 
take over the energy industry, and now they want to take over 18 
percent of our entire society's economy, and that is health care. It is 
going to be destruction of much of what we believe in and the way we 
live in this country. We don't need socialism in America, and that is 
what it is.
  And if you say that is a pretty strong word, go to the dictionary and 
look and see what socialism is. It is government control over people's 
lives. It is government regulation over everything.
  And this health care bill is an absolute disaster. Seniors are going 
to see rationing of health care first, and then others will. They will 
see the cuts in Medicare and Medicare Advantage, $500 billion. They are 
going to see all kinds of problems that they don't realize right now.
  I just hope, I just hope that the people of this country who appeared 
on the mall yesterday by the thousands will continue to fight, Mr. 
Speaker, will continue to fight to stop this bill before it gets passed 
into law. Because it is going to change everybody's life, and it is 
going to mortgage the future of our kids and our grandkids. Inflation, 
higher taxes, all of the things that we don't want.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to 
my good friend, the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Terry), a member of 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
  Mr. TERRY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution.
  I want to talk about the cold war that has been created in the House 
of Representatives over this health care bill. This is my 11th year 
here, and I have never seen this House so divided and vitriolic. It is 
intense around here, and it doesn't have to be this way. We have heard 
speech after speech from my friends on the other side of the aisle 
saying that we, because we oppose government involvement in our health 
care and a $1.2 trillion price tag, that somehow we want people to die, 
we don't want there to be or somehow we support the preexisting 
exclusion in contracts or caps or insurance dumping.
  Frankly, when you get past that level of vitriolic leadership-
supported rhetoric, what you find out is that we actually agree on a 
lot between the two sides. We just haven't been able to actually 
discuss a real bill between us because the Republicans have been shut 
out. We are angry about that. I think that is the root or part of the 
problem with this health care bill, is that we have not been involved 
in its shaping at all.
  For example, the bill that I supported or drafted and is up in Rules 
Committee and may be heard at 1, 2 or 3 in the morning, I guess, 
specifically forbids the use of a preexisting clause in a contract, 
that eliminates the caps that have been put on, either yearly or 
lifetime, that prevents the dumping. These are the type of things that 
we tend to all agree on, but we can't work together to get those done 
that have been identified as part of the problem.
  Another part of the problem that I think we all agree on is the high 
price of the policies in health care in general prevents many people 
from being able to access or purchase health insurance. Therefore, not 
being able to access as well as many others the health care system. But 
there are ways to deal with that as well.
  The GOP alternative, and the one I put in, allows people to be 
packaged together in large groups. We attack the underlying costs of 
health care, and we make it more affordable and policies available to a 
lot more people by doing that. Mine is a replication, an exact 
identical twin of what we have as Federal employees and Members of 
Congress. And that is 9 million people.
  I agree with the insurance exchange idea where you can put maybe 15 
million people that are uninsured, don't have access to one large group 
and let the private sector compete for them. This has been found by 
most economists to really dramatically reduce the costs by buying in 
bulk in the competition, and those two principles are embraced in the 
alternatives.
  But I want to break down a little bit where we start separating, 
because really the real problems between the philosophical basis for 
our bill boils down to the public option. Theirs has a public option 
where it involves the government in health care. It sets up, and if you 
read the bill and understand how it works, you see where we will have a 
single-payer, totally-run-by-the-government health care system within 
10 years. I oppose that. I ran on individual liberties, not growing 
government. That is where we are going to hopefully have the debate 
tomorrow, instead of the rhetoric that we have heard to date.
  This is not only on the principles of big government versus limited 
government, individuals and patient rights versus big government and 
centralized leadership over health care, but it is also going to be a 
debate about $1.2 trillion or more. And even some of this, there is 
additional costs that are even hidden. Let me just give you one before 
I yield back my time.
  In order to help insure the lower-income people right above the 
poverty mark, this bill tomorrow moves Medicaid from 100 percent of 
poverty as the eligibility cutoff to 150 percent. Why is that? Why do I 
say that is a trick? Well, it is good that they get uninsured, but ours 
would allow them access and probably a little bit of support to be able 
to help them. What this does then is shifts those costs to the State. 
Because Medicaid, most of the dollars for Medicaid people are borne by 
the State. So the price tag for this bill is actually higher.
  One of the things that we are going to hear is, yes, they soak the 
rich, which involves a lot of small businesses, but the middle-income 
people are the ones that are going to get hit when they put these 
burdens on the States. When the States, like Nebraska, have to come up 
with tens of millions of more dollars at a time when we are in a 
special session trying to figure out how to balance that budget, the 
reality is they are going to have to raise taxes, and that is sales 
taxes and property taxes. So this bill trickles down to the local 
levels by forcing the States to have to expand their Medicaid coverage, 
hiding the costs, the true costs of this bill, but also is going to 
increase the local taxes. I think that is unfair and I think the 
American public needs to know about some of these little nuances or 
even tricks, as I would call them.

[[Page 27117]]

  So I stand up in opposition to the health care bill; and when 
hopefully this bill is defeated or can't get the votes, then we can 
come together in a bipartisan way and fix the problems that we all 
agree on and we can actually help the American public, as opposed to 
creating this large new bureaucracy.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. McMahon) will control the time of the gentleman from 
California.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McMAHON. Mr. Speaker, I request to know how much time I have 
remaining.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has 16\1/2\ minutes.
  Mr. McMAHON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time. I had planned on doing a 1-minute on the Berlin Wall. I think the 
20th anniversary of the falling of the Berlin Wall is a historic 
occasion. It is a story about freedom and oppression and people having 
the opportunity to have that freedom.
  I had the opportunity to visit Berlin before the wall came down and 
after the wall came down.

                              {time}  1800

  The contrast in East Berlin and West Berlin, when the wall was up, 
was about as stark as the debate is from this side of the aisle and the 
other side of the aisle. There was the idea of light and frivolity and 
freedom and action and caring--and just life on one side, and the other 
side of the wall was dark, negative, gray and repressive.
  When I traveled over there, it was just startling for me to 
experience it. Kurfurstendamm, which is the main street in West Berlin, 
was a street of people and musicians and buskers on the street and 
wonderful food and all kinds of life and freedom, and the other side 
was dark. As soon as the people went home in these communist-style, 
Stalinesque architecture buildings, they went home, they were not out, 
there was no nightlife.
  The waitress that waited on us in an East German, East Berlin 
restaurant was almost afraid to talk to us. She yearned to visit the 
West and to visit around the world, didn't know if she would ever have 
that opportunity. We tipped her handsomely, and I hope she used that 
money at some time to make her trip across to the free world.
  When we went through Checkpoint Charlie, I gave the guard there--and 
it was one of the most ominous moments that I've experienced seeing a 
combination of a police person, a border patrol person, a German--and I 
say that in all the best respect to Germans, just a characterization 
thereof, the same for police and border guards--and a communist 
checking you through Checkpoint Charlie. It was rather stern and 
official-like and intimidating. I slipped him an Elvis Presley swizzle 
stick, which he kind of looked askance and took his hand and got it 
into his hand and stuck it in his pocket and never moved his eyes from 
looking forward. I was happy to pass Elvis along.
  While I agree with the gentleman who spoke earlier about President 
Reagan and some of the things he did in spending to help defeat the 
Soviet Union and bring down that wall, a lot of what brought down that 
wall was the people and their yearning for freedom, which was expressed 
through Radio Free Europe and other manners in which the German youth 
heard American music and saw American life. They saw blue jeans and 
they heard rock and roll, they heard Elvis, they heard the Beatles, 
they heard all kinds of people. Eventually that wall came down and they 
heard Pink Floyd; Pink Floyd played and the world listened and the wall 
came down.
  When I returned years later to Berlin, I drove through the 
Brandenburg Gate, which I don't think I was supposed to, but I did. And 
that was fun, I could do it, it was freedom.
  I thought back upon the last time I had been in East Berlin and you 
couldn't do anything; it was such an ominous state. East Berlin now is 
a fun, thriving, great place with great restaurants and art scenes and 
freedom and people. It has really become more happening than the KuDam 
or Kreuzberg or the other areas in the West which are happening as 
well. But it was a great day when that wall came down.
  The Newseum has three or four portions of the wall here in 
Washington. I went there last week. I would encourage everybody, Mr. 
Speaker, to go to the Newseum, which is a great museum. It's a museum 
about history in America and the world, not just the news media, but 
about freedom. The reason they've got the Berlin Wall there is because 
of that freedom in the First Amendment, the freedom of press, the 
freedom of expression, and the freedom of association. You can learn 
about that and value it.
  You look at that wall and you see pictures of the people who died 
trying to get across, and coming up with ways to tunnel their way under 
the wall or to leap or to create some type of flying machines, and all 
the different ways, being inside cars or under cars and taken to 
freedom. Many died, some made it. It's a great tribute to people's 
yearnings for freedom and their desires to overcome the barriers put 
before them by repressive regimes.
  So I wanted to speak today because that was a momentous occasion in 
my life to see the Berlin Wall, to go into East Berlin and see the 
difference between our type of government and the Soviet repression, 
and then to go back later and see the joy that is now in East Berlin 
and the freedom that has been allowed to flourish.
  So I thank the gentleman for bringing the resolution, I thank the 
lady for bringing the resolution, and I encourage everybody to go to 
the Newseum and to cherish their freedom.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, just to close on our side, I thank my 
good friend, the esteemed chairman of our Foreign Affairs Committee, 
Mr. Berman, for introducing this resolution.
  As important as it is to pass feel-good resolutions, I think that 
this resolution would have been strengthened if we would have talked 
about the difficult realities that we are confronting now with Russia 
and other states that are threatening the stability and the democracy 
and the integrity of those countries who fought long and hard for their 
independence, for their freedom, and for their democracy.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. McMAHON. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would also echo the words of 
the gentlelady from Florida and all of those who spoke on the relevant 
issue this evening of the resolution which honors the incredible 
accomplishments that transpired in 1989, the fall of the wall, the 
opening of the gate, and the spirit of freedom that blew through 
Eastern Europe.
  And it was not the result of one individual or one group of people. 
Hundreds of thousands of people yearned and thirsted for freedom for 
decades, and it finally came in the great fruition of that physical 
breaking down of that wall.
  We heard tonight about the memory of Ronald Reagan, and we are 
reminded of what a great role he played in ordering Mr. Gorbachev to 
open the gate and tear down the wall. I would close by only reminding 
all of those in this Chamber tonight that I think if he were here, 
Ronald Reagan would be a little disappointed in those who come in this 
great august body at a time that we are honoring such a momentous 
occasion in the history of our world and use it to discuss things, 
though important, not relevant, and to seem to do so for political 
advantage rather than honoring the memory of those who lost their lives 
fighting and questing for freedom. They are an inspiration to all of 
us, and they should be for all time.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Berman) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 892.

[[Page 27118]]

  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. McMAHON. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

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