[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 21]
[House]
[Pages 28020-28023]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1430
   RECOGNIZING ANNIVERSARY OF THE VELVET REVOLUTION IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA

  Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to 
the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 212) expressing the sense of 
Congress on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of historic events in 
Central and Eastern Europe, particularly the Velvet Revolution in 
Czechoslovakia, and reaffirming the bonds of friendship and cooperation 
between the United States and the Slovak and Czech Republics, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
  The text of the concurrent resolution is as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 212

       Whereas, on September 3, 1918, the United States Government 
     recognized the Czecho-Slovak National Council as the official 
     Government of Czechoslovakia;
       Whereas, on October 28, 1918, the peoples of the present 
     day Czech Republic and the present day Slovak Republic 
     proclaimed their independence in the common state of the 
     Republic of Czechoslovakia;
       Whereas between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany annexed part of 
     Bohemia, set up a fascist ``protectorate'' in the rest of 
     Bohemia and in Moravia, and installed a puppet fascist 
     government in Slovakia;
       Whereas, on November 17, 1939, in response to widespread 
     student demonstrations, Czech institutions of higher learning 
     were closed by the Nazis, many students were taken to 
     concentration camps, and 9 representatives of the student 
     movement were executed;
       Whereas the Moscow-directed Communists took over the 
     Government of Czechoslovakia in February 1948;
       Whereas troops from Warsaw Pact countries invaded 
     Czechoslovakia in August 1968, ousted the reformist 
     leadership of Alexander Dubcek, and restored a hard-line 
     communist regime;
       Whereas, on November 17, 1989, the brutal break up of a 
     student demonstration commemorating the 50th anniversary of 
     the execution of Czech student leaders and the closure of 
     universities by the Nazis triggered the explosion of mass 
     discontent that launched the Velvet Revolution, which was 
     characterized by reliance on nonviolence and open public 
     discourse;
       Whereas the peoples of Czechoslovakia overthrew 40 years of 
     totalitarian communist rule in order to rebuild a democratic 
     society;
       Whereas, since November 17, 1989, the people of the Slovak 
     Republic and the Czech Republic have established vibrant, 
     pluralistic, democratic political systems based upon freedom 
     of speech, a free press, free and fair open elections, the 
     rule of law, and other democratic principles and practices;
       Whereas the people of the United States, the Slovak 
     Republic, and the Czech Republic have maintained a special 
     relationship based on shared democratic values, common 
     interests, and the strong bonds of friendship, mutual 
     respect, and close cooperation; and
       Whereas the people of the United States have an affinity 
     with the peoples of the Slovak Republic and the Czech 
     Republic and regard them as trusted and important partners 
     and allies: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) recognizes the 20th anniversary of the historic events 
     in Central and Eastern Europe that brought about the collapse 
     of the communist regimes and the fall of the Iron Curtain;
       (2) commemorates, with the Slovak Republic and the Czech 
     Republic, the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in 
     Czechoslovakia, which underscores the significance and value 
     of reclaimed freedom and the dignity of individual citizens;
       (3) commends the peoples of the Slovak Republic and the 
     Czech Republic for their remarkable achievements over the 
     past 20 years in building free, democratic, and prosperous 
     societies;
       (4) appreciates the contribution of the Slovak Republic and 
     the Czech Republic as members of the North Atlantic Treaty 
     Organization and the European Union to the promotion and 
     defense of common values of freedom, democracy, and liberty 
     around the world;
       (5) reaffirms the bonds of friendship and close cooperation 
     that have existed between the United States and the Slovak 
     Republic and the Czech Republic; and
       (6) extends the warmest congratulations and best wishes to 
     the people of the Slovak Republic and the people of the Czech 
     Republic for a peaceful, prosperous, and successful future.

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


                             General Leave

  Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the concurrent resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I thank my good friend, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica) for 
introducing this important resolution that recognizes the historic 
events in Czechoslovakia in 1989 and enables Congress to reaffirm its 
strong friendship and support for the people of the Slovak Republic and 
the Czech Republic.
  Twenty years ago, on November 17, communist riot police broke up a 
peaceful pro-democracy demonstration in Prague, brutally beating many 
of the student protesters.
  Rather than silencing the students, however, these violent reprisals 
led to an avalanche of protests between November 17 and December 29 
that ultimately led to the fall of the Communist Party in 
Czechoslovakia.
  In the days after the initial protest, a pro-human rights group, 
known as Charter 77, united with other groups to become the Civic 
Forum, a strong voice calling for reform, civil liberties, and rights 
for all citizens.
  Led by dissent playwright Vaclav Havel, the Civic Forum succeeded in 
forcing the communist government to resign, paving the way for Havel's 
election on December 29 as the President of Czechoslovakia.
  Known around the world as the Velvet Revolution, these historic 
events further cemented the collapse of the communist regimes 
throughout Central and Eastern Europe, and helped to precipitate the 
end of the Cold War.
  In June 1990, Czechoslovakia held its first democratic election since 
1946, bringing into power its first completely noncommunist government 
in over 40 years. In the 20 years since these momentous events, the 
Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic have become strong, vibrant 
democracies, close NATO allies, and staunch friends of the United 
States.
  They continue to contribute to international peace efforts, including 
by providing troops and assistance under NATO command in Afghanistan.
  Millions of Americans trace their roots to these two great nations, 
and the United States is strengthened by their rich cultural heritage 
and their many significant achievements and contributions.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution acknowledges and commemorates the Velvet 
Revolution in Czechoslovakia 20 years ago this month. It also reaffirms 
the bonds of friendship and cooperation between the United States and 
the Czech Republic.
  I urge all of our colleagues to support this important resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Concurrent Resolution 
212, which commemorates the 20th anniversary of the historic events 
that took place in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly the Velvet 
Revolution in Czechoslovakia, and also reaffirms the bonds of 
friendship, the bonds of cooperation between the United States and the 
Slovak and Czech Republics.
  I would like to thank my friend and Florida colleague, and my fellow 
ranking member, Mr. Mica, for introducing this important and timely 
resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, in 1989, the world witnessed momentous events in which 
the people of Eastern and Central Europe broke the chains of their 
communist oppressors. Among the many important events which took place, 
the trade union Solidarity won its historic victory in Poland; 2 
million people living in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia linked hands to 
form a human chain almost 400 miles long in a peaceful protest against 
Soviet rule; and the Berlin Wall fell.

[[Page 28021]]

  A prominent place among the events of 1989 is held by the so-called 
Velvet Revolution, which rose spontaneously from protests in 
Czechoslovakia that led directly to free and democratic elections in 
that country. That revolution, in what was then Czechoslovakia, began 
on November 17, 1989, as a peaceful student demonstration to 
commemorate the murder of Czech students by the occupying Nazi forces 
50 years earlier. But riot police severely beat many of these peaceful 
protesters. Yet the demonstrations grew, and they continued, eventually 
leading to the abolishment of the communist hold on power and the 
election of Vaclav Havel, a dissident critic of the communist regime, 
to the presidency of Czechoslovakia.
  After their subsequent peaceful decision to become independent 
states, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic have flourished, 
establishing free and democratic societies, and becoming members of the 
NATO alliance and the European Union.
  As a political refugee from Cuba's communist regime, Mr. Speaker, I 
view the events that took place in Europe in 1989 as a source of 
tremendous inspiration. They truly provided me with the hope that the 
freedoms now enjoyed in Central and Eastern Europe will soon reach the 
oppressed people of Cuba, where a brutal communist dictatorship still 
rules. As its fellow Communists did in Eastern Europe, until they were 
overthrown by their oppressed people, the Cuban communist regime 
engages in gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms; 
detains, tortures and disappears anyone who disagrees or dares to 
challenge the regime; engages in corrupt activities that enrich its 
leaders; conducts espionage against the United States and its citizens; 
and engages in activities that threaten U.S. security interests and 
global peace and stability.
  Still, we can and we must hope that the events of 1989 show us what 
the future could hold for Cuba, and hopefully soon. I would like to 
again thank my good friend and colleague, Congressman Mica, for 
introducing this important and so timely resolution. I strongly support 
its passage. I urge my colleagues to do the same.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. I continue to reserve.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica), the ranking member of the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the author of this 
important resolution.
  Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I have to thank the ranking member, Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen, for having this resolution come before the House this 
afternoon, as well as Mr. Ackerman and Mr. Berman, and I thank the 
staff on both sides of the aisle.
  I have been here 17 years, and I have never had a resolution with my 
name on it. This is an historic occasion. It is historic for me 
personally for several reasons. First, I have never had a resolution 
with my name on it; and, secondly, because of my personal ethnic 
background. Many people know the name John Mica and think it is 
Italian. And actually, my mother's side is Italian, but Mica is not an 
Italian name; it is a Slovak, a Czech-Slovak name. John Mica, my great-
grandfather, came to the United States about 100 years ago this year, a 
century ago, and settled in upstate New York.
  Some of you know, the Mica family has a unique place in the history 
of the Congress. My brother, Dan Mica, was a Member of Congress from 
1978 to 1988, some 10 years. He was a Democrat Member, and I am a 
Republican Member. We are the only brothers to serve since 1889 from 
different political parties. Maybe that is part of our rich Slovak 
American, Italian American heritage. But it is kind of neat to bring 
this resolution.
  I would venture to say most Americans probably even today couldn't 
find the Slovak Republic or the Czech Republic on a map. But there are, 
as Mr. Ackerman pointed out, millions of Americans, many in Congress, 
too, who have roots and heritage with what is today the Czech Republic 
and the Slovak Republic.
  The Czech and Slovak people for centuries, actually millennia, lived 
under somebody else's rule or oppression. I appreciate the comments of 
the ranking member, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. She and her family only lost 
their country for the last half a century or so; but these people in 
Europe, some of my ancestors lost their freedom and independence and 
were dominated by someone else for millennia. Maybe that is why they 
appreciated so much the opportunity, some 20 years ago, when students 
came out in commemoration of a slaughter that had taken place some half 
century before; 20 years ago yesterday they came out into the streets 
of Prague, led by students.
  I have to tell you, that sounds like not much, but I have been there. 
The first time I traveled to what was Czechoslovakia was in the 1960s, 
and then again in the 1980s. I went through the barbed wire, the dogs, 
and the landmined areas to get to the area where my grandparents came 
from. When I got there, everything was gray. Everything was dark. It 
was one of the most depressing things I had ever seen. People when they 
walked down the street would not look you in the eye; they looked down. 
The repression under several regimes, under the Communist, was one of 
the worst in the world and the worst in Europe. The economic situation 
was deplorable. The rape of the beautiful landscape of Czechoslovakia--
the Communists polluted the streams and destroyed the landscape and the 
economy.
  Before that, they had the misfortune of being dominated by the Nazis. 
I saw some villages where they took the Jews out, and nobody still 
lived there. They loaded them into boxcars and they loaded them into 
trucks and trucked them off, and in 1980, no one lived in those homes, 
because they had taken the people and destroyed them and their lives. 
All that was left was the vacant houses. I still remember that.
  These people, led by students 20 years ago, came out into the street. 
After the students came out, then the average citizens came out. They 
came out by the tens of thousands, and they filled the streets. They 
basically said they had had enough.
  And you know, people weren't killed in 1989. There weren't the 
killings that they had had over their history. That is why it is called 
the Velvet Revolution. Most people don't understand that. But in the 
Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, they had had enough. And within 
no time at all, they had cast their communist bonds aside.
  One of the most incredible experiences I have ever had, I wasn't a 
Member of Congress, but I sat up in the gallery across from me as a 
citizen, and I heard Vaclav Havel, the just-elected President of the 
Czechoslovakia Republic, Mr. Speaker, come up and speak from just below 
where you are, and I will never forget his words. Here are his words, 
The last time they arrested me on October 27 last year, I didn't know 
whether it was for 2 days or for 2 years.
  Here was someone who had been in jail just weeks and months before 
speaking before the House of Representatives in a joint session. He 
went on to say, Today, less than 4 months later, I am speaking to you 
as the representative of a country that has set out on the road to 
democracy, a country where there is complete freedom of speech, which 
is getting ready for free elections and which wants to create a 
prosperous market economy and its own foreign policy.
  He said that to us here.

                              {time}  1445

  So thank you for bringing this resolution up to commemorate the 
Velvet Revolution. Thank you for recognizing that people, no matter how 
much you repress them, whether it's in Cuba, whether it's in Myanmar or 
Burma, as they call it, whether it's in China, Tibet, somewhere in the 
heart of mankind is a quest, a yearning to be free and independent. And 
that's what this resolution today recognizes is that 20 years ago 
people stepped up and they'd had enough. They wanted to be free. And 
they have turned into two of the most incredible allies, the Czech 
Republic and the Slovak Republic, great

[[Page 28022]]

economies, some of the strongest of the former Eastern bloc, productive 
citizens, incredible citizens, and not only of their country but of the 
world community, and great allies to the United States.
  So I thank you for allowing me to have the opportunity along with 
many of my colleagues to bring to the floor this special resolution 
with that little name on it.
  And for those who were interested in linguistics, ``Mica'' there its 
pronounced ``Meecha.'' It has a caret over, like, the ``c.''
  I'm very proud to have this resolution offered today in the House in 
commemoration of my grandparents and those that came before them and 
those who on the 17th of November 1989 and today we celebrate the 20th 
anniversary of that occasion yesterday to recognize their freedom.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. MICA. I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I congratulate you for this resolution. It speaks 
to the heart of every freedom-loving American in this Chamber, which is 
each and every one of us. So, Mr. ``Meecha,'' I believe that we should 
have a roll call vote because a legislative virgin no more.
  Mr. MICA. Thank you. And I think that would be very fitting, too, to 
show the people again and the House and the Senate that have their 
roots there and across the great country that we remember all they did 
to become free and independent.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, it's now my pleasure to yield 4 minutes to 
the gentleman from Minnesota, the distinguished chairman, Jim Oberstar.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. I thank the distinguished Chair, Mr. Ackerman, for the 
time and compliment my colleague.
  Hvala lepa, moj Slovaski prijatelj, and we're all together. What I 
said simply was thank you. And I'm Slovene, you're Slovak, and we're 
all together in the spirit of the Slovak peoples yearning for freedom 
after conquest by foreign powers, domination by other governments, 
subjection to cultures and language of other peoples. I recall my 
grandmother who emigrated from Sodrazica in Slovenia telling me that in 
her youth they were required in the morning to study in German because 
it was the Austro-Hungarian empire, and only in the afternoon could 
they speak their native language, Slovene.
  This sense of Congress on the occasion of the 20th anniversary 
particularly of the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia is one that we 
must pay attention to, that we must address. As the distinguished 
gentleman from Florida so warmly, thoughtfully, with deep spirit, a 
deep personal sense of understanding so well expressed, the freedom 
that peoples of formerly Eastern Europe felt in their heart, the 
courage they took, the courage it took for them to stand up against 
oppression.
  It's not just the Velvet Revolution. A hundred sixty-one years ago 
was the great Prague Revolution. The Prague Spring of 1848 when the 
people of this great historic cultural center, Prague, marched to the 
streets, led by the students, to proclaim a time of freedom and 
democracy and liberty and opening and were suppressed.
  In 1939, the Nazis closed the Czech institutions of higher learning 
and those of the Slovak people as well. Many were sent off to 
concentration camps. Student leaders were executed. And 50 years later, 
students again led the way. On November 17, they took to the streets to 
mark the anniversary of the execution of Czech student leaders and the 
closure of universities by the Nazis. The government used violence once 
again to move in, break up this peaceful gathering of students.
  So we have the Prague Spring, the 1939 suppression, the Velvet 
Revolution, suppression once again. Those 42 days of the Prague-Velvet 
Revolution were momentous, popular demonstrations, public outpouring, 
people taking to the streets.
  But by December 10, the Czechoslovak President Gustav Husak appointed 
the first largely noncommunist government since 1948. And in 1990, 
Czechoslovakia held its first democratic elections and then split into 
both the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.
  It has very special meaning for me both at the Prague Spring, the 
1939 events, closing of the universities and the Prague student Velvet 
Revolution. In 1956, I was a student at the College of Europe in 
Brugge, Belgium.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Rahall). The time of the gentleman has 
expired.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. I'm happy to yield an additional minute.
  Mr. OBERSTAR. I was a student at the College of Europe in Brugge, 
Belgium, when Hungarian students took to the streets to rise up against 
the Soviet occupation and oppression of their homeland, and they too 
were suppressed brutally as tanks rolled down the street and machine-
gunned students. We were only 600 miles away from those momentous 
events in Brugge, Belgium. And students of the College of Europe 
organized a grand bal des etudiants du College de L'Europe, raised a 
scholarship to bring a Hungarian student to the College of Europe to 
study with us. And when he arrived, we asked him, What was your first 
reaction on coming into the West? And his comment was, The ability to 
walk up to a policeman on a street corner and ask direction without 
fear of being put in prison.
  That's what freedom means. So simple. That's what the gentleman from 
Florida was talking about. That's what this resolution recognizes. A 
revolution is not simply a continuous movement in one direction to come 
back where you started but an opportunity to change direction and move 
the human spirit ahead, and that is what we recognize in this 20th 
anniversary recognition of the Velvet Revolution.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased at this time to yield 3 
minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Sestak).
  Mr. SESTAK. Mr. Speaker, I'm rising today in strong support of House 
Concurrent Resolution 212.
  Twenty years ago this week, the brutal crackdown occurred on the 
student-led demonstration in Prague. The students were commemorating 
the 50th anniversary of the execution of Czech student leaders and 
closure of universities by the Nazis, it turned out, would be silenced 
no longer by the repressive Soviet-backed regime. A mere 8 days after 
the fall of the Berlin Wall, they set events in motion which would 
culminate in the dissolution of the politburo and which would lead to 
the peaceful establishment of independent Czech and Slovak states in 
1993.
  As a son of a Slovakian immigrant, these bonds that join us together 
are so strong. I can remember in the midst of my 30-year naval career 
going over to see Czechoslovakia in the mid 1980s. Lots of top secret 
clearances and special access programs I had, and I had to get special 
permission to go there, but I wanted to see my father's hometown.
  I went through Prague. What a city. So beautiful that the movie 
``Amadeus'' about the great composer Mozart was filmed there because it 
was kept so whole in its beauty as Vienna had been. And then to 
Bratislava and the small village outside where my father grew up. I 
spoke English, not Slovak, so we conversed. And I had a wonderful 
dinner and evening and breakfast the next day. And to this day, I'm 
still not sure they were my relatives. But what a great homecoming I 
felt I had in that land. I think that's because the backbone of 
revolutions, both of theirs and ours, was against the greatest empires 
of the time. A mere spontaneous gathering in the case of Slovakia, like 
ours, but theirs was of workers, students, and common citizens, not 
unlike ours, able to shrug off decades of Soviet oppression.
  When enough people realize their God-given right to liberty is within 
reach, they just can't be stopped. Victor Hugo, that great chronicler 
of revolution, said it best: ``Nothing can resist an idea whose time 
has come.''
  I can remember the evening in Bratislava walking to the border and 
overlooking the barbed wires into Austria, and the man I walked there 
with said, ``Some day.''

[[Page 28023]]

  If there is anything to be called a march of history, it must be this 
struggle between power and justice, between violence and the endurance 
of human dignity, the steady triumph of those who meet brute force with 
the power of a self-evident ideal. Justice, the prerequisite to 
equality.
  Americans of Slovakian descent, such as football player Chuck 
Bednarik; Tom Ridge, former Governor of my home State of Pennsylvania; 
Andy Warhol; Stefan Banic, inventor of the parachute; the inventor of 
the radio, Jozef Murgas; Paul Newman; Michael Strank, the one who 
raised the American flag on Iwo Jima, have contributed greatly through 
their wonderful thread in this great national security fabric of the 
United States of America to our future. I'm proud to honor them today 
for the revolution so similar to ours.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to note at this time that all 
of us here in the House bask in the obvious and well-felt pride that 
has been expressed especially from our Czech and Slovak colleagues that 
are here. Congratulations to them as well as in a few moments we pass 
this resolution.
  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 New York (Mr. Ackerman) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 212, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  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.

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