[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 6251]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  CELEBRATING THE SRI LANKAN NEW YEAR

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JOE WILSON

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 14, 2011

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, having just ended a 
decades long conflict in which the government finally defeated 
terrorist forces within its borders, the Republic of Sri Lanka recently 
celebrated its second New Year at complete peace.
  In his New Year address, President Mahinda Rajapaksa stated 
celebrating the New Year is a ``time when all enjoy the freedom 
achieved in our Motherland. Therefore, this New Year will help bring a 
renewal in spirit and new expectations to the people about future 
progress.''
  I would like to wish a happy new year to the 250,000 Sri Lankan-
Americans, along with the 21 million citizens of Sri Lanka, a dynamic 
nation of South Asia.
  During this time of national reconciliation, I look forward to a new 
era of Sri Lankan-American relations built on economic, strategic, and 
political cooperation between our two democratic societies.

                          ____________________