[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 17620]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     GEORGIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

  (Mr. SHIMKUS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, on October 27, I was honored to observe the 
recent presidential elections in the Republic of Georgia in which 
Giorgi Margvelashvili was elected.
  It was characterized by the International Republican Institute as 
``calm and . . . with a substantial reduction of complaints filed with 
the election commission.''
  The President was elected with a 62 percent vote in an election that 
was described also as an important milestone in Georgia's democratic 
development.
  In keeping with this promise to step down following the election, 
Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili appointed a successor, Irakli 
Garibashvili, on November 2. He was most recently the Minister of 
Interior appointed by the Prime Minister after the Georgia Dream 
Coalition's victory in the 2012 parliamentary elections. Prior to his 
work in government, he headed Mr. Ivanishvili's charitable organization 
Cartu. He holds a graduate degree from the University of Paris, 
Sorbonne; and I was pleased to visit the country, the Republic of 
Georgia, and be involved in the democratic process and principles.

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