[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 8743]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


  CONGRATULATING SHRI NARENDRA MODI ON HIS RECORD-BREAKING VICTORY AS 
                       INDIA'S NEW PRIME MINISTER

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. ENI F. H. FALEOMAVAEGA

                           of american samoa

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 20, 2014

  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate India's 
next Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his resounding and historic 
victory. The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) victory on May 16, 2014 is 
the first time after Independence that a non-Congress party has got 
absolute majority on its own, and Narendra Modi is the reason why.
  His victory is India's victory and, while history will remember 
India's 2014 elections as unprecedented, I will remember the 2014 
elections as a triumph. The people of India have triumphed, and I join 
with them in this momentous celebration of new development for all.
  As a token of friendship and in commemoration of the fulfillment of 
his destiny to lift up the masses, assure social justice, and bring new 
hope for any and all who, like him, step forward and transform 
challenges into opportunities by sheer strength of character and 
courage, a flag was flown over the United States Capitol at my request 
in honor of him on April 7, 2014, to mark victory's dawn.
  I pay tribute to Shri Modi for his clarion call for change, to save a 
nation from ruin. I applaud his leadership and recognize his victory--
the people's victory--in the Congressional Record. A statement in the 
Congressional Record becomes part of U.S. history and I firmly believe 
Shri Narendra Modi should be included not only in the annals of India's 
history but U.S. history, too, because he was elected with a resounding 
victory despite the United States using every recourse it could to 
disrupt his destiny.
  The U.S.-India partnership should be, could be, one of the most 
defining of the 21st century. But, I am disappointed that the United 
States failed to develop a strong friendship and comprehensive 
partnership with Shri Narendra Modi when it mattered most. U.S.-India 
relations matter strategically, politically, and economically. And even 
if they didn't matter, the United States should be a fair and honest 
broker about human rights. Regrettably, in the case of India, the 
United States missed the mark by responding one way to the 2002 Gujarat 
riots, another way to the Godhra train burning which led up to the 
riots, and still another way to the largest ethnic cleansing since the 
partition of India in which between 300,000 to 500,000 Kashmiri Hindus 
since 1990 have migrated due to persecution.
  Nonetheless, despite the United States getting it wrong with India, 
Shri Narendra Modi is looking ahead. He is dedicated. He is determined. 
He is dynamic. He is different. He is the leader of the world's largest 
democracy. And he is the key player for improved relations between the 
U.S. and India. As Shri Narendra Modi assumes his mantle as India's 
next Prime Minister, I have every confidence he will cut across caste, 
creed and religion and bring alive the dreams of over a billion 
Indians, and a world that needs his leadership.
  As he promised, ``Good days are coming.'' And so, they are. I have 
personally met with Shri Modi as far back as 2010 and I know him to be 
a sincere man who stands against corruption and for inclusive growth 
and development. Shri Modi is a man of vision and he, together with 
each and every citizen of India, will create something special--an 
India that will assume its destined role.
  Without a doubt, Prime Minister Modi will usher in India's new era. 
He will make the 21st century India's century. This is his destiny. And 
so, once more, I congratulate Shri Narendra Modi on his path-breaking 
campaign, and I praise BJP Party President Rajnath Singh for working 
shoulder-to-shoulder with Shri Modi to ensure that the spirit of 
democracy has triumphed. I also commend Mr. Sanjay Puri, Founder and 
President of USINPAC, for championing the cause and work of Shri 
Narendra Modi early on in the U.S. Congress when India's next Prime 
Minister was Chief Minister of Gujarat.
  Above all, I praise Prime Minister Modi's parents who gave rise to 
him, especially his mother whose blessings he sought. From his 
beginnings as a son of a tea seller to a landslide and ground-breaking 
victor, I wish Shri Modi godspeed on his poetic journey forward as 
India's next Prime Minister.

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