[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15609-15610]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION 274--COMMEMORATING THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
            PEACEFUL AND DEMOCRATIC REUNIFICATION OF GERMANY

  Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself and Mr. Johnson) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 274

       Whereas more than 22,000,000 people of the United States 
     served in the Cold War by supporting the efforts to bring 
     military, economic, and diplomatic pressure to bear in the 
     defense of Germany and the West, and ultimately helping more 
     than 400,000,000 people gain freedom from the bondage of 
     communism in the Soviet Bloc;
       Whereas the United States supported the promulgation of the 
     Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, under which 
     Germany was eventually reunited;
       Whereas the United States created the Reconstruction Loan 
     Corporation, which, under West German leadership, became the 
     Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau that invested in the 
     reconstruction of West Germany and lay the economic 
     groundwork for the reunification of Germany;
       Whereas on November 4, 1989, more than 1,000,000 people 
     gathered in Alexanderplatz in East Berlin and 40 other cities 
     and towns in East Germany to demand free elections and basic 
     civil rights, such as freedom of opinion, movement, press, 
     and assembly;
       Whereas on November 9, 1989, East German politbureau member 
     Guenter Schabowski announced that the Government of East 
     Germany would allow ``every citizen of the German Democratic 
     Republic to leave the GDR through any of the border 
     crossings'' and East German leader Egon Krenz promised 
     ``free, general, democratic, and secret elections'';
       Whereas thousands of people in East Berlin immediately 
     flooded the border checkpoints at the Berlin Wall and 
     demanded entry into West Berlin, causing the overwhelmed 
     border guards of East Germany to open the checkpoints to 
     allow people to cross into West Berlin;
       Whereas in the days following the fall of the Berlin Wall 
     on November 9, 1989, hundreds of thousands of people from 
     East Germany freely crossed the border into West Berlin and 
     West Germany for the first time in more than 28 years;
       Whereas German Chancellor Helmut Kohl demonstrated 
     leadership and vision when he announced a 10-point program 
     calling for the 2 Germanys to expand mutual cooperation with 
     the view toward eventual reunification on November 28, 1989;
       Whereas in March 1990, East Germany held free elections for 
     the first time and those elections led to the defeat of the 
     Party of Democratic Socialism and demonstrated the desire of 
     the East German people to reunify Germany and rejoin the 
     world community, which led to the May 1990 treaty on 
     monetary, economic, and social issues and the signing of the 
     Unification Treaty on August 31, 1990;
       Whereas on October 2, 1990, President George Herbert Walker 
     Bush told the German people: ``The United States is proud to 
     have built with you the foundations of freedom, proud to have 
     been a steady partner in the quest for 1 Germany, whole and 
     free. America is proud to count itself among the friends and 
     allies of free Germany, now and in the future.'';
       Whereas on October 3, 2015, the people of Germany will 
     celebrate in Frankfurt and across Germany, the 25th 
     anniversary of the reunification of Germany; and
       Whereas the reunification of Germany demonstrated the end 
     of the division of Europe and the triumph of democracy over 
     communism: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) with the people of the former communist countries and 
     Western Europe, celebrates 25 years of a united Germany, free 
     from the oppression of communism;
       (2) honors the courage and sacrifice of the people of 
     Germany, the United States, and other countries who served in 
     the Cold War to bring freedom to Central and Eastern Europe;
       (3) recognizes the importance of the alliance between the 
     United States and Germany in--
       (A) common defense;

[[Page 15610]]

       (B) an enduring shared commitment to the free and unified 
     Europe; and
       (C) an expanding and deepening economic prosperity under 
     the rule of law throughout Europe;
       (4) expresses to the people of Germany an appreciation for 
     the commitment of the people of Germany to the promotion of 
     freedom through leadership in providing international 
     assistance, support for peacekeeping and international 
     security efforts, and acceptance of refugees, including 
     efforts by the people of Germany in Afghanistan, Bosnia and 
     Herzegovina, Kosovo, Lebanon, Sudan, and Ukraine; and
       (5) reaffirms the deep and historical friendship between 
     the Government and people of the United States and the 
     Government and people of Germany.

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