[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12927]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       FREEDOM IN EASTERN EUROPE

  (Mr. WILSON of South Carolina asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, as a lifelong cold warrior 
promoting victory over communism, it was a dream come true to lead a 
bipartisan delegation to Eastern Europe in early August reaffirming 
America's commitment to our new NATO allies in the European Reassurance 
Initiative.
  We know that peace through strength will be successful. The vision of 
Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan has been achieved.
  Visiting with military and government leaders in Romania, Bulgaria, 
Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, and Poland, we saw dynamic and prospering 
American allies achieving world-class defensive capabilities with their 
professional military fully equipped with the latest technologies.
  In both Warsaw and Tbilisi, President Donald Trump and Vice President 
Mike Pence made it clear America will protect these new democracies.
  I was inspired as an election observer in Bulgaria in 1990, and have 
seen this country evolve from totalitarianism to the now dedicated 
democracy led by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.
  I was grateful to be accompanied by my youngest son, Hunter, an 
Afghanistan veteran, as we witnessed freedom in these countries in 
stark contrast to the year Hunter was born in 1987, when all six 
countries were enemies to the United States and were suffering under 
communist dictatorships.
  In conclusion, God bless our troops, and we will never forget 
September the 11th in the global war on terrorism.

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