[Pages S14308-S14309]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

10TH ANNIVERSARY OF HISTORIC EVENTS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
now proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 380, S. Con.
Res. 68.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the concurrent
resolution by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:

A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 68) expressing the
sense of Congress on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of
historic events in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly
the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, and reaffirming the
bonds of friendship and cooperation between the United States
and the Czech and Slovak Republics.

There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
concurrent resolution.

[[Page S14309]]

Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I rise to congratulate my colleagues for
having supported S. Con. Res. 68, a sense-of-the-Senate resolution,
which I cosponsored with Senator Helms, commemorating the tenth
anniversary of the so-called Velvet Revolution, whereby the people of
Czechoslovakia overthrew the communist dictatorship that had oppressed
them for four decades.
Since then, Czechoslovakia decided to effect a ``Velvet Divorce.''
Today both successor states, the Czech Republic and the Slovak
Republic, are in the process of integrating into the West. The Czech
Republic is already a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,
and Slovakia is emerging as a strong candidate for the next round of
enlargement. Both countries are busily preparing to qualify for
membership in the European Union.
Both countries have growing pains associated with the difficult
transitions from dictatorship to democracy, and from a command economy
to the free market. Both have ongoing challenges to guarantee equal
rights for minorities. But the overall picture for the Czech Republic
and for the Slovak Republic is bright.
I am delighted that the Senate has recognized the accomplishments of
the Czechs and the Slovaks and has wished them continued success in the
future as partners of the United States.
I thank the Chair.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to
reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to this
resolution be printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 68) was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to.
The concurrent resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

S. Con. Res. 68

Whereas on September 3, 1918, the United States Government
recognized the Czecho-Slovak National Council as the official
Government of Czechoslovakia;
Whereas on October 28, 1918, the peoples of Bohemia,
Moravia, and part of Silesia, comprising the present Czech
Republic, and peoples of Slovakia, comprising the present
Slovak Republic, proclaimed their independence in a common
state of the Czechoslovak Republic;
Whereas on November 17, 1939, the Czech institutions of
higher learning were closed by the Nazis, many students were
taken to concentration camps, and nine representatives of the
student movement were executed;
Whereas between 1938 and 1945, the Nazis annexed part of
Bohemia, set up a fascist ``protectorate'' in the rest of
Bohemia and in Moravia, and installed a puppet fascist
government in Slovakia;
Whereas the Communists seized power from the democratically
elected government of Czechoslovakia in March 1948;
Whereas troops from Warsaw Pact countries invaded
Czechoslovakia in August 1968, ousted the reformist
government of Alexander Dubcek, and restored a hard-line
communist regime;
Whereas on November 17, 1989, the brutal break up of a
student demonstration commemorating the 50th anniversary of
the execution of Czech student leaders and the closure of
universities by the Nazis triggered the explosion of mass
discontent that launched the Velvet Revolution, which was
characterized by reliance on nonviolence and open public
discourse;
Whereas the peoples of Czechoslovakia overthrew 40-years of
totalitarian communist rule in order to rebuild a democratic
society;
Whereas since November 17, 1989, the people of the Czech
and Slovak Republics have established a vibrant, pluralistic,
democratic political system based upon freedom of speech, a
free press, free and fair open elections, the rule of law,
and other democratic principles and practices as they were
recognized by President Wilson and President Thomas G.
Masaryk;
Whereas the Czech Republic joined the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization on March 12, 1999, the admission of which was
approved by the Senate of the United States on April 30,
1998;
Whereas the Czech and Slovak Republics are in the process
of preparing for admission to the European Union;
Whereas the people of the United States and the Czech and
Slovak Republics have maintained a special relationship based
on shared democratic values, common interests, and bonds of
friendship and mutual respect; and
Whereas the American people have an affinity with the
peoples of the Czech and Slovak Republics and regard the
Czech and Slovak Republics as trusted and important partners:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives
concurring), That the Congress--
(1) recognizes the 10th anniversary of the historic events
in Central and Eastern Europe that brought about the collapse
of the communist regimes and the fall of the Iron Curtain,
and commemorates with the Czech and Slovak Republics the 10th
anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, which
underscores the significance and value of reclaimed freedom
and the dignity of individual citizens;
(2) commends the peoples of the present Czech and Slovak
Republics for their achievements in building new states and
pluralistic democratic societies nearly 60 years of
totalitarian fascist and communist rule;
(3) supports the peoples of the Czech and Slovak Republics
in their determination to join trans-Atlantic institutions
through memberships in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) and the European Union;
(4) reaffirms the bonds of friendship and close cooperation
that have existed between the United States and the Czech and
Slovak Republics; and
(5) extends the warmest congratulations and best wishes to
the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic and their people for a
peaceful, prosperous, and successful future.

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